A man has been released after being held and interrogated for hours in connection to the puzzling disappearance of a 17-year-old girl. James Wood, 34, was taken into custody on Wednesday and let go on Thursday without any charges, according to an update from the police. Pheobe Bishop was last spotted near Bundaberg airport around 8:30 AM on May 15 after booking a flight to Western Australia to visit her boyfriend. CCTV footage shows that Pheobe did not enter the airport terminal.
Detectives from Queensland Police are working to figure out what happened to her. “Detectives are still working on several lines of inquiry and conducting searches when necessary,” a police statement said on Thursday. The search for Pheobe was scaled back on Wednesday after weeks of searching several areas in southern Queensland. One of these areas was a property in Gin Gin where Pheobe had lived with Wood and another woman. The police declared the Gin Gin property and a grey Hyundai ix35 reportedly used to take Pheobe to the airport as crime scenes after her disappearance. Wood and Pheobe’s other housemate, Tanika Kristan Bromley, have since been charged with weapons offenses, but these charges are unrelated to Pheobe’s disappearance.
Initially, the search focused on the Goodnight Scrub National Park, an hour from Bundaberg airport. Police worked with homicide detectives, cadaver dogs, and divers but found possible evidence before they arrived. The search revealed a possibility that evidence had been moved from the national park before they arrived. The community has rallied to support Pheobe’s family through the “Leave the Lights On for Pheobe” campaign. They switched on their fronts lights “to guide Pheobe home.”
Pheobe is described as about 180 centimeters tall, with a pale complexion, long dyed red hair, and hazel eyes. She was last seen carrying luggage and wearing a green tank top and gray sweatpants. Anyone with footage or sightings of the grey Hyundai between May 15 and May 18 in the area of Gin Gin has been asked to contact the police.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/05/pheobe-bishop-disappearance-police-release-housemate-james-wood-without-charge-ntwnfb
