'Too many fights': Pheobe Bishop's housemate James Wood reveals last moments with teen on the way to airport and escalating arguments before suspicious disappearance from Bundaberg

Sky News AU

04-06-2025

Pheobe Bishop's housemate James Wood has revealed a series of escalating arguments with the 17-year-old in the last moments before she suspiciously vanished without a trace from regional Queensland.
The confessions come after Wood was arrested on Wednesday morning to assist police with inquiries into the disappearance, although no charges have yet been laid against him.
Shortly before the arrest Queensland Police also called off "physical searches" for the teen, who has now been missing for more than two weeks.
Gin Gin couple Tanika Bromley and James Wood were the last people to see Pheobe alive on the morning of May 15.
The 17-year-old was spotted being driven to Airport Drive, Bundaberg, in Bromley's grey Hyundai ix35, to board a scheduled flight to Western Australia.
However, Queensland Police are 'quite confident' the 17-year-old never made it to the airport, despite claims made by her housemates.
The Gin Gin property where Pheobe resided with Bromley and Wood prior to her disappearance, as well as the grey Hyundai she was last travelling in are at the centre of police investigations.
It is understood Pheobe was on her way to meet her "high school sweetheart" in WA and was on the phone to him in the last moments before she disappeared.
Her boyfriend later claimed hearing an argument in the car and told a friend "they were both yelling at her and I couldn't really hear her".
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Wood revealed a number of disagreements had unfolded between the three housemates on the morning of Pheobe's disappearance, and till the moment she was last seen alive.
Wood didn't dispute claims the group was yelling while he and Bromley drove Pheobe to the airport, the outlet reported.
The teen was reportedly stressed about looking the best for her boyfriend and wanted to wake up at 5am to reach the airport on time, but woke up furious after she slept through her alarm.
"She gets like that sometimes and usually we can calm her down but she was escalating and then she smashed the TV," Wood told the Daily Mail.
"'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 any more."
After a morning filled with chaos, the three housemates set off for the airport, with Bromley driving and Pheobe in the backseat.
The teen had a large duffle bag- ''almost the size of her'', which also has been missing since her disappearance.
Wood claimed the teen was in distress and "complaining" about not having enough time to do her makeup, with the arguments continuing until they were about less than a kilometre from Airport Drive.
He said he instructed Bromley to stop the car and give Pheobe some space, marking the last time the teen was seen alive.
''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 the couple returned to the car, Pheobe and her duffle bag were both allegedly missing.
Wood then claimed to have driven to the airport with Bromley to search for the teen, but Pheoebe was nowhere to be seen along the way.
"We drove around and as far as we thought she could have made it and then drove a bit further in case," he said, adding this would be the moment police caught him on CCTV driving to the Good Night Scrub National Park.
The couple reportedly then drove home, despite not knowing if Pheobe made it to the airport.
Sky News makes no suggestions Wood or Bromley were involved in Pheobe's disappearance.