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 #7

[Dr Samoht]

This morning I had some spare time and decided to check out the area. I drove along Eureka St turned onto Cathie St and followed Boundary Rd all the way to Recreation Rd and drove down Boak Rd.

Mostly standard dirt roads except for Boak Rd which was very rough. I noted many water sources in the area. Some of the vegetation around Boak Rd was so thick it looks like a difficult terrain to search. Plenty of roads and tracks in the area. I'm not sure why Aristotle Picket claims this area is not accessible by car, it certainly is accessible.

Such an eerie feeling in the forest. I didn't see any other cars or people around.

Did you note at which point the 7 Km came up ?
I’m thinking Sam probably turned into Katy Ryan’s Rd , crossed onto Baileys Rd heading west onto Recreation then downhill to the western entrance to Boak , then uphill to the Telstra tower.
Agree the vegetation is quite thick and brushy .
Walked that part of Boak Rd last Sunday .

 

[DK007]

Not sure who reposted and replied to one of my comments on previous thread.
I found the article which states quoting

“7NEWS understands police had been keeping an eye on Patrick Stephenson for two weeks before he was arrested.”

The link

Item belonging to Samantha Murphy’s accused killer seized by police

7NEWS understands police had been keeping an eye on Patrick Stephenson for two weeks before he was arrested.

7news.com.au

 

[BoysTown]

Firefighters continue to battle Ross Creek bushfire - 3BA

After a difficult night for residents in the Newtown area, the bushfire threat to communities has been reduced. Yesterday, a...

www.3ba.com.au

There was some mention of the fires that recently happened around Ballarat. This one mentioned above is only 13km from Mount Clear. It started around the 13th February so well after she went missing.

 

[Deleted member 340727]

People do terrible things without any help from any drug, or alcohol, whatsoever. An unhappy conclusion to reach, but history tells us this is so. People do kill without any mind altering substance at all. Often , they surprise themselves, but also, on the other hand, they always knew they had it in them. ..... While it is , perhaps, due to cultural memes to think of drugs/alcohol being a part of this horror, it is not necessarily so. His age may suggest that, but again, it doesn't disqualify him being stone cold sober at the time, and after.

Considering the outcome, it's difficult to equate a person out of their skull on god knows what, and the clean up of this crime. These two things do not match up. .

I agree: people can become enraged in an instant and attack with or w/out the assistance of drugs and be mindful that as quickly as they fly they can flop. This attack was planned. It came out of as an act of complete consumed rage.

 

[Cagney&Lacey]

Being that the accused was an electrician, I wonder what type of job sites he worked on. i.e. residential vs industrial. If the later he may have been familiar with a particular remote job site (they usually have skip bins on site) providing him the opportunity to temporarily stash Sam's body. Being that there would most probably be no activity on the site over the weekend, this would afford him time to think of a more permanent and secluded dump site and then return to move her when he had a clearer plan for the body's final resting place.

 

[Cagney&Lacey]

Just a further thought, if PS worked on retail/commercial fitout sites which are in the construction phase, the electricians and other trades are usually given keys to access the site for the period of the fitoff. Possibly nobody was due back on site for a week while for example, they awaited plumbing inspection or while the concrete cured. Most trades would have a fitout schedule and be aware of what trades were due on the site on what dates. This would also provide him some 'breathing space' while he came up with a more permanent plan.
All just speculation of course on my behalf.

 

[BoysTown]

Two miners pinned under rocks, 25 others stuck underground in Ballarat mine collapse

A rescue effort is under way after a Ballarat mine collapse pinned two miners under rocks and forced 25 others to take refuge in an underground safety pod.

www.theage.com.au

Two people are reportedly trapped underground in a Ballarat mine after a collapse.

The Country Fire Authority said they were called to a rescue at Indicator Lane in Mount Clear, just south of Ballarat, about 4.50pm on Wednesday.

 

[Doesitmakesense]

I wonder if this is people searching

Crime Watch Victoria

BREAKING NEWS. Wednesday 13 March 2024 Two people are trapped underground following a rock fall in Mount Clear. The incident is unfolding at the Ballarat Gold Mine on Indicator Lane. Multiple...

www.facebook.com

 

[Deleted member 340727]

Firefighters continue to battle Ross Creek bushfire - 3BA

After a difficult night for residents in the Newtown area, the bushfire threat to communities has been reduced. Yesterday, a...

www.3ba.com.au

There was some mention of the fires that recently happened around Ballarat. This one mentioned above is only 13km from Mount Clear. It started around the 13th February so well after she went missing.

I could not find any earlier fires in that proximity of dates in relation to this crime. Of course we had the later fires around Beaufort and Ragland and further north-west during the very later part of that month when the alleged perp. was under surveillance. I do not believe this was the method of disposal of SM. MOO

 

[mondayschild]

Trying to find a mine in a haystack.

There has been a lot of focus on mines in media. The reality is that a lot of these mines will be quite narrow, variable depth (eg may have collapsed). The larger ones might have more substantial capping than a wire grate that would need extra equipment to remove.

However, given that there is a Ballarat precedent (earlier thread - Koby?) of disposing of body in a mine - perhaps that is why it remains a hot topic.

Also - in light of above article about the mine collapsing - I should have added that most people are aware of the risks of collapse in these old mines hence wouldn't venture in. Hope they are ok.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Ballarat CFA responding to reports of two people trapped in gold mine

Ballarat CFA, Ambulance, FRV, and police are on scene at Ballarat Gold Mine after two people became trapped underground.

www.abc.net.au

Emergency services are responding to reports that two people have been trapped in the Ballarat Gold Mine after a rock fall.
The mine is a working operation on the edge of suburban Mount Clear with tunnels and shafts stretching below houses.

It is not open to the public.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“There are reports that two people were trapped underground at the Indicator Lane site about 4.50pm,” a spokesman for Victoria Police said.

The Cairns Post

The Cairns Post

www.cairnspost.com.au

 

[Nifty]

About 30 miners are trapped underground after a mine collapsed

Emergency services are responding to reports of a rock fall about 3km underground in the Ballarat Gold Mine at Mount Clear, Ballarat, about 4:50pm on Wednesday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Deleted member 340727]

I found it interesting to see the alleged perp. close proximity to Woowookarung and Canadian State Forest, growing up as a child and in youth. I could envision myself walking down the road and jumping the fence. MOO

 

[drsleuth]

The longer this goes on, the more inclined I am to believe that this was plannned and executed with a lot of rehearsal. That he had a place to dispose of the body before he murdered her, and that it is either underground or underwater or under a building that has not been on the radar. or else it would have been exposed by now. I think it's fair to say the body is not out in the open. And not near any horse farms, either, horses are particularly sensitive to (a) strangers in their paddock and (b) strange bodies in their paddocks ...

So either he is extremely lucky, or he planned and meticulously processed this whole matter, over and over again to get it right. There is, apparently, not much of any other sort of scenario, really...

However, VICPOL have gone toe to toe with other murderers of the same mind set, and eventually justice prevailed. Of the capacity of VICPOL to find the body, I have no doubt that they will. People are convicted of murder without a body, it happens , not a lot, but it happens enough to be comfortable with that outcome.

It is just as apparent that he has made one, or possibly more than one colossal , monumental error, or errors, because there he sits, under arrest for murder, so somewhere he has slipped up, either by talking, ( 3 can keep a secret , if 2 are dead , Benjamin Franklin) or he has been overcome with his own 'artwork' and filmed the entire thing and sent it on, I do think VICPOL are smarter than him. on any day of the week. VICPOL know the error he has made, which is why they are in no doubt that she is not only dead, but murdered, a double down of irreversible claims that VICPOL does not usually engage in.

I'm not sure it was planned Troops?

I think he has just got lucky that Sam has not yet been found.

I'm thinking of the Carly McBride case where her boyfriend murdered her in a ice fueled jealousy rage ( bashed her to death, I think she had 17 fractures from memory ) , in broad daylight while she was walking to McDonalds in Muswellbrook & no one saw anything apparently.........he & his mate than dumped her about 35 mins away @ Owen's Gap ( about 47kms away ) an area he & his mate new.

Carly was only found nearly 3yrs later, by of all things, a couple of bird watchers!

She was dumped about 10 mtrs of the road

He was not charged till after she was found , despite so much circumstantial evidence ( including using Carly's bank card being used @ Macca's after dumping her.

They did take the back roads & deleted their messages & google history etc

He lost his appeal last week , now says he's taking it to the high court

GUILTY - Australia - Carly McBride, 31, murdered, Muswellbrook, NSW, 30 Sept 2014 *Trial in 2021*

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2603886/missing-woman-last-seen-in-muswellbrook/?cs=4173 POLICE are searching for Carly McBride, 31, after the Belmont woman failed to return home on Tuesday. Ms McBride was last seen in Muswellbrook's Calgaroo Avenue about 2pm on Tuesday and serious...

www.websleuths.com

Sorry, all that to say sometimes they get lucky....but luck eventually runs out .........patience

 

[bearbear]

I don't know, bear. I imagine it takes a while to arrange the use of the cadaver dogs. In the cases I noted from Vic & SA they got the cadaver dogs well after the people had disappeared.

In this case, they might need to wait if the cadaver dogs are already busy elsewhere. And/or they might wait until they have a more definite zone in which to look for Samantha. And/or they might have had a cadaver dog in already, but didn't announce it due to compassion for the family.

It would be great if all states could put cadaver dogs into their police budget. But police budgets are a whole other discussion matter.

imo

it seems really remiss if they didnt use them this time, surely they must have?

 

[SEJ]

I also have a question for Aristotle Picket from the end of the last thread:

You seem to be convinced the area was not accessible by cars. Can you clarify what area and why you think this? I am not a local but have viewed the Recreation Rd/Boak Rd area (which I believe is the key area of interest, where the alleged "incident" appears to have taken place) on street view, and it certainly looks like Rec Rd at least is a through road for cars. Boak looks like a rougher road, but definitely still drivable, with some tracks off it. The fact someone else mentioned there are now cameras in the area to try and stop illegal dumping of goods suggests cars can access these locations. It looks quite feasible to me that Samantha could have been on a path that comes out at Rec Rd (as per street view) and possibly been hit by a car, or told off a driver driving too fast and a road rage incident occurring.

I can assure all that these areas are accessible by car. On Sunday and Tuesday I once again walked from home to Mt Clear (12kms each way). I decided to enter the park from the Elsworth St end and start videoing again. Don't think I can upload yet. I am assuming that the police are now trying to capture any CCTV images from any of the exits/entry ways into the park. I have entered or left via 4 so far - Cathie St (which becomes Boundary and from which Samantha's neighbours said she would often enter through), Elsworth St (which is at the end of an Industrial zoned work area), Recreation St (closest to where her watch indicated an event took place i.e. closest way to access Boak rd) and also Olympic Avenue (which is the road of which the suspect's parents house is located). I have only noticed 2 cameras spread over those 4 entry points and unlikely to have any data not written over at this stage.

On Sunday and Tuesday I was once again a lonely sole in Boak Rd and apart from one man striding up Boak Road (as I was coming down it) on the Sunday I saw no walkers/joggers for the couple of hours I was in the park. Recreation Road each time is much like a Gran Prix circuit with few observing the recommended 40 kms zone and kicking up dust and small stones (as it is extremely dry in the park).

As an aside note the air search today maybe in relation to 2 people trapped in a mine on the other side of Mt Clear (which is a very active and managed Gold Mine site within Ballarat). They are trapped in a rock cave in. This mine is enclosed by a security fence and would be impossible I would think for anyone to dump a body.

Now as I am on foot I am able to understand the geography of the park. I have failed to find any mine which would be easy to stuff a body in (excuse the crude picture). As to cars on Boak and other narrower path ways - they do and are apparent. On the day of the large search I and another man spoke to 2 SUV's who slowed to confirm we were all looking for Samantha. On Tuesday I kept coming abreast a VIC Forest branded Ute and Trailer travelling around the single lanes. I was amazed to watch it traverse the steeper tracks with trailer and these trails are heavily rutted (but it did). I was looking to take cover in a prickly bush had they not turned around in a wider section (video captured) as I was coming from the Boundary end of Boak road having traversed via Olympia Avenue. By the time I made my way down past the Phone Tower (almost opposite a waterhole for wildlife - and very shallow) I noticed a new pile of fly tipping which either I had not noticed as I came up Boak road or it had happened in the 1.5 hours I gone around Olympia Av. So there is nothing to debate on the 'can a car traverse tracks like Boak road'. This issue is that unless you want to potentially damage your vehicle you need to slow down. I presume this may be one of the reasons that the suspect was not charged with Hit and Run. Unlike recreation road, Boak and other tracks have sections which require you to at least slow down. However if you have indeed taken drink and drugs perhaps judgement is completely out the window and rather than give the runner/walker room you decide to stalk them in your vehicle. The part of Boak coming from the intersection of Boundary/Recreation etc passed the Water pump station (yes I thought it was an electricity substation too) does at one point narrow such that as a walker/jogger you would have to squeeze into the undergrowth getting scratched. If Samantha like me (female and in the same age range) decided to give said driver a piece of her mind, he may have got out of the vehicle (which is a covered white UTE - so with the ground clearance needed in the park) and say no more. If she had not taken water then the journey from her place to Boak is 'up and down hill'. My devices indicate 23 floors climbed coming via Boundary and 6 floors via Dozle. By the time I got to that intersection I had drank my bottle of water. So as she was said to have low blood pressure (in the very first post when she went missing not ever reconfirmed), I would guess she was not at her fighting best.

So there are in theory at least 2 properties which are best accessed via the park if you are moving between the Family Home (off Olympia Avenue) and the property being house sat (off Yendon No 2 Road) when you are avoiding the Police. In Australia we are often subject to the Booze/Drug Bus. This gives the police the right without cause to test your alcohol and drug levels. I don't know where after the night at the deck (if this has been confirmed) in central Ballarat he retrieved the vehicle. Why would you want to come off recreation road in the early hours of Sunday morning. On a hot day most people decided to do their physical activity well before midday so 8/8.30am is not an hour of the day where it would be without risk to go dumping bodies. I am still going to see if I can access the 'tip' area of Whitehorse Road which is the other area the Police were physically searching before the suspect was arrested. Hard to see how to enter that area with a vehicle without the houses opposite noticing your movements. The side of tip hill with the active mine is a 'mess' with rubbish and very short trails as most of the site is fenced off because of the Gold mine. The day I was there, there were workers being lifted in a crane to the top of the other Mt Clear phone tower. Had we known they could have been handed devices to scan the landscape from above.

I have several videos of the area she walked and possible lost her life but not sure if I am allowed to post these here as I am quite new.

Sorry for the length of the post.

 

[Rumination1]

I completely agree with you. I believe this attack is something he's been thinking about and planning for a long time. Maybe not with Samantha as the specific target, but a woman jogging alone at just the right (or wrong, for her) time for him to strike. He would have chosen the location carefully and figured out where he was going to hide the body, and rehearsed it all until he was sure he wasn't leaving any major evidence behind. IMO, MOO, etc., etc.

Moo

I had a thought that maybe she was the actual target
He’d crossed paths with her , maybe took his car to be fixed or he did electrical work for someone she knows
All guesses! This guy is a similar age to her eldest too .
He hung out in a place she would pass by
Had his car nearby for after
Imo

 

[SouthAussie]

I have been walking around Mount Clear College on Google maps. Because it looks like there is a back route from Boak Road telecomms tower through the forest to the accused's home. There are tyre tracks leading onto the dirt portion of the route, so it seems that vehicles definitely use it.

I can't see close enough on the Olympic Ave (south west) side of the college, but I have noticed CCTV on another (north) side of the college. So there is a good chance that there is more CCTV there in other places. imo

Just wondering if any CCTV at the college caught the accused on his travels that day.



(I have NOT used the accused's address on the map route, Google just picked up a random address in the vicinity.
The middle pic is tyre tracks from Olympic Ave onto the dirt track leading to Boak Rd, in the 3rd pic you can see CCTV at the college)



Google maps

 

[MissMarplesNotebook]

I wonder if the breaking news story of the mine collapse at Mount Clear has anything to do with this case? Maybe they were searching or retrieving the body?