Australia Samantha Murphy, 51, last seen leaving her property to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest, Ballarat 100km NW of Melbourne, 4 Feb 2024 #7

[Toowong(s)]

I think this is possible. I recall her post around the time was incredibly vague suggesting a link between the two events. People were asking her for clarification however she never addressed it.

Sissy has also been horribly hounded and harassed in the past due to her political leanings and activism. There was a cohort of insufferable keyboard warriors that accused Sissy of making her story up at the time. When the suspect in SM alleged murder was arrested and did not fit the dishevelled, barefooted and crazed appearance Sissy had described, I can only imagine these bottom feeders have resurfaced in droves prompting Sissy to have to disconnect for a while. I hope she’s OK, she seemed like a lovely, caring, understated, relatable person on UI, I really enjoyed and appreciated her input and hearing about her experiences and local knowledge.

 

[Toowong(s)]

At the time Mrs Murphy was murdered, PS was operating without the knowledge of Mrs'Murphy's schedule.. He probably knows it now, but that Sunday morning he knew nothing about who she was, her plans for the day, who was expecting her and when, who was waiting for her, possibly, or even how far into her run she was.

BBM

Trooper, I agree with most of what you say - except the opening line, what you say re no knowledge of SMs schedule may indeed be true, probably the likely case - but IMO there is a chance the accused had stalked SM for some period before, knew SMs usual running route, planned this out, even gone on a bender to rev himself up for the act.

Beyond that the response was so swift, the accused had no time to twiddle his thumbs. AirWing was in the air searching for SM (and a suspect?) by mid-afternoon on the day SMs disappeared. I assume police attempt ground searches for a few hours before calling in an expensive air search. And I assume MM and family searched for an hour or two before calling police. So by my estimation MMs likely driving the possible jogging routes from 9-11am, police from 11am to say 1pm then escalation to involve AirWing. I wonder also was AirWing searching for SM or searching for a suspicious vehicle, suspicious activity (I guess both…). Scary that a 22yo has pulled this off in such a short window and (nearly) got away with it IMO.

 

[Voluspa]

Sissy has also been horribly hounded and harassed in the past due to her political leanings and activism. There was a cohort of insufferable keyboard warriors that accused Sissy of making her story up at the time. When the suspect in SM alleged murder was arrested and did not fit the dishevelled, barefooted and crazed appearance Sissy had described, I can only imagine these bottom feeders have resurfaced in droves prompting Sissy to have to disconnect for a while. I hope she’s OK, she seemed like a lovely, caring, understated, relatable person on UI, I really enjoyed and appreciated her input and hearing about her experiences and local knowledge.

That's horrible some people were trying to discredit her attack. We've all seen the photos and it clearly happened.

However IMO, if PS doesn't fit the description Sissy initially described then I feel it's only normal that people are going to speculate on the accuracy here.

 

[Toowong(s)]

When AirWing searches the ground do they take footage as they go over? High definition video or photos? I’d be keen to hear if anyone knows the answer yes or no?

If they do, I’d imagine police are going over this photography again, eg zooming in on any white utes in around Mt Clear.

Possible that the accused quickly scarpered a long way away from these areas though. In which case I’d expect police to release details of the vehicle and appeal for sightings. Which they have not (and I don’t understand why not).

[Insert confused emoji here]

 

[SouthAussie]

That's horrible some people were trying to discredit her attack. We've all seen the photos and it clearly happened.

However IMO, if PS doesn't fit the description Sissy initially described then I feel it's only normal that people are going to speculate on the accuracy here.

I guess we don't know if PS fits the description. The description Sissy apparently gave was "Caucasian, barefoot, shirtless, wearing black jeans, rough looking". Link

I imagine that PS was rough looking on the morning he allegedly deliberately attacked Samantha, while he was on a bender.

Was Sissy's attacker shirtless and shoeless to try to conceal evidence? No shoeprints. No blood on his shirt. Could be the same for Samantha ... we may never know because Samantha is not here to tell us.

imo

 

[Rumination1]

SBM.

I personally think her body is in a remote area near Mount Clear - in an area with no phone reception.

I keep feeling like the phone is crucial to this case. Someone pointed out something very interesting a few pages back - most phones have security settings. It may not have been possible to turn her phone off. I know my phone wants a code if I've not touched it for a minute or so.

I feel that if the body had been taken far away, her phone would have been pinging at different locations along the way, even if was switched off.

But it didn't ping between 7am and 5pm.

Whatever happened to her phone, it still pinged at 5pm, meaning it was never switched off (AFAIK you need a code after switching a phone back on.) Either that, or it was a phone capable of pinging while switched off.

Also, I think Samantha's family would have been frantically calling her and those calls would have gone to voicemail and shown up on her phone bill, along with the location where her phone was last at.

I think the only way the phone could have been switched off was to smash it or remove the battery - but it pinged at 5pm at Buninyong tower, so that makes me think the body was taken to a remote area only accessible by roads that had no reception, then the vehicle with phone inside returned to the Buninyong tower pinging area.

I don’t think you’d need a code to switch it on

To do anything eg read messages though you would

 

[SouthAussie]

Just something I wanted to pop on this thread. On 30th January 2024 (5 days before Sam disappeared), an agreement came into effect between Australia and the US. It is an agreement to obtain more timely access to electronic data held by service providers in the partner nation.

This may help Aussie police in getting faster access to data from Google, Apple and Facebook.

I just thought it was timely for Sam's case - if it helped the investigators get the data they want in a quicker manner.
Remembering that in the early part of this case, the police said ... they were “actively engaged with a number of external agencies and telecommunications companies in an effort to get as much information as possible to assist the current search”. . Link


United States and Australia’s Data Access Agreement to Support Investigations of Serious Crime

.... the Agreement is supported by each Party’s domestic legislative frameworks – the United States’ Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act and Australia’s Schedule 1 of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth).

 

[Toowong(s)]

I guess we don't know if PS fits the description. The description Sissy apparently gave was "Caucasian, barefoot, shirtless, wearing black jeans, rough looking". Link

I imagine that PS was rough looking on the morning he allegedly deliberately attacked Samantha, while he was on a bender.

Was Sissy's attacker shirtless and shoeless to try to conceal evidence? No shoeprints. No blood on his shirt. Could be the same for Samantha ... we may never know because Samantha is not here to tell us.

imo

Sissy Austin: former Greens Senate candidate attacked while running in a Victorian state forest | Victoria | The Guardian

Djab Wurrung woman is recovering from injuries after allegedly being knocked unconscious with a rock tied to a stick near Ballarat

amp.theguardian.com

All we have is this re Sissy

Police said the attacker was believed to be a Caucasian male wearing black jeans, a cap and no shoes or shirt.

I thought there was an identikit image released but I must have imagined it, can’t find it now. IMO it could be the same person, and perhaps minimally dressed for the reasons you say. And maybe not. Not enough info to know.

But I think enough for the keyboard warriors to re-engage attacks on Sissy, and a theory as to why she’s gone private.

Also in Sissy’s case:

Police said they would be ramping up patrols in the local area as an added safety measure.

None of this “ramping up patrols” after SM disappeared. Just another aspect of police’s response that seems out of the ordinary expected response. I’m fascinated by this. Part of me wonders if police initially focused on MM for a few weeks before realising the answer lay elsewhere. But overall I’m confident police have good reasons for everything they’ve done, it’s just unusual on several levels IMO. Suggests to me there’s a LOT more going on behind the scenes than we are being allowed to know.

Edit to add one more quote from the link, a word from Sissy: “women should be able to safely go for a *advertiser censored***** run in this colony.”

Also noticed this in the Sissy news link which might interest those running with incineration theories:

The Blast Furnace, about a two-hour drive east-north-east of Melbourne, is a popular tourist attraction due to the presence of the original furnace, a relic from a late 19th-century attempt to smelt iron ore, among the native bushland.

Maybe other old blast furnaces around?
Sorry to clarify also I’m quoting from the news.com.au article SouthAussie linked not the Guardian article I linked above.

 

[SouthAussie]

Part of me wonders if police initially focused on MM for a few weeks before realising the answer lay elsewhere. But overall I’m confident police have good reasons for everything they’ve done, it’s just unusual on several levels IMO. Suggests to me there’s a LOT more going on behind the scenes than we are being allowed to know.

I think the police would have followed normal protocol, by investigating those closest to the victim first, and then moving outwards to her peers, friends and associates.

Then two weeks into the investigation, a small snippet of CCTV from somewhere gave the police the break they needed.

imo

 

[Nifty]

SBM.

I personally think her body is in a remote area near Mount Clear - in an area with no phone reception.

I keep feeling like the phone is crucial to this case. Someone pointed out something very interesting a few pages back - most phones have security settings. It may not have been possible to turn her phone off. I know my phone wants a code if I've not touched it for a minute or so.

I feel that if the body had been taken far away, her phone would have been pinging at different locations along the way, even if was switched off.

But it didn't ping between 7am and 5pm.

Whatever happened to her phone, it still pinged at 5pm, meaning it was never switched off (AFAIK you need a code after switching a phone back on.) Either that, or it was a phone capable of pinging while switched off.

Also, I think Samantha's family would have been frantically calling her and those calls would have gone to voicemail and shown up on her phone bill, along with the location where her phone was last at.

I think the only way the phone could have been switched off was to smash it or remove the battery - but it pinged at 5pm at Buninyong tower, so that makes me think the body was taken to a remote area only accessible by roads that had no reception, then the vehicle with phone inside returned to the Buninyong tower pinging area

 

[TootsieFootsie]

A missing woman, a mine collapse and six weeks of trauma in the town of Ballarat

More than a month after Samantha Murphy disappeared, the city’s mayor had to grapple with a mine collapse that killed one person

www.theguardian.com

 

[Dotta]

SBM.

I personally think her body is in a remote area near Mount Clear - in an area with no phone reception.

I keep feeling like the phone is crucial to this case. Someone pointed out something very interesting a few pages back - most phones have security settings. It may not have been possible to turn her phone off. I know my phone wants a code if I've not touched it for a minute or so.

I feel that if the body had been taken far away, her phone would have been pinging at different locations along the way, even if was switched off.

But it didn't ping between 7am and 5pm.

Whatever happened to her phone, it still pinged at 5pm, meaning it was never switched off (AFAIK you need a code after switching a phone back on.) Either that, or it was a phone capable of pinging while switched off.

Also, I think Samantha's family would have been frantically calling her and those calls would have gone to voicemail and shown up on her phone bill, along with the location where her phone was last at.

I think the only way the phone could have been switched off was to smash it or remove the battery - but it pinged at 5pm at Buninyong tower, so that makes me think the body was taken to a remote area only accessible by roads that had no reception, then the vehicle with phone inside returned to the Buninyong tower pinging area.

I agree.
I think the victim is in a shallow grave or just concealed by branches.
Or in water somewhere.

Sorry,
but this idea of using acid is so bizarre that I had to shake my head and roll my poor eyes really hard.

But then, I see this case as a completely random and opportunistic attack on a lone jogger by a druggie.

Ooops!
I said it again

JMO

 

[Dr Samoht]

Well certainly a possibility Dr S. .. tbh I think anything is a possibility at this stage.

I was of the impression originally that it was the gf’s parents house that they were ‘sitting’, but I think others have suggested otherwise. The term ‘house sitting’ usually means ‘rent free’. .. maybe someone needed a place looked after, and this was their first steps into ‘living together’. I did ask previously if anyone knew if gf was present when he was arrested, and I still wonder that.

Don’t believe it was ever reported she was there , but a police raid at 6am mid week you would expected both to be asleep , keeping in mind possible brief horse care duties at her nearby parents property before leaving for work at Miners Rest .

 

[Nifty]

T

this is the most accurate reason I have seen. I’d be seeking cctv for the perimeter around that ping and not the forest

The police still won't confirm if the ping was at 5pm

He could have driven through Buninyong deliberately and then disposed of the phone

He is an electrician and his father is a local electrician and telecommunications technician who has set up an electronic and data company from his home

So the accused would have good knowledge on telecommunications like his father

He was super into IT [Information Technology] and he was always tinkering with cars and tools and stuff - interested in mechanics and science,' the schoolmate said.

 

[SimplyCass]

SBM.

I personally think her body is in a remote area near Mount Clear - in an area with no phone reception.

I keep feeling like the phone is crucial to this case. Someone pointed out something very interesting a few pages back - most phones have security settings. It may not have been possible to turn her phone off. I know my phone wants a code if I've not touched it for a minute or so.

I feel that if the body had been taken far away, her phone would have been pinging at different locations along the way, even if was switched off.

But it didn't ping between 7am and 5pm.

Whatever happened to her phone, it still pinged at 5pm, meaning it was never switched off (AFAIK you need a code after switching a phone back on.) Either that, or it was a phone capable of pinging while switched off.

Also, I think Samantha's family would have been frantically calling her and those calls would have gone to voicemail and shown up on her phone bill, along with the location where her phone was last at.

I think the only way the phone could have been switched off was to smash it or remove the battery - but it pinged at 5pm at Buninyong tower, so that makes me think the body was taken to a remote area only accessible by roads that had no reception, then the vehicle with phone inside returned to the Buninyong tower pinging area.

Assuming that Samantha has an iPhone (because Apple Watch has been mentioned a few times), here are some details.

- You can turn off an iPhone without any kind of passcode.
- Battery cannot be removed.
- When the phone is turned on, you will need a passcode. The iPhone cannot connect to Wi-Fi until it's unlocked, but I believe it can/will attempt to connect to cellular data.
- Assuming she had a recent phone, it will have Face ID, but after a restart you still need a passcode. Also, a personal story, at least a couple of my friends do not use Face ID, but they still have a passcode.
- It's possible to not set a passcode, but it requires a lot of extra work. Apple has been pretty aggressive about having users set one up in the post-Edward Snowden era.
- Starting with the iPhone 14, there is no SIM card tray, only eSIM. So it's not as easy to eject the SIM card.

 

[DK007]

Not much in the media is being reported about PS. Here’s hoping as time tinkers on he finally discloses where SM is. I hope his family can get him to talk.
I can’t imagine how hard and frustrating it must be for SM family and LE.

 

[carbuff]

All that police could find of her were 10 porcelain teeth in a drain

So but for 10 porcelain (ie implants/fake?) teeth getting caught in the drain, there would be no trace IMO. Does this mean the real human teeth dissolved in the acid, leaving just the porcelain ones? Most people (depending what football team they support) have more than 10 teeth. I wonder did SM have any teeth implants, or a full suite of healthy human teeth?

Edit to add, I really hope SM is found intact and SM and family and the Ballarat community availed a decent respectful burial. It’s the only thing positive left to hope for here (other than a life sentence without parole, if found guilty).

Could be porcelain caps like they put over a root canal. I have three of those and can easily conceive of how a middle aged or older person might have ten.

 

[ZombieKittie]

Can you please tell me the details of each red point please. Streets? This is exactly the area I was drawn to but need to look and see if they match

The red line was the path a fellow WS member had taken while walking there. I've attached the pic with just that path marked. The yellow and purple lines are just my brain trying to understand possible paths I'm a visual learner I just didn't have the time to remark all the dams on a new map

 

[Longtimelurker1]

Assuming that Samantha has an iPhone (because Apple Watch has been mentioned a few times), here are some details.

- You can turn off an iPhone without any kind of passcode.
- Battery cannot be removed.
- When the phone is turned on, you will need a passcode. The iPhone cannot connect to Wi-Fi until it's unlocked, but I believe it can/will attempt to connect to cellular data.
- Assuming she had a recent phone, it will have Face ID, but after a restart you still need a passcode. Also, a personal story, at least a couple of my friends do not use Face ID, but they still have a passcode.
- It's possible to not set a passcode, but it requires a lot of extra work. Apple has been pretty aggressive about having users set one up in the post-Edward Snowden era.
- Starting with the iPhone 14, there is no SIM card tray, only eSIM. So it's not as easy to eject the SIM card.

This is not entirely accurate. The SIM card type for iPhone 14 and newer depends on the country, in New Zealand and Australia the iPhone 14 and newer has a SIM card tray as well as eSIM.
So SM could have had a removable SIM card in her phone even if it was the latest iPhone.

 

[Whatson]

The red line was the path a fellow WS member had taken while walking there. I've attached the pic with just that path marked. The yellow and purple lines are just my brain trying to understand possible paths I'm a visual learner I just didn't have the time to remark all the dams on a new map

I have a hiking app. Gaia GPS.

Install it and you should be able to get a better feel for the area using Topo layer.

The trail network is intense. Lots of small water bodies visible nearby, particularly on the farms.