Mystery of missing Pheobe Bishop that has gripped Australia: How teen vanished without trace after being given a lift to airport by housemate - as he breaks his silence and is taken into custody

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

The disappearance of 17-year-old Pheobe Bishop three weeks ago continues to grip Australia, with the teenager's housemate arrested hours after he broke his silence to reveal details about the last time he saw her.
James Wood, 34, is being questioned by police in connection with the 17-year-old's disappearance after she decided to move out of the house they shared in rural Queensland.
Wood and his partner Tanika Bromley, who had taken the teenager into their home in the weeks before her disappearance, drove the youngster to Bundaberg Airport on May 15.
The teen, who lived with the couple after claiming she was kicked out by her mother, was due to travel to visit her boyfriend in Western Australia after texting her aunt in late April that she wanted to 'get out of this hell hole'.
But she never made it to the plane, with no trace of the teenager or her luggage and no activity on her phone or bank accounts since she left Wood and Bromley's car.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia just hours before his arrest, Wood described a tense and emotional morning before Pheobe got out of his car in an area adjacent to the airport.
Wood was taken into custody on Wednesday, with no charges initially brought against him. His arrest came shortly after police announced they were calling off the search for Pheobe.
MailOnline is not suggesting Wood was involved in Pheobe's disappearance, and likewise does not suggest Ms Bromley played any role in it either.
Wood is understood to have been living out of his car when he was arrested, with the Hyundai he drove Pheobe to the airport in seized by police before being returned a few days later.
His proprty in the town of Gin Gin was sealed off and combed by detectives after Pheobe's disappearance, with forensics teams reportedly finding 11 dead dogs among the piles of rubbish.
Speaking to the Mail from his car just hours before his arrest, Wood described how Pheobe had been excited for days about visiting her boyfriend, but teenage nerves and 'heightened emotions' turned the morning into chaos.
Wood claimed that at their home in the rural Gin Gin that morning, Pheobe was stressing about what to pack, what to wear and making the flight on time.
'She wanted to get up at 5am but I said I wasn't waking up that early, it's not that far.
'Then she slept through her alarm and when she got up she was furious.
'She gets like that sometimes and usually we can calm her down but she was escalating and then she smashed the TV,' Wood claimed.
'After that she started shouting about not having anything to wear and she was so worked up about seeing her boyfriend for the first time and she wanted to look good.
'And I get it, she is a teenager and she thinks he may be the love of her life, so I understand.
'I grabbed some grey brand new trackies I had and I threw them to her and said wear these and first she said she didn't want to take them as they were mine but then she said 'OK' and put them on.'
Wood claimed emotional outbursts were not unusual for the 17-year-old, but they had become more frequent in the weeks leading up to her trip.
'She does have a temper but she is not a bad kid, she is actually a great kid, she is kind and smart and has good manners but she was living with us because she couldn't live at home anymore,' he said.
'If I had a little sister and all she had was her car to live in then I would want someone to help her.
'I had known her for almost a year when she moved in with us four months ago and Tanika worked with her as a carer so they knew each other well.'
While Pheobe is said to have been worried about the their departure being late, Wood said there was still plenty of time to make her flight from Bundaberg, which was around 10am.
He quickly ran to the local IGA to grab energy drinks and returned to the house around 8am.
After loading a large duffle bag - 'almost the size of her' - into the car alongside his dog, they set off for the airport, with Bromley driving and Pheobe in the back seat.
Minutes later, about 8.30am, before they'd left Gin Gin for Bundaberg, Pheobe called her boyfriend to let him know she was on the way.
Daily Mail Australia previously reported the boyfriend claimed he heard shouting during the call.
The boyfriend later told a friend: 'They were both yelling at her and I couldn't really hear her.'
Wood doesn't dispute the claim and said that Phoebe was still complaining she didn't have time to do her make up and was worried she was going to miss the flight.
'We just wanted to get her checked in and thought if we can just get there she will calm down.
'Tanika grabbed her makeup bag next to her and passed it back and told her to take anything she needed.
'Her plane was stopping in Brisbane and we told her that the airport had everything she needed and she can take her time and do the makeup in the toilets.
'But she wanted to look nice for the flight first and wouldn't let it go.'
As they approached Airport Drive, less than a kilometre from the terminal, the argument continued, Wood said.
Wood told Bromley to pull the car over and they got out and walked a distance away to give Pheobe some space to collect herself.
'We wanted to give her five minutes - give her her own space to do what she needed to do,' he said.
'We walked to the end, it was maybe five minutes, maybe it was three minutes or maybe it was eight but that's about how long we were gone.'
Wood said when he returned to the car, Pheobe and her bag were gone.
He assumed that she had walked the short remaining distance to the terminal. The couple then drove toward the airport to check, he said, but they didn't see her along the way.
By the time they reached airport drive, less then 1km from their destination Wood says the arguing hadn't subsided so he told Bromley to pull over into a layby
'You wouldn't miss her carrying that thing, if you drove past her and saw her, you'd notice,' he said.
Wood claims the pair then waited outside the small terminal for some time but did not go inside.
'I said to Tanika if I go in it will just escalate things again but she said if she went in it would look like we were parenting her.'
They then decided to check surrounding roads in case she had walked off in another direction.
'We drove around and as far as we thought she could have made it and then drove a bit further in case.'
Wood claimed this would have been the moment when CCTV footage picked up his car heading towards the Good Night Scrub National Park.
Wood insisted that he did not hurt Pheobe and assumed she had boarded the flight.
He said it was not until the following afternoon when he received a text message from Pheobe's sister that he realised she was missing.
Thursday May 15
It began when Pheobe failed to check in for her flight from Bundaberg via Brisbane to Perth, where she was planning to meet her boyfriend.
She was being driven there by her housemates, Tanika Bromley, 33, and James Wood, 34, in Tanika's 14-year-old silver Hyundai ix35 SUV.
She had been living with them at their ramshackle home after recently moving out of her mother's family farmhouse just outside of town.
Pheobe used her phone for the last time during the trip in a call to her boyfriend at 8.30am, who later told a friend he was unable to hear anything before the call cut out.
He later revealed how he waited for hours at Perth Airport for her to arrive, but flight after flight touched down without her.
Friday May 16
When she failed to appear in Perth, the alert was raised and on Friday, Pheobe was declared a missing person.
Mother Kylie Johnson made her first public appeal for help in the search and work began on sending out hundreds of flyers around town.
Her worried mum insisted that the teen's disappearance was out of character.
Bromley and Wood told police they dropped her off with her luggage at the airport.
Pheobe was described as carrying luggage and wearing a green tank top and grey tracksuit pants.
Saturday May 17
Housemate James Wood told a friend he had been printing flyers and admitted 'cops basically asked me if I did her in or hurt her at all...cause I was one of the last people to see her alive.'
Wood is divorced and only moved to Gin Gin from Emerald, 500km west in Queensland's Central Highlands, around six months ago after the end of his marriage.
Bromley is a mother of two and Gin Gin local with family believed to be in the Canberra area. The couple are said to have moved in together earlier this year.
Police questioned both over Pheobe and released them without any charges in connection with her disappearance.
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that Wood or Bromley were involved in Pheobe's disappearance.
Wood also took to social media offering his 5m tinnie fishing boat as a reward for any information about Pheobe's whereabouts.
Monday May 20
Police searched Airport Drive but couldn't find any of Pheobe's belongings. They also failed to locate any CCTV of Pheobe at Bundaberg Airport.
A nearby resident supplied CCTV footage of the Hyundai allegedly on Samuels Rd, just west of the airport, around 10.30am, two hours after Pheobe was due at the airport at 8.30am.
Tuesday May 21
Reports emerge that Pheobe may have had an argument while being given a lift to the airport and was 'kicked out' of the car.
Wednesday May 22
Detectives sealed off Bromley and Wood's rented Gin Gin property, and officers in forensics gear could be seen poring over the house, just off the main road in the centre of town.
They were also seen combing areas around Samuels Rd, including a search beyond the perimeter of a local dump.
Bromley's Hyundai was also seized by police, with forensic experts examining it at a facility in Bundaberg.
Pheobe's last posts to social media before her disappearance also came to light, including an eerie March post to TikTok where she described having a conversation with her younger self.
She said she did not 'see nor talk' to her mother any more 'but it's better like this'.
Pheobe also wrote that she had been 'in and out' of home for years, but 'this time we're not going back'.
The first reports of dead dogs found at the property emerge.
Thursday May 22
Daily Mail Australia identified that Wood and Bromley were the couple Pheobe had been living with at the Gin Gin house.
The couple's neighbour, Shari Loughland, said Pheobe had only been living there 'for a few weeks, up to a month or two'.
Living next door to the couple had become 'horrible' because it was cluttered with rubbish and there had been noise from parties and a howling dog, Ms Loughland said.
A stomach-churning stench surrounded the home and Ms Loughland said the remains of up to 11 dead dogs had been found at the property during police inquiries.
Daily Mail Australia also revealed Bromley was on bail and facing unrelated charges for possessing a sawn-off shotgun and a flick knife in public.
She had been charged back on February 24 after police allegedly discovered the weapons on her on the Capricorn Highway in Emerald, Queensland.
Friday May 23
Pheobe's despairing mum made an impassioned plea for the teen to get in touch.
'As each day goes by, it gets harder to breathe. I feel numb, not knowing where you are or if you're okay,' Ms Johnson said.
The police search has now expanded into new rural areas for any trace of the teenager, and called in divers to search local waterways.
Detective Acting Inspector Ryan Thompson confirmed that officers are focusing on various locations for any signs that could lead to Pheobe's whereabouts.
'We are searching for any evidence or information that could help us find Pheobe,' Detective Thompson said.
Saturday May 24
Police and SES volunteers began conducting a land, water and aerial search of the Good Night Scrub National Park, 40 minutes south of Gin Gin.
Pheobe's final posts to social media before she disappeared were revealed and suggested the teen had fallen out with her mother, and would not return home.
Ms Johnson addressed her daughter directly in a post on Facebook, which also featured a child's drawing of a rainbow and the words 'thinking of you'.
'Phee Phee we won't stop looking for you 'til your home. I urge everyone in Gin Gin to keep their porch lights on tonight and guide our girl home,' she wrote.
Sunday May 25
The search for Pheobe took a dark twist as detectives brought in cadaver dogs in their search of the scrubland park.
A former friend revealed she had cut off all contact with one of Pheobe's housemates in recent months over his behaviour.
Monday May 26
Detectives said they had recovered items potentially linked to their investigation - but they also believed some evidence may have been moved from the park before they arrived.
Police also revealed Bromley had been charged with further unrelated weapons offences, after they allegedly found a shortened firearm, replica handguns and ammunition during their search of the Hyundai.
The 33-year-old had been arrested at Milbank the day before and spent a night in jail before she appeared in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Monday.
During the appearance, Magistrate John McInnes told Bromley she appeared to have an 'unhealthy interest in in short firearms'.
But he added that she was a victim of domestic violence and 'I suspect you might not be the prime mover here'.
Bromley was granted bail with strict conditions, including that she not see Wood, and that she check in at the Gin Gin police station three days a week.
Bromley's vehicle has been spotted with what appeared to be deliberately altered number plates from 414-EW3 to 474-BW8
Tuesday May 27
Bromley's Hyundai was released by police and was spotted in Bundaberg, sporting a makeshift fake rego plate and the Hyundai logo altered to look like a Toyota symbol.
Using tape, white paint and a permanent marker, the numbers of the car's Queensland registration 414-EW3 had been tweaked to be a fake NSW plate 474 BW8.
Wednesday May 28
Police suspended their search of Good Night Scrub National park, but said their probe was ongoing and they remained focused on the greater Gin Gin area.
Bromley also visited the local police station as part of her bail conditions, trying to hide her face and shunning questions from reporters.
That night, police confirmed that Wood had also been charged with unrelated weapons offences over the guns allegedly found in the Hyundai when they searched it.
Thursday May 29
Daily Mail Australia witnessed Wood being confronted by an irate local as he slept in the driver's seat of his car under a tree in a local park.
Wood appeared to have been living in the Hyundai since police released it to him.
'He's here, he's hiding here,' the local yelled, prodding the 34-year-old with a beach umbrella before he sped away.
His bizarre public appearance came as Pheobe had been missing for two weeks, and a bitter rift erupted among members of the teen's family.
Pheobe's mother Kylie and her sister Kaylea 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 Network Ten's The Project on Wednesday night.
Her aunt revealed Pheobe sent text messages out of the blue on April 26 to say her mother had told her to 'get out', but didn't want to talk about the matter as it was 'a long story'.
'I'm flying the f*** out of here to see my boyfriend,' she wrote, in texts shown on Ten.
'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.'
Daily Mail Australia revealed that Bromley was once good mates with Pheobe's mum Kylie and even worked for her NDIS support company
Caz claimed 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 mother reacted immediately on social media after The Project segment aired, saying her sister knew 'nothing' about her daughter.
Saturday May 31
Daily Mail Australia revealed that Bromley was once good mates with Pheobe's mum Kylie and even worked for her NDIS support company.
Friends said the pair fell out, with Ms Johnson making Bromley redundant from her role at Smileys Support Coordination last year.
On the unrelated weapons charges, Wood is due to appear in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on June 13, while Bromley is due to appear on June 23.
Pheobe's mother admitted the 'worst case-scenario could have happened' in a harrowing video released by Queensland Police.
She begged the public to share any information about her disappearance with police as Kylie Johnson's voice wavered in front of the camera.
'This investigation will not be over for me until we find Pheobe,' she said.
'The search for Pheobe goes on. I still hold hope that Pheobe will come home but I have to consider the possibility that she also won't.
'If the worst-case scenario has happened, I at least need to know where she's resting. I need to know where Pheobe is.
'My daughter wouldn't just disappear. Someone knows something.
'As a mum, I'm asking you to come forward with your information.
'Please speak to police if you have any information, big or small. You can report information to police anonymously, via PoliceLink or CrimeStoppers.'
Sunday June 1
Pheobe's mum posted statement online furiously hitting back after her public plea for help to find her daughter was ripped apart by trolls.
'People wanted a statement, they got one yet still question me as a mother,' her post read.
'I'm sorry that I'm currently an emotional wreck, trying to protect our other children from the media and the trolls, trying to continue to breathe while your world shatters around you!
'If anyone would like to be in this position please step in and show me how to do this.
'Show me what a perfect parent looks like? Show me how to navigate this? Show me how to deal with the unknown and the uncertainty?
'Show me how to use perfect language and emotion in a situation that NO parent ever wants to be in?'