The mother of the missing Phillips children says family members are beside themselves with worry and believe someone is helping her ex-husband.
Tom Phillips and his family. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
The family who went missing for several weeks last year walked out of the bush near Marokopa in west Waitako in September.
Phillips was charged with wasting police time but failed to show up at his court appearance and went missing again with his kids.
They have not been seen for almost six months.
Police have revealed they have continued to receive reports of sightings of the family in the wider Waitomo area over the past few weeks.
Inspector Will Loughrin said in a statement "This information, like all leads that come through to the enquiry team, is being followed up on".
The scene at Marokopa in Waikato last year during the police search for the family. Photo: RNZ / Tom Kitchin
Police also used an aircraft to search for them last weekend.
A recent Ten 7 Aotearoa TV programme had prompted some of the reports, he said.
The mother of Ember, Jayda and Maverick said last September she was grateful for the public's help in searching for her children and their dad, Tom.
"It is hard to believe but we are now back in a similar situation, asking for the public's help and support to locate the children.
"As people can imagine, we are beside ourselves with worry and need more than anything to know the kids are well."
She said her children needed food, clothes, healthcare, warm shelter and things "to keep them occupied" and that "someone will be assisting with all those things".
"Our family, like the police, believe Tom and the kids are getting help from someone which has allowed them to stay off the grid for the past six months."
As part of efforts to put the children's wellbeing first, she was making a public plea, she said.
"If you know where Tom and the children are, please get that information to the police as soon as possible."
The family had been planning to mount a private search next month but had now reconsidered, she said.
"The last thing we want is for anyone to get hurt while looking for them and we want to thank those who had said they would help."
Loughrin said police would not be providing any specific details on the search area or any findings at present.
"While we are yet to locate the family, our message to the community remains unchanged - If you, or anyone you know is assisting Tom, do the right thing and get in touch with police.
"If you are sitting on information you think could make a difference, then we urge you to let us know."
He said it was an "upsetting and stressful time" for the family and police wanted to find them as soon as possible and ensure they were safe.
Ōtorohanga District Council mayor Max Baxter told Checkpoint as winter set in, concern escalated.
"The worry is, we're talking about three children. They're not particularly old, we know the bush is incredibly tough, we've seen the weather change considerably over the past few days - from frosty mornings to torrential rain with more torrential rain on the way. Not easy conditions even for adults to be living in."
It was very hard to locate people in the bush, he said.
"It's incredibly challenging, you think even in the likes of you have a small plane disappear into bush, how hard even that is to find - at times it's near impossible because the canopy closes over. If you haven't got open fires going and even if you don't know where to start looking, it becomes a huge challenge over many hundred hectares of bush land," he said.
He said you could walk within metres of someone in the bush and not be seen.
Baxter, like the children's mother, also believed someone was assisting Phillips.
"You can't hide out for that long and get those supplies, there must be someone out there offering them assistance.
"Please can you come forward and just say hey, enough's enough now and give the information to the police so the children can be taken out and be safe."
Anyone with information is asked to contact police via 105 and quote file number 211218/5611.
Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
