Housemate of missing teen released after questioning
Police have released a man without charge after questioning him for hours over the “suspicious” disappearance of a 17-year-old girl.
James Wood, 34, was taken into custody on Wednesday and released several hours later without charge, Queensland Police said in an update on Thursday.
Pheobe Bishop was last seen near Bundaberg airport about 8.30am on May 15 after booking a trip to Western Australia to see her boyfriend.
CCTV footage showed Pheobe never arrived at the airport terminal.
“Detectives are continuing to run through several lines of inquiry as investigations continue, and will conduct physical searches when required,” police said on Thursday.
The search for Pheobe was scaled back on Wednesday after police had spent weeks combing areas of interest in southern Queensland.
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One was a property in Gin Gin, where Pheobe had lived with Wood and a woman.
The Gin Gin property, near Bundaberg, and a grey Hyundai ix35, thought to have been used to take Pheobe to the airport, were declared crime scenes soon after her disappearance.
Wood and Pheobe’s other housemate, Tanika Kristan Bromley, have since been charged with weapons offences.
Bromley was granted bail at Bundaberg Magistrates Court to reappear on June 23. Wood was issued a notice to appear on June 13.
Police have said the weapons charges are unrelated to Pheobe’s disappearance, and there is no suggestion Bromley or Wood are involved.
The police search initially focused on Good Night Scrub National Park, an hour’s drive from Bundaberg airport. Homicide detectives, cadaver dogs and divers were called in.
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Some items believed to be linked to the investigation were seized for forensic examination.
The search revealed evidence might have been moved from the national park before police arrived.
Pheobe’s mum Kylie Johnson has posted on social media almost daily pleading for information about her daughter’s whereabouts.
Her latest update documented the heartbreaking toll the teenager’s disappearance is having on her family.
“I don’t know if life will ever be the same again? I don’t know if I will ever look at the world the same way that I did before May 15th,” Johnson posted on Facebook.
“What I do know is that people have information on where you are Phee and we need that reported to police.”
The community rallied around the missing teen’s family during the search with a “Leave the Lights On for Pheobe” campaign.
Gin Gin locals posted photos on social media of their front lights switched on “to guide Pheobe home”.
Anyone with information, footage or sightings of the grey Hyundai between May 15-18 in the Gin Gin area has been urged to contact police.
Pheobe is about 180 centimetres 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.
