Sam Murphy search: Expert reveals big fear amid breakthrough in search for missing Ballarat mother

Police have shed light on their next steps in the search for Ballarat woman Sam Murphy after ‘items of interest’ were found in a cordoned-off search this week.

A crime expert has has revealed that a mobile phone found on the banks of a dam during the search for missing mother Samantha Murphy might be damaged to the point it is rendered useless.

Ms Murphy was going for a run in Ballarat East on February 4 when she vanished.

Her body has not been located.

Patrick Orren Stephenson has been charged with Ms Murphy’s murder. He is yet to enter a plea.

Police allege he acted alone.

Investigators are still searching for her body.

Police revealed “items of interest” were recovered during a targeted search on a dam at a property south of Buninyong, approximately 14km from her home, on Wednesday.

Speaking to Sunrise on Thursday morning University of Newcastle criminologist Xanthé Mallett said the discovery of a phone, if it were Ms Murphy’s could be a breakthrough.

“Unfortunately, it may have been damaged,” Dr Mallett said.

Police photograph a phone. Picture: Supplied / ABC

"Items of interest" were recovered Wednesday. Picture: Supplied / ABC

“Samantha Murphy has been missing for 116 days now, so almost four months.

“If it does transpire (the phone) is hers, they may not have got as much information as they could have done if it had been found earlier,” Dr Mallett said on Sunrise.

“It really depends on the quality of the phone and how damaged it is. Remember, it has been outside.”

Assessing the phone could take weeks, the academic said.

“They will be working on them quickly but it is not going to be short term. We are not talking days, we are talking weeks at the earliest.

“Whether it has been for four months or if it transpires it is Samantha’s or longer, we really don’t know yet. We are going to have to wait and see exactly what condition that phone is in.”

Footage captured by the ABC shows police hugging, backslapping and shaking hands after finding the phone at the edge of the dam.

The elation at the find was a good sign, Dr Mallett said.

“This case has really touched everybody not only the Ballarat community but the wider community and the police,” she said.

“To (possibly) find (her phone) after so long of no real leads … it would have been a really good moment for them, giving them hope they can progress this case for Samantha’s family.”

Wednesday search focused on a dam. Picture: NewsWire / Ian Wilson

Wednesday’s search called for a variety of equipment. Picture: NewsWire / Ian Wilson

An excavator was on scene. Picture: NewsWire / Ian Wilson

On Thursday, a police spokesman said missing persons detectives’ search of the area had concluded – they will not be searching there again on Thursday.

“There is no update on the forensic assessment of the items.”

Police said they will provide more information when it is available.

People gather in Ballarat at a vigil for Samantha Murphy in March. Picture: NewsWire / Tamati Smith

Ballarat women Hannah McGuire, Rebecca Young and Samantha Murphy all died in a two month span earlier this year. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

Ms Murphy was last seen leaving her Eureka St home in Ballarat about 7am to go for a 14km run through the nearby Woowookarung Regional Park.

Police believed she had reached the Mount Clear area, adjacent to the park, about an hour after leaving home, but had not been seen or heard from since departing.

Subsequent searches by police and volunteers have failed to locate any trace of the missing mum.

In February, a huge group of volunteers combed through bushland after gathering at Ballarat’s Eureka Stockade Memorial Park – some bringing metal detectors and even a sniffer dog.

Later that month, police launched a targeted search of Buninyong Bushland Reserve involving a range of specialist units including mounted officers, dog squad and motorcyclists.

The search area was highlighted in “intelligence derived from a number of sources,” a police spokesperson said at the time.

Originally published as Sam Murphy search: Expert reveals big fear amid breakthrough in search for missing Ballarat mother