Police give update on suspicious disappearance of missing 17yo Pheobe Bishop as mum reveals despair

The mother of missing teenager Pheobe Bishop has shared a heartbreaking message to her daughter who was last seen eight days ago.

Ms Bishop was allegedly being driven to the Bundaberg airport by her housemates when she was last seen. A major police investigation is now underway.

Kylie Johnson said as each day passed, it was getting “harder to breathe” and she felt numb not knowing where her daughter was.

“We would do anything just to hear your voice, to have you curl up in my lap and hold you tight,” she said.

“I have no words to describe what this is doing to our family, to our friends and to our community.

“What we need right now from everyone is to hold your loved ones tight and tell them you love them.”

Pheobe was last seen en route from the Gin Gin residence – where she was staying with local couple Tanika Bromley and James Wood – to Bundaberg airport on the morning of May 15.

She did not check-in for a booked flight and has not been seen or heard from since.

On Friday, divers began searching waterways in the Bundaberg area in the search for the missing teen, but had not yet found any items or luggage that belonged to her.

Detective Acting Inspector Ryan Thompson said on Friday police had were also now searching the Good Night Scrub National Park, with police were focusing on rural areas west of Gin Gin.

“We are searching for any evidence or any information that might assist police in helping to try and find Pheobe,” he said.

He again asked anyone who was in the vicinity of the airport at the time Phoebe disappeared to come forward.

“No little bit of information is too much, and we will keep trying to follow through those avenues of inquiry,” he said.

“We’re trying to search areas that we’re receiving public information from, and we’re making sure that we’re covering all those areas.”

A “pervading stench of decay” lingers around the property where missing teenager Pheobe Bishop lived before her suspicious disappearance.

Media attending the Gin Gin property on Thursday have reported a disgusting smell emanating from the dilapidated home, which remains an active crime scene as police continue to investigate the disappearance of the 17-year-old.

The Courier Mail earlier this week reported bags of rubbish were piled up outside the property and multiple dogs – reportedly dead – were seen being removed by detectives.

The Daily Mail reported a neighbour believed as many as 13 animals had been found.

Detectives were at the crime scene scouring the residence for more clues on Friday, as the search for the teen entered its eighth day.

Rubbish and various items could be observed scattered around the home, and a bus with the words ‘let it ride’ was parked on the nature strip.

Court documents reveal flatmate Ms Bromley has been on bail since February this year on charges of unlawful possession of a shortened firearm, unlawful possession of a weapon category a, b or m, and unlawful possession of a knife in public.

According to court documents, the alleged offences occurred in Emerald.

Ms Bromley first fronted Bundaberg Magistrates Court on March 28 and is due back in court

on June 23.

Along with the Gin Gin property, a grey Hyundai ix35 believed to be the car she travelled to Airport Dr in was also declared a crime scene on Wednesday.

Police are also appealing to the public for dashcam and CCTV footage of the grey Hyundai ix35 with Queensland registration 414EW3 near the Airport Drive and Samuels Road area in Bundaberg and also the Gin Gin area on May 15.

Inspector Thompson said they had not yet located any items or luggage that belonged to the Pheobe and public information would be vital to forwarding the investigation.

“You may have the small piece of information that leads us to finding Pheobe,” he said.

“People don’t vanish – someone knows something and we’re urging anyone with information to contact police immediately.

“We’re still working together to piece together her movements on that day.”

Inspector Thompson said Pheobe was a “really relatable person to the rest of her family and a lovely young girl”.

“And we’re trying our best to find her,” he said.

“We never give up hope.

“Police are keeping all options open, we’re certainly very hopeful that she is still alive.”

A Queensland police spokesman said on Friday no one is in custody in relation to the investigation.