Search crews resume search for Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy in different location
Police will resume the search for the missing Ballarat mother on Thursday, moving to a different location and using dogs that can sniff out mobile phone SIM cards.
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Police will resume the search for missing Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy, moving to a different location and using dogs that can sniff out mobile phone SIM cards.
Police chief Shane Patton said the search for Ms Murphy would resume on Thursday after new intelligence prompted crews to scour bushland at Buninyong on Wednesday.
“We are up around there again today,” Mr Patton told ABC Melbourne radio on Thursday morning.
“We’ll be going to a different location but we will also use assistance from the Australian Federal Police today in technical detection dogs.
“We don’t have the capacity — we are trying to get that capability — to run a dog that can detect a SIM from a mobile phone and that type of thing.
“We still haven’t recovered her phone and her watch. We’ll use all those specialist skills.”
On Wednesday police said fresh intelligence “from a number of sources” has led them to a reserve in the area at Buninyong.
Officers from specialist units such as the Missing Persons Squad, Search and Rescue Squad, the Mounted Branch and the Dog Squad, as well as the Public Order Response Team, took part in the search on Wednesday.
The renewed search effort came after homicide detectives charged 22-year-old Patrick Orren Stephenson over Ms Murphy’s death earlier this month.
She has not been seen since she set off on a morning run on February 4.
Previous searches based on phone data has led police to other areas in the Ballarat area such as Mount Clear.
Crews with rescue dogs on Wednesday searched an area just off Mt Buninyong and had set up a meeting point nearby at Royal Park but media were kept at bay.
About six officers on dirt bikes also waded through the rough terrain.
The search finished about 2.30pm and crews returned to their makeshift base at Royal Park where they conducted a debriefing session.
The thick bushland sits about 3km from where the accused murderer was house-sitting at the time of his arrest.
It’s understood Mr Stephenson was staying at a home on Yendon No.2 Rd in Scotsburn before police descended on the property on March 6.
Neighbours claimed to have seen a large vehicle being seized from the home about 15km south of the regional city.
The bushland sits roughly 10km from a previous search area in the Canadian Forest, indicating new information has sparked their interest out at Buninyong.
Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt said: “While someone has been charged in relation to Samantha’s disappearance, we remain committed to doing everything we can to locate her and return her to her family”.
“Since Samantha’s disappearance, extensive searches have been conducted in the Ballarat area and today we will focus on an area of bushland in Buninyong.
“We will have a range of specialist resources involved, however as we are searching for Samantha’s body, we ask that members of the public do not try and join today’s search.
“Hopefully today’s search will benefit the investigation or provide further avenues of inquiry for police. We will also look at further searches in the Ballarat area as the investigation progresses.”
Anyone with any information about Samantha’s disappearance should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online at www.crimestoppers.com.au
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