Memorial, vigil for missing Bundaberg teenager Pheobe Bishop as community unites in grief

RNZ News

11 hours ago

By
Nikki Sorbello
and
Grace Whiteside
, ABC
Flowers, photographs and notes at the end of Airport Drive in Bundaberg, in memory of missing teenager Pheobe Bishop.
Photo:
ABC Wide Bay / Scott Lamond
Flowers, photographs and handwritten messages line a busy street at the entrance of Bundaberg, a coastal city known for turtles, sugar cane, and rum.
It's not a welcome to the town, 350km north of Brisbane, but the focal point of grief of a community mourning the loss of 17-year-old Pheobe Bishop.
Flowers, photographs and notes at the end of Airport Drive in Bundaberg, laid in memory of missing teenager Pheobe Bishop.
Photo:
ABC Wide Bay / Scott Lamond
For three weeks, Pheobe's smiling face has saturated social media and missing posters throughout the region after she went missing on 15 May, propelled by a family desperate for answers.
As the memorial grows in the last place it was believed Pheobe was seen, a candlelit vigil is planned for Sunday night in Gin Gin, where Pheobe lived, 50km south-west of Bundaberg.
Photo:
ABC News
The outpouring of grief and support for Pheobe's family comes as police confirm they
found human remains
in thick bushland more than an hour's drive south-west of Bundaberg.
The discovery on Friday came after Pheobe's former housemates, James Wood, 34, and Tanika Bromley, 33, were both charged with one count each of murder and two counts each of interfering with a corpse.
They were not required to appear in court or enter a plea when the matter was mentioned in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Friday.
Both matters were adjourned until 11 August.
The Bundaberg memorial sits at the end of Airport Drive, the first location police searched for Pheobe.
It was here that Wood and Bromley told police they had dropped the teenager on the morning of 15 May for Pheobe to catch a flight to Western Australia via Brisbane.
But she never made it inside the terminal.
Bundaberg Mayor Helen Blackburn says the community is 'reeling'.
Photo:
ABC Wide Bay / James Taylor
Bundaberg Mayor Helen Blackburn said the Bundaberg community was "reeling".
"It's important for the community to come together, it's important for them to know that they are there for one another and it's certainly important for them to grieve," Blackburn said.
"It's a very, very sad time for the family and for the community but we are resilient and we are going to get through this, but we will only do it if we do it together."
Wide Bay Burnett Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield said forensic examination on Saturday confirmed remains found at about 2.30pm on Friday were human, with further work needed to confirm the identity.
"We always wanted to bring Pheobe home and we believe this is the first step in that process," Mansfield said.
Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield says police will continue searching for Pheobe.
Photo:
ABC Wide Bay / James Taylor
Mansfield said the body was found unburied in bushland 9km from the initial Good Night Scrub National Park search area that police scoured for five days.
Cadaver dogs were bought in, with telecommunications data leading police to the revised search area.
Earlier on Friday, Mansfield described the three-week investigation as "complex and protracted" with more than 100 police officers involved.
Police have received more than 200 calls from the public.
Police and SES searched Good Night Scrub National Park for five days.
Photo:
ABC News / Lawrence Jeffcoat
"We believe Pheobe was murdered and her body was moved," he said.
"We will allege that Pheobe was
moved more than once."
Mansfield confirmed police had seized Wood's four-wheel-drive vehicle on Thursday night.
Police initially focused their search on the Bundaberg area, specifically near the airport, as they tried to locate Pheobe or the luggage she was believed to have been carrying.
One of two crime scenes established six days after Pheobe Bishop went missing.
Photo:
ABC Wide Bay / Grace Whiteside
It was not until Wednesday, 21 May - six days after Pheobe went missing - that police declared her disappearance suspicious and announced they were looking at two crime scenes.
The first was the Gin Gin house where Pheobe was living with Wood and Bromley, where a number of deceased dogs were also found.
The second crime scene was Bromley's car, a grey Hyundai ix35 in which Pheobe was believed to have been travelling to Bundaberg.
Two days later, on Friday, 23 May - eight days after Pheobe was last seen - police started what would be a five-day search of the Good Night Scrub National Park.
Mansfield said "telephone data" led police to search the dense bushland, more than an hour's drive southwest of Bundaberg.
"It is evidence enough to say that we believe that the accused and Pheobe were there," he said.
Human remains detection specialist dog Rio was involved in the search at Good Night Scrub National Park.
Photo:
ABC Wide Bay / Grace Whiteside
For five days, police used drones, police divers and cadaver dogs - trained to detect human remains - to search the area.
Pheobe's body was not found, but items of interest were collected from the bushland and sent for forensic testing.
Police also believe some items were removed from the area before their search began.
Pheobe's disappearance was described as out of character from the outset.
Pheobe Bishop's family have kept the case in the public eye.
Photo:
Supplied / Queensland Police Service
Through statements via police and daily social media posts, the teenager's family has begged the community for information relating to the disappearance of their beloved "Phee Phee".
Posting on social media, Pheobe's mother, Kylie Johnson, said that their world had been "shattered".
"I didn't think my heart could break any more than it did when you went missing, or when charges were laid, but this!
"This is ripping me apart."
Pheobe's sister, Kaylea Bishop, spoke to the media outside the court on Friday.
Pheobe Bishop's sister, Kaylea, spoke outside court on Friday.
Photo:
ABC Wide Bay / Grace Whiteside
"She was loved; she is missed dearly," she said.
The police investigation is still ongoing, with police still appealing for information about the movements of the grey Hyundai ix35, registration 414 EW3, around the greater Gin Gin area between 15 and 18 May.
- ABC News