In a concerning escalation of efforts to locate missing Australian teenager Phoebe Bishop, police have brought in cadaver dogs to scour a remote national park in Queensland.
The specialist dogs, trained to detect the scent of human remains, were deployed on Sunday to Good Night Scrub National Park, situated roughly an hour’s drive from Bundaberg Airport — where the 17-year-old was last seen 11 days prior.
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Miss Bishop had reportedly been dropped off at the airport to catch an 8:30am flight to Brisbane, with a connecting service to Perth, where she was due to visit her boyfriend. However, she never boarded the flight and failed to check in.
Phoebe had been living with a couple, Tanika Bromley and James Wood, who say they drove her to the airport. Both individuals have been questioned by police and subsequently released without charge.
Her disappearance has attracted widespread national attention in Australia, prompting a large-scale search operation involving drones, divers, and specialised ground teams canvassing areas in and around the airport and nearby bushland. To date, no trace of the teenager or her possessions has been recovered.
In a potential breakthrough, CCTV footage has emerged showing a silver Hyundai ix35 — the same model owned by Ms Bromley and reportedly used to transport Phoebe — passing through the nearby town of Gin Gin at 10:30am on 15 May, two hours after she was allegedly dropped at the airport, The Courier Mail reports.
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Following the discovery of the footage, Queensland Police announced that an “item of potential interest” had been located within the national park.
Detective Acting Inspector Ryan Thompson said:
“Police have subsequently been conducting some searches of the Good Night Scrub National Park in the hopes of finding some evidence in relation to her disappearance.
“There are no specific persons of interest, however, police are following up all avenues of enquiry.” It remains unconfirmed whether the recovered item is directly linked to Phoebe’s case.
The search effort has since intensified, with police deploying specialist teams on foot, in the air, and by water. Dive squads have also been engaged in targeted areas.
Inspector Thompson added:
“Police are trying to nail down the timeline to where this vehicle has gone. We do have associates that are assisting police with our enquiries at the moment, and this is why we’re trying to narrow down that timeline in relation to where Phoebe could be.” Authorities continue to urge anyone with relevant information to come forward.
