A CCTV snap, a morning run, then nothing. The search for Samantha Murphy

The morning air is cool in the pine plantation at the end of Samantha Murphy’s street on the outskirts of Ballarat.

At 7am, the sun has risen enough to allow ripples of light to crack through the tall trees, but the air is still crisp. If you’re a runner like Murphy, 51, that’s part of the appeal of heading out early.

Murphy was last seen leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East to go for a run about 7am on Sunday.

The Ballarat mother of three has been missing for six days. The sense of urgency her loved ones feel as they look for her grows as the days and hours slip by without any updates on her whereabouts.

Murphy was last seen at about 7am on Sunday, captured by a CCTV camera in the family driveway looking ready to tackle the network of trails in the nearby state forest, as was her regular habit.

During dinner with her husband Michael, known as Mick, and friends the night before, Murphy had revealed she’d worked her way up from a keen bushwalker to a more than capable runner. She announced she was planning a 14-kilometre run before the weather got too hot the next day.

Ballarat was on its way to a top of 36 degrees; even early in the morning, Murphy would’ve been warm in her singlet and leggings as she set off.

The last known image of Murphy – hair pulled back in a ponytail, smartwatch on her wrist – has now been shared thousands of times since being released by police.

The candid shot is shared alongside a smiling, more formal photo of Murphy on the missing person posters being handed out around Ballarat.

The pine forest at the end of Murphy’s street connects to bushland known by residents as Canadian forest. About seven kilometres from end to end, more than 120 kilometres of roads, tracks and trails wind through the thick scrub of Woowookarung Regional Park.

The terrain is arduous: dense bushland that slopes down into canopied areas that open up into large paddocks. For nearly a week now hundreds of people have walked, driven and ridden through the scrub – heads down, scanning the ground for signs of their friend and neighbour.

Mick and Jess Murphy during their emotional plea to the public on Thursday to continue the search.Credit: Nine News

The search began after police received a report from the family on Sunday that Murphy was missing after she failed to show up to brunch.

When she still hadn’t made contact with loved ones by Monday morning, police put out a public appeal for information on her whereabouts. The response from people living both in Ballarat and beyond has been enormous. Volunteers have shown up to walk the scrub day after day looking for a woman described as a dedicated mum who’d do anything for her children.

Murphy runs the family panel-beating business with her husband Mick; they recently moved closer to Ballarat from a rural property outside town. Before she took over office duties at the workshop, she had been an aerobics instructor at a Ballarat gym.

Eldest daughter Jess acknowledged her mum’s strength when the family addressed the media for the first time on Thursday.

Samantha Murphy is described as a dedicated mum who would do anything for her kids.

“She’s far too determined to give up this fight,” a teary Jess told the cameras.

With three kids, including a son and daughter still in secondary school, Murphy has been heavily involved in her children’s school communities. She ran the uniform shop at her son’s primary school as a volunteer for 10 years.

Murphy’s son is a talented performer, and, like her youngest daughter, trains at a Ballarat dance academy.

Her disappearance has rattled her many friends in the community.

Mounted police searched Moss Avenue, Mt Helen on Friday.Credit: Penny Stephens

Mick has around 30 people working under him at the business. A rev head with a soft spot for classic cars, he was due to drive in a car show on the coast this weekend. He played football for Dunnstown for several years and is as well-known in Ballarat as his wife.

The multi-agency search began in an area on the opposite side of the park from the family home. Police revealed an area behind Buninyong Golf Club had been targeted because it was the last known place Murphy’s phone had pinged.

While police have confirmed they are still working with telecommunications agencies to access data on her watch and phone, there has been no indication either have provided details on her location since Sunday.

Alongside police officers on foot and horseback, volunteers from VICSES, the Country Fire Authority, and Search and Rescue Dogs Australia have worked their way through the landscape, marking their targeted areas on a map displayed in the foyer of Buninyong Police Station.

Members of the public have shown up in pairs or in groups to search, fanning out through the park as the emergency services have moved their attention from the golf club to areas closer to Murphy’s home. Volunteers are instructed to walk slowly along the back roads, scouring the track as they would if they’d dropped something – keeping an eye out for ear pods, a phone or a watch.

Brief moments of hope in the search have been cruelly snuffed out. Items found in a street near Murphy’s house were one possible clue before being ruled out later that day. CCTV footage of someone running down Eureka Street, thought to be Murphy, was dismissed after another resident said they were the jogger.

Kevin Consiglio was one of the first people at the search base on Friday morning, waiting for instructions on where to start looking. Having made the two-hour trip from his home earlier in the week, Consiglio has been walking the bush for two days.

“I think Mick would do the exact same thing for any of his mates, to be perfectly honest,” he said.

Kevin Consiglio at Buninyong Police Station. He was an apprentice of Mick Murphy and dropped everything when he heard Samantha was missing.Credit: Penny Stephens

Consiglio used to be an apprentice under Murphy and the pair have stayed in touch.

“I learnt my work ethic because of Michael,” he said. “He gave me my chance in life.”

Michael has been described as a “great guy” who is “suffering more than anyone” by people who have spoken publicly since his wife’s disappearance.

He appeared stoic when the family spoke to the media, thanking the community for their support and appealing for people to come forward if they knew anything.

“People just don’t vanish into thin air,” he said. “Someone’s got to know something. You know, whether it be any little thing that you might think is relevant. Just call the police. Let them know.”

Consiglio said his old boss and friend was a great teacher and a lot of fun to be around. “I’m a big fan of Mick,” he said.

Despite the number of searchers, the sense of foreboding has magnified as days pass with no news. Former Greens senate candidate Sissy Austin also spoke out about being knocked unconscious with a rock while she was running through state forest about 12 months ago, albeit about 20 kilometres from where Murphy planned to go.

The other great concern for residents who know the area is the prevalence of mine shafts throughout the state park – the remains of prospecting and gold mines that once operated in the area.

Darren O’Hagen and Robert McMaster have been searching the area known as Canadian forest on their dirt bikes.Credit: Chris Hopkins

Local electrician and family friend Darren O’Hagen said erosion had filled many of the old mine shafts with dirt, but there are areas of the park where they’re relatively widespread and pose a risk.

“The majority might only be a couple of metres deep, and then there’ll be the odd random that’ll be deeper,” he said.

O’Hagen covered more kilometres on his dirt bike in Woowookarung than he could count this week, taking some of the less accessible roads in the dense bushland to look for Murphy.

He said the family have been customers of his and friends for 20 years. “She’s just a very nice lady – and that’s why we’re here.”

“It could be my mother out there, my sister, my wife … nothing is more important than this.”

On Friday, police announced that the missing persons squad would take over as lead investigators, but reinforced that Murphy’s disappearance was not being treated as suspicious.

Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt said police had no reason to believe Murphy had left the state park, and the search of the challenging terrain would continue into the weekend.

“We do hold significant concerns for Samantha’s welfare at this stage, and that is growing as the days progress,” Hatt said.

Detective Acting Super Intendant Mark Hatt and Inspector Bob Heaney updating the media on the investigation on Friday.Credit: Penny Stephens

A Victoria Police spokesperson on Saturday morning said that the search for Murphy had been scaled back but that the investigation into her disappearance was ongoing.

“Police continue to be in regular contact with Samantha’s family regarding the developments of the search and the status of the investigation,” the spokesperson said.

Locals who volunteered to search over the weekend were told they could continue patrols through the Canadian forest in groups of two, but there would be no SES or CFA members on the ground.

For the many people desperate for some clue on Murphy’s whereabouts, Inspector Bob Heaney’s words – who addressed the media alongside Hatt – may be of some comfort.

“We will continue to search until we find her,” Heaney said.

Our Breaking News Alert will notify you of significant breaking news when it happens. Get it here.