Inside the police search for missing Ballarat mum Samantha Murphy
More than a dozen detectives from specialist Melbourne-based units have been tasked to the case of missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy. Here’s what they know, are looking at and have all but ruled out.
Police & Courts
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More than a dozen detectives from specialist Melbourne-based units have been assigned to the Samantha Murphy mystery as it emerges as the state’s top priority police inquiry.
The major expansion of the investigation comes 18 days after the mother-of-three vanished while on a Sunday morning run in Ballarat, with still no standout theory on what happened.
The Herald Sun has been told police believe Ms Murphy made it into the forest area where she regularly ran.
But she was never seen again and there are no witness accounts, CCTV or dashcam footage to immediately take that strand of the inquiry further.
Her mobile phone “pinged” off a tower at Buninyong, on Ballarat’s southern fringe, later on February 4 but has been inactive since.
Investigators have been forced to explore a range of potential scenarios since.
The first, that Ms Murphy had fallen ill or been injured within a search zone littered with mine shafts, grew increasingly unlikely within days of her going missing.
The angle that she could have disappeared of her own volition has been looked at but there is nothing to suggest this and every indication she is the kind of devoted family woman who would never do that to her children.
The theory she has met with foul play remains a key line of inquiry but so little is known that the investigation shapes as a long haul.
The Herald Sun understands violent offenders from the area have come under scrutiny.
What started as a search operation in bushland around the Woowookarung Regional Park quickly expanded to an investigation by experienced local detectives.
Missing persons squad members, who had been assisting with the probe, took over days later as suspicions of foul play grew.
At least a dozen more investigators have subsequently been sent to chase leads contained in the hundreds of information reports which have been generated.
They have come from a diverse range of areas including fraud, counter-terror, sex crimes and armed robbery investigation units based at Spencer St headquarters.
Those officers have not been called in because there is any suggestion of a sex crime or terror link, but because they are experienced and have a background of working on protracted investigations.
Ballarat’s rumour mill has been relentless since the disappearance, adding another layer to the police task.
There has been a wild array of speculation, some of which officers have been forced to put time into corroborating or discounting.
Social media, including pages specifically devoted to the case, have been abuzz with scuttlebutt, some of it cruel and lurid.
Even mediums have involved themselves in the search for answers.
Such unexplained disappearance cases are rare nowadays as most people leave an electronic footprint and CCTV is widespread.
The investigation has come at a time of other high-level crimes in Ballarat.
A man and woman died in a murder-suicide last Friday night.
Police have ruled out any connection between that tragedy and the Murphy case.
Last week, one tobacco shop was firebombed and another smashed in a ram-raid.
Lunar task force officers, who have been investigating warfare among criminals for control of the state’s illicit tobacco industry, are investigating.
Anyone with information on the case can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit the website www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
How the case unfolded
Sunday, Feb 4
7am Samantha leaves her Eureka St home in Ballarat East to go jogging.
7.16am CCTV captures her running along Eureka St, near the intersection of Warrenheip Rd in a singlet and black leggings. She heads northeast towards Yankee Flat Rd.
Later that day Samantha fails to show up to a planned brunch with family and is reported missing to police. Her phone pings near the Buninyong Golf Club.
Monday, Feb 5
10am Police launch a public appeal for help to find Samantha and begin searching bushland near the Canadian State Forest.
Tuesday, Feb 6
Hundreds of local volunteers join the search. Ms Murphy’s husband, Michael Murphy, tells the Herald Sun, he is “not too bad under the circumstances”.
Wednesday, Feb 7
12.30pm SES and police cordon off area of bushland and declare a crime scene after discovering items in Woowookarung Regional Park.
4pm Police declare items are not linked to Samantha.
5pm Search is widened to include Mount Helen, a southern suburb of Ballarat.
Thursday, Feb 8
The search enters its fifth day. Ballarat police acting inspector Lisa McDougall says investigators are “keeping an open mind”. Mr Murphy urges the public to come forward with any relevant information, saying “people just don’t vanish into thin air”. Samantha’s eldest daughter, Jess Murphy, breaks down in tears as she describes her mother as strong and determined.
Friday, Feb 9
Victoria Police ramp up its efforts with the arrival of officers from the missing persons unit. Mr Murphy is spotted speaking with officers at Buninyong Police Station. Crime command detective acting superintendent Mark Hatt says police have no information to indicate her disappearance is “sinister”.
Saturday, Feb 10
Police scale back the search. Victoria Police confirm they would be ready to resume a full-scale search if any breakthroughs of interest are made.
Sunday, Feb 11
Locals continue their own search and scour the area in small groups. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he hopes for a “good outcome” and thanks those involved in the ongoing search.
Wednesday, Feb 14
Samantha’s disappearance is being treated as suspicious. While Victoria Police’s Missing Persons squad initially rules out foul play, Chief Commissioner Shane Patton says on Wednesday, investigators still consider her disappearance “unusual and suspicious”.
Monday, Feb 19
Mr Murphy tells the Herald Sun the public support has been great and the search effort has been “extraordinary” so far.
Thursday, February 21
The Herald Sun reveals dozens of detectives from a swathe of specialist units have been assigned to the case which has become the state’s highest priority police inquiry.
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