The 17-year-old was last seen on May 15, when her housemates drove her to Bundaberg Airport in Queensland, Australia, to catch a flight to visit her boyfriend after she had spent months saving up.
A cryptic final post shared on social media by missing teenager Phoebe Bishop has deepened the mystery surrounding her disappearance.
The 17-year-old was last seen on the morning of May 15, when her housemates, Tanika Bromley and her partner James Wood, reportedly drove her to Bundaberg Airport in Queensland, Australia. She was supposed to catch a flight to Brisbane, and then to Perth, to see her boyfriend after saving up for months to pay for a ticket to visit him. But she never boarded her flight, and her disappearance nearly two weeks ago has since taken a disturbing turn.
Phoebe’s mother, Kylie Johnson, says the vanishing is completely out of character for her daughter. “Each day it’s getting harder to breathe,” she said. “We would do anything just to hear your voice, to have you curl up in my lap and hold you tight.”
In a final TikTok post two days before she disappeared, Phoebe participated in the “coffee with my younger self” trend, which is usually reflective and heartwarming. But her version was troubling.
“She sat down after giving every person in the café a dirty look … I walked in greeting everyone with a smile and being greeted by one. She didn’t speak, she could barley [sic] look me in the eyes. Her responses were short and so was her temper.
“I asked, ‘Are you okay?’ and she replied, ‘Like you care.’ I said, ‘I am you,’ and she stopped and stared. She started to bawl, as she quickly jumped across the table into my arms.” She ended the post saying she was focused on “finding herself.”
Earlier posts paint a similar picture of emotional distress. In March, Phoebe wrote, “I’m not built for this town, these aren’t my people.” In another, she said she was “losing sleep and losing peace of mind.”
The cryptic messages are now central to the investigation, as police search for clues about her mental state and possible plans leading up to her disappearance.
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Despite being dropped off near the airport terminal, Phoebe never checked in and was bizarrely not captured by any security cameras. Since May 15, there have been no transactions on her bank accounts, no phone activity, and no social media usage.
Authorities have expanded the search to the Good Night Scrub National Park, using helicopters, police dogs, and ground crews to scour bushland and waterways. Detective Acting Inspector Ryan Thompson stated, “People don’t vanish. Someone knows something. We’re urging anyone with information to contact police immediately.”
When officers visited the house in Gin Gin, where Phoebe had been living, they encountered a disturbing scene: four dead dogs and piles of rubbish throughout the property. The home has since been declared a crime scene, along with the grey Hyundai ix35 believed to have transported Phoebe to the airport.
In a further twist, housemate Tanika Bromley was found to be facing unrelated weapons charges, including possession of a sawn-off shotgun and a flick knife in public. Police have stressed that no charges have been laid in connection with Phoebe’s disappearance, and there is no suggestion at this stage that her housemates were involved.
Authorities are now appealing for dashcam and CCTV footage that may show the Hyundai ix35’s movements that day. They are also asking residents and travellers in the area to report any sightings, no matter how minor.
Detective Thompson reiterated, “We’re still piecing together her movements on that day. Phoebe is a lovely, relatable young woman, and we are doing everything we can to bring her home. We never give up hope.”