1 Oct 2021

Sister of missing man, children emotional at their return

From First Up, 5:14 am on 1 October 2021

Tom Phillips' sister says he's apologised to his family for the ordeal he put them through by disappearing with his three children for 17 days. Mr Phillips was last seen by family at Marokopa in rural Waikato on the 11th of September with the children aged 5, 6 and 8. His vehicle was found on a beach the following day sparking a huge search and rescue operation and fears they'd been washed out to sea by a freak wave. But yesterday, they wandered through the door of Mr Phillips parents' house and revealed they'd been camping in the bush. Tom Phillips' sister, Rozzi Pethybridge, described the emotional reunion to our reporter Jordan Bond.