The sister of three children who disappeared in the New Zealand wilderness with their fugitive father three years ago recalled their last conversation.
Jubilee Dawson is the half-sister of Jayda, 11, Maverick, 9, and Ember, 8, who were kidnapped by their father Tom Phillips in December 2021 and disappeared in the rugged terrain near their home in Marokopa, al South Auckland.
The family and police feared for the boys’ lives until October 3, when they were discovered 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 was the second time Phillips unexpectedly pulled his children off the grid; The first was for 19 days in September 2021, prompting an extensive search operation by land, sea and sky by police.
When he arrived at his parents’ farm with his three children, 15 kilometers north of the search area, he said they had been camping near a beach and were accused of wasting police resources.
Now, in an interview discovered with 1NewsJubilee says that she, her sister Storm, and her mother Cat, saw the children briefly the night they left the desert for the first time.
She said they were “not allowed to talk about their ‘camping trip,'” but they knew they were missing and talked about eating moldy rice.
An emotional interview has resurfaced in which Jubilee Dawson talks about her little half-siblings, who have been missing for almost three years.
The father and his three children, 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 children before they disappeared in 2021.
“They kept asking Storm and me to stay the night, they said there were free rooms,” Jubilee recalled.
‘They said their rice went moldy, they said they were near the water and Maverick said they walked a lot.
“That’s all the information they gave us.”
In the following days, her mother took them to the park and Jayda asked a stranger if they knew who she was.
Jubilee continued: “So I think they were very aware that they were missing, they were very aware that they were on TV the first time, and I think they do know that they weren’t supposed to be missing.”
Weeks later, Phillips disappeared from her parents’ home with her children.
Jubilee and her family found out when they called Phillips’ parents, who said they hadn’t seen him in 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 his daughter Jayda, now 11, his son Maverick, 9, and his youngest daughter Ember, 8, disappeared from the New Zealand town of Marokopa in December 2021.
His family carried out their own searches in the local area, which were called off by police for public safety reasons.
They also attempted to fund a $10,000 reward, but police were concerned that a financial incentive would inspire other kidnappings.
Jubilee decided to speak out last year because she was worried the world had forgotten about them.
He also shared memories of his younger half-siblings.
“Jayda is the most outgoing…she’s definitely the most confident of the three…she loves talking to everyone,” Jubilee recalled.
“Maverick is more introverted, I would say he’s more shy… Ember is the youngest, and sweetest and most cheerful.”
Jubilee feared her siblings were now “traumatized and scared” and worried that she didn’t know her family was looking for them.
“We love them so much and we’re just waiting for them to come home,” he said.
There have been multiple reports of sightings of the family since December 2021; was once alongside Cat in a Bunnings parking lot in New Zealand in August 2023.
She sent a photo of the car she was driving to police.
CCTV footage shows a man, believed to be Phillips, wearing a hat, glasses and a mask, entering the store with a shopping cart.
In May last year, two armed people entered an ANZ bank in Te Kūiti, demanding cash before fleeing on a black motorcycle.
Police linked Phillips to the robbery months later, charging him with aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and unlawful possession of 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 of the alleged armed robbery showed a man on a motorcycle with a smaller accomplice sitting on the back. They were both dressed head to toe in black clothing. Police said the second robbery suspect was a woman.
Police say the Oct. 3 sighting was the most credible they had ever had.
The teenager who saw the family initially thought they were poachers, so they filmed the group as they walked through the hills.
One girl, whose face was covered with a mask, was told the property was private.
She said, ‘Yeah… sure.
Then the teenager asked: ‘Does anyone know you’re here?’
She said: No, just you.
An $80,000 reward was offered for information leading to the three children, but it expired after eight weeks with no results.