Missing teen Pheobe Bishop may have got in an argument during a trip to the airport and been ‘kicked out’ of the car before she disappeared, police have revealed.
The 17-year-old was scheduled to fly from Bundaberg to Western , via Brisbane, on Thursday May 15, to visit a friend.
However, the teen did not check in or board her 8.30am flight, and there has been no sign of her, or her luggage, since.
Detectives have now confirmed they are ‘quite confident’ she did not reach the airport.
They have not been able to find her in airport CCTV footage.
Police declared two crime scenes on Wednesday: a property in Gin Gin, west of Bundaberg, where Pheobe was living prior to her disappearance.
It was also the location where a 2011 silver Hyundai ix35 hatchback with registration 414-EW3 – believed to be the car she travelled to Airport Drive in – was found.
Police have now seized the car and forensic experts are examining it at a facility in Bundaberg.
Detective Acting Inspector Ryan Thompson revealed the chilling new details of the police investigation in an update on Wednesday afternoon.
The seized car ‘belonged to persons who were residing with Pheobe’, he said, and
Quizzed over reports Pheobe had been arguing with the driver and was then ‘kicked out’ of the car, Det Insp Thompson admitted ‘that’s forming part of our investigation.
‘Police are still inquiries in relation to the timeline of this vehicle, and in relation to the circumstances of Pheobe travelling to the airport,’ he added.
Mr Thompson said Pheobe was living with two people at the Gin Gin address who were not direct family members, and ‘she had been with [them] for a while’.
It was those two people who police believe were driving her to the airport, he said.
Detectives have spoken to them and ‘they are being cooperative with police’.
Mr Thompson said they were now focusing on the last known moments of Pheobe and whether she ever reached the airport.
‘That’s something that we’re concentrating on in relation to the timeline of this vehicle,’ he said.
‘We’re currently appealing for information as to whereabouts Pheobe was last seen’.
Police are still looking for Pheobe’s luggage, but on Wednesday afternoon it had not been located.
It comes after reports that several dead dogs were found at the Gin Gin property where Pheobe was living and removed by police, but Mr Thompson said he could not confirm those reports and ‘it’s not something I’m aware of’.
A large single-decker bus, daubed with ‘Let it ride’ above the windscreen, is parked outside the front of the property, and the grounds of the home are littered with trash.
A family member revealed that Pheobe had saved up money and purchased her airfare to visit her boyfriend in WA and was on her way when she vanished.
‘He was her high school sweetheart that moved away,’ they said.
Another relative said that Pheobe had spoken to her boyfriend on the phone just before she disappeared.
‘She didn’t check in for her flight to visit her boyfriend who she spoke to on the phone at 8.30am,’ they said.
‘Her phone has been switched off from this point. She hasn’t contacted anyone at all, no one has seen her.’
The teenager’s social media accounts have been inactive since she went missing, while her bank account has had no activity since May 14.
A land search was conducted around Airport Drive and the surrounding areas on Monday but police failed to locate any of her personal belongings.
Pheobe’s mum, Kylie Johnson, has put up more than 400 missing person posters across Bundaberg and surrounding areas.
Ms Johnson has shared a series of updates on social media.
‘As we enter another day with Pheobe still missing our heart’s are breaking more and more,’ Ms Johnson wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
‘Phee we just need to know that you’re ok? We just need to hear your voice!
‘I’m begging anyone that has anything to contact Police Link (on) 131 444.
‘We as a family are thankful for the message of support and offers of assistance. Right now we are grasping onto hope and just trying to breath.
‘Again all anyone can do to help is: Keep sharing Pheobe’s flyer, follow the QLD police for updates and requests for information, keep having conversations with your loved ones, community and colleagues and hold your babies close!
‘We would currently do anything to be able to hold our baby tight right now.’
In another message shared on Facebook, the distraught mother shot down suggestions that her daughter had run away, saying her disappearance was out of character.
‘If you knew Pheobe you would know that she is free spirited and loves hard! She is loyal to the core and cut throat,’ Ms Johnson wrote.
She said her daughter last week marked the anniversaries of the deaths of her best friend and family members.
‘She would never leave her family without contact – especially this week. [She] would never not contact us at this emotional time.’
Ms Johnson also shared an emotional plea addressed directly to her daughter, begging her to let them know that she was okay.
‘Honestly have no words to describe our heartbreak, heartache or fear that we won’t see or hear from her again,’ Ms Johnson wrote.
‘Flea, Flea, my heart tells me that you won’t see this, but I love you more than anything in the world.
‘Would be homeless just to hear you say “Hey Mummzie what’s doing”… I would honestly sell my soul to hear those words.’
Pheobe is described as approximately 180cm (six foot) tall with a pale complexion, long dyed red hair and hazel eyes.
Police are urgently appealing for anyone with dashcam footage of Airport Drive, Commercial Street and Samuels Road area between 8.30am and 9.30am on May 15 to come forward.
Anyone with information regarding Pheobe’s whereabouts is urged to contact police link on 131 444.