Australia Samantha Murphy, 51, last seen leaving her property to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest, Ballarat 100km NW of Melbourne, 4 Feb 2024 #4

[Deleted member 293720]

The police have said that they were investigating ‘ movements to and from home ‘ I am assuming some of those would have been MM searching for her ? Maybe on foot initially ? , then by car ?

I think the time around the movements are important, If it was all happening just before Sam was going for her run or just after she left

 

[Deleted member 293720]

I am bit concerned about who reported her missing ?

It sounds like friends/family rang MM looking for her as she didn’t turn up for brunch ( I could be wrong here?)
If that is the case
- were they concerned for her safety ? If so why ?
- did MM not notice she had not returned from her run ? showered dressed , taken car and left for the event ?

Interesting in the recent police interview, there was no mention of family brunch or any appointments Sam had on that morning

 

[kiwi50]

I think the time around the movements are important, If it was all happening just before Sam was going for her run or just after she left

Yes I think the movements are very important, especially anybefore she was reported missing.
Maybe she was meeting someone at Mt Clear, and someone else followed her there.
Was she ever really having a meeting somewhere at 10 o’clock, hope more than one person could confirm that.

 

[Investig8r]

Interesting in the recent police interview, there was no mention of family brunch or any appointments Sam had on that morning

Police would have been able to confirm with attendees of these alleged appointments/events whether they were real. These planned movements are critical to this case. It will also help make sense of how quickly SMs disappearance was referred to Police. IMO police know more than they can share and are collecting additional evidence to sure up their theories.

 

[BreakingNews]

I don't think the police warn the public in a lone disappearance. Maybe if they think there is a serial killer or serial rapist out there. Which doesn't seem to be the case here.

Is there an example of the public being warned by the police when a sole person has disappeared in Australia?
I can't think of an example myself.

imo

Yes you are correct. I was thinking of a case in Darwin when I lived there, but a body was found badly mutilated and we were asked to be vigilant in our safety.

 

[Black-Cat]

Interesting in the recent police interview, there was no mention of family brunch or any appointments Sam had on that morning

JMO ... Perhaps SM was meeting up with close girlfriends for brunch, and for a debrief. She may have told them she was intending to end a relationship and would catch up after for support ... and then didn't show. The friends would be waiting to hear what happened and then she didn't turn up. MOO

 

[Deleted member 293720]

It's not the sort of area you can search by yourself. There's searches all the time, it's just you usually find them.

There are plenty of tracks you can use with 4wd with a few of his mates looking, she could have gone for a coffee with someone after her run.

But to call the police so soon, to me is a bit odd

But I am sure the police will be checking his phone to see if he made calls to her phone to see where she is

 

[BreakingNews]

I am bit concerned about who reported her missing ?

It sounds like friends/family rang MM looking for her as she didn’t turn up for brunch ( I could be wrong here?)
If that is the case
- were they concerned for her safety ? If so why ?
- did MM not notice she had not returned from her run ? showered dressed , taken car and left for the event ?

That is how I remember it too. In the daughter's presser, she talked about SM being strong, like she'd recently had hurdles to overcome. Wonder if this was because of ongoing stress or conflict within her life. So maybe because of this, they were alerted to potential issues as soon as she was missing.

 

[Dotta]

Since I joined WS in 2021,
I have followed numerous threads of women attacked randomly while running or walking alone:

Rachel Morin
Eliza Fletcher
Zara Aleena
Julia James
Sarah Everard
Libby Squire
Kendra Hanks
Maria Rawlings
Ashling Murphy

And there are many, many others

And now...
Samantha Murphy
Who went running alone in the nature trail early in the morning.

Is this case really different than others?
Others of victims of random attacks?

 

[Investig8r]

Items found in search for missing Victorian mum - ABC listen

www.abc.net.au

“Ballarat community members looking for missing Victorian woman Samantha Murphy have told police about some items they found while searching through thick scrub but it's not yet known if they have ay connection to Ms Murphy.”

Police have requested anyone in the area to check their CCTV footage between 7am to 7pm February 4th for any sightings of SM.

 

[Alli1982]

Since I joined WS in 2021,
I have followed numerous threads of women attacked randomly while running or walking alone:

Rachel Morin
Eliza Fletcher
Zara Aleena
Julia James
Sarah Everard
Libby Squire
Kendra Hanks
Maria Rawlings
Ashling Murphy

And there are many, many others

And now...
Samantha Murphy
Who went running alone in the nature trail early in the morning.

Is this case really different than others?
Others of victims of random attacks?

In MOO, I believe we will find out it's related to the business, debts and possible bikie links - going by the supposed 'random' nature of the attack and direct questions about bikie links being asked and not answered by police. My hunch only.

 

[Moonchild90]

Since I joined WS in 2021,
I have followed numerous threads of women attacked randomly while running or walking alone:

Rachel Morin
Eliza Fletcher
Zara Aleena
Julia James
Sarah Everard
Libby Squire
Kendra Hanks
Maria Rawlings
Ashling Murphy

And there are many, many others

And now...
Samantha Murphy
Who went running alone in the nature trail early in the morning.

Is this case really different than others?
Others of victims of random attacks?

Oh Sarah Everard...case, that's what brought me to this forum

 

[SouthAussie]

In MOO, I believe we will find out it's related to the business, debts and possible bikie links - going by the supposed 'random' nature of the attack and direct questions about bikie links being asked and not answered by police. My hunch only.

What were the unanswered direct questions asked about the bikie links? I don't remember them.

I only remember that the police have ruled out any connection between the murder/suicide in Ballarat (with the perp being a Bandito) - as per this article.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/inside-the-police-search-for-missing-ballarat-mum-samantha-murphy/news-story/ff40e1662c59e850572584dbd77227f8?amp

 

[ann3244]

I can't work out why people say the phone was turned off at 5 pm. If the last ping occurred then, in approx the same area as the incident, which presumably occurred at about 8.30 am, then the perpetrator would have had to hang around the same area for about 9 hours and then turn the phone off there. Seems more likely that the phone, at least, is still lying in the area because the perpetrator left in the morning .

 

[jjleroche]

Anything is possible, you would think there would have been other evidence of threats , violence , property damage and why target her ?
statistically more likely to be someone she knows .

Maybe there IS evidence of threats, violence and property damage.

IMO "payback" crimes are common within the "portfolios" of both "organised" and "unorganised" (as opposed to "disorganised") criminals. IMO if such a criminal were aggrieved, for whatever reason (eg knocking back illegal work,) and sought payback, they would look for a way to cause maximum distress for the person who has caused them grief, often maiming/disappearing/murdering a dearly-loved family member. IMO if they can frame the person who caused them grief at the same time, all the better.
This MO can also send a "message" to others who may also be considering causing them grief. MOO

 

[Cedars]

I can't work out why people say the phone was turned off at 5 pm. If the last ping occurred then, in approx the same area as the incident, which presumably occurred at about 8.30 am, then the perpetrator would have had to hang around the same area for about 9 hours and then turn the phone off there. Seems more likely that the phone, at least, is still lying in the area because the perpetrator left in the morning .

What police wrote on Thurs

"They will focus on an area highlighted by intelligence derived from phone data.".

Search continues for missing woman Samantha Murphy

Detectives from the Missing Persons Squad will today lead a targeted search of the Mount Clear area as part of their…

www.police.vic.gov.au

That 'intelligence,' may not be a ping, but data from, eg, a heart rate monitor, or gps running app, that shows she stopped moving there, or something.

It's not been confirmed, but there are rumours of a ping (or perhaps an apple locate address) later in the day, from several kms away from MT. Clear. Someone may have taken her there temporarily, and moved her later, or whatever.

JMO

ETA, in one US case, the killer somehow briefly filmed himself, after the murder, on the victim's phone! Handling phones is tricky, you might carelessly turn one on, etc.

 

[bearbear]

I can't work out why people say the phone was turned off at 5 pm. If the last ping occurred then, in approx the same area as the incident, which presumably occurred at about 8.30 am, then the perpetrator would have had to hang around the same area for about 9 hours and then turn the phone off there. Seems more likely that the phone, at least, is still lying in the area because the perpetrator left in the morning .

it was mentioned on the now closed fb page set up to find her, so rumour?

 

[otto]

I can't work out why people say the phone was turned off at 5 pm. If the last ping occurred then, in approx the same area as the incident, which presumably occurred at about 8.30 am, then the perpetrator would have had to hang around the same area for about 9 hours and then turn the phone off there. Seems more likely that the phone, at least, is still lying in the area because the perpetrator left in the morning .

My understanding is that the phone pinged 11 km away from her home at 5 PM either at, or near, a golf course. I think that's a different location than the current search of the Mount Clear trails.



Map

 

[Alli1982]

In the press conference on Friday, when Hatt was asked directly by journalist about bikie links - he stated that he couldn't comment. He was also explicit in saying there is no risk to members of the community based on their current investigation. As I said, my hunch.

What were the unanswered direct questions asked about the bikie links? I don't remember them.

I only remember that the police have ruled out any connection between the murder/suicide in Ballarat (with the perp being a Bandito) - as per this article.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/inside-the-police-search-for-missing-ballarat-mum-samantha-murphy/news-story/ff40e1662c59e850572584dbd77227f8?amp

 

[SouthAussie]

The only reason I could think of anyone 'organised' targeting Sam is if they discovered that she personally was blowing the whistle on someone. Personally working with the police - giving them information - to bring someone down.

In which case, the police would already know about that investigation and Sam's involvement.

And I don't know how that organisation would know that Sam would be in the Mt Clear area at about 8am on Sunday morning.

imo