Mother’s torment as search for missing teen drags on
Savannah Meacham |
The mother of a girl who vanished after failing to catch a plane is clinging to hope as the agonising wait for answers about the 17-year-old’s disappearance continues.
Pheobe Bishop was last seen near Bundaberg airport in southern Queensland about 8.30am on May 15 after booking a trip to Western Australia.
Police are continuing to comb a national park after finding items of interest as the search for Pheobe continues almost two weeks following her “suspicious” disappearance.
The teen’s mother Kylie Johnson provided an insight into her daily struggle as she held on to hopes that Pheobe would return home.
“Finding it hard to get out of bed today, to find the strength to put one foot in front of the other and know what to do, what to think or what to say,” she posted on Facebook on Tuesday.
“We as a family are just trying to go through the motions of waiting for Phee to come home.”
Police are still searching Good Night Scrub National Park, about an hour’s drive from Bundaberg airport, after seizing several items of interest that are undergoing forensic testing.
“We’re conducting an extensive search of that area,” Detective Acting Inspector Ryan Thompson told reporters in Bundaberg on Tuesday.
Detectives suspect some evidence had been moved from the area after “receiving information” but are still trying to work out what those items may have been.
As the probe into Pheobe’s disappearance continues, a woman identified as the teen’s housemate, Tanika Kristan Bromley, has been charged with unrelated weapons offences.
Police allegedly found a shortened firearm, ammunition, and two replica handguns during a search of a grey Hyundai ix35 and further ammunition in a Gin Gin home.
The home – where Pheobe lived with two others – and the car, which was thought to have been used to take the teen to the airport, were declared crime scenes in the disappearance investigation.
Bromley, 33, was arrested on Sunday and charged with possessing/acquiring restricted items and unlawful possession of weapons along with two counts of authority required to possess explosives.
Bromley faced Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Tuesday and was granted bail to reappear on June 23.
Det Thompson said the weapons charges were unrelated to Pheobe’s disappearance and there was no suggestion Bromley was involved.
Police are appealing for information about the movements of the grey Hyundai between May 15 and 18.
The community has rallied around the missing teen’s family as the search continues with the “Leave the Lights On for Pheobe” campaign.
Locals in the Gin Gin area have posted photos on social media of their front lights switched on “to guide Pheobe home”.
Pheobe is about 180cm tall with a pale complexion, long hair that has been dyed red and hazel eyes.
She was last seen carrying luggage, wearing a green tank top and grey sweatpants.
AAP
