Devastating blow for missing mum’s desperate family as cops provide heartbreaking update on search after six days of hunting for her

The search for missing mum Samantha Murphy will be dramatically scaled back this the weekend after six days of hunting failed to find a single trace of her. 

Detectives from Victoria Police’s specialist Missing Persons unit will take charge of the investigation into the disappearance of the Ballarat woman, police confirmed on Friday.

Crews from the Country Fire Authority and State Emergency Service volunteers have also been told  to withdraw from the search.

Late on Friday, Victoria Police confirmed the ‘current phase of the active search’ would be scaled back over the weekend. 

‘An extensive six-day search has been conducted involving local police, along with personnel from the search and rescue squad, mounted branch and dog squad, plus significant assistance from members of the SES and CFA,’ a statement read.

‘Police continue to be in regular contact with Samantha’s family regarding the developments of the search and the status of the investigation.

‘The investigative stage of the investigation continues and as any new information comes to hand identifying areas of interest, the search will be scaled up.’

Specialist teams will continue to search despite volunteers being scaled back over the weekend. 

After an extensive search of the surrounding area produced no leads, detectives from the missing persons squad were handed control of the investigation on Friday.

‘While no sinister factors have been identified in her disappearance at this time, there are significant concerns given it has now been six days without her being sighted or any signs of her current whereabouts,’ police said in a statement.

The squad will have the ability to expand resourcing from specialist investigative units across the crime command.

‘It is especially concerning that we have now gone six days without any contact from her or any potential sightings,’ Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt said in a statement.

It comes less than 24 hours after Acting Inspector Lisa McDougall told media the disappearance was not being treated as suspicious.

‘There are no suspicious circumstances that we’ve identified at this stage,’ she said.

But police insist her disappearance is still not being treated as ‘sinister’.

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

Detective Hatt added missing persons investigators had more resources and experts that could help with the search.

‘There will certainly be additional detectives from crime command attending the Ballarat area today and in coming days,’ he said.

The focus has moved to the town of Buninyong, 15 minutes south of Ballarat. 

Anyone who may have driven through the area with dashcam footage from 7am to 7pm on Sunday is being asked to come forward. 

Ms Murphy, 51, left her home on Eureka Street in East Ballarat, north-west of Melbourne, to go for a run in Woowookarung Regional Park just after 7am on Sunday and has not been seen since.

Detective Hatt told reporters detectives would now look into Ms Murphy’s movements and interactions with others in the days before she vanished. 

‘Absolutely, that will be a huge part of our investigation. Digging into the background, working out Samantha’s movements in the days leading up to her disappearance and also double-so the people who know her,’ he said. 

Part of the investigation – now dubbed Operation Primus – will see detectives trawl through Ms Murphy’s computers and devices in the hope of finding clues. 

Superintendent Hatt said police were still working to ascertain who may have been in the area where Ms Murphy’s phone lost communication with mobile phone towers. 

Her mobile phone had pinged in the nearby suburb of Buninyong before going dark.

Superintendent Hatt said detectives were still working with phone companies to obtain data that might prove vital to shedding some light on the investigation. 

‘At this stage we can’t share any information to that regard. We are still working with our telecommunication technicians to establish phone movements and who was in the area at the time,’ he said. 

Detectives still remain puzzled about where Ms Murphy went upon leaving her home. 

CCTV footage showing Ms Murphy outside her home was the last confirmed sighting of her alive. 

Family remembers reported her missing after she failed to arrive for a brunch scheduled for that morning. 

‘I can also confirm that we have not identified any suspicious or sinister circumstances, however we do hold significant concerns for Samantha’s welfare at this stage and that is growing as the days progress,’ Superintendent Hatt said. 

Superintendent Hatt said specialised police would flood the area in the desperate search for clues. 

 ‘In the coming days you’ll see additional detectives working around the area,’ he said. 

Just hours earlier, Mr Murphy smiled after meeting with detectives at Buninyong Police Station. 

He spent just an hour inside the station before leaving with an officer, who escorted him to his car.

Mr Murphy appeared casual as a waiting media pack photographed him.

The station is being used by emergency services units as the headquarters for its ongoing search for Ms Murphy.

Victoria Police Inspector Bob Heaney said detectives were relying on information coming from the public to help track down Ms Murphy’s whereabouts.

‘You know, one of the challenges we have is the area where she normally runs, it’s a fairly remote area,’ he told Sunrise on Friday morning.

‘It’s within a forest and a lot of bushland and there is no CCTV coverage out there. That’s been one of the challenges we’ve had to face.’

Desperation grows as search enters sixth day 

One line of inquiry was officially ruled out on Thursday after police confirmed a woman pictured in CCTV was not Ms Murphy, as previously stated.

Victoria Police had released CCTV footage on Wednesday which showed a person heading in a north-easterly direction toward Yankee Flat Road, near the intersection of Warrenheip Road. 

The woman was believed to have been Ms Murphy heading out for a 20km run through the state forest.

However, another runner came forward to reveal she was the person pictured. 

Inspector Heaney said the discovery had ‘eliminated’ a possible route Ms Murphy may have taken after she left home.

He added police were still treating her disappearance as not suspicious, despite homicide detectives from the missing persons squad reportedly joining the search on Friday.

‘Apart from covering a lot of terrain, a lot of area that we’ve physically searched looking for Samantha, we don’t know a hell of a lot more,’ he said.

‘A lot of the information has come in (from the public) which we need to filter through which then allows us to review that and focus on where we need to search next.’

Inspector Heaney confirmed Ms Murphy was wearing an Apple watch and had her phone with her at the time she vanished, but said the area police were able to track from her devices was ‘limited’.

In another setback on Wednesday, officers were alerted to ‘items’ possibly related to Ms Murphy’s disappearance, however, it was later determined they did not belong to the missing mother.

Locals in the area have also raised concerns the mother may have fallen in an abandoned mine shaft, which can be difficult to see on the forest floor. 

Distraught daughter calls for help to bring her mother home

Earlier on Thursday, Ms Murphy’s eldest daughter Jessica and husband Michael, issued a desperate plea for their loved one to return home. 

Through tears, Jessica urged the public to continue searching for her mum.

‘Mum, we love you so much and we miss you and we need you at home with us, please come home soon, I can’t wait to see you,’ Jessica told reporters. 

‘Mum’s a really strong woman, and she’s far too determined to give up this fight.’

Jessica’s father thanked the community for their support in recent days as he appealed for answers.

‘People just don’t vanish into thin air,’ Mr Murphy said.

‘Someone has got to know something … whether it be any little thing that you might think is relevant, just call the police, let them know.

‘It’ll give us a bit of peace of mind if we get some hope.’