For the family of Australian teenager Pheobe Bishop, the last nine days have been nothing short of agonising – after the 17-year-old packed her bags and left for the airport to catch a flight.
But she never made it onto that plane – and the Queensland native has apparently vanished without a trace.
That might be mystery enough for police – who are treating her disappearance as ‘suspicious’ – to solve.
But an investigation over the last week has unveiled a series of disturbing details that could solve the one question police urgently want answered: What has happened to Pheobe?
Firstly there was the last-minute phone call to her boyfriend – a ‘high school sweetheart’ who had moved across the country to Western Australia – just moments before she was meant to have boarded her flight.
Pheobe had spent months saving up to purchase an airfare to visit him in Western Australia and was scheduled to fly out of Bundaberg Regional Airport on the morning of Thursday, May 15.
Despite suggestions that she made it to the airport, a family member revealed that she had not gone through the check-in process.
‘She didn’t check in for her flight to visit her boyfriend who she spoke to on the phone at 8.30am,’ they said.
For the family of missing Australian teenager Pheobe Bishop, the last nine days have been nothing short of agonising
An investigation over the last week has unveiled a series of disturbing details that could solve the one question police urgently want answered: What has happened to Pheobe?
Police set up a crime scene at a house in Milden Street, Gin Gin, Queensland, in the search for missing 17-year-old Phoebe Bishop
‘Her phone has been switched off from this point. She hasn’t contacted anyone at all, no one has seen her.’
According to the story told to police, Pheobe was driven to Airport Drive at Bundaberg and dropped close to her terminal.
Yet Pheobe, who is described as 6ft tall with a pale complexion, long dyed red hair and hazel eyes, has not been seen on CCTV.
A land search was conducted around Airport Drive and the surrounding areas on Monday, but police have failed to locate any of her personal belongings.
And Pheobe’s phone and social media accounts have been inactive since she went missing, while her bank account has seen no activity since May 14.
Police therefore turned their attention to the car she travelled in to the airport – a 2011 silver Hyundai ix35 hatchback with registration 414-EW3, which has now been declared a crime scene.
That vehicle is owned by Tanika Bromley, with whom Pheobe was staying at a property in Gin Gin, west of Bundaberg, alongside Bromley’s partner James Wood.
On Wednesday the property had also been declared a crime scene, with police finding disquieting truths around where Pheobe has been living – and who she has been living with.
The teenager’s final posts on social media reveal a strained relationship with her family
Pheobe is said to have been living with James Wood (pictured) and his partner Tanika Bromley
Tanika Bromley is also said to be the owner of the 2011 silver Hyundai ix35 hatchback used to drive Pheobe to the airport
The address had become more and more cluttered with rubbish after the couple moved in about six months ago, a neighbour told Daily Mail Australia
When officers visited the scene, there was a pervading stench of decay emanating from the Milden St property.
It soon transpired that police had discovered and removed four dead dogs from the home, but one neighbour said she believed as many as 13 of the animals had been found.
The property was also said to be filled with rubbish.
Resident Shari Loughland told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday that Pheobe had only been living there ‘for a few weeks, up to a month or two’.
She said living living next door to the couple had become ‘horrible’ as she had to deal with regular noise from parties.
Last week she also made a complaint to council and RSPCA about their ‘howling dog’.
‘They moved in late October or November, and then it’s just gotten more and more cluttered with rubbish.
‘It was for sale… We did hear last night that someone owns it and they rent from them, so I don’t think they actually own it.’
A 2011 silver Hyundai ix35 hatchback with registration 414-EW3 (pictured) was believed to be the car Pheobe travelled to Airport Drive in
Pheobe Bishop disappeared without a trace after she failed to board a flight from Bundaberg to Western Australia, via Brisbane, on May 15
A dilapidated single-decker bus, emblazoned with the words ‘Let it ride’ stands guard outside.
The coach is owned by Mr Wood, who was recently trying to sell it on Facebook marketplace.
He 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.
Ms Bromley is understood to be a Gin Gin local and a mother-of-two. The couple are believed to have moved in together earlier this year.
On Thursday, it was revealed that Ms Bromley is facing unrelated charges for possessing a sawn-off shotgun and a flick knife in public.
The pair have been questioned by police but were both later released.
No charges have been laid over Pheobe’s disappearance and MailOnline does not suggest Mr Wood and Ms Bromley were involved in her disappearance.
A Queensland police spokesman added on Thursday: ‘Currently, no one is in custody in relation to this investigation.
Ms Johnson urged the public to continue sharing her missing persons flyer and contact police with any information
‘However police continue to speak to people who know Pheobe.’
Questions have arisen around why Pheobe was living with the couple, rather than with her family.
The teenager’s final posts on social media, including an eerie March post to TikTok where she described having a conversation with her younger self, reveal that she had a strained relationship with her family.
Before she disappeared, Pheobe disclosed how she did not ‘see nor talk’ to her mother, Kylie Johnson, 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’.
Other posts suggested the teen had been struggling in recent months, with one saying she was ‘losing sleep and losing peace of mind’.
‘I’m not built for this town, these aren’t my people,’ said another March post.
Just two days before she disappeared, Pheobe shared a repost on May 13 captioned: ‘When I die get my dad to lower my coffin so he can let me down one last time.’
Pheobe’s mum, Kylie Johnson, has put up more than 400 missing person posters across the area and has shared emotional messages to social media every day since she disappeared
The missing teen’s shattered family are still holding onto the hope she will turn up safe and sound.
‘Phee is still missing our heartache and pain is raw and real,’ mum Kylie Johnson posted on social media on Thursday morning.
Ms Johnson, has put up more than 400 missing person posters across Bundaberg and surrounding areas.
In another message shared on Facebook, the distraught mother said her daughter’s disappearance was out of character.
‘If you knew Pheobe you would know that she is free spirited and loves hard! She is loyal to the core and cut throat,’ Ms Johnson wrote.
She said her daughter last week marked the anniversaries of the deaths of her best friend and family members.
Ms Johnson also shared an emotional plea addressed directly to her daughter, begging her to let them know that she was okay.
‘Honestly have no words to describe our heartbreak, heartache or fear that we won’t see or hear from her again,’ Ms Johnson wrote.
It’s understood the 17-year-old had saved her own money and was flying to meet her boyfriend who had moved interstate
‘Flea, Flea, my heart tells me that you won’t see this, but I love you more than anything in the world.
‘Would be homeless just to hear you say ‘Hey Mummzie what’s doing’… I would honestly sell my soul to hear those words.’
On Friday night, police announced they had discovered an item of potential interest in the national park.
Detective Acting Inspector Thompson said on Friday that the police diving squad searched a creek.
‘Police have subsequently been conducting some searches of the Good Night Scrub National Park in the hopes of finding some evidence in relation to her disappearance,’ he said.
‘There are no specific persons of interest, however, police are following up all avenues of enquiry.’
Police did not say if the item that was found was connected to Pheobe.
On Saturday, police began conducting a land, water and aerial search of the Good Scrub National Park just outside of Gin Gin, an hour away from where Pheobe was last seen.
Investigators have asked for members of the public who may have seen a Hyundai ix35 in the Good Scrub National Par on May 15 to come forward.
‘Police are trying to nail down the timeline to where this vehicle has gone,’ Detective Acting Inspector Ryan Thompson said.
‘We do have associates that are assisting police with our inquiries at the moment, and this is why we’re trying to narrow down that timeline in relation to where Pheobe could be.’
Queensland’s State Emergency Service crews are combing through the bushland, while police divers search waterways.
As police began a thorough search of bushland, Ms Johnson released a statement through police in which she described her daughter as ‘feisty’ and ‘the sunflower in a field full of wildflowers.’
The statement said: ‘Who is Pheobe? Phee has always been strong willed and followed her own beat to life.
‘I’ve always called her my ‘Wild Gypsy Banshee’. I’ve told everyone since Phee’s birth that she’s the one I always expected to call me from overseas saying, ‘hey Mumzie mate; I’m in Amsterdam and checking in’.
‘You can’t tame Phee’s spirit, empathy or fight for life. She is sassy, feisty and loves harder than anyone I’ve ever meet.
‘Phee loves beyond comprehension and is loyal to her siblings.
‘Phee just loved life; music blaring, she’d say, ‘come on Mumzie, let’s dance.’
‘Hanging with her ‘boys’ even though they all saw her as the little sister to protect.
‘Her friends always knew they would get the truth (and then some if she had an opinion).
‘Phee is the sunflower in a field full of wildflowers. She is an essential part of our lives and we need her home. We need to hear her music, feel her hugs and hear her voice.
‘Pheobe would never not touch base with the people she loves. She would never go this long without contacting someone or anyone.
‘We are appealing to anyone who may have heard from Pheobe, or anyone who has information about where she may be, to please contact police.’
In a further update today, Ms Johnson wrote: ‘I’m praying that the lights of Gin Gin and the world guide you back to me, guide you back us, guide you back to your siblings and our family.
‘Our lives and existence is nothing without you in our lives.’
