Australian police continue search for runner who vanished in local park
The mother of two told her family she was planning a 14-km run through a nearby park
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W/C
On the morning of Feb. 4, 51-year-old Samantha Murphy left her home in Ballarat, Australia, to head out for a run at nearby Woowookarung Regional Park. Hours later, after not returning home for Sunday brunch, she was reported missing to local authorities. Ten days have passed, and Murphy, a mother of two, remains unaccounted for.
Murphy had told her family she was planning a 14-kilometre run through the park, which is only a few kilometres from her home. She was last seen by a CCTV camera outside her residence, dressed in a purple running singlet and black leggings, heading out for her run.
Homicide investigators have joined the sixth day of the search for missing Victorian mother Samantha Murphy. #9News @IzaStaskowski
LATEST: https://t.co/rz0nCJHPB9 pic.twitter.com/YtQmudnXWv
— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) February 8, 2024
On Feb. 14, Victoria police released a statement acknowledging the lack of progress in the investigation. “It’s certainly unusual when we haven’t been able to locate any trace of her or any other evidence within that period of time,” they said. Despite a thorough search, the police say there are no new leads, prompting suspicion regarding Murphy’s disappearance.
Ballarat is a small city in the Australian province of Victoria, located 90 minutes west of Melbourne. On the day she went missing, temperatures soared to a high of 36 C, which is above the seasonal average of 28.8 C in February.
UPDATE: Missing Ballarat East woman Samantha.
Detectives are appealing to the public to submit any CCTV or dashcam footage covering the Ballarat East, Mount Helen and Buninyong areas last Sunday in their search for missing woman Samantha Murphy. pic.twitter.com/u9ObB2p03t
— Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) February 10, 2024
The park is still being searched by the police, volunteers and community members who refuse to give up hope. The trouble is the terrain of Woowookarung Regional Park is open bush interspersed with trails. There is a lot of dense, grassy undergrowth, meaning spotting anybody or anything at ground level is difficult.
According to News.com.au, police have confirmed that Murphy had her phone with her, and have not found any signs of foul play. However, the area’s tower distribution is too sparse to enable triangulation of phone signals, further complicating the search efforts.
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