Search for missing teen bound for WA grinds to a halt
The search for missing teenager Pheobe Bishop in Good Night Scrub National Park has been suspended after five days.
The teen was last seen on May 15, travelling towards Bundaberg airport, however, she failed to board the plane and has not been seen since.
Police began their search of the national park on May 23, and expanded the operation after they found evidence may have been moved from the Good Night Scrub area prior to their arrival.
Some items of interest have been located during the search and will undergo forensic examination.
Police said on Wednesday the investigation was 'ongoing' and that 'police are continuing to run out several lines of enquiry'.
'In addition to investigative work, physical searches will continue as needed and as information is provided,' a spokesman said.
'The greater Gin Gin area remains the focus of the investigation.' The search for Pheobe Bishop has been suspended. Credit: News Corp Australia The 17-year-old was last seen on May 15. Picture facebook Credit: Supplied
More to come.
Pheobe's tragic final posts emerged this week, revealing she had decided to not return to her family home.
A post on missing Gin Gin teenager Pheobe Bishop's TikTok has given insight into the 17-year-old's outlook on life before she disappeared.
In a post timestamped March 31 – just two weeks before the teenager mysteriously vanished – Pheobe revealed that she had been 'in and out' of home for years, but 'this time we're not going back'.
Pheobe was living with two housemates at a property in Gin Gin before her disappearance.
Her post was part of a wider trend dubbed 'coffee with my younger self', where people shared a hypothetical conversation between their current and younger self to demonstrate personal growth and development. The last social media post from missing teen Pheobe Bishop. TikTok Credit: Supplied
In the post, she references that she had an estranged relationship with her mother, writing that 'we don't see nor talk to her but it's better like this'.
She wrote that she was a proud sibling and aunty but felt she had to leave home to prioritise herself.
'Baby we will always need them, but we need to find us more then (sic) anything or anyone,' she wrote
The long text concludes with the line, 'I really hope I meet my younger self for coffee again soon', while Adele's Hometown Glory plays in the background.
The post has been flooded with comments from concerned friends and followers, with many writing that they are praying that Pheobe returns home safe.
The account also shows that Pheobe recently reposted a video published by a different user captioned 'my roman empire is how people who go 'missing' are still somewhere here on this earth, and just no one knows where'. A post Pheobe Bishop re-shared before her disappearance. TikTok Credit: Supplied
Pheobe spoke candidly about her experiences and challenges on her TikTok account, including alluding to a break-up.
Police said the teen had been booked to travel to Western Australia via Brisbane to visit her boyfriend, but she never checked in for the flight.
She posted a video to the song The Man Who Can't Be Moved by The Script in December 2024, captioned 'i miss seeing ur face, and i miss seeing you in random places'.
'I'm not built for this town, these aren't my people. So b4 [before] you try n get close to me jus (sic) don't. I refuse to rot,' she wrote in a separate post on March 25.
In another TikTok, she wrote 'life teaching me a lot right now'.
Pheobe's mother Kylie Johnson wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday that the family was waiting for her daughter to come home.
'Finding it hard to get out of bed today. To find the strength to put one foot in front of the other and know what to do, what to think or what to say,' she wrote.
'People have judgements, accusations and continue say untruths. I'm not going to correct you or be investing what little strength I have to be correcting these statements or people.
'We as a family are just trying to go through the motions of waiting for Phee to come home.' Police and SES continue to search Good Night Scrub National Park for the missing teen. Adam Head/ NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia
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"I didn't think my heart could break anymore than it did when you went missing, or when the charges were laid but this! This is ripping me apart ..." she posted on Facebook. Wood and Bromley were housemates with Pheobe on the property at Gin Gin, a quiet regional community near Bundaberg left reeling from the tragedy. "There is a sense of 'this wouldn't happen here'," Bundaberg Mayor Helen Blackburn told AAP. "We believe our community to be kind and accepting. "To have this tragedy happen in our region ... it's been very difficult trying to make sense of it." The community has thrown its arms around Pheobe's family, with floral tributes laid outside the property she shared with Wood and Bromley. A candlelight vigil has been organised on Sunday where locals will pay tribute to the beloved teen. "We now need to come together as a community, support and care for one another as we try to move forward," Cr Blackburn said. Pheobe was last seen near Bundaberg airport about 8.30am on May 15 after booking a trip to Western Australia to see her boyfriend. Police allege Wood and Bromley drove Pheobe close to the airport but no one got out of the car. Cr Blackburn said it had been "heart-wrenching" after locals had held on to hope for weeks. The Gin Gin community had rallied around the missing teen's family during the search with a Leave the Lights On for Pheobe campaign. Some posted photos on social media of their front lights switched on "to guide Pheobe home". Wood and Bromley have been remanded in custody ahead of their next Bundaberg Magistrates Court appearance on August 11. Police will continue to comb unforgiving terrain where the remains of a missing teenager were found as they attempt to recover a key item to their murder investigation, her luggage. James Wood, 34, and Tanika Bromley, 33, were charged three weeks to the day after 17-year-old Pheobe Bishop missed a flight and vanished in southern Queensland. Officers discovered what are believed to be the teenager's remains about 2.30pm on Friday near Good Night Scrub National Park, about 280km northeast of Brisbane and nine kilometres from the original search site. Police allege Wood and Bromley moved Pheobe's body a number of times. Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield revealed on Saturday that the remains were not buried but did not give specifics of the scene. "The remains were found in bushland ... coupled with snippets of information and telecommunications data; that's allowed us to find this location," he said. "It's an unforgiving terrain." Detectives have set up a crime scene and continue to appeal for further information. Insp Mansfield confirmed the 17-year-old's luggage had not been located. He said forensic searches of a home in Gin Gin, where the girl lived, had not identified anything significant. "However that scene is complex, we are still waiting on a number of forensic results to come back from that examination," Insp Mansfield said. Officers have been in contact with Pheobe's family, with her mother Kylie Johnson quick to share her grief on social media. "I didn't think my heart could break anymore than it did when you went missing, or when the charges were laid but this! This is ripping me apart ..." she posted on Facebook. Wood and Bromley were housemates with Pheobe on the property at Gin Gin, a quiet regional community near Bundaberg left reeling from the tragedy. "There is a sense of 'this wouldn't happen here'," Bundaberg Mayor Helen Blackburn told AAP. "We believe our community to be kind and accepting. "To have this tragedy happen in our region ... it's been very difficult trying to make sense of it." The community has thrown its arms around Pheobe's family, with floral tributes laid outside the property she shared with Wood and Bromley. A candlelight vigil has been organised on Sunday where locals will pay tribute to the beloved teen. "We now need to come together as a community, support and care for one another as we try to move forward," Cr Blackburn said. Pheobe was last seen near Bundaberg airport about 8.30am on May 15 after booking a trip to Western Australia to see her boyfriend. Police allege Wood and Bromley drove Pheobe close to the airport but no one got out of the car. Cr Blackburn said it had been "heart-wrenching" after locals had held on to hope for weeks. The Gin Gin community had rallied around the missing teen's family during the search with a Leave the Lights On for Pheobe campaign. Some posted photos on social media of their front lights switched on "to guide Pheobe home". Wood and Bromley have been remanded in custody ahead of their next Bundaberg Magistrates Court appearance on August 11.
