How Pheobe Bishop’s devastated mum found out her daughter was dead just minutes before the rest of Australia

By OLIVIA DAY and KARLEIGH SMITH and JONICA BRAY IN GIN GIN FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 00:10 BST, 6 June 2025 | Updated: 00:23 BST, 6 June 2025

Pheobe Bishop’s devastated mum found out her daughter was dead just minutes before police shared the tragic update with the Australian public. 

Kylie Johnson took to Facebook to mark three weeks since her ‘Phee Phee’ disappeared just moments before she received tragic confirmation from Queensland Police that her daughter was never coming home. 

James Wood, 34, and his partner Tanika Bromley, 33, were arrested in Bundaberg on Thursday night. The pair were charged with one count each of murder and two counts each of interfering with a corpse. 

Ms Johnson said her family were told just ‘minutes’ after she shared yet another appeal for information to her Facebook page. 

‘Please know that we as a family were told this minutes after I posted my post.. Our world has just been shattered into the most horrific place I’ve ever been…’ she said. 

‘I need my baby home to put her to rest! I’m absolutely begging anyone that knows anything to come forward.

‘WE need to put her to rest, we need to put her to peace.’

Wood and Bromley had taken the 17-year-old into their home in the weeks before her disappearance on May 15.

Kylie Johnson took to Facebook to mark three weeks since her ‘Phee Phee’ disappeared just moments before she received tragic confirmation from Queensland Police that her daughter was never coming home (her updated post is pictured)

Pheobe Bishop’s devastated mum found out her daughter was dead just minutes before police shared the tragic update with the rest of the Australian public

James Wood and Tanika Bromley were charged with murder on Thursday night

They are thought to have been the last people to see Pheobe and had been due to drop her off at the Bundaberg airport that morning. 

Her remains are yet to be located.

The charges were laid hours after Pheobe’s friends reported odd occurrences on her Facebook account on Thursday.

The teen’s Facebook Messenger account appeared to be online at various times over a 14 hour period between midnight and 2pm.

One person reported that a green dot on her profile picture – showing when someone is logged in and available for instant chat – appeared at 12.18am.

Another Facebook friend shared a screenshot taken around 2pm that appeared to show Pheobe’s account had been online just eight minutes earlier. 

The pair were charged hours after Wood was taken into custody and released. 

Just hours before she was arrested, Bromley arrived to report for bail at Gin Gin Police Station about 9.15am on Thursday on unrelated weapons charges.

The charges were laid hours after Pheobe’s friends reported odd occurrences on her Facebook account on Thursday – with one person reporting a green dot had appeared on her profile

Just hours before she was arrested, Bromley arrived to report for bail at Gin Gin Police Station about 9.15am on Thursday on unrelated weapons charges

It was the first time she had been spotted since her partner Wood had been arrested and then released. 

Wearing a beige knitted jacket, blue jeans and red trainers, Bromley had notably dyed her hair from blonde to brown since being granted bail last week.

She wore AirPods as she smoked a cigarette. 

When approached by Daily Mail Australia for comment on the unrelated weapons charges against her and and her partner, she declined to speak.

She put on her oversized sunglasses and then drove off.

Wood and Bromley will appear in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Friday.

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How Pheobe Bishop’s devastated mum found out her daughter was dead just minutes before the rest of Australia

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