Family of Pheobe Bishop, 17, missing in Australia living in ‘cyclone of uncertainty’
The family of Pheobe Bishop, the Australian teenager who has been missing for 11 days, say they are living in a ‘cyclone of uncertainty.’
It comes as the property she lived in with two other people near Bundaberg, Queensland, was declared a crime scene, along with a Hyundai thought to have been used to take the 17-year-old to the airport the day she disappeared.
Posting on social media today, Pheobe’s mother, Kylie Johnson, wrote that the family did not know ‘what to say, what to do or even how to continue to live in this cyclone of uncertainty’.
She said her daughter’s younger brother had asked why his sister wasn’t answering their calls.
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‘Your little man/brother asked yesterday “Why won’t Phee take our calls? She always takes our calls!”
The mum said she took some comfort in the local community’s ‘Leave the Lights On for Pheobe’ campaign.
Locals have posted photos on social media of their front door lights switched on ‘to guide Pheobe home’.
‘Your little man/brother asked yesterday “Why won’t Phee take our calls? She always takes our calls!”,’ Kylie wrote on social media on Monday.
In her last known movements, Pheobe left the property she had been living in with Tanika Bromley and James Wood.
Pheobe’s flatmate Tanika, 33, was charged with unrelated firearm offences after police allegedly found weapons inside the Hyundai, according to News.com.au.
She was arrested in the Bundaberg region on Saturday over the firearm charges and appeared in the local magistrates’ court today, where her partner and Pheobe’s other housemate, James, arrived to support Tanika.
Detectives believe the couple drove Pheobe for 40 minutes to Bundaberg Airport, where she was supposed to board an 8.30am flight to Brisbane and then onto Perth, where she planned to meet up with her boyfriend.
Although Pheobe was last seen carrying luggage at Airport Drive on May 15, she did not check in.
Tanika and James have been questioned by police and were released in relation to the disappearance.
No charges have been laid over Pheobe’s disappearance and Metro does not suggest the pair were involved.
Pheobe’s last social media posts before she disappeared suggest she had fallen out with her mum and would not return home.
The update in the search comes after CCTV footage emerged of a vehicle that appeared to be similar to the one at the centre of the police investigation into Pheobe’s disappearance.
She had been travelling in the silver Hyundai – which is owned by Tanika – before she disappeared.
CCTV showed the car driving through the backstreets of Gin Gin at 10.30am on May 15 – two hours after Pheobe was allegedly dropped off at the airport, the Courier Mail reports.
In another update, the police announced on Friday night that they had discovered an item of potential interest in Good Night Scrub National Park., about an hour’s drive from the airport.
They later said some items may have been moved from the park before police arrived.
‘Some items, believed to be linked to the investigation, have been located during the search and have been seized for forensic examination,’ a police statement said on Monday.
‘Police have now expanded the search area and have renewed their appeal for information after recent investigations show some evidence may have been moved from the Good Night Scrub area, prior to police arrival.’
A thorough land, water and aerial search of the national park was launched on Saturday by police. Specialist teams, including the Dive Squad, have been involved in the land and waterway searches.
Insp Thompson said: ‘Police are trying to nail down the timeline to where this vehicle has gone. 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.’
In an earlier statement through police, Ms Johnson described her daughter as ‘feisty’ and ‘the sunflower in a field full of wildflowers.’
She 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 met.
‘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 later update, Ms Johnson wrote: ‘I’m praying that the lights of Gin Gin and the world guide you back to me, guide you back to us, guide you back to your siblings and our family.
‘Our lives and existence are nothing without you in our lives.’
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