Australia Samantha Murphy, 51, last seen leaving her property to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest, Ballarat, 4 Feb 2024 *Arrest* #9

[ProfCluezo]

Fingers crossed that today’s find reinvigorates what must surely be very weary and depleted investigators…. and leads vicpol to further evidentiary trails….

My hunch is it will…

 

[touch]

Can you explain what you mean about "more crimes"? Say, for instance, there was rape involved. If he helped the police locate the body, and evidence of rape was determined, it would still lead to a lesser sentence compared to a lack of cooperation.

It's quite a surprise to me that the sentence for rape + murder then being cooperative is shorter than the sentence for murder then not cooperating. I'm not particularly familiar with Australian sentencing though.

I won't go into hypothetical details but there are other scenarios where additional crimes could be evidenced by finding the body. An obvious (but more far-fetched) one would be that he's done it before and there's more than 1 body hidden in the same location.

 

[Dotta]

Fingers crossed that today’s find reinvigorates what must surely be very weary and depleted investigators…. and leads to further evidentiary trails….

Soon
there will be the 4th month anniversary of Samantha's disappearance

This is never ending torture for her poor family and friends.

Bring Samantha home!

 

[Sceptical]

LOTS of assumptions here, but bear with me.

Potentially just a 32 minute trip (no stops and travelling at the speed limit) from the potential impact Recreation Rd / Boak Rd, via Point A (phone potentially ditched into dam), via Point B/C (my understanding of where another WebSleuther noted they had found / reported items of interest, big assumption on my part) to Yendon No 2 Road.

 

[Marie A]

I think the farmer possibly alerted police after he found something (maybe an article of clothing- a jog bra or black pants maybe or a tool- revealed after low dam levels) - he could have contacted police on the suspicion it could be connected knowing he had been forewarned of possible future searches in the case.
Then police brought in the electronic sniffer dog and eureka- her phone!

I also think that the phone and possibly another connected item(s) were tossed into the dam from the road after Samantha was disposed of elsewhere- getting rid of last traces of evidence in the killer’s mind?

In any case, this is the most hopeful/ exciting development in this case in many weeks. Hurray!!!

All IMHO

 

[Dotta]

The perp didn't take water receding into account, did he?

Even Nature is fed up with him.

JMO

 

[Dotta]

Hugs
for the sniffer doggie too

https://twitter.com/x/status/1795729288156623108

 

[TootsieFootsie]

MSN

Metal detectors were also used to scour the water.

Investigators have said they initially planned to set aside three days to search the dam and area, but have moved more quickly than anticipated, and will not be returning to the farm tomorrow.

Detectives have said they will regroup tonight and decide where to continue searching for the mother's body.

 

[pavlovsdaughter]

This news has seriously made my day. I know it’s a bit “woo woo” but I feel like the universe intervened today and is doing its best to bring Samantha home.

I watched a Ch 7 report on this and they said LE thought the accused may have thrown the phone from his vehicle.

I wonder if they have black box data from his vehicle? I don’t know much about this data or how historical it is, if by the time they had access to the vehicle it would still have data from the time of Samantha’s disappearance. But if such data does exist maybe it points to him traversing this road and slowing down around that area to chuck the phone.

The possibilities with the phone have me really excited, it’s a huge lead. Depending on its condition and what they can get off it of course. I learned from the Murdaugh case how key that evidence can be. Not just cell tower pings like we normally think of, but when the phone was last unlocked and via what method (Face ID, passcode). Anything like this would be so helpful to LE as they work to piece together what happened.

 

[Dotta]

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Found it on another forum.

 

[Karin1974]

I must admit I never expected the phone to be recovered in any intact kind of condition….

I imagined it would have most likely been destroyed beyond recognition…

If it is SMs phone it is truly extraordinary how little PS appears to have done to destroy it as a piece of evidence….

JMO…

IMO - There must have been specific intel to have pinpointed & located her mobile phone. (Fingers crossed it’s Samantha’s) To have found such a small object in a random dam seems like a very low possibility to me personally.

 

[tmar]

I’m still hoping it is a doggie that helps locate Samantha…

She loved dogs, had two herself.
The one that died, may have escaped, searching for her.

 

[Whatson]

I found an older satellite image of the site from before the house was built. It shows the dam in its low level form.

I've also updated the picture with the motocross/flat track on the property, as I believe it is relevant in the accused choosing of the property.

Someone mentioned many moons ago on here, that murderers when disposing of bodies etc... tend to enter a subconscious mode and will head directly to a place they are familiar with in a close proximity.

Thus, the motocross track on this property is relevant.

 

[Skyboy90]

I assume he drove past and chucked the phone in the dam from the car. You wouldn’t be dumping a body in a dam like that in daylight, someone would likely see something.

That should give some more detail in the potential direction he was going. I would take a guess and say he did this after disposing of her?

 

[Whatson]

On further inspection, I had the dam confused with another (it's 4a.m here!!) just waking up.

Looking in this picture we see the property in the search. The dam isn't in the satellite photo.

It's still a run off dam though like in the above photo, relying on rainfall,,so would dry out similar.

Some of the other ones appear to be spring fed, holding water all year round.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

 

[BreakingNews]

What I don't understand is that if this is the area where Samantha's phone last pinged at 5pm the day she went missing, then why has it taken all these months to search the area?

 

[Puggo]

What I don't understand is that if this is the area where Samantha's phone last pinged at 5pm the day she went missing, then why has it taken all these months to search the area?

Actually, seems like a logical place to relocate evidence to, provided there had been exhaustive searches done. IMO

 

[Justoneoftheguests]

Does anyone else feel like the fact they had set aside 3 days to search the area but are now moving on, makes it less likely that it’s Sam’s phone?

I feel like if they had found Sam’s phone they would expand the search in that area?

It also seems a strange case to carry a phone in when running. It’s bulky.

 

[acutename]

Does anyone else feel like the fact they had set aside 3 days to search the area but are now moving on, makes it less likely that it’s Sam’s phone?

I feel like if they had found Sam’s phone they would expand the search in that area?

It also seems a strange case to carry a phone in when running. It’s bulky.

Is there actually a picture of the phone/case?