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

[JLZ]

Can the dam be seen from the road ?

Might not need to know of the dam ahead of time if you're driving along looking for somewhere to get rid of the phone and catch a glimpse of a dam.

Depends on the angle.

 

[Whatson]

You can see that the shrubbery is growing on an incline by looking at the cleared section... It is growing on the "dam wall" that has been constructed.

Again, with the motocross tracks (I know, I know) and the property owners not willing to speak to media, I believe PS to be familiar with the property.

 

[wallyworld]

They are blackberry bushes I believe …. One of the articles I have read identified them …. But I don’t know local growing habits … but they looked very dense ….


Edit to add - there was growth there on Google Earth in March 2023.

IMO

it has been very dry in Victoria over the past few months so not a lot of growth

 

[Whatson]

View attachment 506817
Depends on the angle.

Not hard to observe its presence from the road then. Good find

 

[Rumination1]

Really gotta hope they have a bunch of evidence and leads. Personally I feel it would have been too much of a risk it wouldn’t go in the water, to throw or from the other side of the fence.,,, no knowing how Depp the water is either

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Blackberries are very fast growing.

I'm not sure about Victoria, but in New South Wales they are considered a pest plant and even on farms you have to get rid of them.

Found this

Blackberry

agriculture.vic.gov.au

Blackberry is an invasive shrub. It is a threat to agriculture in Victoria due to its rapid growth and spread.

I can't see anyone planting it on purpose in Australia.

 

[Whatson]

If they are raspberry/blackberry bushes, those are very, very thorny, which would explain the need to clear it with an excavator and the dogs wearing boots for self protection.

 

[Whatson]

Really gotta hope they have a bunch of evidence and leads. Personally I feel it would have been too much of a risk it wouldn’t go in the water, to throw or from the other side of the fence.,,, no knowing how Depp the water is either

They must to just turn up at a property with an excavator to inspect just that dam.

 

[Trooper]

View attachment 506817
Depends on the angle.

That's a great view and gives a driver's eye view, AND a joggers eye view as well. . the bushes are not that high, but they are wide.. assuming this phone throwing was done in daylight.

Like all country roads, at night it's as black as the inside of a cow, but headlights would pick that dam up, depending on which direction one is headed... unless it was very muddy. Which dams can be in Feb..

That picture looks like it could have been taken sometime at the end of winter, ... the grass is fallow, , the first rains look like they are hovering in the sky, the dam is quite full.

 

[iamshadow21]

Blackberries are very fast growing.

I'm not sure about Victoria, but in New South Wales they are considered a pest plant and even on farms you have to get rid of them.

Found this

Blackberry

agriculture.vic.gov.au

Blackberry is an invasive shrub. It is a threat to agriculture in Victoria due to its rapid growth and spread.

I can't see anyone planting it on purpose in Australia.

You got there ahead of me, Tootsie! Blackberries are a menace, and you see a lot of them in rural areas where the natural bush has been cleared. They do well in the dry, but they like to seed and grow near water.

 

[Sarti]

It really feels like the police are on the trail to nailing this case, and a solid conviction for PS. I'm very hopeful at this point.

A murder charge is nothing to sniff at. A murder charge with a body/remains? Forget about it.

He will spend a very, very long time in jail either way. His apparent total refusal of cooperation so far? No judge in Australia will tolerate that nonsense. Punishment will be served, and hopefully an example will be made out of PS.

 

[HoneyBunOne]

To add to my post above...

I feel for the farmers

Imagine YOUR property tainted by evidence of evil crime.

Imagine Police descending on YOUR land.

Press helicopters circling above YOUR home.

Imagine gossip and covert glaces of YOUR neighbours.

The evilness of murderer has NO boundaries.
NO shame to taint others!

KEEP AWAY from MY home you evil monster!!!!



JMO

That thought crossed my mind too. It's not something you can easily forget, especially if it was a body that was found. It would certainly taint the joy of country living for me.

You can see that the shrubbery is growing on an incline by looking at the cleared section... It is growing on the "dam wall" that has been constructed.

Again, with the motocross tracks (I know, I know) and the property owners not willing to speak to media, I believe PS to be familiar with the property.

View attachment 506818

I don't think there's a link between not talking to media and knowing PS. Why would they talk and be photographed? Look at what Mick went through when he "didn't act right" according to the world. They would only be picked apart and talked about by people the world over. AFAIK, they're cooperating with the search, talking to police, and minding their own business. Unless you want your 15 minutes of fame, the dignified thing is to stay away from the press.

it has been very dry in Victoria over the past few months so not a lot of growth

True, but to be fair, we're talking Ballarat. I don't think I've ever been there or driven by on the freeway without rain of some sort.

 

[Oona]

I have a few questions which I don’t think have been answered yet… and maybe won’t be for sometime… (apologies if these questions have been raised already).

Do we know whether the owners of this property / dam contacted the police after finding an item of interest, or was the item discovered during a police search?

If during a police search, what led police to this specific location? It is indeed very specific.

It is a very specific search area, in my opinion, likely based on strong intelligence:

“The owner of the property, who wished to remain anonymous, said police contacted him about three weeks ago asking for permission to access his land.

The man said officers returned on Wednesday where they told him they were going to perform a line search along the road.

'A dog found something on the banks and they came up and asked me and my wife to make a statement,' he said.”

From:

Inside the search for Samantha Murphy

Detectives appear to have made the first major breakthrough in the hunt for missing mum Samantha Murphy since they arrested her alleged killer almost three months ago.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[mondayschild]

So the news clip linked in the last few pages from this evening showed a rough estimate of the search this evening being back towards Ballarat - around 2.5km from the dam - so this is a big area of bushland called Buninyong H21 Bushland Reserve

 

[JLZ]

So the news clip linked in the last few pages from this evening showed a rough estimate of the search this evening being back towards Ballarat - around 2.5km from the dam - so this is a big area of bushland called Buninyong H21 Bushland Reserve

Surely that's already been searched. Off Webbs Hill Rd.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

That thought crossed my mind too. It's not something you can easily forget, especially if it was a body that was found. It would certainly taint the joy of country living for me.

The worst of it, even if a body isn't found is that there will be people coming to have a look.

There may be some who want to look for clues. Or have a photo taken at the dam where the phone was found.

Your nice quiet life ruined until the interest dies down. If it ever does...

And I'm sure the media will keep on trying, and will take photos and video with or without your permission.

And there likely will be drones going over. Not only the media but the general public, if they can.

Not sure what the laws re drones in Ballarat are.

 

[Trooper]

So... someone is giving the police some information. Information that appears to be platinum. ( to add to the titanium info VICPOL already has on PS) Apparently, it is not the person charged with the crime.

VICPOL are pretty good at what they do, but even they could not conjure up a phone's location out of nothing. It has to be an informant.

From Mt Clear?? Remand Centre? Ballarat?

 

[Kemug]

Thanks Slouth….. the dog is so cute with boots on!!

View attachment 506782

Aww, I wonder if he has bed socks too?

 

[mondayschild]

Surely that's already been searched. Off Webbs Hill Rd.

Most likely? but sometimes things get missed or perhaps they now have clearer info (not sure the phone would have yielded much this quickly however).

 

[TootsieFootsie]

You got there ahead of me, Tootsie! Blackberries are a menace

It's a pity because they are so yummy.