EXCLUSIVE Gut-wrenching moment Pheobe Bishop's gran learns the missing teen's grisly fate - as she lifts the lid on the bitter rift that has ripped apart her family
Pheobe Bishop's grandmother burst into tears and wept uncontrollably as she was told the missing teen's remains had been found, before revealing new details on the devastating rift that is tearing her family apart.
Queensland Police confirmed on Tuesday that the human remains found on June 6 in Good Night Scrub National Park outside of Gin Gin, near Bundaberg in central Queensland, were those of the murdered 17-year-old.
Karen Johnson - mother of Pheobe's mum, Kylie Johnson - was overwhelmed with emotion when Daily Mail Australia broke the tragic news at her home in Windsor, north-west of Sydney.
The shattered grandmother seemed unaware her granddaughter's body had been located almost two weeks ago, before they were formally identified by post-mortem forensic testing this week.
She begged for more information on whether police had 'found Pheobe yet' and if her body was 'still complete' before she sobbed as the heartbreaking reality sank in.
Pheobe's mother had been informed of the grim development 24 hours earlier before it was made public on Tuesday, Daily Mail Australia can reveal.
But the grandmother said she had no idea and lifted the lid on the shocking breakdown in relations between herself and her daughters.
The rift was exposed in public with an ongoing vicious war of words between Kylie and her estranged sister Carolea Johnson after Carolea went on TV to slam her sister over Pheobe's upbringing.
On Tuesday, Karen admitted: 'I don't really speak to Kylie that often.
'She is in her own little world. I feel like I am this person that is not in their circle... does that make sense?
'Kylie is in her own world. She has her business, she has everything going on, and I don't think she knows what to do.'
Pheobe went missing on May 15 on her way to Bundaberg Regional Airport, where she was due to catch a flight to Western Australia to link up with her Karlgoorlie-based boyfriend, Levi Jones.
Police ruled her disappearance a homicide, and charged her Gin Gin housemates James Wood and Tanika Bromley with murder and two counts each of interfering with a corpse.
The couple are remanded in custody ahead of an August 11 court date.
Carolea fanned the flames of the family rift with a series of fiery statements about Pheobe and her mother when she appeared on Network Ten's The Project.
Carolea appeared on the show in silhouette to leak private texts from Pheobe - sent about three weeks before she went missing - in which she described her living situation as a 'hellhole'.
Kylie immediately hit back online and accused her estranged sister of knowing nothing about her daughter or their family.
This week, Carolea sparked another fierce response from Kylie for questioning her claims that Pheobe had a disability.
Kylie had praised her late daughter for never letting herself be defined by her 'disability' - thought to be borderline personality disorder.
But Carolea, who referred to herself as the 'aunty by blood', insisted in a Facebook post that Pheobe ' had no disabilities but [was] a child who was out of control '.
The comments triggered a furious reply from Pheobe's mum.
'I'm sorry but blood doesn't make you family,' she wrote back in a furious Facebook post. 'Showing up, being present, and unconditional love makes you family.
'Please refrain from referencing my daughter as your family. She may be blood related, however you know nothing about her.'
On Instagram, Carolea used her bio to take another blast at her relatives, posting: 'No I will not back Kylie, [other siblings] Cristal or Troy, or the person who had us.
'They can all rot in hell.'
Grandmother Karen was visibly upset when asked about her daughters' war of words, and revealed she has not escaped the anger.
She confirmed Carolea's words about 'the person who had us' was directed at her.
'I don't talk to Carolea,' she admitted. 'Me and her had a big falling out.'
Karen revealed that Kylie has texted her occasionally in the past month, and recalled the heartbreaking moment she contacted her to tell her Pheobe was missing.
'I was shopping at Woolies and Kylie rang me and she said, "Mum... Pheobe's missing",' she said as she began to sob once more.
'And I thought... yeah... but then it hit me. It really hit me'.
Karen said she saw Pheobe 'once every one to three years' on family trips to Kylie's home state of New South Wales.
But she still wanted to know why her granddaughter had been living in squalid conditions at Wood and Bromley's trash-strewn Gin Gin rental home.
'I am disgusted that that's where she was living... living in that condition,' she said. 'Why was she? I would love to know.'
It's understood that last year, Pheobe's older sister Kaylea, now 18, was looking for a home for herself and her sibling to rent 'due to family circumstances'.
Karen, despite living 1300km away from her Gin Gin family members, wished the apparently troubled teens had come to stay at her modest Windsor unit.
'Pheobe knew she could always come down. My door was always open,' she said.
Karen did not attend the community memorials for Pheobe, held last week in Gin Gin and Bundaberg, but had watched a livestream online.
'They did a good job, but now I think it's time to let it go,' she said.
She was unsure if she would attend Pheobe's private funeral, which she understands is happening 'toward the end of the month'.
It's understood Pheobe's remains will soon be given to her family after forensic tests are completed.
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