‘Our world has been shattered’: Housemates charged with murdering Pheobe Bishop

The two housemates of missing Queensland teenager Pheobe Bishop have been charged with murder, as her mother has described how the family’s world has been shattered.

James Wood, 34, and Tanika Bromley, 33, were arrested in the Bundaberg area on Thursday night. It is understood Pheobe had been living with the pair in the nearby town of Gin Gin.

Despite almost three weeks of searching, the 17-year-old’s body has not been found.

As police confirmed the arrest, Pheobe’s mother, Kylie Johnson, begged anyone with information to come forward.

Kylie Johnson, the mother of missing teen Pheobe Bishop.Credit: Queensland Police

“Our world has just been shattered into the most horrific place I’ve ever been,” she wrote online.

“I need my baby home to put her to rest! I’m absolutely begging anyone that knows anything to come forward.

“We need to put her to rest, we need to put her to peace.”

Investigations remained ongoing into Pheobe’s disappearance.

“Physical searches will continue as needed,” police said in a statement.

Pheobe was last seen on May 15, and failed to board a scheduled flight to Brisbane that day.

Wood and Bromley had allegedly been the last people to see Pheobe, before she was due to catch a flight from Bundaberg Airport to Western Australia to visit her boyfriend. Police said she never checked in for her flight, prompting a widescale search, involving police divers, the SES, and the dog squad.

Police sniffer dogs had been brought into the search at Good Night Scrub National Park.Credit: Nine News Queensland

Police searched the Good Night Scrub area, and appealed for dashcam vision of a grey Hyundai ix35 between May 15 and 18.

Earlier this week, Wood was taken into custody. However he was released without charge.

On Thursday night, both were charged with murder and interfering with a corpse. They are due to appear at Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Friday.

Premier David Crisafulli thanked the police for their work on the investigation.

“When something like this happens in a tight-knit community, it cuts deep, and there is no doubt that community would be feeling it this morning,” he told 4BC.

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