Police confident of finding the body of missing Ballarat mum Samantha Murphy one year after her disappearance
Police have pledged to continue their painstaking search for the body of missing Ballarat mum Samantha Murphy, 12 months on from her heartbreaking disappearance.
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Police have vowed to push on to find the body of Samantha Murphy, 12 months on from her heartbreaking disappearance.
Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of Ms Murphy vanishing from Ballarat in a case which would go on to grip the nation.
She set off from her Eureka St home for a run in the Canadian Forest at 7am on February 4 and was never seen again, sparking major community search efforts and a huge police investigation.
Detectives from the Victoria Police missing persons squad have reaffirmed their commitment to finding Ms Murphy and say there will be more searching as their painstaking probe grinds on into a second year.
Detective Insp. Dave Dunstan of the missing persons squad said there was confidence their inquiry would find the missing mum.
“I want to reaffirm to the community that the missing persons squad remains committed to doing everything we can to locate Samantha. While a year has passed, we still believe we can locate her,” Insp. Dunstan said.
“This year we will continue to conduct searches in the Ballarat area, including searches in areas highlighted by intelligence derived from a number of sources.”
Ballarat man Patrick Stephenson, 23, was a month after the disappearance charged with the murder of Ms Murphy.
But that breakthrough did not yield her remains and there has been a succession of searches in bush areas south of Ballarat since then.
Those operations have zeroed in on the Enfield State Park, Canadian Forest and Buninyong Bushland Reserve.
Insp. Dunstan said while nothing would erase the grief of Ms Murphy’s family, being able to return her to them was “incredibly important.”
He urged locals to be aware of their surroundings and, if they believe they have found any trace of Ms Murphy, to immediately contact police.
Insp. Dunstan said that message was particularly applicable to people using the Enfield State Forest.
“There is nothing we want more than to return Samantha to her family and we remain committed to doing this,” he said.
A vast array of resources have been involved in the effort to find Ms Murphy, including detectives from Victoria Police crime command, local officers, the dog squad and mounted branch, search and rescue, the public order response team, the transport branch, air wing, intelligence and covert support command and road policing command.
The Australian Federal Police, NSW Police, the Country Fire Authority, the State Emergency Service and the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine also played roles.
Anyone with any information about Ms Murphy’s disappearance can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online at crimestoppers.com.au
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