On the anniversary of Samantha Murphy’s disappearance and presumed death her family and local community are still desperate for answers.
Dressed in activewear, the 51-year-old Ballarat local went for a run in the nearby Canadian State Forest on the morning on February 4, 2024 and never returned.
Dozens of burning questions still linger about the events of that morning, with only one able to provide a sense of closure for her family – the location of her body.
In the days and months after her disappearance massive volunteer-led searches of the area around the mother-of-two’s 14km run route failed to find any trace of her.
Long after after those searches were called off, her devastated husband Mick Murphy would drive his ute to the area where his wife’s phone last pinged and scour the bushland alone – partly still searching and partly to clear his mind, he said last year.
Ms Murphy’s mother Pam Robson said this week she still missed her daughter ‘more than anything’ and the family still believed she would be found.
‘(We) are hoping one day that they find her, she’s got to be out there somewhere. We just want to giver her a funeral,’ Ms Robson said.
The Ballarat community are still in shock over the disappearance of one of their own – made no easier by the fact that next to nothing is known, at least by the public, about what happened to her on the morning of February 4.
In March, police charged 23-year-old tradesman Patrick Orren Stephenson with Ms Murphy’s murder. He has pleaded not guilty and will appear in a criminal trial.
Ballarat Mayor Tracey Hargreaves said the anniversary of Ms Murphy’s disappearance was an ‘important landmark’ that brought up ‘a lot of difficult feelings’ for residents.
‘People are wanting to talk about Samantha and keep these sort of stories front and centre again,’ she told Channel Seven’s Sunrise.
‘I think our Ballarat community was hurting 12 months ago, a lot, and have been through a lot and today is kind of a continuation of that as well.’
Ms Hargreaves said ‘more trauma’ for the community was likely as the case played out in court before the mother’s body was found.
‘Ms Murphy’s mother speaking just reminds us that there are families involved that are hurting more than anyone, and Samantha’s close circle of friends and people who knew her personally, I think we need to keep those people in our minds,’ she said.
‘As far as the police are concerned, they are doing absolutely everything they can. We are really confident that they will continue that work.’
In a statement released this week, Victoria Police pledged they were still committed to the effort to find Ms Murphy.
Detectives said last year they would no longer conduct widespread searches but would continue targeted efforts off the back of specific information.
Over the past 12 months, the Enfield State Park, Canadian Forest and Buninyong Bushland Reserve have been scoured by police.
The most recent effort focused on the Enfield State Forest in September 2024.
The location is about a 15-minute drive from Buninyong, where Ms Murphy’s phone was found in May buried in mud on the edge of an agricultural dam.
Detective Inspector Dave Dunstan said his fellow officers had worked tirelessly.
‘While nothing can erase their grief and loss, being able to return Samantha to her family has always been incredibly important to us,’ Det Insp Dunstan said on Sunday.
‘I want to reaffirm to the community that the Missing Persons Squad remains committed to doing everything we can to locate Samantha – while a year has passed, we still believe we can locate her.
‘This year we will continue to conduct searches in the Ballarat area, including searches in areas highlighted by intelligence derived from a number of sources.’
Det Insp Dunstan called on locals to be aware of their surroundings and contact police immediately if they come across Ms Murphy’s remains.
‘There is nothing we want more than to return Samantha to her family and we remain committed to doing this,’ he said.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the anniversary was a tough moment for Ms Murphy’s family, Ballarat and women more broadly.
‘We should hold them in our hearts today,’ she said.
‘Too many women continue to lose their lives at the hands of either a known former or current partner or a complete stranger. This violence against women has to stop.’
Mr Stephenson was arrested in Scotsburn on March 6 and charged with murder the following day.
‘He’s been located through a range of investigative outcomes that have come together, and as you are aware, we have been pinging phones and following up on investigation reports from members of the public,’ Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said at a press conference after announcing the arrest.
‘We have done ground searches, we have done door knocks, so it’s a whole range of information that has come together.’
He is the son of Orren Stephenson, who played 15 AFL games for Geelong and Richmond between 2012 and 2014.
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