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

[they'll get you]

Not everybody is asked to make a public appeal. There are circumstances that are gone thru at the detectives huddle that conclude that there is reason to get the husband, the kids, the brother, etc to front up and make an unrehearsed from the heart public appeal, and many a murderer has fallen for this, and made a complete dingbat of themselves in doing do. The public appeal thing is much more than merely appealing to the public for information.

You got that right Troops.
He sure appreciated the food.

 

[Monsoon]

Pure speculation: perhaps something happened close to home, and she was taken south to a large forested area like Enfield. Phone might have been discarded on the way, such as at red circle on map - pull over and drop into river. Last ping at Buninyong.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

To be honest I'm surprised he's not wearing thongs/flip flops

I'm amazed at the way some men dress at times.
I've been in meetings of some classes, where some of them always turned up in shorts t shirt and sandals.

Some of the toenails needed a good clipping and cleaning

 

[AmandaSkis]

14 km
interesting question or 8.6 miles. Don't know the exact address, but +/- a km or two

That’s a lot of miles for someone who was super sick with Covid over the holidays, and who normally runs about a 10k distance (although I have also read that she was a walker, not necessarily a runner). She leaves at 7am for a run of apparently at least 16 miles. Where was her phone while she was out? For example, did her running outfit have pockets? Was she wearing a running/hydration vest?

Because we have also read that she was not carrying any water. What would be the reason for not taking water? Because you don’t want to have to hold anything, that is the usual response. So then where was the phone while she was running?

 

[Lukey2121]

If the person who attacked Sissy last year is a repeat offender I wonder how many other people have had a run in with said person physical or not and either haven't reported it or have thought nothing of it

I thought this to be a likely scenario based but a couple of things imo make it unlikely. They haven’t identified a crime scene, they haven’t located any homeless man (apparently 4 deserted camps have been located) and the phone stopped communicating with the tower.
How far can a mentally deranged person drag a female while the entire town is looking for her?
Would this person destroy the phone?
Would they conceal a crime scene, unlikely I believe.
It‘s a real possibility but I think these opportunistic crimes leave evidence as they’re not concerned about eluding law enforcement and a crime scene or evidence would’ve been located by now if that was the case. Obviously I could be wrong because deranged people do strange things all the time or they‘ve just got extremely lucky.

 

[jjleroche]

The thing that has stuck in my mind that has been bothering me is that Sam’s daughter said her mum is too strong to give up this fight. That statement has a few possible conclusions you could draw from it. Initially I thought she may perhaps have been fighting a physical or mental health battle. However since the police have said that Sam is physically and mentally very strong I find myself more confused about this statement and its possible meaning. Did anyone else pick up on this? Don’t know why I’m so stuck on it!

Now that you mention it, it does seem somewhat - unusual? IMO it infers that "this fight " is not something new.

Also, IMO someone may appear to be (or BE) mentally very strong, but for whatever reason, at that time, they're over it/at the end of their tether/done, or the penny has dropped - realisation that difficult action needs to be taken.

If this is so in Samantha's case, that may account for her spending Christmas alone, and not going on holidays. Although she apparently had Covid, that situation tells me that she may have needed space to just take some time away from things, or to work out what she needed to do in order to solve an issue.

All just speculation - I could be way off the mark, but I do think appearances can be very deceiving. I really hope she turns up unharmed soon. MOO

 

[TootsieFootsie]

It could also be that someone accidentally hit her with their vehicle.
She died and was taken out of the area to dispose of.

There is so much unknown.

 

[mondayschild]

Police updated request for ALL dash-cam / CCTV footage a few hours ago . From Vic Pol :
"Police previously urged everyone in the Ballarat East and Mount Helen areas, particularly around the Canadian Forest, to check their CCTV for any possible sightings over the past six days however would now like to collect all footage." and "Even if the footage does not depict Samantha" (?vehicle movement)

 

[jjleroche]

That’s a lot of miles for someone who was super sick with Covid over the holidays, and who normally runs about a 10k distance (although I have also read that she was a walker, not necessarily a runner). She leaves at 7am for a run of apparently at least 16 miles. Where was her phone while she was out? For example, did her running outfit have pockets? Was she wearing a running/hydration vest?

Because we have also read that she was not carrying any water. What would be the reason for not taking water? Because you don’t want to have to hold anything, that is the usual response. So then where was the phone while she was running?

Maybe in a strapped-on bum bag? Phone would be OK in one, but a water bottle would be bouncing around and not really a suitable option. I agree with you. IMO it's quite unlikely that she intended to run that distance. MOO

 

[bearbear]

i hate to even say this as its hurtful to her family but could she have been depressed and decided to disappear herself for good? could that been the reason for the quick missing persons alarm and the reason theyve stopped the intensive searching, has some information regarding her menta state or history been disclosed?

 

[ZombieKittie]

Police updated request for ALL dash-cam / CCTV footage a few hours ago . From Vic Pol :
"Police previously urged everyone in the Ballarat East and Mount Helen areas, particularly around the Canadian Forest, to check their CCTV for any possible sightings over the past six days however would now like to collect all footage." and "Even if the footage does not depict Samantha" (?vehicle movement)

Possibly vehicle movement but probably also to double check she isn't in any footage after the previous CCTV mix up

 

[CoffeeHug]

That’s a lot of miles for someone who was super sick with Covid over the holidays, and who normally runs about a 10k distance (although I have also read that she was a walker, not necessarily a runner). She leaves at 7am for a run of apparently at least 16 miles. Where was her phone while she was out? For example, did her running outfit have pockets? Was she wearing a running/hydration vest?

Because we have also read that she was not carrying any water. What would be the reason for not taking water? Because you don’t want to have to hold anything, that is the usual response. So then where was the phone while she was running?

My husband runs. His phone is on a special phone band/holder thing, around his upper arm. That's how he tracks his run and listens to music.

 

[JLZ]

Possibly vehicle movement but probably also to double check she isn't in any footage after the previous CCTV mix up

And if she isn't in them that could become important too.

 

[JLZ]

i hate to even say this as its hurtful to her family but could she have been depressed and decided to disappear herself for good? could that been the reason for the quick missing persons alarm and the reason theyve stopped the intensive searching, has some information regarding her menta state or history been disclosed?

Yes, there are a few possibilities apart from accident and murder.

Edit: no, her mental state and history have not been disclosed, except that several people insist that she's very strong. You say that when someone's had to demonstrate it. I wonder about her history and also possible current stresses. But her husband in his most persuasive moment asks me to respect the family's privacy.

 

[bearbear]

The thing that has stuck in my mind that has been bothering me is that Sam’s daughter said her mum is too strong to give up this fight. That statement has a few possible conclusions you could draw from it. Initially I thought she may perhaps have been fighting a physical or mental health battle. However since the police have said that Sam is physically and mentally very strong I find myself more confused about this statement and its possible meaning. Did anyone else pick up on this? Don’t know why I’m so stuck on it!

yes i noticed this too and thought maybe depression or marriage difficulties

 

[Kemug]

It could also be that someone accidentally hit her with their vehicle.
She died and was taken out of the area to dispose of.

There is so much unknown.

You may be right Toots, but I think that if I hit someone accidentally, and didn't want to own up, I would just take off and get out of there. Why risk being seen with a body, and also that body could leave traces in my car.

 

[Kemug]

The thing that has stuck in my mind that has been bothering me is that Sam’s daughter said her mum is too strong to give up this fight. That statement has a few possible conclusions you could draw from it. Initially I thought she may perhaps have been fighting a physical or mental health battle. However since the police have said that Sam is physically and mentally very strong I find myself more confused about this statement and its possible meaning. Did anyone else pick up on this? Don’t know why I’m so stuck on it!

What I noticed about this statement from the daughter is that she didn't expand on it - she didn't add any examples of her mother's strength in past troubles, which I might have expected her to do.

 

[JLZ]

yes i noticed this too and thought maybe depression or marriage difficulties

In the case of Agatha Christie, marriage difficulties and a car accident brought on a fugue. I wondered whether Samantha ever had a similar reaction to stress.

In addition to the types of problems you mention, I thought maybe legal or financial. Mortgage rates increase, rents for business sites increase. Spouses in business together, tough decisions.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

You may be right Toots, but I think that if I hit someone accidentally, and didn't want to own up, I would just take off and get out of there. Why risk being seen with a body, and also that body could leave traces in my car.

Maybe she is hidden there and they're yet to find her.

Plus when people panic, sometimes all rational thought goes out the window and they take action right away without really thinking it over.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

The past struggles may have been something like losing a parent, or someone else close to her.
So far not much is known about the family dynamics.