Bitter rift erupts in missing teen Pheobe Bishop's family after bombshell revelations from her aunt
Pheobe Bishop's family has hit back at her aunt who went on TV to share disturbing texts from the missing teen, and blasted her claims about the youngster's upbringing.
Caz Johnson - sister of Pheobe's mum Kylie Johnson - made her allegations about the 17-year-old's tumultuous family life on Ten's The Project on Wednesday.
Pheobe was last seen on May 15 leaving the rundown share house she shared with housemates James Wood and Tanika Bromley in Gin Gin, near Bundaberg.
The pair have since been charged with unrelated weapons offences.
No charges have been laid over Pheobe's disappearance and Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Mr Wood and Ms Bromley were involved in her disappearance.
Her aunt revealed Pheobe texted out of the blue on April 26 to say her mother Kylie Johnson had told her to 'get out' but didn't want to talk about the matter as it was a long story.
'Up s*** creek but s*** happens,' Pheobe wrote, in the texts shown on Ten. 'I'm flying the f*** out of here to see my boyfriend.
'If it goes to plan I'm not coming back. I can't do s*** anymore. I need to get out of this hell hole.'
Caz Johnson also told The Project host Waleed Aly that Pheobe had an unsettled childhood, regularly changing schools and having to deal with new stepdads coming in and out of her life.
But Pheobe's mum Kylie Johnson reacted immediately on social media after The Project segment aired, saying her sister knew 'nothing' about Pheobe.
Caz Johnson 'hasn't spoken to my children or myself for the last 13-14 years,' she wrote.
'She knows nothing about Pheobe and who she was as a person,' she added.
'I'm seriously so disappointed in the media, they are supposed to be providing the community and Australia correct information.'
Pheobe's sister Kaylea Bishop also blasted her aunt's claims on social media.
'We didn't have stepdads coming in and out of our life,' she wrote.
'We weren't constantly moving to and from NSW, and last of all our mother has never once used her mental health as a reason to NOT be a mother like YOU have.
'You know NOTHING about my sister, nor brothers and you're only running my mother into the ground because you were proven not fit as a parent BY THE COURT for custody over a young man who by the way is thriving all THANKS TO OUR MOTHER!'
In Caz Johnson's interview, Aly had asked the aunt whether the messages from Pheobe initially raised any red flags.
Caz Johnson recalled being baffled as she hadn't heard from her niece so long.
'I'm like, why, why all of a sudden something must have happened, why are you getting in contact now?' she said.
'Because it's been so long that I've spoken to her, and she doesn't say why she actually wanted to talk. It was just strange.
'I was more puzzled at the start then when the conversation got more into it, it was like something's really happening.
'Because Kylie would never stop talking to her kids or kick her kids out.
'Then all of a sudden, she (Pheobe) had to get out. She had no one to talk to, turn to.'
Ms Johnson admitted that she was estranged from her sister Kylie.
She described her niece Pheobe as a 'loudmouth' who 'has to have things her way'.
'She was always moving from Queensland to NSW and backwards and forwards,' the aunt said.
'She was always changing schools. She had so many different stepdads in and out of her life. She never had no one that she could really speak to.
'They grew up in filth. I have no disrespect for anyone because I grew up in housing commission, but they lived like a typical housing commission family.'
Aly asked Ms Johnson the question on most Australians' minds: 'Do you think police are going to find Pheobe?'
'Honestly, I don't know, but I'm certain she won't be found alive,' Ms Johnson said.
'It's sad to say, but I'm just being honest.
'They wouldn't call it a homicide if it wasn't to do with foul play or something else.'
Pheobe's housemates have told detectives they drove her to Bundaberg Airport for an 8.30am flight to Brisbane and then on to Perth, where she planned to meet up with her boyfriend.
They claimed to have dropped the teen off at the airport in Bromley's 2011 silver Hyundai ix35 hatchback. No CCTV of her at the airport has been found.
Police launched an intense search for Pheobe in a nearby bushland area, scouring it for several days with cadaver dogs - but on Wednesday, cops confirmed they had suspended the search.
'The search at the Good Night Scrub National Park has been suspended... Investigations are ongoing and police are continuing to run out several lines of inquiry,' a police spokesperson said.
'In addition to investigative work, physical searches will continue as needed and as information is provided.
'The greater Gin Gin area remains the focus of the investigation.'
Forensic experts have also poured over the Hyundai and the home in Gin Gin with both declared as crime scenes.
Police revealed on Wednesday night that Wood, 34, was charged with unrelated weapons offences, one day after Bromley was bailed on similar charges.
'Police have charged a man with weapons offences, after police allegedly located a shortened firearm and ammunition during a search of a grey Hyundai ix35 and a Gin Gin home, both of which had been declared crime scenes for an unrelated matter,' a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
Wood was charged with one count each of unlawful possession of weapons Category D/H/R (short firearm) and authority to possess explosives.
Wood was issued with a notice to appear before Bundaberg Magistrates Court on June 13.
Wood's partner Tanika Bromley has also been charged with unrelated alleged offences over weapons located in the car.
She arrived at Gin Gin police station for a check-in as part of her bail conditions for her firearms charges on Wednesday.
Hooded Bromley entered the station through a back entrance, with two police officers appearing to assist her in getting in and out of the station.
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