warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised
On May 15, 2025, 17-year-old Pheobe Bishop vanished on her way to the airport in Queensland, Australia. What followed was a chilling investigation that uncovered disturbing living conditions, conflicting stories, and ultimately, charges of murder against two of her adult roommates.
phoebe bishop was 17 . she had plans . she had fire. and she had just taken her real step toward independence.
then on one morning in may, she wanished.what started as a normal day in a small australian town would unravel into something far more distrubing.
a story that raided questions not just sabout where phoebe went , but about who she was surrounded by and what was happening behind closed doors.
this case doesn’t start with a crime scene . it starts with a girl trying to get out and the silence she left behind. let’s dive in….
pheopbe jade bishop was raised in the rural town of GinGin,located in Queensland,australia, approximately 50 km west of bundeburg. the kind of place where everyone knows your name and your business. and phoebe, she stood out.
her family described her as strong, willed ,sassy,and full of heart. she loved music and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.
phoebe attended the Y school in Bundaberg, an alternative education progra designed for student’s who need extra support. like many teens in her age, she craved independnce and space to grow.
according to a report in the daily mail , after a recent falling out with her mother, she moved out of the family home. she ended up living in a shared house with two adult roomates.
33 year old tanika bromley and her partner ,34 year old james wood.
she was just 17. they were in the 30’s. we’ll circle back to that.at the time , ther family wasn’t too concerned about the age difference.
tanika had previously worked for phoebes mother, the owner and director of a business linked to a australia’s national disability insurance insurance scheme.
THURSDAY MAY 15, 20025
therefore, it’s not like it was some random situation. and by all accounts, phoebe was happy about an upcoming 10 -days trip to visit her in perth. she had saved the money herself, and she was ready and then came the day everything changed.
phoebe was supposed to board a flightfrom bunde to perth to Bundaberg visit her boyfriend .
she planned everything down to the last detail,but she never made it. on the plan.
her roommates , tanika and james, said phoebe woke up late , was stressed , and they dropped her off at the airport around 8:30 .a.m.
but there was one problem.pheobe never appears on airport surveillance. never printed or shown any boarding pass. she never went through security. she simply vanished.
her boyfriend got a call a garbled call from her that morning .he said it sounded like yelling. followed by silence.no texts, no activity,nothing.
by the next morning , phoebe’s mother reported her missing.
police called the disappearance suspicious. and it was. the roommates described what she was wearing. a green tank top, gray sweatpants, and a black suitcase. yet , none of it showed up on CCTV . then came the first break.
surveillance outside the airport showed Tanika’s gray hyndai EX-35 headed away from the area at 10:30 a.m. 2 hours after the initially cliamed they dropped her off.
and it wasn’t on a main road.it as on a back route toward rural scrubland. that deatail cracked everything opened because …
suddenly this wasn’t just a missing person case.it was a warning sign. and when police looked closer at where phoebe had been living, what they found was something no teenager should ever be exposed to.
the free -spirit 17 year old who lived away from family was subjected to absulte filth…
…by her housemates tanika bromley and james wood.
it’s not just what you see on top ,it’s what’s underneath as well.in every corner of the house, there is rubbish clothing. so ,the side is obviously one thing,but the smell,it’s just unbelivable.
the air testes dirty . this is where phoebe was staying.
out of respect to her family, we’ve chosen not to detail what was left behind in her room.
but there are reminders of a life full of hope and promises.
still sitting on the printer ,posters alerting the public to phoebe’s disappearance, allegedly printed by bromley and woodd.
the footages spoke itself.filth, decay ,and a home no teenagr should have been living in.
but that was only the beginning. while the public was just starting to grasp the severity of the situation,police were already digging deeper.with phoebe officially missing and no trace of her at her at the airport.
Queensland police launched a full investigation. from the start, something felt off. her mother kylie ,said phoebe would never go silent, especially not on the day she was going to see her boyfriend.police brought the roomates back in for questioning.
when confronted about the timeline discrepany, james changed his story.he now claimed phoebe had panicked that morning , so they pulled over to let her cool off.
they left her alone in the car and when they returned , she was gone.
they didn’t go into the terminal.they didn’t call her mom. they just drove away.
between 34rd and may 27th during the second week of the investigation ,police searched the house and found the horrofying conditions hinted at eralier.
neighbors had called it a dump.
trash everywhere, a school bus on the lawn,spray painted with graffiti, and the smell of decay.
insid was worse. roting food ,feces on the walls,razor blades on the floor.
phoebe’s room was noticeable cleaner.her belonings were neatly packed like she plan to return but her doorframe had been busted like someone had kicked it in.
and outside in the yard,police discovered four dead dogs.no explanation,no attempt to bury them,just left to rot.
shortly after news of the conditions broke,local media tracked down and attempted to question the roommates.
before police searched the house ,they already examined tanika”s gray hyndai.inside they found a saw -off shotgun, ammunition , and two replica firearms.
that discovery lead to her arrest on weapons charges.
based on the evidence,both vehicle and the home were formally declared crime scenes.
meanwhile,public suspicions exploded.online sleuths dug up phoebe’s most recent social media posts includding one that shows a young girl sitting along by the edge of a calm body of wather –
the texts reads” the hardest part about being the daughter that everyone’s bttr off without & finds comfort away from hom.”
the post suggests feelings of isolation,sadness, emotional displacement, and a deep sense of being unwanted or misunderstood. also uncovered were text messages in which phoebe called the house a “shit home” and she said she couldn’t wait to leave.
in a TV interview , the aunt, who was a stranged from phoebes mother, shed som light on he niece’s upbringing.
phoebe was a always moving from Queensland to new south wales and backwards and forwards. she always changing schools. she had so many diffrent stepdads in and out of her life.she never had no one that she could really speak to. and they grew up in Phil. they lived like a typical housing commission family.
with mounting evidence and two adults under scrutiny . police were running out of time.phoebe didn’t just disappear. she was running from something and what ever it was,it may have caught up with her.
it had been over 2 weeks since phoebe vanished. with no answers and hope fading, her mother made a public plea, desperate for someone, anyone, to come forward.
as days passed,the silence around phobe’s disappearance grew louder.
her family kept pushing for answers,but the trail fell cold . and on june 4th all public searches called off by police.
still , investigators weren’t giving up. they focused on the surveillance footage, which contradicted tanika and jame’s initial timeline, showing their car leaving the airport area hours after they claimed to have dropped phoebe off.
it was never seen returning.instead, it was recorded taking a back road straight toward goodnight scrub national park, and phone location data supported that route.
on closer inspection ,investigators noted the vehicle had been deliberately altered.
the hyundai appearsed in two surveillance clips with two different license plates.one plate read 414EW3 near the airport.
hours later,a camera near Gingen capture the same car with 474 BW8 plates.police also notice the hyundai logo had been repleaced with a makeshift toyota badge.when they pilled it back,they found spray paint and tape.
that was no mistake.it was intentional.police now believe phoebe never made it to the airport at all.that she was killed that morning ,possibly in the car, and her body was dumped,then later moved again.
based on a combination of physical , digital, and circumstantial evidence,police arrested tanika and james wood on june 5th,charging them with one count of murder and two counts of interfering with a corpse.
police seized and towed a four -wheel drive he’dbeen living at out . forensic officers are analyzing it for any signs of death.
his girlfriend, tanika was also arrested at Bundaberg police station by detectives who tellingly called their alleged victim by her fist name.
the accused murderes weren’t brought into the courtroom where phoebe’s sister was waiting.
throughout the search , something kept pulling investigators back to the strange route tanika’s car was seen taking on the morning phoebe went missing. it didn’t lead to the airport.
goodnight scrub national park, a dense, remote, rugged stretch of wilderness about an hour southwest of bundaberg. at first ,they kept the reason for the search quiet, but eventually detective inspector craig mansfield confirmed it.
phoebe’s phone had pinged in that area, and not just once,there were multiple hits. it was enoug to send cadaver dogs,drones ,and dozens of search personel deep into the brush.
june 6th
and then on june 6th at 2:30 in the afternoon,one of those dogs hit on something.
roughly 5 miles from the park entrance in a thick isolated patch of scrubland,police made a grim discovery.
off an unassuming path in unrelentingly dense bushland, a crime scene, it’s here the investigators claim phoebe bishop’s body was dumped by her alleged killer housemates
mobile phone data led police to goodnight scrub national park 2 weeks before that search was called off by police believed crucial evidence had been moved .
than late yesterday , a lone detective and a cadaver dog made the horrifying and chance discovery,deciding to scour this track on a whim because it looked similar to the site of the first search.
detective s not confirming how they believed phoebe died or if a weapon was used but , they are satisfied that they have enough evidence to support prosecution of the two accused.
the 17 years old’s luggage and phone are stoll missing and an alleged motive has not been revealed.the town of GinGin once judged australian”s friendliest and where phoebe lived with Bromley and wood is reeling. a small shrine is growing outside of the trio’s home .
as news of the arrests broke, the reaction was immediate and emotional.
the town of GinGin was stunned.people had been clinging to hope,hoping phoebe would be found alive,hoping this wasn’t what it looked like.but after weeks of silence ,secrecy , and suspicion, the truth began to sink in.
this wasn’t just a missing person case . it was a homicide.
phoebe’s mother, kylie took to facebook with daily posts counting the days her daughter had been gone, asking for answers,pleading for help. and when police confirmed they’d found phoebe’s remains , kylie said what no parent should ever have to say:” i just need to know where she’s resting”.
and still through all of it , kylie showed grace at a candlelight vigil held after the arrests. she asled the community not to take their grief out on the accused family or her kids.
they didn”t make those choices. she said. phoebe wouldn have wanted compassion.
as of the date of this upload , james and wood and tanika bramley remain in custody.
they ‘ve been charged with one coint of murder and two counts of interfering with a corps. their next court appearance is set for august 11, 2025.
the full picture hasn’t been revealed yet.cause of death is still unknown and forensic testing is ongoing,but according to police, the case is solid.
built on phone records,surveillance footage, condlicting witness statements, and physical evidence collected from both the vehicle and the home.
detective inspector craig mansfield said it plainly.
then came another twist. kieren daniel mittelheuser, 30 years old was charged on july 1st with two counts of accessory after the fact to murder in connection with phoebe bishop’s case.
prosecutors alleged that mittelheuser used phoebe’s mobil phone to interfere with the police investigation , an act meant to mislead or obstruct law enforcement.
specifically , police claim he accessed and possibly manipulated data or the device to impede efforts to locate phoebe and uncover what happened to her.
the precise link between mittelheuser and the primary accused hasn’t fully disclosed in public reports. the timing of the charge ,however, just weeks after tanika and james were arrested suggests he was connected to their circle or had access to sensitive information.
while it strongly implies coordination with the primary accused,no official source has confirmed the exact nature of their relationship.
what we do know is mittelheuser has a confirmed hearing for august 25th.
at that time, it is possible that evidence summaries or affidavit may outline the timeline of his involvement.
and we can learn whether mittelheuser was knowlingly helping conceal a murder,if his actions were more peripheral or reactive, and how close he really was to the two main suspects. even so, police are firm.
as of now tanika and james remain the only suspects.
what comes next is the legal process.a preliminary hearing,possibly a trial…
..maybe even plea deals
but one thing is certain ,the world is watching , and so is phoebe’s family.because this isn’t just about justice , it’s about answers. what happened in that car? why didn’t they call for help?
what could have happened that morning to end a 17 year old girl’s life right as it was begining? and maybe the hardest question of all , could it have been stopped?