COMMUNITY CONCERN: Ballarat residents described Samantha Murphy’s disappearance as “the strangest in 10 years”, with no cries for help, no strange smells, no signs of a struggle and no belongings left behind, except for a few unidentified footprints. This has led search teams to focus on the possibility that Samantha Murphy was approached very quickly and removed from the area before anyone noticed
Police have launched a renewed search for missing woman Samantha Murphy, who disappeared while going for a run in Ballarat in February last year.
Specialist detectives carried out a targeted search of Enfield State Park – about 30km south of Ballarat, where she was last seen – on Wednesday.
The search will continue today, police confirmed.
The mother of three, 51, vanished while completing her morning run through the Canadian State Forest about 7am on February 4, 2024.
In March 2024, 23-year-old Patrick Orren Stephenson was charged with Murphy’s murder.
Patrick Orren Stephenson has been charged with the murder of Samantha Murphy.
He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to appear in the Supreme Court on April 8.
Police have conducted numerous searches in the Ballarat region since Murphy’s disappearance, including the bushland of the Enfield State Park, Canadian State Forest and Buninyong Bushland Reserve.
In May 2024, detectives recovered Murphy’s phone from the bank of a dam near Slaughterhouse Rd on the outskirts of Ballarat.
On Wednesday night, detectives from the Missing Persons Squad confirmed the renewed search.
“Since February 2024, police have regularly undertaken a range of inquiries and small-scale searches as part of the current investigation,” the statement read.
“We are not in a position to supply further specific details of today’s operational activity at this time.”
Members of the public have been advised to not assist with the search.
