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.

 

[ZombieKittie]

That's the house IMO but not the dam.

Agreed there's another dam just along the fence line from this one. I've scoured streetview is that is the closest match within the area that I could find

 

[TootsieFootsie]

If it is does turn out to be Samantha's phone why seem to lose interest in where it was found.

I'm thinking they have identified the owner of the phone and it's not Samantha's

 

[Sceptical]

View attachment 506479
From this image on Google Maps (March 2023) it seems that shed is relatively new.

That's the house IMO but not the dam.

The only other dam is this one but it doesn’t have any bushes, as pictured in the photo with the divers.

 

[iamshadow21]

I am in Melbourne at the moment. As we flew over the rural areas approaching Melbourne from Adelaide, I saw literally hundreds of dams. It was a sunny day and I could see them all sparkling in the sunlight.

I think there are more dams than we ever imagined.

imo

In livestock country, every single fenced area of paddock or pasture will have a water source, and often, it's a small dam. Sheep and cattle need something to drink from, and you can't necessarily rely on a small creek or something like it not to run dry. Dams are designed to catch and hold water from rain and runoff.

MOO

 

[Skyboy90]

If it is does turn out to be Samantha's phone why seem to lose interest in where it was found.

I'm thinking they have identified the owner of the phone and it's not Samantha's

If it’s her phone they won’t tell us that just yet. Most certainly will be kept quiet, I would expect no comments on that phone for at least 1-2 weeks.

Even if it’s her phone it will likely spend a week getting forensically reviewed.

Police could go down the path of drip feeding the media, which in turn might push him for a confession. I somewhat think they are opting for the opposite. Which in turn will be problematic for him, which is good. This young male needs to be deprived of as much free life that will be available to him.

 

[JLZ]

View attachment 506479
From this image on Google Maps (March 2023) it seems that shed is relatively new.

The only other dam is this one but it doesn’t have any bushes, as pictured in the photo with the divers.

There's three. Early on ABC was showing the one with the solar panel, to the right of the driveway, and I think that matches the angle of the picture with the divers.
The bottom one here:

Ballarat · Victoria, Australia

Victoria, Australia

www.google.com.au

I could be wrong.

 

[ProfCluezo]

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

Sometimes it can be tactical to hide things in a place that most people might overlook due to it appearing “too obvious” to possibly be “the place”. Anything is possible. JMO

 

[SLouTh]

If it is does turn out to be Samantha's phone why seem to lose interest in where it was found.

I'm thinking they have identified the owner of the phone and it's not Samantha's

7 News (Qld) is reporting that bank cards were also found with the phone …

I am also feeling disheartened about the police appearing to be finished at the site, but they would need to tell the family first if they have found Sam’s phone … and for a possible identification of the phone…. Perhaps the Police are “playing it cool” with announcements at this stage ???

IMO

 

[SouthAussie]

If it’s her phone they won’t tell us that just yet. Most certainly will be kept quiet, I would expect no comments on that phone for at least 1-2 weeks.

Even if it’s her phone it will likely spend a week getting forensically reviewed.

Police could go down the path of drip feeding the media, which in turn might push him for a confession. I somewhat think they are opting for the opposite. Which in turn will be problematic for him, which is good. This young male needs to be deprived of as much free life that will be available to him.

We might not find out until the trial.
Sub judice is in effect, and they will want a fair jury so they can put the alleged killer away for a very long time.

imo

 

[Dotta]

The Daily Mail suggests the police approached the owners of the property, not vice versa:

"The man said police were interested in the levels of his dam.

"'I hasn't [sic] seen anything suspicious out there. We don't have cameras. But yeah I believe one of those tech dogs found it,' he said.

"The man said detectives came and spoke to him about a month after Ms Murphy vanished, but only returned again in recent weeks.

"'They just asked me if I'd seen anything suspicious,' he said."

What a nerve to trespass someone's property to get rid of evidence!

I'm surprised of lack of cameras there.

JMO