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

[Trooper]

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

I'll see your Carly's boyfriend and raise you John Sharpe... John got sick and tired of being married, and fatherhood and all that, so he shot his wife with a spear gun, and then went and bought another one and shot the little girl. He deposited them in the local rubbish dump, and the sterling VICPOL had to wade thru weeks of house hold rubbish to get to the day they figured out he had got rid of the bodies.. . days of upending garbage , day in , day out, 3 weeks of it.. John got life. 2 terms.

Sharpe family murders - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

John, mistakenly, came out and gave press conferences, they were the worst, the worst public appearances by a 'grieving husband and father' I have ever seen....


Some do get lucky, but most, do not, I don't think this young man is going to win this contest with the VICPOL. They've seen 'em come and go.

 

[Dotta]

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.

What a great post!
Thanks

I cannot wait to see the videos!
Please upload them here.
Hope you are not wandering this area alone!!!

 

[Justoneoftheguests]

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?

I was thinking this too.

Here is a link, it doesn’t specifically say but I would assume it’s very likely. Two people believed to be trapped after mine shaft collapse in Victoria

Edited as it seems like it’s an active mine site with security fencing- so maybe not!

 

[Deleted member 340727]

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.

Excellent work and thank you for your very hard work in assisting everyone. You have explained everything in a simple walk through manner which is very easy to follow and very satisfying. It would be good to have some of your footage posted and I understand your limitations.

 

[Poirot's niece]

I was thinking this too.

Here is a link, it doesn’t specifically say but I would assume it’s very likely. Two people believed to be trapped after mine shaft collapse in Victoria

It seems unlikely that someone was searching/retrieving a body. It is a functioning mine. What struck me was that the tunnels go a long way, under houses, residential areas in Mt Clear. When I think of mineshafts I think of old deep dilapidated holes in the bush buttressed with aging wooden slabs. Not the type mentioned here. Someone has to look after these mine tunnels, air circulation, lighting, electrical or other powers sources..... Local knowledge, local skills.

 

[drsleuth]

I'll see your Carly's boyfriend and raise you John Sharpe... John got sick and tired of being married, and fatherhood and all that, so he shot his wife with a spear gun, and then went and bought another one and shot the little girl. He deposited them in the local rubbish dump, and the sterling VICPOL had to wade thru weeks of house hold rubbish to get to the day they figured out he had got rid of the bodies.. . days of upending garbage , day in , day out, 3 weeks of it.. John got life. 2 terms.

Sharpe family murders - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

John, mistakenly, came out and gave press conferences, they were the worst, the worst public appearances by a 'grieving husband and father' I have ever seen....


Some do get lucky, but most, do not, I don't think this young man is going to win this contest with the VICPOL. They've seen 'em come and go.

Yep know all about Sharpe, these cretins think they are soooo smart & women are just disposable to them

Newson put on a fine act, knocking on doors all over the place, reported her missing early, made a find Carly facebook page, offered $10K reward etc..........

It wasn't until after Carly's autopsy that they charged him & his mate - obviously skeletal remains - I wasn't really prepared when, all of a sudden they showed the photos of her insitu in court - no attempt was made to bury her etc

I went to alot of the first trial ( before it was aborted 7 weeks in - we had 1 week to go ) - he made no attempt to bury her etc

To say I'm impressed with Vic police is an understatement

They must have some very solid evidence!

I don't think he is going to win either!

 

[Awakening]

There are countless mineshafts in the area searched for signs of Samantha Murphy. This is what it's like inside them

Raymond Shaw says he has spent the past five-and-a-half weeks uncovering and exploring disused mine shafts in a determined effort to find anything that helps locate the Ballarat mum.

www.abc.net.au

Mr Shaw said he had located at least 100 mineshafts during his searches in Ballarat bushland during the past five weeks and he had been down about 60.

Awesome bloke Raymond

 

[seasideForest]

I was thinking this too.

Here is a link, it doesn’t specifically say but I would assume it’s very likely. Two people believed to be trapped after mine shaft collapse in Victoria

Edited as it seems like it’s an active mine site with security fencing- so maybe not!

I listened to it and they say police have ruled out any connection to SM. At least, that's what I'm hearing. MOO

 

[Deleted member 340727]

Trooper mentioned bins in his example of another case study. I already had it noted as a point of issue. The disposal of clothes, personal belongings including the iPhone and Apple watch (IMEI) (GPS data) may have been disposed on in rubbish bins and trash cans by the alleged perp. I have included the URL for you to search. Perhaps sleuths here may wish to provide a list of suburbs and areas that had their rubbish and trash collected 4th onwards.
I assume the LE have already sectioned off and sifted through the trash trying to locate something in this case.
MOO

Waste Collection Day — City of Ballarat Data Exchange

City of Ballarat open data platform

data.ballarat.vic.gov.au

 

[Deleted member 293720]

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

Would be amazing if they stumbled across poor Samantha's body in the bush there while carrying out this rescue

hoping everyone there is Ok

 

[Dr Samoht]

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)

View attachment 490154 View attachment 490155 View attachment 490156

Google maps

I walked that very track Sat evening from the Telecom tower , a little east along Boak before taking the downhill track to Olympic Ave at which point is the cctv equipped Earth Education complex ( part of Mt Clear College ).
The accused home is a mere 450 metres from this point . Took some pics … one of the Earth Ed centre as you leave the track … there are some recently added bollards ( installed about Nov ) but a 4 wd could ignore these and take a tight passage between nearby trees to access the track .it’s a tight track from Boak Rd , but not impossible for a skilled 4 wd driver .
So the Telstra tower has Cctv, the Earth Ed and Mt Clear college also have it .

 

[Dr Samoht]

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)

View attachment 490154 View attachment 490155 View attachment 490156

Google maps

The Earth Education complex cctv equipped in Olympic Ave at start of rough track uphill to Boak Rd.

 

[Deleted member 340727]

I walked that very track Sat evening from the Telecom tower , a little east along Boak before taking the downhill track to Olympic Ave at which point is the cctv equipped Earth Education complex ( part of Mt Clear College ).
The accused home is a mere 450 metres from this point . Took some pics … one of the Earth Ed centre as you leave the track … there are some recently added bollards ( installed about Nov ) but a 4 wd could ignore these and take a tight passage between nearby trees to access the track .it’s a tight track from Boak Rd , but not impossible for a skilled 4 wd driver .
So the Telstra tower has Cctv, the Earth Ed and Mt Clear college also have it .

Thank you for this information with pic. Would it be a stretch to make a special request from you to post a (or) sections from Google maps with these tracks and a highlighter arrowing movements you are indicating here. (No need for inclusion of perps. res.) What you have posted is important information for everyone here. Thank you. MOO

 

[Dr Samoht]

I

Thank you for this information with pic. Would it be a stretch to make a special request from you to post a (or) sections from Google maps with these tracks and a highlighter arrowing movements you are indicating here. (No need for inclusion of perps. res.) What you have posted is important information for everyone here. Thank you. MOO

Not sure I can manage that ( would do if I could ) but if you look at South Aussies blue marked route it’s the same with the slight exception at the Boak Rd end where two short entrances merge into the main downhill track to Olympic . SA took the one west of the Telstra phone tower ( that I recall is blocked by new pine bollards .. I took the one east of the tower which from memory would be vehicle negotiable ( can’t recall bollards there ).

 

[Deleted member 340727]

I

Not sure I can manage that ( would do if I could ) but if you look at South Aussies blue marked route it’s the same with the slight exception at the Boak Rd end where two short entrances merge into the main downhill track to Olympic . SA took the one west of the Telstra phone tower ( that I recall is blocked by new pine bollards .. I took the one east of the tower which from memory would be vehicle negotiable ( can’t recall bollards there ).

Will do. Thank you.

 

[Rocket333]

SM may have stumbled upon PS doing something secretive and he then decided to silence her.

As a local wouldn’t he have known about the cameras installed on Boak to catch the rubbish dumpers? If it was premeditated surely he would’ve been right on to the obvious traps like cctv and cameras.

Also does anyone recall the police being asked early on why they took so long to search a certain area and the response was something along the lines of wanting to watch if someone returned to the area?

 

[Minaka]

I've got to say, I've loved joining this sleuthing site.
So many great points and sleuths.

<modsnip - rude>

As only a few others have noted, that might not be the case. Too much evidence to hide in that state of mind, and too little time.

What I haven't heard much of at all, is that multiple people could have been involved. One with a directive to remove SM. Another to facilitate that process, and another or others to execute the plan. Or perhaps the middleman wasn't necessary.

A body is heavy. Even SM. If speed and efficiency is vital to avoiding detection of where the body is, then at least two people would be needed.

Let's say the accused isn't the only perpetrator. What are the other options?
Let's be true detectives.

 

[Antropophagus]

I really appreciate the input from the Ballarat (/East) locals in this thread. It's all fantastic insight.

I thank you all enormously for going out of your way, checking things out and sharing your opinions. It's invaluable. I, for one, really appreciate it.

 

[Antropophagus]

I've got to say, I've loved joining this sleuthing site.
So many great points and sleuths.
<modsnip - rude>

So far it seems, the accused is a crazed, drug induced attacker acting alone.

As only a few others have noted, that might not be the case. Too much evidence to hide in that state of mind, and too little time.

What I haven't heard much of at all, is that multiple people could have been involved. One with a directive to remove SM. Another to facilitate that process, and another or others to execute the plan. Or perhaps the middleman wasn't necessary.

A body is heavy. Even SM. If speed and efficiency is vital to avoiding detection of where the body is, then at least two people would be needed.

Let's say the accused isn't the only perpetrator. What are the other options?
Let's be true detectives.

Excellent post.

I agree...we can't rule out much of anything at this point.

The police seem to confident in the murder charge, but there is still so much more to be filled in.

 

[SouthAussie]

What I haven't heard much of at all, is that multiple people could have been involved. One with a directive to remove SM. Another to facilitate that process, and another or others to execute the plan. Or perhaps the middleman wasn't necessary.

Probably because, at this point in time, the police don't believe anyone else is involved.

This is from six days ago ... the police seem to be steering away from their presser where they said one or more people could be involved.

“Investigations will continue at a very heavy pace,” Patton said. “Doing everything we can to locate Samantha’s body for the family is absolutely vital.”
Police said they were not looking for anyone else at this stage in connection to the alleged murder.
..... identified as alleged killer of Ballarat woman

Plenty of people have moved someone by themselves. I named 3 of them earlier ... Borce Ristevski, Adrian Bayley, Greg Lynn (allegedly moved two people by himself).

imo