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

[Trooper]

Does any one think it might be possible that the alleged offender has started to cooperate with Police, and told them a location???
And police are keeping this information quiet for the moment???

Perhaps the reality of incarceration is sinking in for the alleged offender??

Just a thought and IMO

Count me out, Slouthy.... He has a lot invested in his silence, ... Because I don't think he has had a barrister assigned to him, or has and he has fired them one after the other.. Until his barrister says, it's him co operating, I've got him down as Mr Deep Sulk.

 

[ZombieKittie]

But if that is her phone why weren't we told from the beginning when police told the public to keep and eye out for her phone that it was in a case surely her family knew her phone was in a case. And why a dam so close to a house their are hundreds of dams in the area and plenty of them are no where near anything?

Don't get me wrong I 10000% hope it is her's and that this is the clue they need but as always I have questions

 

[JLZ]

Yes, this is the location mentioned. Note the chilling name of the road:

"On Wednesday, police conducted a small-scale search along Slaughterhouse Road and Buninyong-Mt Mercer Road, a couple of kilometres south of Buninyong."

Divers search dam as police find 'items of interest' in Samantha Murphy search

Victoria Police have recovered a phone as they search a dam south of Ballarat as part of their investigation into the alleged murder of mother-of-three Samantha Murphy.

www.abc.net.au

This is far closer to a house than I thought it would be. Very ballsy place to put a body, if she is indeed there. Even if you stopped to throw a phone or any other evidence there, it's not as secluded as you would imagine, and close to a road too. Yes, the buildings look to be a red brick house, and a grey, 3 door shed/garage. Very normal looking home and garage for a country property. Many people have sheds this big for their toys - cars, boat, caravan, jet skis etc, or to house farming equipment or tools of a trade, or many convert areas to a "man cave" with a TV, bar, seating, an additional toilet etc. Another recent photo appeared to show other buildings in the area, which looked to me like other properties, not further out buildings.

The question has to be asked - did the alleged murderer know the owners of this property? Did he know they were not home at the time that the items/body were put here? Did he allegedly dispose of items or a body under the cover of darkness? Did he just get lucky (until now) that this certain spot had not been searched as thoroughly as it appears to be now, and that nobody witnessed him do anything unusual?

I have zero clue how the IMEI tracing thingy works on phones. Could her phone now have become close enough to the surface of the water that it can be traced, even turned off, out of charge and water logged?

Lenses alter apparent distances. It's a couple of hundred metres from the house to the dam, and as I said, I think they're on adjacent properties.

 

[SouthAussie]

But if that is her phone why weren't we told from the beginning when police told the public to keep and eye out for her phone that it was in a case surely her family knew her phone was in a case. And why a dam so close to a house their are hundreds of dams in the area and plenty of them are no where near anything?

Don't get me wrong I 10000% hope it is her's and that this is the clue they need but as always I have questions

We have never been given a description of Sam's phone or watch. Not a colour or anything.
Or if Sam had jewellery on (earrings, ring, etc).
Possibly hold-back information in case they could ever get the accused to talk.

imo

 

[Scooby-Doo]

The latest news is Police have now finished up searching the dam and will re-group to look at searching other properties

 

[Sarti]

Not what I wanted to hear, Scooby, but still...this is the best break we've heard of in this case for a long while. Another piece of the puzzle. Hopefully the forensic analysis of the phone (and other possible items found) will help the investigation.

 

[Sceptical]

From this image on Google Maps (March 2023) it seems that shed is relatively new. Wonder if PS was working on the site.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

The latest news is Police have now finished up searching the dam and will re-group to look at searching other properties

I know. I think they're getting closer

 

[Sarti]

I know. I think they're getting closer

Definitely a step in the right direction, compared to the prior searches which were not fruitful.

 

[JLZ]

From this image on Google Maps (March 2023) it seems that shed is relatively new. Wonder if PS was working on the site.

That's the house IMO but not the dam.