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 #5

[Hats]

I am interested in the area near the electricity hub, tower

I know where you mean - maybe better to describe it (in order to not cause confusion) as the Water Monitoring building that is near the water tower reservoir (both owned by owned by Central Highlands Water - thanks lampshade1) and next to the electricity transmission tower. (East end of Boak Rd).

 

[Dr Samoht]

G

I’m still thinking it was a hit and run, panicked, body taken and removed. The roads within these areas are prone to this happening. Roads are tight, dirt sides, people distracted on phones, nobody does the limit. I am no fan of the roads in the areas around where this has occurred. I generally cut through buninyong to avoid the Ballarat metro. I stopped doing it night due to near misses.

It was the first thing that came to mind when I heard of the area. That stupid bloody road and someone probably being hit.

Given his young age I’m thinking it could be an unfortunate random hit and run by a speeding driver … ringing 000 probably out of the question if that would reveal some illegal activity such a stolen car or carrying illicit substances .
Amazing no evidence was apparent though ..all my own conjecture

 

[Deleted member 293720]

New to forum. I am a Ballarat resident. I have searched several times in Mt Clear in Boak road. The day of the community search I was searching in scrub adjacent to the Mt Clear mobile tower when a motor cross bike rider appeared. He is older than 22. He told me and the male I teamed up with that the Police were searching Tip Hill (not the park). They searched Boak road on the Friday but the other side of main road on the Saturday. This was why the community search was not impeding police activity on the Saturday. I assume perhaps the Apple Watch indicated ceased activity but perhaps phone GPS was captured on the other side of main road. Tip hill I believe is where mining continues. I am going on foot today. Everytime I have searched by myself (female and 53) in Boak road area I have not sighted anyone or cars. There were rubber neckers on the Saturday in that area but the tracks/roads are quite rough. I have video of the path she took from the entrance off Eureka and up boundary and across Recreation. You can walk it in just over the hour but it is very hilly. The water tank is adjacent to the electricity station. I am guessing that if a body is involved then perhaps tip hill outside the park but 10 minutes by vehicle maybe of interest. I can tell you that there are no mines in the park area where you are likely to fall. They are mainly depressions in which you could hurt yourself. The area around the mobile tower is used by motor cross and mountain bike users. None of the structures - electricity, water of phone have any security cameras on them. Hence the illegal tipping rampant in the area. I have no SIM card but the Wi-Fi device knew at all times GPS wise where I was in the park due to the proliferation of phone towers.

Take care Now

 

[Warshawski]

Media outlets to argue for suppression order on identity of Samantha Murphy's accused killer to be lifted

The Ballarat Magistrates' Court ordered the name of a 22-year-old man be suppressed after he was charged with murdering Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy.

www.abc.net.au

The 22-year-old Ballarat man was arrested shortly after 6am on Wednesday at his home.

"We understand that there is a continued high level of interest in this investigation and concern about Samantha's disappearance, however it remains critical that any speculation does not impede any aspects of the investigation," a Victoria Police spokesperson said.

It’s interesting that they had him in their custody for over 24 hrs before any word came out in the media. But still no charges laid.

I wonder if there is any connection between him & the 2 guys that the alert went out on who were wanted over ‘failed’ appearances or something …

IMO.

 

[drsleuth]

It’s interesting that they had him in their custody for over 24 hrs before any word came out in the media. But still no charges laid.

I wonder if there is any connection between him & the 2 guys that the alert went out on who were wanted over ‘failed’ appearances or something …

IMO.

Victoria Police seem to keep their cards very close to their chest, which I think is a good thing for investigations IMO.

Unlike NSWPF at times .........IMO

 

[Dr Samoht]

Take care Now

IMO - But why would you cover up an accident?

Engaged in something illegal ?

 

[Dr Samoht]

New to forum. I am a Ballarat resident. I have searched several times in Mt Clear in Boak road. The day of the community search I was searching in scrub adjacent to the Mt Clear mobile tower when a motor cross bike rider appeared. He is older than 22. He told me and the male I teamed up with that the Police were searching Tip Hill (not the park). They searched Boak road on the Friday but the other side of main road on the Saturday. This was why the community search was not impeding police activity on the Saturday. I assume perhaps the Apple Watch indicated ceased activity but perhaps phone GPS was captured on the other side of main road. Tip hill I believe is where mining continues. I am going on foot today. Everytime I have searched by myself (female and 53) in Boak road area I have not sighted anyone or cars. There were rubber neckers on the Saturday in that area but the tracks/roads are quite rough. I have video of the path she took from the entrance off Eureka and up boundary and across Recreation. You can walk it in just over the hour but it is very hilly. The water tank is adjacent to the electricity station. I am guessing that if a body is involved then perhaps tip hill outside the park but 10 minutes by vehicle maybe of interest. I can tell you that there are no mines in the park area where you are likely to fall. They are mainly depressions in which you could hurt yourself. The area around the mobile tower is used by motor cross and mountain bike users. None of the structures - electricity, water of phone have any security cameras on them. Hence the illegal tipping rampant in the area. I have no SIM card but the Wi-Fi device knew at all times GPS wise where I was in the park due to the proliferation of phone towers.

Would you thinking Tip Hill is accessed by entering Frenchman’s lane south along Whitehorse Rd heading west to Sebastopol ?
This out of the way lane is very popular with rubbish dumpers and continues on to Magpie then on to the Buninyong area .

 

[OptimusLime]

Engaged in something illegal ?

There was a hit and run fatality yesterday, I believe in Sydney. The caught the perpetrator and he was engaged in something illegal, they seized 950k in cash. I did a triple take. So sad!

 

[JLZ]

Do we think this is from putting digital data together? Her data shows the accident happened at such-and-such place and time, his data indicates his phone and/or car were also at that location at that time?

 

[Warshawski]

Sounds like they did a dawn raid. The Age says he was arrested shortly after 6am yesterday.

Son of ex-AFL player faces court charged with murdering Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy

The 22-year-old man was remanded in custody as police said their primary role was now to find Murphy’s body.

www.theage.com.au

I found this statement interesting : Her husband, Mick, told this masthead on Thursday he had been in contact with police all week but that he had not been told of Wednesday’s arrest.

And they said MM was going to pick his daughter up from school ! Isn’t she 20 years old ? Maybe meant from college / uni.

for full answers for the family soon.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

And just as they should, hopefully some of the horrible rumors suspecting the husband etc might stop. It must be hell having to hear them for the family.

I think some people will never be convinced, no matter what.

 

[Slooooother5]

The police statement stating to call 000 if any sighting of Samantha. This is a strange statement, but I wonder given police have stated one or more persons involved. Then this. Is there any possibility they think the arrest of a 22yo will flush out others that may then release Samantha (if still alive). I doubt it, but racking my brain as to why police would include such words in their statement…

 

[mondayschild]

Would you thinking Tip Hill is accessed by entering Frenchman’s lane south along Whitehorse Rd heading west to Sebastopol ?
This out of the way lane is very popular with rubbish dumpers and continues on to Magpie then on to the Buninyong area .

Found this bike reference here

 

[Lemony]

G

Given his young age I’m thinking it could be an unfortunate random hit and run by a speeding driver … ringing 000 probably out of the question if that would reveal some illegal activity such a stolen car or carrying illicit substances .
Amazing no evidence was apparent though ..all my own conjecture

Police mentioning a damaged car at the presser and the major collision unit taking part in the last search pointed to this type of scenario being a line of inquiry imo

 

[da_worm]

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Detectives are continuing to appeal for anyone who has CCTV or dash-cam footage and is yet to speak to police to come forward.

Anyone who sights Samantha is asked to call triple zero (000) immediately.

Anyone with any other information regarding her disappearance is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppers.com.au

I do wonder if the statement about sighting Samantha is more in reference to "if you see her on your CCTV or dashcam footage, immediately call 000" than if you see her wandering about the streets...?.

 

[JLZ]

There was a hit and run fatality yesterday, I believe in Sydney. The caught the perpetrator and he was engaged in something illegal, they seized 950k in cash. I did a triple take. So sad!

There could be any number of reasons for running after a hit, but why move the body?--unless just out of sight into the bushland.

 

[iamshadow21]

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I do wonder if the statement about sighting Samantha is more in reference to "if you see her on your CCTV or dashcam footage, immediately call 000" than if you see her wandering about the streets...?.

I said this exactly not far back in the threads. I think it was a mistake to paragraph break at that point when they are clearly part of the same instruction. But that's all it takes for the DM to start proclaiming she could be alive, and the rest of the media to copy-paste.

It's incredibly cruel to everyone who cares about Samantha, when the reality is, the chances of survival after all this time are so vanishingly small that the police themselves have talked about this, several times already. Barring a freak occurrence, this is a recovery operation, and false hope at this point helps nobody except newspaper salesmen.

MOO

 

[Slooooother5]

B

I said this exactly not far back in the threads. I think it was a mistake to paragraph break at that point when they are clearly part of the same instruction. But that's all it takes for the DM to start proclaiming she could be alive, and the rest of the media to copy-paste.

It's incredibly cruel to everyone who cares about Samantha, when the reality is, the chances of survival after all this time are so vanishingly small that the police themselves have talked about this, several times already. Barring a freak occurrence, this is a recovery operation, and false hope at this point helps nobody except newspaper salesmen.

MOO

But Why call 000 with dashcam footage? That doesn’t make sense

 

[wecaff]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/major-update-in-search-for-missing-ballarat-mum/news-story/f50d0fba7e744d8d1e49f143bb322b1e%3famp

“Anyone who sights Samantha is asked to call triple-0 (000) immediately"

Bases on the above, IMO, the arrested 22 year old possibly had a minor role in SMs disappearance. Perhaps at the time he was involved, he was aware SM was alive, either direct witness or via conversation with other POI.

 

[annpats]

Just 22 years of age. So young to be arrested for someone's murder/disappearance.

What drives someone so young to do it?

I hope it wasn't cold-blooded murder, and was some accident or hit and run in a vehicle.