The sister of three children who vanished into the New Zealand wilderness with their fugitive father three years ago has recalled their final conversation.
Jubilee Dawson is the half-sister of Jayda, 11, Maverick, nine, and Ember, eight, who were kidnapped by their dad Tom Phillips in December 2021 and disappeared into the rugged terrain near their home in Marokopa, south of Auckland.
Family and police feared for the children’s lives until October 3, when they were spotted by teenage hunters on private property in nearby Te Anga – dressed in camouflage and carrying large backpacks.
The search for the family resumed, but no one has seen them since.
It marked the second time Phillips unexpectedly took his kids off the grid – the first was for 19 days in September 2021, sparking an extensive land, sea and sky search operation by police.
When he emerged at his parents’ farm with all three children, 15km north of the search area, he said they’d been camping near a beach and was charged with wasting police resources.
Now, in an unearthed interview with 1News, Jubilee says she, her sister Storm and their mother Cat saw the kids briefly on the evening they emerged from the wilderness the first time.
She said they ‘weren’t allowed to talk about their ‘camping trip’,’ but they knew they had been missing, and spoke about eating mouldy rice.
An emotional interview has resurfaced of Jubilee Dawson speaking about her young half siblings, who have been missing for almost three years
The father and three kids, who have not been seen for three years, were spotted on the west coast of New Zealand (pictured)
Cat is pictured with her three young kids before they went missing in 2021
‘They kept asking me and Storm to stay the night, they said there were spare rooms,’ Jubilee recalled.
‘They said their rice went mouldy, they said they were near water, and Maverick said they did lots of walking.
‘That is all the information they gave us.’
Within the following days, their mother took them to the park and Jayda asked a stranger if they knew who she was.
Jubilee continued: ‘So I think they were well aware they were missing, they’re well aware they were on TV the first time, and I think they do know they’re not supposed to be gone.’
Weeks later, Phillips disappeared from his parents’ place with his children.
Jubilee and her family found out when they called Phillips’ parents, who said they hadn’t seen him for a few days.
Cat called the police, but Jubilee said the second search wasn’t taken as seriously as the first.
Tom Phillips (pictured), along with daughter Jayda, now 11, son Maverick, 9, and youngest daughter Ember, 8, disappeared from the New Zealand town of Marokopa in December 2021
Her family conducted their own searches around the local area, which were called off by police due to public safety.
They also tried to fund a $10,000 reward, but police were concerned a financial incentive would inspire other kidnappings.
Jubilee chose to speak out last year because she was worried the world had forgotten about them.
She also shared memories of her half younger siblings.
‘Jayda is the more outgoing one … she’s definitely the most confident of the three … loves talking to everybody,’ Jubilee recalled.
‘Maverick is more introverted, I’d say he’s more shy … Ember is the youngest, and more sweet and bubbly.’
Jubilee feared that her siblings may now be ‘traumatised and scared’ and worried that they don’t know that their family is looking for them.
‘We love them very much, and we are just waiting for them to come home,’ she said.
There have been multiple reports of sightings of the family since December 2021 – once was by Cat in a Bunnings carpark in New Zealand in August 2023.
She sent a picture of the car he was driving to police.
CCTV footage shows a man – thought to be Phillips – wearing a hat, glasses and a mask entering the store with a shopping trolley.
In May last year, two armed people entered an ANZ bank in Te Kūiti, demanding cash before fleeing on a black motorbike.
Police linked Phillips to the robbery months later, charging him with aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and unlawfully possessing a firearm.
Cat (pictured) is the mother of missing children, Jayda, 11, Maverick, 9, and Ember, 8, who are believed to be living off the land with their fugitive father Tom Phillips
Phillips is also wanted for questioning over an alleged armed robbery of a bank in Te Kuiti near Marokopa in September 2023.
Security footage from the alleged armed robbery showed a man on a motorcycle with a smaller accomplice sitting on the back. Both were dressed head-to-toe in black clothing. Police said the second robbery suspect was a woman.
Police say the sighting on October 3 was the most credible sighting they’d had.
The teen who spotted the family initially thought they were poachers, so they filmed the group as they walked over the hills.
They told a girl, whose face was covered with a mask, that the property was private.
She said: ‘Yeah…duh.
The teen then asked: ‘Does anyone know you’re on here?’
She said: No, just you guys.’
An $80,000 reward was offered for information that could locate the three children, but it expired after eight weeks with no result.
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