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

[PolyDot]

yes my point exactly. Seems really strange behaviour from the husband to be panicked and call police immediately but then being super chilled about the whole appearance. Doesn’t make sense to me at all.

I guess he was worried where she was .. just thinking what my partner would do in the same circumstances…
..he would go looking for me ..
… he would ring everybody ..
Then he would ring police ..
what time did her report , maybe he did all that then reported to police ..

 

[Littleguy7]

Timing of contacting police - I went through the same scenario in my head as to what my husband would do if I didn’t come home from a walk / run or if my friends told him I didn’t come to an agreed brunch after he knew I went for a walk. He would try to call me several times, see if he can use the “find my iphone” feature and then he would probably contact my parents and go to the track where he would expect me to be to see if they can find me anywhere. Only after exhausting all these avenues would he call the police. The husband seems super chilled so it’s somewhat strange that he didn’t take these steps first and already alerted the police at 11 JMO

Agree, have been thinking the same. Surely you’d go out and do a drive around before calling police. But we don’t know this wasn’t done, just assuming it wasn’t because it hasn’t been discussed in news reports.

 

[bearbear]

Yes , I agree , maybe . But was it her friends who reported her missing to the police - I thought it was her husband who reported after they rang him asking where she was ? Assuming they had tried ringing her & got no response.

yes, husband reported her missing but my impression of it seems it was only because her friends seemed in a panic? just wonderingn why the panic?

 

[PolyDot]

yes, husband reported her missing but my impression of it seems it was only because her friends seemed in a panic? just wonderingn why the panic?

Do we know what time her notified police ..

 

[Poirot's niece]

Has any authentic CCTV footage been released?

Search suspended until new information emerges, CCTV footage is specifically mentioned. Police seem to be working backwards from the park to the house, looking for confirmation that she was walking or jogging to the park. Maybe she was grabbed off the street on the way to the park, like Eliza Fletcher in Memphis.

"CCTV has become the key to finding Ms Murphy, police have said, and they are attempting to gather every available piece of footage to track her last documented movements. A full scale search will only resume if new information emerges.
...

Investigators are seeking CCTV footage from all surrounding streets and suburbs, even if it does not show Ms Murphy, in a bid to better piece together the events leading up to her disappearance.

Police said on Saturday they did not suspect anything sinister about her disappearance, but they were significantly concerned for her wellbeing."

same link

Is there another way of leaving the house/property that isn't captured by cctv?

 

[otto]

Was jogging at 7:30 AM a routine, or casual exercise with different jogging times depending on the day? If she didn't go jogging to or at the park, was there somewhere else she went while jogging? She left the house, then what?

"Samantha Murphy, 51, vanished while out for a 7.30am jog in the Woowookarung Regional Park beauty spot near Ballarat, in Australia's Victoria state, last Sunday."

DailyMail

 

[bearbear]

Do we know what time her notified police ..

her friends alerted him about her missing the lunch date so assuming that was around 11am so maybe straight after that as there were people already searching that sunday afternoon?

 

[otto]

Is there another way of leaving the house/property that isn't captured by cctv?

Does anyone have the address handy? We can use bing birdseye view to have a look.

 

[Lukey2121]

What response would people expect of the police when your loved one who is a middle aged adult, has only been missing for 1-2 hrs. You’d just be wasting valuable time IMO.
Why talk to the police for 30-60 minutes when you could be organising friends and conducting your own search?
I understand ringing hospitals or police to check if anything has been reported but not registering a missing person’s case.

Edit - not without other proof e.g we tracked her phone via find my phone and we’ve found something disturbing.

 

[Kemug]

So why haven't we heard from/about the brunch friends? Presuming they would have tried to call her - did her phone ring out, or was it switched off? So then they would have rung Mick to see if she was still at home, or on her way, or not well. They wouldn't have immediately thought "She's missing!" Mick presumably then looked in and around their home. But why haven't we heard all this? There's nothing particularly private or sensitive about it, is there?

 

[olaselo]

Does anyone have the address handy? We can use bing birdseye view to have a look.

Yes - but no doxing, sorry. If anyone else knows, please keep it to yourselves - the family (children in particular) should be allowed privacy

And no - by the looks of it - there is only one way out of the property

*EDITED - There does appear to be a second entrance/exit to the property around the back.

 

[otto]

I'm curious about what triggered the husband to call police about his missing wife.

She left at 7:30 AM and he didn't notice that she did not come home. At 11 AM, she was expected at a brunch. When she did not show up, her friends immediately thought something was wrong. They didn't have brunch, assume that their friend had a last minute change of plans ... to follow up later. They were so concerned that her husband contacted police right away.

How did her friends so quickly know that her absence meant something serious had happened?

 

[otto]

Yes - but no doxing, sorry. If anyone else knows, please keep it to yourselves - the family (children in particular) should be allowed privacy

Of course. The address should not be made public. What was I thinking! This is the victim, not the suspect.

We'll assume that there's a back door, that it is possible to leave the property without passing by the front entrance camera.

 

[CoffeeHug]

This is in no way a judgement of anyone who would take alternative actions but I've been trying to think what I would do if my husband didn't come back from a run.

First, I'd probably think he was taking a while and not think too much of it. I think it would take at least three hours before I became concerned enough to send him a text. If it was very hot I might be a bit more concerned. I'd also not know exactly what direction he'd have gone in at least some of the time. He tends to run where his whim takes him. He doesn't take water. He's once got lost in a bit of bush land I know better than him and I've talked him back to a path that would take him out - with his phone at 2% charge, so the possibility of his phone having gone flat, if he didn't reply, would be there too. When would I call the police? I don't know. Definitely by later afternoon, if not sooner. Possibly I'd go look first if I were sure of his route. My first concern would be accident or unexpected medical problem. I haven't actually been in this situation, so don't know exactly how I'd react, but that's what I think I might do.

If he was due to meet someone and they told me he hadn't come, I'd get onto things a lot faster. Not showing up would be out of character and my mind would go straight to accident or medical issues that might have cropped up. I wouldn't ignore that, as SM's family and friends didn't.

 

[bearbear]

its published on msm as eureka street, so i guess do a google drive to see if it can be found? its a long road!
Murphy – known to family and friends as a mentally and physically strong woman – was last seen leaving her Eureka Street home in Ballarat East about 7am on Sunday to go for a run.

‘People just don’t vanish into thin air’: growing concerns for missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy as SES volunteers stood down

Volunteer crews officially demobilised as search for 51-year-old last seen on Sunday continues

www.theguardian.com

 

[mirage1]

+

I have thought this from day one. However a lot of locals seem to be still out searching. I'd want proof that she actually left home and all I can find is the still photo of Samantha with the doggy doo bag.

The photo is from actual cctv video, and it has been widely reported as a fact that she was leaving for her walk. I strongly assume they would not be reporting pure speculation as fact. It seems the police have confirmed she was seen in video leaving for her walk.

 

[olaselo]

Of course. The address should not be made public. What was I thinking! This is the victim, not the suspect.

We'll assume that there's a back door, that it is possible to leave the property without passing by the front entrance camera.

Well it could actually be both (suspect and victim). And by the looks of it - there is only one way out of the property. (SEE EDIT BELOW)

One interesting point to note is this:
- Property purchased recently (last 3 years) when interest rates at all time low
- CCTV APPEARS to have been installed since purchase in a location that DEFINITELY shows the driveway and the EXIT of the driveway (NOT from the location where the CCTV still image originated, but elsewhere)

EDIT* Actually there does appear to be a second exit.

 

[otto]

This is in no way a judgement of anyone who would take alternative actions but I've been trying to think what I would do if my husband didn't come back from a run.

First, I'd probably think he was taking a while and not think too much of it. I think it would take at least three hours before I became concerned enough to send him a text. If it was very hot I might be a bit more concerned. I'd also not know exactly what direction he'd have gone in at least some of the time. He tends to run where his whim takes him. He doesn't take water. He's once got lost in a bit of bush land I know better than him and I've talked him back to a path that would take him out - with his phone at 2% charge, so the possibility of his phone having gone flat, if he didn't reply, would be there too. When would I call the police? I don't know. Definitely by later afternoon, if not sooner. Possibly I'd go look first if I were sure of his route. My first concern would be accident or unexpected medical problem. I haven't actually been in this situation, so don't know exactly how I'd react, but that's what I think I might do.

If he was due to meet someone and they told me he hadn't come, I'd get onto things a lot faster. Not showing up would be out of character and my mind would go straight to accident or medical issues that might have cropped up. I wouldn't ignore that, as SM's family and friends didn't.

Accident is what many would think first - call the hospitals and police department. Was that done first by friends and husband? If so, it doesn't sound like anything unusual happened, although I am surprised that her friends were immediately concerned. She must be 100% on time reliable all the time.

 

[olaselo]

From memory, Trooper stated 'Money, Sex and Religion'.

I like to say 'follow the money'.

 

[mirage1]

Accident is what many would think first - call the hospitals and police department. Was that done first by friends and husband? If so, it doesn't sound like anything unusual happened, although I am surprised that her friends were immediately concerned. She must be 100% on time reliable all the time.

Wouldnt the first thing you do is actually go and search for her yourself along the path she jogs? Would seem to be my first instinct to go there personally. He would know where she jogs surely, after so long. Once i could not find her, i would call police after a while.

The thing is, I don't think it would be cause for immediate concern losing contact with an adult at that time of the morning. She could have just gone shopping, decided a new change of plans, etc. You would not panic just because she missed a brunch date surely? Its not like she went missing late at night or for a whole day, its just a few hours.