Sightings of Tom Phillips on Wednesday evening are the first confirmed of him since he went missing with his three children in 18 months, police say.
Inspector Will Loughrin said reports came in on Wednesday night that Phillips had been seen, alone, in a brown/ bronze 2003 Toyota Hilux flat-deck ute on State Highway 31 in the Kāwhia area. The vehicle was stolen, police said.
The first sighting was south of Te Awamutu at approximately 12.30pm yesterday and the vehicle was heading in the direction of Hamilton, Loughrin said.
"There was also a sighting of Tom at the Bunnings Te Rapa carpark at about 4pm." Loughrin said the person who reported seeing Phillips in the Bunnings carpark was known to Phillips.
"They were able to provide us with a fairly detailed account of what occurred."
"Following that, the same ute we believe was driven by Tom Phillips was sighted in the Kawhia area at 6.45pm."
He said police were alerted to that vehicle because it had been involved in an altercation between Tom and a member of the community on Kawhia Road. Loughrin was not prepared to give further details about the nature of the altercation
"That altercation led to that person ringing police ... Police responded immediately, however, the vehicle was not located.
"As part of the police response, the Eagle helicopter out of Tamaki Makaurau was also deployed." However, the vehicle of interest was not located at the time, Loughrin said.
In all, there were three sightings of Phillips. Loughrin asked anyone who had information about the Toyota ute he had described to report any current sightings to 111.
"We need to find that vehicle.
"It's a real sense that we have a really good bit of information, but again, we need the public's support to find that vehicle."
The sighting was "incredibly encouraging, and we are imploring the public to support us with finding the car of interest". Loughrin said the police would release images of the vehicle shortly.
Police were renewing appeals for information about the case no matter how small, and were particularly wanting information on any sightings of the ute, Loughrin said.
There was also a sighting of Tom Phillips in a bronze ute at the Bunnings Te Rapa carpark at about 4pm on 2 August. Photo: Supplied / Police
Police believed members of the public were helping Phillips. "I urge those that are supporting Tom Phillips to come forward and speak to police now," Loughrin said.
"We've always maintained he's had support from people that've shared his view." He did not want to speculate on how many people may have been assisting Phillips.
Phillips' children Jayda, Maverick and Ember were not seen yesterday, police said. Jayda was 10, Maverick was 8 and Ember was 7, Loughrin said. Phillips was 36.
"Tom and his three children, Jayda, Maverick and Ember, have been missing since December 2021. Since then, police have worked on this inquiry with a sole focus of bringing the children home.
"We've received numerous pieces of information over the past 18 months, which have all been followed up on.
"We want to bring the children home, and bring them back to their grandparents, their mother, their siblings who've not seen them for 18 months. The family are desperately missing them."
Inspector Will Loughrin speaks to media after a reported sighting of Tom Phillips, who was reported missing along with his three children, on 18 January 2022. Photo: RNZ/ Nick Monro
Loughrin said Phillips was "concealing his identity".
However, the investigation team had been able to put a number of things together to satisfy police that it was Phillips who had been in possession of the vehicle of interest last night, Loughrin said.
"He has changed his appearance," Loughrin said. "We will release further information as it comes to hand around what Tom's updated appearance may look like."
He urged Phillips to "do the right thing".
"Bring the kids home, there are family - his family, a mother - who are desperate to see their children. We want to bring this to a close. Tom, we need you to come in and speak to us and resolve this; 18 months is too long and the kids need to see their grandparents, their siblings, their mother."
He said police continued to speak to a large number of people who knew Phillips. He said members of the community should call 111 if they saw Phillips.
"We want people to provide us with that information rather than taking it into their own hands. I urge them to ring police immediately with any sightings."
He would not comment on whether he considered Phillips to be dangerous.