Murder charges laid against two people over disappearance of missing teen

Kylie Johnson with her 17-year-old daughter, Pheobe Bishop (right), who was last seen near Bundaberg Airport. Photo / Facebook

Pheobe Bishop’s housemates have been charged with murder, in a devastating update three weeks after the teen suspiciously vanished.

James Wood, 34, and Tanika Bromley, were charged by police on Thursday.

“Detectives have charged a 34-year-old man and 33-year-old woman with murder in relation to the disappearance of 17-year-old Pheobe Bishop,” Queensland Police said in a statement on Thursday night.

“Pheobe has not been seen or heard from since May 15.

“The remains of Pheobe Bishop have not been located to date.”

Wood and Bromley were arrested on Thursday night in the Bundaberg area.

They have been charged with one count each of murder and two counts each of interfering with a corpse.

They are due to appear in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Friday.

Pheobe was last seen by her housemates who were driving her to Bundaberg Airport from their home in Gin Gin on May 15.

Police have conducted several inquiries during their investigations, including multiple searches of Good Night Scrub National Park, forensic examinations of a Gin Gin property and vehicle.

“Detectives continue to investigate this matter, and physical searches will continue as needed as information is provided.”

Police have regularly appealed for dashcam or CCTV footage of Bromley’s grey Hyundai ix35 the trio were travelling in, revealing it was a key component of the investigation into the teen’s disappearance.

Wood was initially arrested on Wednesday June 4, before being released without charge.

He had earlier broken his silence about the last time he saw the missing girl as he drove her to Bundaberg Airport for a flight to Perth.

He told the Daily Mail on Wednesday that Pheobe had been complaining and having emotional outbursts before they left for the airport.

He said she was stressed about not wearing any makeup and missing her flight to Western Australia to visit her boyfriend.

Police have arrested James Wood, 34, in connection with Pheobe Bishop's disappearance. Photo / NewsWire

Wood said he told Bromley to pull over when they were about 1km from the airport.

“We wanted to give her five minutes, give her her own space to do what she needed to do,” he said.

“We walked to the end, it was maybe five minutes, maybe it was three minutes or maybe it was eight, but that’s about how long we were gone.”

He said when they returned to the car Pheobe and her bag were gone.

Wood insisted that he did not hurt Pheobe and assumed she had boarded the flight.