Pheobe Bishop, 17, has been missing since May 15 but police have discovered new CCTV evidence and made a grim update in her case
The desperate search for a missing teenage girl has take a grim turn as the case enters its ninth day. Australian 17-year-old girl Pheobe Bishop was last seen leaving her home in Gin Gin, in Queensland, on May 15 as she vanished without a trace.
Pheobe, who had been living with couple Tanika Bromley and James Wood, and cops believe the teen was supposed to have boarded a 8.30am flight to Brisbane then onto Perth to meet up with her boyfriend. Detectives have suggested the pair drove Pheobe for 40 minutes to Bundaberg Airport but new CCTV footage has emerged in her case.
The teenager was dropped off at the airport but she never never checked into her scheduled flight. The couple were taken in for questioning by cops but they were released and no charges have been filed against them and there is no suggestion they were involved in her disappearance.
New CCTV has shown a car, similar to the one Pheobe had been travelling in before she vanished, driving through Gin Gin at 10.30am the day she was last seen – two hours after the teen was thought to have been dropped off at the airport.
The vehicle at the centre of this case is a Hyundai ix35 – owned by Bromley, according to The Courier Mail. Police also revealed, on Friday, that they had discovered an item of interest inside a national park.
Police have seized a grey Hyundai ix35 as part of their investigation and have appealed to the public for dashcam or CCTV footage which could help find the teenager.
Cadaver dogs were deployed to search through the Good Night Scrub National Park, just outside of Gin Gin, an hour away from were Pheobe was last seen.
Detective Acting Inspector Ryan 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.”
The operation also involved members of the dive squad but no other items of interest have been revealed yet, according to the police.
Pheobe’s mum released a statement as officers began to search woodlands, saying: “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.
Her mum revealed this disappearance was out of character and said: “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.”
It is not exactly clear why the teenager had been living with the couple but social media posts she made before her disappearance suggested Pheobe has fallen out with her mum.