Found phone believed to be Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy’s
Detectives are now waiting on the results of a forensic assessment of items of interest, including a mobile phone.
An iPhone found by detectives near a rural dam is believed to have belonged to missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy, as the latest search for her body concluded on Wednesday.
After months of searching for Murphy’s body, police believe they have made a major breakthrough after they unearthed new clues on the bank of a dam along Buninyong-Mount Mercer Road.
A renewed, targeted search effort this week, involving a police diver, sniffer dogs, an excavator and metal detectors, led to the discovery of several items of interest, including an iPhone in a teal-coloured case.
Sources have told Seven News and Nine News that the phone belonged to Murphy, although police have not confirmed this.
Forensic testing of the phone is still under way, but if it is proven to be hers, it could help investigators map out Murphy’s final movements.
The detectives who found the items on Wednesday celebrated with hugs and handshakes.
The discovery is the most significant development in the case since Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, was charged with the Murphy’s murder.
The 51-year-old disappeared on the morning of February 4 when she set off from her home for a jog in the Canadian State Forest.
“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,” a police spokeswoman said on Thursday.
“There is no update on the forensic assessment of the items.”
She refused to comment on whether the phone belonged to Murphy.
Previous searches by police and volunteers in Buninyong, Enfield State Park and Woowookarung Regional Park have failed to find any traces of Murphy.
The dam is a few kilometres south of where her phone last pinged on the day she vanished.
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