Phone found during fresh search for body of Samantha Murphy
A tech expert has said data on a phone found in the search for the body of missing Ballarat mum Samantha Murphy will very likely be retrievable, raising hopes of a breakthrough.
Police & Courts
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A tech expert says data in a phone found by police investigating the disappearance of Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy will likely be fully recoverable.
Search crews from the Missing Persons Squad uncovered a mud-soaked mobile phone on the bank of a dam during a “targeted search” of a Buninyong property on Wednesday.
There were hugs and high-fives at what is hoped will be a major breakthrough in establishing exactly what happened to Mrs Murphy when she vanished more than three months ago on her morning run.
The late-model mobile was found on the banks of a dam on Wednesday.
The iPhone, covered with a teal-coloured case, is one of the most significant discoveries in the murder probe and search for the missing 51-year-old, who has not been seen since she set off on a run in the Canadian State Forest on the morning of February 4.
A spokesman for Data Detect, a company which specialises in retrieving data from mobile phones, said contents would be preserved if the phone was a late-model iPhone or Samsung.
He said such models were hermetically sealed so they could be used in water.
The Data Detect spokesman said there would potentially be information of great assistance to investigators, particularly related to the movements of Ms Murphy.
“There would be tracking information. There’d be a lot of data,” the spokesman said.
It is believed the mobile had been in shallow water, hidden from view until the dam level receded in recent months.
It is not yet publicly confirmed whether the phone found by the dam near Buninyong belonged to Mrs Murphy.
But the fact it was in a phone case which appeared to contain personal property is likely to have given police a strong indication of its owner’s identity.
The jubilation of searchers after making the discovery also points to them finding something of great significance.
On Thursday morning, Victoria Police Missing Persons Squad detectives revealed they had concluded searching the dam.
For nearly four months police have desperately hoped for a key clue in the search for the missing mum of three.
In a statement on Thursday police said they would not resume their search at the Buninyong property.
‘We have spoken to Missing Persons Squad detectives this morning and their search of the Buninyong location has concluded – they will not be searching there again today,” the statement said.
Police said there were no further updates on the forensic assessments occurring on the items found during Wednesday’s search.
The phone was among several “items of interest” discovered by the dam.
The items will be forensically analysed to determine whether they hold clues that could lead detectives to Mrs Murphy’s body and provide evidence to bring her killer to justice.
The phone, which appeared to hold identification cards in its wallet case, was discovered by a police dog off Buninyong-Mt Mercer Rd, where police armed with picks, shovels, rakes and metal detectors scoured adjacent blackberry bushes with the help of an excavator.
Police divers entered the dam in the late afternoon.
After the discovery, several investigators could be seen hugging, shaking hands and giving high-fives.
It is understood the area was of interest to investigators due to its proximity to a nearby phone tower – the last which Mrs Murphy’s phone pinged off.
Police have searched that stretch of road many times since Mrs Murphy’s disappearance but water levels in the dam had dropped in recently.
Property owners were warned about a week ago that officers could be searching the area again in relation to the mother of three’s disappearance.
The dam is 5km south of where her phone last pinged a mobile phone tower at about 5pm on the day she vanished and about 10km south of her Ballarat East home.
It is also about 7km from where her alleged killer, 22-year-old Patrick Stephenson, was arrested on March 6.
The Ballarat local and son of former Geelong footballer Orren Stephenson is not believed to be co-operating with homicide detectives.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said more information about the items would be provided once forensic testing was completed.
“At this stage we are not providing further information about the items until that testing has been completed,” she said.
“The items were located during today’s targeted search, which involved investigators and other specialist units from across Victoria Police and assistance from the AFP.”
Residents expressed their sympathies for Mrs Murphy’s husband Mick, whose family has seen his and her birthdays come and go without answers about his wife’s disappearance.
One neighbour who has lived on Buninyong-Mt Mercer Rd for 12 years said: “To see (Mick) speak, you’ve got to feel for the guy, and the whole family.
“We actually went to a few of those rallies.
“It’s pretty unsettling that something could have been dumped so close.
“It’s a quiet strip, we do get a lot of traffic, but you don’t really think much of it.”
The neighbour said if Patrick Stephenson did know more about Mrs Murphy’s disappearance, it would be “terrible not to say anything”.
“To not bring any peace to the family for so long,” he said.
“There’s no closure.”
It comes after investigators in April trawled through dense bushland at Enfield State Park 25km south of Ballarat, when investigators brought in speciality cadaver dogs that can sniff out human remains.
Police also undertook a similar large-scale search in the Buninyong area in March.
Investigators on Wednesday evening were understood to be assessing the next phase of the search.
It is understood police had set aside three days to search the dam, but crews were not expected to need to return on Thursday.
Mr Stephenson will appear at Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on August 8.
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