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 #4

[Nikynoo]

The length of time - 75 mins? - to get to the 7km mark seems off to me. So much that I’m awake at 3.00 am. That seems more like someone walking not running. I need to sleep and think more about it.

Agree, that seems walking speed. But, if she was on a training programme, it could have been walk/run or some other combination.

 

[iamshadow21]

Agree, that seems walking speed. But, if she was on a training programme, it could have been walk/run or some other combination.

She'd not long had COVID, perhaps walking was what she could manage. I say, as someone who precovid could manage an 8km walk in 1hr20m, but now counts it a big energy day if I can get through one yin yoga class a week. And I'm about ten years younger than Samantha. It can really mess with your stamina. It's messed with my circulation, too, all my blood pools in my feet, now, and I have to take breaks from standing while making dinner. We know that Samantha reportedly had low blood pressure. It could have been a result of having had COVID.

MOO

 

[crhedBngr]

I had an experience, but it was over 20 years ago, when I was an OP Shop volunteer.
I attempted to help a man looking for furniture and he flat out said that he "was not going to be served by a woman"

I'll never forget the look of hatred on his face.

I"m in a country town, if that makes a difference.

RBBM

Not always!

JMVHO.

 

[touch]

The length of time - 75 mins? - to get to the 7km mark seems off to me. So much that I’m awake at 3.00 am. That seems more like someone walking not running. I need to sleep and think more about it.

Do we actually know that she had only run 7k?
As far as I'm aware, the police didn't say that. All they said was that they think she was in the Mount Clear area. Someone has then used google maps to find the most direct route there, which comes out at 7k, but we don't actually know which route she took?

 

[Naobh]

post #803 different thread:

According to their work website she handles the administration. It says she is the backbone of the office and her roles include book keeping, finance, keeping mick in line plus many more.

Maybe she gets on the tools and gets the hands dirty, can’t say for sure though.
-.-.-

"Keeping Mick in line" seems like a nice familiar description of a job, but also a little bit humiliating re MM. Who is the owner of a business with 20 employees and does need his wife to keep him in line? IF it was close to the truth, MM had to be supervised, there may be a reason, why someone within business circles was focused on SM as an "enemy" and "troublemaker". MOO

As others have said, it's a joke, but if anything it might show they had a healthy relationship, where the husband can have a laugh about the wife being in charge at times, against traditional expectations.

 

[carbuff]

Laken Riley, too. Another woman who went running in the day, in a public place, took her phone, told a friend.

The fallacy of all these 'rules' we're told to follow is that they make us feel like we're safer because we're following them, when the reality is, if someone still wants to cause us harm, they will. Regardless of the time of day, what we're wearing, whether we have our keys out and ready, whether we parked close in the light, whether we're sober... none of it is going to stop someone determined to hurt us.

The worst part of these 'rules' isn't the false sense of security, it's that when someone is hurt, there's the automatic assumption that somehow, they didn't follow the 'rules', and that's why. It puts the weight back on the victim for their own attack, which isn't just awful, it's wrong.

MOO

Just a like wasn't enough. This post is right on and you deserve a standing ovation.

 

[Toowong(s)]

Do we actually know that she had only run 7k?
As far as I'm aware, the police didn't say that. All they said was that they think she was in the Mount Clear area. Someone has then used google maps to find the most direct route there, which comes out at 7k, but we don't actually know which route she took?

Agree we have inferred it was the half way mark, but it’s not a known fact although I think pretty likely as she seems to have 7km to get home by shortest route, and I’m going with the 14km distance SM reportedly announced at the dinner party the night before. Also if SM stopped for a breather before turning for home perhaps a good time for the attacker(s) to strike.

And also not sure where 75 mins is coming from? Keen to understand. Don’t we just have:
- left home around 7am (6.50 to 7.10?)
- arrived around 8am (7.50 to 8.10?)
Give or take 10 mins at either end it could be anywhere between 40 and 80 mins I think. So 75 mins is possible but so is say 45 mins which would be a good clip.

It is believed she reached the Mount Clear area about an hour after she left home about 7am.

Samantha Murphy most likely dead, police say, as phone clue leads to new search

Investigators say they believe "more parties" are involved in the Ballarat mother's disappearance and "everyone" in her life is a person of interest as the search focuses on bushland south of Ballarat.

www.abc.net.au

It’s all so rubbery I wouldn’t be losing sleep over it! (But I am).

 

[Neet_Mc]

A single guy going walkabout on a Friday night, not wanting to take calls, he's probably at the casino, no? They didn't check with his bank and find out?

No he wasn’t. And no they didn’t. Literally went to his house and rang his phone confirm details that we given when missing person report made.

 

[Black-Cat]

In the first days she was missing all the articles said she had a brunch appointment with friends, there was no mention of a family meeting.

Thanks Toots, so much has been written, I thought they said friends too, initially

 

[Black-Cat]

I remember thinking the same when I first saw their story on FB and then MSM. I’m trying to find any article to back up my comment here but I can’t atm so I just gonna say this is just my opinion. I just can’t be sure if my memory Is remembering it correctly and I could be wrong.

Originally my ears pricked cos I remember reading how they saw the bush homeless man, and then they drove to a different spot, and the homeless man reappeared. I think they said they drove several minutes away to a new spot, and he must have known a shortcut cos he was there pretty quickly.

I just remember reading it thinking the whole story was out there, too far out there for me. With the seeing SM, then losing the Apple Watch etc. i remember just think no way is this true. I wondered if it wasn’t true why they would come out, was it for clout? Was it something more sinister? I really don’t know. I mean, it could be the truth as well….

In conclusion I really wish I had screenshot the article at the time. Cos I could be just completely making up the homeless bush man having a shirt cut and meeting up with them several minute drive away.

This comment as I said is JMO

Yes such a strange story.

IMO

 

[Deleted member 293720]

It surprises me they are doing a show like this for SM. I mean all due respect with this comment however it’s usually longer term missing people from my understanding.

What it does it makes me wonder if this will be in cahoots with LE. Will they be putting information onto this program with the hopes of scaring the life out of a suspect in the hopes it makes them panic and mess up in some way.

Kinda like with Greg Lynn in the Carol Clay and Russell hill case. I can’t remember the program, but a senior detective appeared on a show like this or a current affairs show and gave the description of the vehicle and trailer. This apparently sent Greg Lynn into a spiral and they tracked him out to where the bodies where IIRC? I know they were worried about him committing suicide.

Anyway, I could be way off, just makes my mind wonder this case is on Under Investigation so soon. Maybe there have been other cases of someone missing for weeks being on the show. Just doesn’t ring a bell with me.

All MOO

I think this is close to being solved, and police need that last crucial piece of evidence, and they want someone to break.
Who ever comes forward first and spills some beans to the cops, would think they might get a lighter sentence

 

[SouthAussie]

It surprises me they are doing a show like this for SM. I mean all due respect with this comment however it’s usually longer term missing people from my understanding.

<RSBM>

They did a show about the poisonings in Leongatha (EP) really quickly also. Perhaps moving away from their longer term missing theme when there is a current high profile mystery to explore.

imo

 

[Kemug]

post #803 different thread:

According to their work website she handles the administration. It says she is the backbone of the office and her roles include book keeping, finance, keeping mick in line plus many more.

Maybe she gets on the tools and gets the hands dirty, can’t say for sure though.
-.-.-

"Keeping Mick in line" seems like a nice familiar description of a job, but also a little bit humiliating re MM. Who is the owner of a business with 20 employees and does need his wife to keep him in line? IF it was close to the truth, MM had to be supervised, there may be a reason, why someone within business circles was focused on SM as an "enemy" and "troublemaker". MOO

Would depend on how sensitive Mick is.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

It would be great if media had a little rating symbol at the start of an article. A bit like the way movies are rated. Here are some suggestions.

FB - based on facts
FC - fact checked
SG - some guesswork
CG - complete guesswork
AI - generated using ai
OB - all opinion based

This post is rated OB. Opinion based

Terrific idea!

However... then we would have to have a rating scale for the person/people/organization which are doing the initial rating...

AMIRITE? Tee! Hee!

 

[A Spade]

Keeping him in line is a term of endearment in Australia in days gone by. Especially in tradies industries. It's said in jest. I wouldn't read anything into.

Respectfully, I disagree; "keeping him in line" said in "jest" in Australia, is a statement used to cover up & make light of inappropriate, bad or so-called larikin-ish (usually male) behaviour, with an inherent underlying suggestion of risk-taking & immaturity in the one who has to be "kept in line". It also suggests that responsibility & taking care of things properly rests with the individual (usually female, a mother role, so to speak) tasked with keeping the other immature party "in line", which can lead to resentment by the party being "kept in line". This seemingly innocent phrase carries a lot of weight, imo. When I first read it in SM's job/role description at the family business, this phrase stood out to me regarding her personal & professional relationship with her husband & business partner. I think I read that SM & MM were teen sweethearts? If that was the case, SM would have had to have been "keeping him in line" for a long time :-( . Someone being "kept in line", especially over a long time, may well end up resenting being "kept in line" at some point. Or they may be fearful &/or angry if it looks like they were going to lose the person keeping them "in line", as then who will be responsible for their actions & risk taking?! Who will make things right?! Not the person who needs to be "kept in line". Really, few people want to have to be another person's "keeper". While this is my opinion only, I speak from personal experience of having being married to a so-called "larrikin" risk taker for 30 years, who I finally left when the kids were grown, as I was over being his keeper & keeping him in line. I note that when a woman leaves, or intends to a leave a relationship, is the most high-risk time for her. I also note that "tradies industries" are amongst the most misogynistic in Australia, so just because "keeping him in line" may be a seemingly "normalised" phrase in "tradies industry", this does not make it ok.

 

[Deleted member 339914]

They did a show about the poisonings in Leongatha (EP) really quickly also. Perhaps moving away from their longer term missing theme when there is a current high profile mystery to explore.

imo

The police may be allowing this program to go ahead because they have diddly-squat in terms of solid leads and want to jog people's memories on anything they may have seen/heard leading up to the disappearance, on the day and since. It really does feel like there is just no trace of her. I just have one question which came to me last night ... does anyone know whether the bush around Ballarat is a late night meeting place for any satanic, occult, creepy activities? I have heard about the drug and car dumping activities but is it also a meeting place for satanic stuff ... not knowing anything about this scene my terminology may be wrong.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I've heard the "keeping in line" remark many times and in all those times it was never about someone that was actually behaving badly.

The line wouldn't actually work if it was about about covering up someone's bad behavior.
It's meant in a loving way, nothing more to be read into it.

 

[SouthAussie]

The police may be allowing this program to go ahead because they have diddly-squat in terms of solid leads and want to jog people's memories on anything they may have seen/heard leading up to the disappearance, on the day and since. It really does feel like there is just no trace of her. I just have one question which came to me last night ... does anyone know whether the bush around Ballarat is a late night meeting place for any satanic, occult, creepy activities? I have heard about the drug and car dumping activities but is it also a meeting place for satanic stuff ... not knowing anything about this scene my terminology may be wrong.

I have just been reading about how the bushland at Mt Clear has become a dumping ground for people's hard rubbish.

It is a very big problem, and costs the council about $100,000 a year to go and remove all of the rubbish periodically.
People just keep dumping there, despite the council providing hard rubbish pickups as most/all councils provide.

They considered putting CCTV in the area, to capture the identity of the dumpers, but it doesn't sound like they did that.

April 2023 article (paywalled for some)
Road through Mount Clear pine plantation littered with illegally dumped refuse

 

[SouthAussie]

I've heard the "keeping in line" remark many time and in all those times it was never about someone that was actually behaving badly.

The line wouldn't actually work if it was about about covering up someone's bad behavior.
It's meant in a loving way, nothing more to be read into it.

I was thinking that it could be associated with Mick's love of classic cars. "I think I will buy this classic car, honey. It's a beauty". "I think you probably have enough of them, Mick".

And I don't think the humorous comment would be published on the company website if it really was an issue within the family.

imo

 

[jjleroche]

I've heard the "keeping in line" remark many times and in all those times it was never about someone that was actually behaving badly.

The line wouldn't actually work if it was about about covering up someone's bad behavior.
It's meant in a loving way, nothing more to be read into it.

I agree Tootsie. Definitely an endearment.