Police release photos of the site where New Zealand Bushman hid the children

Police published the first images of what they believe is one of the many campsites, where the father of New Zealand for years hid with his three children.

Two children of Tom Philips were found on the site in the Waikata region on Monday, a few hours after he was killed in a shootout with police.

Police found them with the help of a third child who was with Philipp when he died. They said the kids are “doing well”, but it would take time to recover after the trials.

Shortly before Christmas in 2021, Philips disappeared with his children – Jaida, Maverik and Amber, then eight, seven and five respectively. Police believe he did so after losing legal care of them.

Philipp had “nothing to do” to the safety of children and “quite literally put (them) to the detriment,” said Police Commissioner Richard Cambers on Tuesday, adding that they are now in care for the authorities.

The campsite also found firearms and ammunition, surrounded by dense vegetation. Two quadrilateral bicycles in the picture are parked among the trees.

By the time the authorities arrived on the site, the search for two children had been almost 12 hours.

In the first hours of Monday, police responded to a report on an attempt to steal agriculture in a small town of Piopio. And exactly there they entered the shootout with Mr. Philipp. After Philips fired him with a powerful rifle. Mr. Chambers said the police “had absolutely no doubt”, she was intended to kill the officer.

Mr. Chambers said the injured officer survived a number of operations, but still has a long road to recovery.

The Philips case has swept the new Zealand since the day it became a fugitive almost four years ago, and although Monday’s events believe the secret attracted to the end, the police were still looking for answers.

They are trying to find out how Philips is believed to be evading the capture in the late 30s this year, despite the nationwide search and numerous observations – and, most importantly, how it was able to access firearms.

Authorities on Tuesday did not address the journalists’ questions about whether there are mothers known in the news as CAT, and members of the Philipp family in connection with children.

“Our priority is to make sure that these children are looked after, and that there is a careful plan, and everyone is involved at the right time,” said Police Minister Mark Mitchell.

“They saw and were subjected to the fact that children in our country should not be.”

Warwick Morch from the Ministry of New Zealand added: “These children will be any help or help they usually need.”

On Monday, the mother of the children quotes local media RNZ that she was “deeply relieved” that “this test ended” after breathing the children “every day nearly four years”.

But she continued: “We are upset how events unfold today.”