By KYLIE STEVENS and KARLEIGH SMITH and JONICA BRAY IN GIN GIN FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
Friends of Pheobe Bishop reported mysterious activity on the missing teenager’s Facebook account just hours before her housemates were charged with murder.
Police arrested James Wood, 34, and his partner Tanika Bromley, 33, in Bundaberg in central Queensland on Thursday night.
They were charged with one count each of murder and two counts each of interfering with a corpse.
The couple had taken the 17-year-old into their home in the weeks before her disappearance on May 15.
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.
Wood and Bromley were held in custody on Thursday night and their initial hearings will be before the Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Friday.
Pheobe’s friends reported her Facebook account appeared to be active on Thursday, after all her social media had been dormant since her disappearance.
The teen’s Facebook Messenger account appeared to be online at various times over a 14 hour period between midnight and 2pm.
Pheobe Bishop’s flatmates have been charged over the teen’s disappearance
James Wood and Tanika Bromley were charged with murder on Thursday night
A screenshot appeared to show Pheobe’s Facebook account had been online on Thursday – three weeks after she vanished
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 before the image had been taken.
Both friends said they had reported the strange activity, with one posting the information to the accounts of Pheobe’s mum Kylie Johnson.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Queensland Police about the unexplained use.
‘For investigative reasons, we cannot provide that level of detail,’ a spokesperson said.
Police announced the charges against Wood and Bromley five hours later.
Wood had been released without charge by police earlier Thursday after having been interviewed by officers.
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.
Tanika Bromley was seen smoking a cigarette after she reported for bail at Gin Gin Police Station on Thursday on unrelated weapons charges
A friend of the teen shared a screenshot taken around 2pm Thursday that appeared to show Pheobe’s account had been online just eight minutes before the image had been taken
Bromley arrived to report for bail at Gin Gin Police Station about 9.15am on Thursday on unrelated weapons charges. Within 12 hours, she was charged with murder
Hours before he was charged with murder, a photo resurfaced of James Wood on his wedding day to another woman in 2021
Wearing a beige knitted zip-up jumper, blue jeans and maroon sneakers, Bromley had notably dyed her hair from blonde to brown since being granted bail last week.
She had air pods in her ears 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.
Pheobe’s mum Kylie Johnson shared a heartbreaking post shortly after she received news of the murder charges on Thursday night, having been holding out hope her daughter would be found alive.
‘Our world has just been shattered into the most horrific place I’ve ever been,’ she wrote.
‘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.’
Shortly before she received the news, Ms Johnson took to Facebook to mark three weeks since her ‘Phee Phee’ disappeared.
Pheobe (pictured with her mum Kylie Johnson) was last seen on May 15
Tanika Bromley refused to comment when confronted by Daily Mail Australia outside Gin Gin Police Station on Thursday
‘My heart is holding onto every little memory and hope that you come home to us Phee Phee, the little internal family jokes, the little digs at your siblings and the love that you all unconditionally shared,’ Ms Johnson began.
‘The fierceness of that was beyond beautiful and unique.. I remember someone commenting once that you were all so co dependent that you finished each other sentences.’
‘This statement made me the happiest mum alive! Your sibling bond is deep, meaningful and makes my heart so happy.. The emotional connection, love and friendship has always been unmatched and unquestioned..
’21 days without a txt, a call, or any contact.. I know our daughter and this isn’t her behavior.
‘Someone knows something! Someone has the answers to bring our Phee Phee home!’
James Wood and Tanika Bromley will appear in Bundaberg Local Court on Friday
‘Someone knows something! Someone has the answers to bring our Phee Phee, our Nanny McPhee, our Auntie Nanny our Nanny, our Flea Flea and our family member home!’
Pheobe was last seen on May 15 leaving the Gin Gin home, near Bundaberg, where she was living with Wood and his partner Bromley.
The couple drove Pheobe to Bundaberg Airport for an 8.30am flight to Brisbane and then on to Perth, where she planned to meet up with her boyfriend.
Pheobe failed to board and neither she nor her luggage have been seen since, with police revealing her neither her phone or bank accounts have been accessed.
The development comes after Wood was initially arrested on Wednesday and then released without charge.
Police provided an update earlier on Thursday.
‘Detectives are continuing to run through several lines of enquiry as investigations continue, and will conduct physical searches when required,’ a spokesperson said.
‘Police are continuing to appeal for any information about Pheobe’s whereabouts.’
The search for Pheobe was scaled back on Wednesday after police had spent weeks combing several areas of interest.
‘Our world has just been shattered into the most horrific place I’ve ever been,’ Pheobe’s mum Kylie (left) posted on Thursday night
Pheobe’s remains are yet to be located. Pictured is a search in Good Night Scrub National Park
They included the property in Gin Gin where Pheobe lived with Wood and Bromley and a grey Hyundai ix35, thought to have been used to take the teen to the airport.
The police search initially focused on Good Night Scrub National Park with homicide detectives, cadaver dogs and divers called in.
Some items believed to be linked to the investigation were seized for forensic examination.
The search revealed evidence might have been moved from the national park before police arrived.
Anyone with information regarding Pheobe’s disappearance is urged to call Crime Stoppers.
