New Zealand: Family of fugitive on the run with children plea for return

Tom Phillips and his children have been missing since 2021, in a case that has gripped New Zealand.

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A national search has been ongoing for Tom Phillips since he took Ember, nine, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 12, from their family home in December 2021 over what police say was a custody battle.

They were seen in public for the first time since vanishing last October, when a group of teenagers spotted them trekking through the bush and filmed the encounter.

For the first time since their disappearance, Mr Phillips' family have directly appealed to him, with his mother writing: "Everyday I wake up and hope that today will be the day that you all come home."

"There's a lot of love and there's a lot of support, and we're ready to help you walk through what you need to walk through," his sister, Rozzi Phillips, told New Zealand news site Stuff in an exclusive interview.