The police have pointed the finger at Phillips for several crimes, including a bank robbery and firearms.

Many have questioned why the missing family still hasn’t been found, and some have called for the military to be brought in to find Phillips and his three children.

Burdett told A news item a skilled and neutral negotiator could approach anyone in the Marakopa community who helped Phillips.

“It’s someone with a delicate touch.”

The former negotiator said it would be beneficial to have someone who had been through a lot, like himself, and who would understand what it was like to come back to the real world.

“It’s not about me, it’s about getting a safe finish,” Burdett shared Herald.

“It seems some people are saying I’m doing this for the highlights. That’s not what it’s about. I’ve got plenty of other things to do.

“That’s the only way it’s going to be resolved.”

Waitomo District Mayor John Robertson said 1 News there had been no indication that Phillips wanted to come out of the bush and surrender.

“If someone with some mana could help bring this to an end, that would be the best solution we could get,” he said.

Last month’s bombshell The sighting was the first by Phillips and all three children since they disappeared in December 2021.

Phillips has remained on the run despite this pleas from Jayda, Maverick and Ember’s mother Catan increased police presence around Marokopa in June, and the now lapsed offer of an $80,000 reward for information leading to the family’s safe return.

An arrest warrant was first issued for Phillips on 9 December 2021, after he failed to appear in court on charges of wasting police resources.

The charges were brought after the then 34-year-old disappeared with her children from a beach near Marokopa in September 2021 – the discovery of his body on the coast sparked a major search on land and at sea – before he returned almost three weeks later, saying he needed “time out”.

Since his latest disappearance, Phillips is alleged to have been involved in several crimes, including robbing an ANZ bank and shooting at a supermarket worker in Te Kūiti last May – leading police to charge him with aggravated robbery, grievous bodily harm and unlawful possession of a firearm.

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