Stockholm Syndrome at play? Fugitive dad like 'Robin Hood' for 'misguided' community

New Zealand's most famous fugitive family - a father and his three children - were spotted in early October in the wild. Thomas Callam Phillips disappeared with his children, Ember, Maverick and Jayda – now 8, 9 and 11, three years back after a family split in December 2021.

This was the first time all four of them were spotted together ever since running away. A teenager who was out hunting wild pigs with a friend on their farm, saw them in Te Anga, on New Zealand's North Island. The 16-year-olds thought they were poachers and started filming them, telling them "This is private property".

A girl replied with a smirk, after which the boy asked her, "Does anyone know you're on here?" to which she said, "No, just you guys."

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Little did the boy know that he had come across a family on the run from authorities that hasbeen hard to pin down. Officials have placed a reward of $48,355 on them.

As soon as the police saw the video, they alerted other officials and scrambled a helicopter with heat-seeking cameras. But the hunt was called off after three days as they could not be found. Police are facing growing criticism over the failure to find the family.

A private investigator, Chris Budge told Daily Mail that the father is likely to be indulging in what is "probably a bit of Stockholm Syndrome".

"I don't think he's just a kidnapper but I think he has taken his kids because he wants to keep hold of them," he said.

Also Read:Fugitive father with three children spotted nearly three years after going missing

"He is probably telling them, 'If we go back you'll be taken away from me and I'll never ever see you again'," Budge added.

Budge, who is a former military policeman, has undertaken personal initiative several times to look for the family using thermal imaging equipment.

Fugitive father getting help, 'Robin Hood' for community

Several people also believe that a group of misguided sympathisers might be helping the family evade arrest. They likely support him and see him as a "hero" battling against the authorities to raise his children.

"What I think has been happening is that Tom has a little bit of a network of people who think he's Robin Hood," Budge said.

Demands for the use of indigenous trackers and even Special Forces to join the hunt are being made. Few others think Philips should be offered an amnesty from prosecution, especially because he has with them young girls.

"The girls are now heading into their teenage years and they are going to need stuff. I don't believe that's going to be all happening in the bush," Budge said.

Meanwhile, the children's mother, Cat, has lost all faith in authorities and believes finding the missing children is "out of the police's league".

She also believes her daughter might be trying to get a message across when she spoke with the teenage boys. "Is that a cry for help?" Cat said on a podcast produced by Radio New Zealand.

"Is that, 'Does anybody know that we're here? Is anyone coming for us?' We don't get to hear the tone of her voice but to me, that's what I think," she added.

She also believes the rural community, where his family has lived and farmed for generations, is helping them. "One hundred per cent somebody is helping them. Somebody is supplying them or just inadvertently leaving things in an accessible place," she said.