Vigil for Pheobe to follow grim bush discovery
Allanah Sciberras |
A planned vigil in memory of slain teenager Pheobe Bishop will go ahead after police discovered human remains in national parkland.
The find was made in “unforgiving” terrain southwest of Bundaberg, with investigators aiming to also recover the 17-year-old’s missing luggage expected to wind up their efforts on Saturday evening.
Officers discovered what were believed to be the teenager’s remains about 2.30pm on Friday near Goodnight Scrub National Park, some 280km northeast of Brisbane and 9km from an earlier search site.
Pheobe’s housemates, James Wood, 34, and Tanika Bromley, 33, faced Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Friday, three weeks to the day after she missed a flight and vanished.
Prosecutors allege the pair moved Pheobe’s body multiple times.
Her local community of Gin Gin has thrown its arms around Pheobe’s family, with floral tributes laid outside the property she shared with Wood and Bromley.
The community will hold a candlelight vigil at Kolan Community Park between 4pm and 6pm on Sunday. Locals have been asked to wear bright colours and butterflies.
A second candlelight vigil will be held at Buss Park in nearby Bundaberg on Monday from 5pm.
Well-wishers have left tributes on social media sites advertising the events.
“May the love and light of the community surround Pheobe’s family and friends during this difficult time, and may her spirit fly free R.I.P. sweet angel,” one read on Saturday.
Mayor Helen Blackburn told AAP on Friday she believed the Bundaberg community to be a kind and accepting one.
“To have this tragedy happen in our region … it’s been very difficult trying to make sense of it,” she said.
“We now need to come together as a community, support and care for one another as we try to move forward.”
Pheobe was last seen near Bundaberg airport about 8.30am on May 15 after booking a trip to Western Australia to see her boyfriend.
Police allege Wood and Bromley drove Pheobe close to the airport but no one got out of the car.
Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield revealed on Saturday the remains found at Goodnight Scrub were not buried but declined to offer specifics.
“They were found in bushland … coupled with snippets of information and telecommunications data; that’s allowed us to find this location,” he said.
“It’s an unforgiving terrain.”
Insp Mansfield confirmed the missing luggage had not been located.
He said forensic searches of a home in Gin Gin had not identified anything significant.
The town also rallied around the missing teen’s family during the search for her with a Leave the Lights On for Pheobe campaign.
Some posted photos online of their front lights switched on “to guide Pheobe home”.
Wood and Bromley have been remanded in custody ahead of their next court appearance on August 11.
AAP
