Supermarket staff have claimed missing Australian teen Pheobe Bishop appeared desperate for food and ‘looked like no one owned her’ before she disappeared 10 days ago.
The 17-year-old was last seen on May 15, leaving a rundown home in Gin Gin near Bundaberg where she had been living with couple Tanika Bromley and James Wood.
Queensland Police believe the pair drove Pheobe the 40 minutes to Bundaberg Airport, where she was supposed to board an 8.30am flight to Brisbane and then onto Perth, where she planned to meet up with her boyfriend.
Detectives said they believe Bromley and Wood were the two people who drove her to the airport.
But an IGA supermarket worker, who did not want to be identified, told Daily Mail Australia Pheobe visited the store on several occasions ‘looking worse for wear with no money’.
‘Why aren’t questions being asked about what happened to that poor child 10 weeks before this? Where were her parents?’ the worker asked.
The visibly angry staffer said Pheobe ‘looked like no one owned her’ and was desperate for food, often ‘short changing’ them ‘to the point that I paid for her’.
‘People in this country have to prove they can look after animals or reptiles but not children,’ they said.
The 17-year-old was last seen on May 15, leaving a rundown home in Gin Gin near Bundaberg where she had been living with couple Tanika Bromley and James Wood
Police are still unclear as to why Pheobe was living at the house with Bromley and Wood
Its claimed Tanika Bromley and her partner James Wood were the last to see the teen alive
‘This town should be standing still but it’s not. It should be crawling with people but it’s not.
‘I’ve seen her parents but had no idea she belonged to them until after. She didn’t look like she belonged to anyone.’
Though it’s unclear why Pheobe was living at the Gin Gin house, the final posts she made to social media before she disappeared suggested the troubled teen had fallen out with her mother and would not return home.
The couple’s neighbour, Shari Loughland, told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday that Pheobe had only been living there ‘for a few weeks, up to a month or two’.
However, it seems she was also having a hard time living at the Gin Gin property.
A friend who wished to remain anonymous has shared the last messages they received from Pheobe, sent on Monday, May 12 before she went missing.
‘I’ve been better but I focus on the good s***,’ Pheobe said when asked how she was going.
‘I take off to WA in three days! Get out of this s*** home for a bit so that will be good, just packing atm (at the moment).’
Asked how long she was going for, Pheobe replied: ’10 days beautiful x’.
The Gin Gin property where Pheobe was living, cluttered with rubbish and a dilapidated bus, has been a hive of police activity during the probe into her disappearance.
When Daily Mail Australia visited the scene on Thursday, there was a pervading stench of decay emanating from the Milden St property, which witnesses speculated could be due to the dead dogs reportedly found at the home.
Early reports suggested police had discovered and removed four dead dogs from the scene, but one neighbour told Daily Mail Australia she believed as many as 13 of the animals had been found.
Meanwhile, Bromley’s brother, Sean, has come forward, claiming his family had serious concerns about the welfare of those at the Gin Gin property and went to the police prior to Pheobe’s dissapearence.
‘It’s about time I say something,’ he said.
Pheobe’s mother, Kylie Johnson, (pictured) said life was like a ‘heavy hell’ since her daughter went missing
A supermarket worker has shared an insight into Pheobe Bishop’s life in the weeks leading up to her disappearance
Pheobe visited a local IGA (pictured) ‘looking worse for wear with no money’ on several occasions before she went missing
‘I’m ashamed my family’s name is now getting dragged through the mud because of one particular person.’
He went on to discuss his sister’s recent run-ins with the law, explaining she was out on bail at the time of Pheobe’s disappearance.
‘I was worried about my nephews and everything that I had been hearing and what those boys had gone through.’
According to Mr Bromley, he spoke to an investigations team regarding his concerns.
‘I wasn’t the only one putting these complaints in,’ he continued.
‘Especially considering how many times those two have been reported to authorities, welfare and the animal protection service,’ he said.
‘I even contacted the media by email, had even attached a photo of her court charges, and no one did a thing.’
Mr Bromley added that his mother is now helping police with their enquiries, but they would appreciate it if she was ‘left alone’.
‘My heart goes out to this girl and her family, and I hope that the police can get the information to find her and put everyone’s mind at ease.’
While Mr Bromley had never met Pheobe in person, he was aware she, too, was living at the house with his sister and Wood.
Mr Bromley also admits he was so concerned he considered taking matters into his own hands.
‘My mum wouldn’t let me come up because she knew how I am, and I would have chased him out of town,’ he said.
Police tape outside the house Pheobe was living in with Bromley and Wood
Texts revealed that Pheobe was having a tough time living at the Gin Gin property prior to her disappearance
Police announced they had discovered an item of potential interest in the national park
Pheobe’s mother Kylie Johnson shared an emotional message on Facebook on Monday as the search for her missing daughter entered the eleventh day.
Ms Johnson said life was living a ‘heavy hell’ and explained the teen’s disappearance was taking a toll on everyone with her son asking why his sister won’t return his calls.
‘Not knowing what to say, what to do or even how to continue to live in this cyclone of uncertainty,’ she wrote.
‘The tears come, the anger and frustrations come and most of all our hearts are shattering more and more each day.
‘Your little man/brother asked yesterday “Why won’t Phee take our calls? She always takes our calls!”
It comes after detectives investigating Bishop’s disappearance believe some evidence may have been moved from a key search site before police arrived, as her flatmate is arrested on unrelated charges after a firearm was allegedly found inside her car.
Bromley’s 2011 silver Hyundai ix35 hatchback with registration 414-EW3 – believed to be the car Pheobe travelled to Airport Drive in – has also been declared a crime scene along with the Gin Gin house.
Investigators have asked for members of the public who may have seen a Hyundai ix35 in the Good Scrub National Park on May 15 to come forward
Queensland Police have been searching bushland with cadaver dogs at the Good Night Scrub National Park, about an hour away from where Pheobe was last seen.
On Monday, police announced that several items potentially linked to the investigation were discovered during the search of the park and they have been sent for forensic testing.
But in an explosive twist, officers revealed that key evidence may have been moved from the park before they began their search on Friday.
Police also announced that Bromley has been charged with multiple unrelated weapons-related offences.
During a search of the grey Hyundai ix35, police allegedly found a shortened firearm, ammunition, and two replica handguns. Additional ammunition was reportedly located at the Gin Gin property.
Bromley faces two counts of possessing explosives without authority, and one count each of possessing restricted items and unlawful possession of weapons.
Bromley was arrested in Milbank on May 25. She has been refused bail and is due to appear in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Monday.
No charges have been laid over Pheobe’s disappearance and Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Bromley or Wood were involved.
