Victoria Police provides update on missing mother Samantha Murphy

The Courier

The search for Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy has entered the fifth day, with police providing an update on progress so far.

Transcript

00:00 My name is Acting Inspector Lucy McDougall, I'm the local area commander for the Ballarat Police Service area.

00:06 We're here today to talk about the investigation into missing person Samantha Murphy,

00:11 who was last seen at 7am leaving her residence on Sunday morning, which was the 4th of February 2024.

00:18 What we really want to appeal to everyone today for is footage that they may have from their residence

00:26 or from their dash cam from that period of time after she left her residence.

00:33 That period of time that we would wish for those community members to look at their CCTV from their residence

00:40 is from 7am on Sunday morning through to the hours of about 11am.

00:45 We would like the community to not make any decisions about what is or isn't relevant.

00:50 Certainly if they find anything of interest on the footage, we'd like them to let police know that

00:55 and the most efficient way to let police know what they've found is via Crime Stoppers.

01:01 You can reach out to Crime Stoppers via their phone number or you can go online and register the information online

01:09 and that will come directly through to investigators.

01:12 Today we have continued the ground search in relation to Samantha.

01:19 We have 40 resources on the ground at the moment and they are both VicPol resources and CFA and SES.

01:27 So our partner agencies are assisting us greatly with the search.

01:30 We have used various assets internally, so that includes things like Mounted Branch over the last few days,

01:38 our search and rescue, we've also had Polair up assisting us with the search

01:43 and today we also have some drones up assisting us with that search, so that's ongoing for today.

01:50 That's really, for me, that's where we're at and we're going to continue to search

01:59 and we're keeping an open mind and considering all possibilities

02:02 and we're being extremely thorough and methodical with that investigation.

02:07 It's been five days now since Samantha went missing. How confident are police that she'll be found?

02:13 We're keeping an open mind and we're hopeful.

02:15 So that search is ongoing and we're throwing all those resources at it in the hope that we find Samantha

02:22 and get some answers for her family who are obviously concerned

02:26 and hence the reason I'm here, asking for the community's assistance

02:31 so that they can provide that information to us that might be crucial to that investigation.

02:36 Do police believe there are suspicious circumstances involved?

02:39 There are no suspicious circumstances that we've identified at this stage.

02:43 Beyond the CCTV that was released yesterday, have police been able to map out where Sam may have gone?

02:49 We have some information that we are utilising to direct our searching

02:54 and so I should mention that the particular areas of CCTV and dash cam footage that we're looking for

03:01 are the areas of Ballarat East, Canadian and Mount Helen

03:05 and like I said, to the east of Main Road or Geelong Road in particular,

03:11 are areas of interest to investigators.

03:14 We've seen a lot of local community come out to help as part of this search.

03:18 Have any of them been able to find information to help with your investigation?

03:22 Look, there's been a number of items located and raised with investigators

03:27 and those have been assessed.

03:28 There hasn't been anything that has had a direct connection to the investigation at this point in time

03:33 but again, we appeal to the community, if something is of interest to you,

03:39 raise it to investigators so that we can assess it to see its relevance to the investigation.

03:43 Can you confirm why Bun and Yong was initially included in the search

03:47 and then ultimately why it was ruled out?

03:49 So there was information provided to us that led us to that area

03:53 and informed that aspect of the search.

03:55 Are you still collecting information from Sam's phone?

03:58 So again, that forms part of that information that I'm referring to.

04:03 We've seen a huge turnout from members of the community, a really heartwarming response.

04:07 What would you say to those people who volunteered their time to help search for Sam?

04:11 Well, sincere thank you to everyone in the community.

04:14 It has been really heartwarming.

04:15 As a community member myself, it's great to see everyone's concern and obvious concern, as we all are,

04:22 and we really thank them for their help, along with our partner agency,

04:26 remembering that SES is a volunteer agency and their assistance has been gratefully received,

04:32 as all the agencies that have assisted us with the search.

04:35 Yesterday there was a bit of confusion.

04:36 Some community members we spoke to thought they weren't needed in the search anymore.

04:40 Do police still really need them to be out and about searching?

04:43 What else can they do to help?

04:44 So we're not going to officially register searches from the community.

04:48 Unfortunately, we don't have the capacity to do that.

04:50 We're not going to tell people not to search.

04:52 So it's something they can assess of their own volition.

04:56 There is some information at the front of the Bunion Police Station.

04:59 If they do wish to do that, it provides some guidance and some safety information to them.

05:04 You're not treating it as suspicious, but as a female who runs by herself,

05:08 is there any concern for people in that area?

05:11 Should people not be doing that at the moment?

05:13 I'm not going to say what people can and can't do, okay?

05:16 So I'm just going to say that at the moment there are no suspicious circumstances that have been identified.

05:21 We're just going to allow people to assess their safety and comfort levels.

05:24 Are any disused mine shafts factoring in the search at all?

05:27 Not at this point.

05:28 When you say not suspicious, is there anything in Sam's history that might indicate that she does not want to be found?

05:35 There's nothing I can comment on that at this point.

05:38 We've received reports that police are investigating her movements at a Ballarat Hospitality venue prior to her disappearance.

05:45 Is there any truth to that?

05:47 Yeah, I don't have anything to provide comment on that at this point.

05:50 Did anyone at all know exactly where she was planning to run,

05:53 what trail she was going to use prior to her leaving on Sunday morning?

05:56 So I understand that Sam had a routine and that she did regularly go out walking and running in those areas,

06:04 but we're not aware of the exact route.

06:07 Can we confirm that it was a run she went on?

06:09 The family released a statement online last night that seemed to indicate it might have been a walk instead of a run.

06:15 I think she was a recreational user of that area in general, so it may have been walking, it may have been running.

06:20 And that CCTV still released by police, that was from the morning before she set out behind that run?

06:25 Is that the CCTV that shows her in her clothing?

06:28 Yes.

06:29 And then she was seen running technically away from the forest in a northeasterly direction,

06:34 so if that's the case, why is much of the search effort still in the forest?

06:39 Are you referring to the CCTV that's been recently released?

06:42 So that CCTV footage is being examined and analysed to see if there is relevance,

06:47 and we're still waiting on absolute confirmation that that is Sam.

06:51 In terms of earlier we did hear about that confirmation of the phone ping,

06:56 have you had any further pings or from her watch, was she wearing her watch?

07:00 Have you been able to track any of that?

07:01 Yeah, I won't comment on any of that particular detail,

07:04 but I will say that that forms all of the investigation and the information that we're using to direct our search.

07:10 As time goes on, how desperate and dire does this search become?

07:15 Yeah, look, obviously we're still maintaining hope and we're still looking for all of the relevant information

07:20 to help us find some answers for Sam's family.

07:23 Have police been able to rule out foul play at this stage?

07:26 So we're maintaining an open mind,

07:28 so there's no suspicious circumstances that we've identified at this point in time.

07:32 Have her bank accounts been accessed or bank cards?

07:35 I won't go into the particulars of the investigation.

07:38 Obviously we're about to talk to MEPH, but can you tell us how the family are faring?

07:42 Yeah, so obviously, as any family would be, they're very concerned and they're very worried

07:47 and they are also really appreciative of the community assisting with this.

07:52 Can you talk through the scale of the police operation working in the background,

07:56 particularly here at Ballarat West?

07:58 Yeah, so it is a large-scale operation.

08:01 Obviously everyone that's visible out on the ground can be seen by everyone,

08:04 but that's supported behind the scenes by having our structure in place to manage all of that.

08:10 And how long is the search expected to go for in its current form?

08:13 Yeah, that's going to be continually assessed.

08:15 Does the initial CCTV show anyone else leaving the house after Sam went over to run on Sunday morning?

08:20 I'm not going to make any further comment on that.

08:22 And can you give any idea, a rough idea, of how much ground has been covered or searched in terms of this area?

08:28 I can just say it's been very comprehensive and an extensive search.

08:32 There's been a huge amount of resources directed at it.

08:36 Has Samantha ever gone missing before?

08:40 No, not to our knowledge, no.

08:42 And that's one of the reasons it's out of character for Samantha to go missing.

08:46 Who reported Sam missing to police?

08:49 It was her family members.

08:52 Does she have any mental health, history of mental health issues?

08:55 Yeah, I won't go into that in this forum, thanks.

08:58 Do you have a time on Sunday when she was reported missing?

09:02 So it was in the morning on Sunday.

09:05 And how does that 40 resources today compare to Tuesday and Wednesday's search?

09:11 Yeah, it's along similar lines.

09:14 Anything else?

09:17 Thank you everyone.

09:19 Thank you.

09:21 [No audio]

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