Two people have been charged with the murder of 17-year-old Queensland teenager Pheobe Bishop, who vanished last month and whose body has not yet been found.
Police confirmed that James Wood, 34, and Tanika Bromley, 33, were arrested Thursday night in the Bundaberg area. Both have been charged with one count of murder and two counts of interfering with a corpse. They are scheduled to appear in the Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Friday.
Pheobe Bishop, from Gin Gin, north of Brisbane, was last seen on Thursday, May 15, and had been expected to fly to Western Australia. However, CCTV footage revealed she never entered Bundaberg Airport, raising immediate concern.
On May 21, police officially declared her disappearance suspicious. Two crime scenes were identified: the house in Gin Gin where she had been living and the car believed to have transported her to the airport.
A major search of Good Night Scrub National Park, southwest of Bundaberg, began on May 23 but was suspended after five days. Despite forensic examinations and extensive inquiries, Pheobe’s remains have not yet been located.
In a heartbreaking Facebook post on Thursday night, Pheobe’s mother, Kylie Johnson, pleaded for information.
“Our world has just been shattered into the most horrific place I’ve ever been,” she wrote.
“I need my baby home to put her to rest.”
Police have pledged to continue physical searches as more information becomes available and are urging anyone with knowledge of the case to come forward.
