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

[Liadan]

Usually we also hear about the 'last hours' of the victim what was she doing in the time leading up to her disappearance- this will be interesting if released or we get insider information.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Sometimes, the person who has had the most to do with what may be a terrible crime feels compelled to join the search, to insert themselves into the investigation, ......offer advice to the long suffering coppers, bring gifts and food to the afflicted family, , take on a position of spokesperson, or helper..... they want to be part of it all, and, of course, to steer people away from anything that may be incriminating to themselves..... the local coppers will be keeping an eye out on who volunteers..

*Quoted with permission:
The actor(s) & their confederates have on occasion, inserted themselves into cases, into social media, into search parties and passed themselves off as "interested parties" for the sole purpose of keeping an eye on the progression of the case, evidence gathered and to spread dis-information to the media, other searchers and LE. Do not assume for one second that we operate here in some insulated environment where what we post is not watched equally by elements of LE, attention seekers, profiteers and the actors themselves. ~ TrackerGD
SAR Search Manager & Footprint Tracker

 

[they'll get you]

Usually we also hear about the 'last hours' of the victim what was she doing in the time leading up to her disappearance- this will be interesting if released or we get insider information.

G’day old friend.
Like Allison Baden-Clay, her family/girlfriends may know if Sam was having personal turmoil within her marriage, business and finances.

This brunch may have been the catalyst.

(No mushrooms or beef Wellington on the menu)

 

[Trooper]

*Quoted with permission:
The actor(s) & their confederates have on occasion, inserted themselves into cases, into social media, into search parties and passed themselves off as "interested parties" for the sole purpose of keeping an eye on the progression of the case, evidence gathered and to spread dis-information to the media, other searchers and LE. Do not assume for one second that we operate here in some insulated environment where what we post is not watched equally by elements of LE, attention seekers, profiteers and the actors themselves. ~ TrackerGD
SAR Search Manager & Footprint Tracker

oh their confederates! of course, Assuming this is a corporate murder. Which it may well be, I just don't see it that way at present. I see it as a lone instigator, lonely then and lonely now. People blab, especially when rewards are starting to appear, or when things get too hot. I don't think the utter silence surrounding this disappearance has a large cast. One person , as I see it.

 

[Melt71]

I don’t understand the ‘culturally incorrect’ comment.

This is in Australia where we offer large rewards, I’d like to think we get the job done, most bodies are found and most crimes are solved.
We loath domestic violence!
Cross fingers on this one.

Yes absolutely, agree. But this is not the US where media seem to have access to family and investigators and inside details and have made decisions on outcomes long before they are officially known. Because of our gun laws, far fewer deadly outcomes and far fewer really serious crimes that need solving. Personally I like that Australians tend to let the police get on with their job without the hoopla. Hopefully we have an outcome soon. Yes I have lived in the US and Australia so I feel at least a teensy bit qualified to comment on both.
*Edited to add - my mother lives within an hour of where Ms Murphy went missing, so I also have some experience being around similar terrain and would not be surprised at all if she's fallen victim to a snake bite or a fall into a mine shaft.

 

[BGirl88]

Yes, there are a few possibilities apart from accident and murder.

Edit: no, her mental state and history have not been disclosed, except that several people insist that she's very strong. You say that when someone's had to demonstrate it. I wonder about her history and also possible current stresses. But her husband in his most persuasive moment asks me to respect the family's privacy.

Agree with your point about the comments SM was very strong mentally and physically. You generally need to go through tough times and come out the other side for other people to comment on being “mentally strong”. I wonder what she has had to deal with in the past.

 

[Trooper]

I was loooking at the picture of Mrs Murphy, and I understand she is a runner , ,,,, even so, she would be pushing it to survive out there, with nothing, for this long...

And of course, as soon as I write this, I remember the famous Mr Ricky MegGee, born larrikan and breaker of womens hearts up and down the Stuart Highway, who lasted 71 days in the desert on the Tanami Track after his car broke down, , .... people dispute this claim, but doctors say it is real. Ricky was eventually discovered and rescued by a small group of ringers, ( cattle handlers doing some mustering ) near Katherine, in the NT.... this was back in 2006....

 

[Tweet57]

No one has come forward to say they did.

The most basic yet most important question to ask IMO. Very strange that more information hasn’t been released (if available)

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The focus of the search has expanded to Buninyong

"We haven't received any information relating to her movements from the moment she left [her] home address on Sunday morning," Detective Acting Superintendent Hatt said.

Inside the bushland where Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy often went running

Dozens of police, SES and townspeople have scoured this park near Ballarat over the past week. Here is what's known about where the missing 51-year-old is thought to have gone running.

www.abc.net.au

 

[SLouTh]

The actor(s) & their confederates have on occasion, inserted themselves into cases, into social media, into search parties and passed themselves off as "interested parties" for the sole purpose of keeping an eye on the progression of the case, evidence gathered and to spread dis-information to the media, other searchers and LE.

BBM
Hmmm … People come forward to report they have seen Samantha the day before ….(AFAIK the only sighting so far reported in the media)

An Apple watch is lost, (how???) and pings in Buninyong, same area as Samantha’s phone…..(Co-incidence???)

The focus of the search has expanded to Buninyong

Some 10 kms away …. (Thanks for the map Granny)

Just interesting …. To think about ….
Especially as there is so little specific information on the case in general…

Definitely NOT suggesting there is a direct link…. But just suggesting it’s something Police may be thinking about .???


IMO

 

[JLZ]

I find this a little odd….

Michael (the camper who saw Samantha on Saturday) lost his Apple watch camping in that same area …. And it also “pinged” in the same area as Samantha’s phone….. ????

Does anyone know how far Buninyong is from the camp / running track area???


Michael also lost his Apple Watch and Ms Agheli said she had been told by police it last pinged in a similar area to where Ms Murphy's phone had also pinged in the nearby suburb of Buninyong.

Criminal psychologist's theories on missing mum

Tim Watson-Munro described her disappearance as a 'very odd case' and said nothing could be ruled out.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Who knows where Rebecca and Michael camped? She guesses about a seven minute drive from another place which is about fifteen minutes from the national park. You'd think she'd have figured out her locations before talking to police about it. Surely her partner knew where they were since he was driving.

However, Woowookarung Regional Park is about five kilometres from Buninyong, give or take one or two because they're areas not points. I don't think pinging to Buninyong necessarily means a device is in Buninyong at the time. If the two devices pinged there it doesn't mean they're together in the dishevelled man's collection.

 

[Nikynoo]

I wonder if her husband knew she was going to brunch? Did these brunch friends prompt her absence to be reported more prematurely than expected? Because clearly then this absence was way out of character!

Who was brunch with? And I agree with you, did hubby know about the brunch?

 

[SLouTh]

Even if the footage does not depict Samantha, detectives are keen to review all footage in the areas between 7am and 7pm on Sunday, 4 February,” they said in a statement on Saturday.

BBM
This suggests to me, that that the focus of the investifgation has changed .. the initial police request for footage was from 7:00am till 11:00am

And now Police are requesting all footage for a 12 hour period … even if Samantha is not in it ….

Police are obviously looking for something in particular, but don’t want to say that publicly… (I hope so anyway)

All MOO

 

[SLouTh]

If the two devices pinged there it doesn't mean they're together in the dishevelled man's collection.

No … it doesn’t … but you just never know ????
It just seems too much of a coincidence … IMO

 

[Nikynoo]

The focus of the search has expanded to Buninyong

"We haven't received any information relating to her movements from the moment she left [her] home address on Sunday morning," Detective Acting Superintendent Hatt said.

Inside the bushland where Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy often went running

Dozens of police, SES and townspeople have scoured this park near Ballarat over the past week. Here is what's known about where the missing 51-year-old is thought to have gone running.

www.abc.net.au

Does this quote indicate that the police have evidence that Samantha did leave the home?

 

[JLZ]

No … it doesn’t … but you just never know ????
It just seems too much of a coincidence … IMO

Not really. For all we know it's the tower that devices in the forest normally ping to.

 

[Dalziel]

My thoughts about the food was that he was just trying to say thanks to those who had provided it.
I don't see anything strange in thanking people.

I feel like that’s something you say once they’re found, all my focus would be on finding my wife and urging people to come forward with information. Food is an afterthought

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Does this quote indicate that the police have evidence that Samantha did leave the home?

On the morning Ms Murphy vanished, she was captured on her own CCTV system wearing a maroon/brown singlet and black half-length leggings.

She was later spotted on a neighbour's camera running past their property about 7.16am on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, near the intersection of Warrenheip Rd.

That was quarter of an hour after she began her Sunday run.

It showed her running northeast towards Yankee Flat Road.

Ms O'Loughlan said she did not believe her friend would have ventured into the rugged area where her phone was last 'pinged'.

'There's no way she would have run that far. Absolutely no way. I'm confident of that,' she said.

'I believe she was going out for brunch that morning so I believe she would have been home by 9 or 10am,' she said.

Date missing mum Samantha Murphy would NOT have missed

Missing mum Samantha Murphy was notably absent from her family's traditional summer holiday along Victoria's surf coast in the weeks before she vanished.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[iamshadow21]

Not really. For all we know it's the tower that devices in the forest normally ping to.

I can't imagine there are dozens and dozens of towers in Ballarat. I suspect the tower the phone has pinged off isn't going to be specific enough for a precise location.

MOO

 

[SLouTh]

Who was brunch with? And I agree with you, did hubby know about the brunch?

This article (linked below) has Samantha’s friend taking about the “brunch”….

I am guessing that her husband knew about the brunch, (or at least found out about it if her friends called him, looking for her) as he reported her missing …

It is understood Mr Murphy was home when his wife was captured on CCTV leaving their property and later raised the alarm to police when she didn't return.

Date missing mum Samantha Murphy would NOT have missed

Missing mum Samantha Murphy was notably absent from her family's traditional summer holiday along Victoria's surf coast in the weeks before she vanished.

www.dailymail.co.uk