The disappearance of Samantha Murphy from her Ballarat home has been deemed “suspicious” by Victoria Police, who have declared everyone who knows her as a “person of interest” in the case. The search for the missing mother-of-three has now entered its third week.
Crime Command detective acting superintendent Mark Hatt told reporters on Friday that police have obtained a new lead in the form of intelligence from mobile data, and would be conducting a search in Mount Clear today based on that information.
Sadly, he revealed police believe it is likely Murphy is deceased, and clarified that investigators are looking for her mobile phone and other small items in today’s search.
“Unfortunately, given the time, and the fact we have found no trace of her, we do have severe concerns, and are very doubtful that she is still alive,” he said.
“Given the extensive and detailed search that has already been undertaken and the fact no sign of Samantha or her personal belongings has been located, we have ruled out any type of medical incident.”
Hatt announced that every person who knows Murphy personally has become a person of interest in the case, including her family, friends and work colleagues.
However, Murphy’s husband Mick is not a suspect at this stage, and Hatt praised Murphy’s family for being “absolutely fantastic” in cooperating with police.
When asked if Samantha Murphy could have been removed from the area by a third party, Hatt said: “That is certainly a scenario that we’re looking at.”
“Based on our elimination process, we do think another party has been involved with one person or a number of people,” he added.
“So again, anyone that has seen suspicious activity, whether it be cars, or people in the area on the morning [she disappeared], we hope they would come forward.”
Hatt said police have “12,000 hours of CCTV that we’re currently reviewing, and we have over 500 pieces of separate information in relation to the investigation.”
Members of the public have also reported seeing her after she went missing on February 4 — but Hatt could not say whether these sightings held any weight to them, only that they were being investigated.
It’s worth pointing out that police previously shared CCTV footage believed to have been of Samantha, only for it to be confirmed later that the footage was of someone else.
Samantha Murphy was last seen leaving her Ballarat home for a run at 7am on February 4 to go for a jog.
She is described as Caucasian, about 173cm tall with a slim build and shoulder-length blonde hair, and was last seen wearing black leggings and a maroon/brown-coloured singlet.
Anyone who sees Samantha is urged to contact Ballarat East police station on (03) 5336 6000.
