Human Remains Found After Almost A Month Of Searching For Vanished Teenager

QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA - Authorities said that on Friday afternoon, June 6th, while searching for missing teenager Pheobe Bishop, remains were found near Good Night Scrub National Park near Gin Gin. 

The remains are yet to be formally identified, however, investigators have been in contact with Pheobe's family, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The 17-year-old has been missing since May 15th.

After the discovery of the remains, Pheobe's mother, Kylie Johnson posted her reaction on social media. "This is ripping me apart," she said.

On Thursday, June 5th, a day before the remains were found, 34-year-old James Wood and 33-year-old Tanika Bromley were charged with one count each of murder, and two counts each of interfering with a corpse. "The brief search commenced after further enquires and investigations today, with the discovery being made by specialist units around 2:30 p.m.," Queensland police said in a statement.

"The remains are yet to be formally identified; however, investigators are in contact with the family of missing 17-year-old Pheobe Bishop," police said. Earlier in the day on Friday, Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield said police expected to find her body in the greater Gin Gin area. "We are suspecting we may locate Pheobe, but it is a broad, unforgiving area that we're trying to narrow down," he said.

Her body was moved more than once, according to Mansfield.

Police said that Pheobe was in a car with her housemates on the way to Bundaberg Airport on May 15th, but that the teenager never entered the terminal for her flight to Western Australia.

"We will allege that three people arrived to the airport and that three people never left that vehicle," Mansfield said at the press conference.

Police declared the teenager's disappearance suspicious on May 21st, six days after she was last seen. Two crime scenes have been declared — the car she was believed to have been traveling to the airport in, and the house where she had been living in Gin Gin. 

A candlelight vigil will be held in memory of Pheobe on Sunday afternoon, June 8th, with the community encouraged to wear bright colors and butterflies. "The vigil is a way of our family acknowledging Pheobe's impact on our community, their efforts, and the importance of a community that cares," the mom said on social media.

"I didn't think my heart could break anymore than it did when you went missing, or when the charges were laid but this ... This is ripping me apart," Pheobe's mother said.