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

[Detective Willy]

Was there any infidelity involved, a reason that Samantha would want to leave Mick?

 

[Greysp]

Was there any infidelity involved, a reason that Samantha would want to leave

Always a question in these circumstances

 

[olaselo]

In terms of terrain or ownership?

terms of location/distance

 

[TootsieFootsie]

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/explainer-inside-the-mystery-of-missing-ballarat-mother-samantha-murphy/news-story/6565d7c6ecdbe5f0a67f0a33d99c8b08?amp

Published at 3.40 pm today

Explainer: Inside the mystery of missing Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy​

Behind a paywall. Posting it here for those who subscribe.

 

[Trooper]

odd theres no early dog walkers and runners coming forward with sightings, the neighbour said she usually waves hello and a woman attending her horse said she didnt see her that day as she usually does, hopefully police have had the dogs search her vast property? would they need a search warrant to search though, even though theres no poi?

In my experience, horses are better watchdogs than dogs, they loathe strangers and can pick one up a long way from them.. I wonder if her horses were antsy that day.........

Why has no one seen her?.. people in the rural areas are always zipping hither and yon way before it's seemly, they are out on the golf course at crack of dawn, down at the bowling club polishing the stuff, crinkling the whites, the cricket club wardens are out rolling the crease, the tennis people, who are nuttier than most are already fighting over which court, and not forgetting the swim training mavens..... things are cracking on Sundays out there...

 

[Karin1974]

I would find it very strange if someone reliable missed a lunch date without word. I am sure not many people would stand up friends to go shopping or do something else non-urgent. I wouldn't let my friends down like that.

It might not be as easy as following the path she ran. Chances are she doesn't run the exact same route every time. That gets boring. A more general idea of vicinity would be more likely.

The purpose of calling the police is when you know something is odd and you need the SES or search and rescue to give you more people power to search than one person can do. Time can be important.

I don't find it unusual that you'd call for help if someone reliable didnt' show for brunch late the same morning. If it was someone who was a bit more unreliable, maybe then you'd not worry so much.

IMO - Whilst I completely agree, if my partner hasn’t answered his phone, called me back or sent a text within a couple of hours of me calling & sending him texts, I’m calling the police - Isn’t this precisely why we want mobile phones, to remain easily contactable?

 

[Greysp]

The FB group closing has made mainstream news

People,are desperate for updates. I think police are sifting hard. I hope people are watching for strange behaviour eg calling in sick, changing appearance, detailing cars. Someone might be stressing hard right now.

 

[Kemug]

Yes, I wondered about this, hence my post about alternate entry/exit. She may have gone out the front, ran a bit, felt too hot or unwell and come back home via other streets to the back way. Maybe she forgot her phone and came back in to grab it?

RSBM
Is it possible that she returned early for any of these reasons and saw something she wasn't meant to? Just a thought.

 

[SouthAussie]

Happy to have been corrected. The only real search update I have seen today is that:

So it seems that, at this stage, no authority has any idea where Samantha is after all this time. Not great news at all.

Conversely, they may have more metadata now and need the space and privacy to do their own more targeted search.
I truly expect the metadata from Sam's devices to be of some help. And I truly don't expect to hear anything about that, though I wish we would!

When VicPol go quiet, they sometimes are busy doing something targeted. Which we have discovered in so many cases here ... Erin Patterson, Karen Ristevski, Russell Hill and Carol Clay .....

imo

 

[CoffeeHug]

I

IMO - Whilst I completely agree, if my partner hasn’t answered his phone, called me back or sent a text within a couple of hours of me calling & sending him texts, I’m calling the police - Isn’t this precisely why we want mobile phones, to remain easily contactable?

Maybe if your husband is always on the ball with responding. Mine has had form for going running with 2% power on his phone. And he's not always on the ball with answering. And there might not be reception in a lot of areas he could be in. So I might give him a bit longer than a couple of hours before I worry.

 

[Trooper]

Was there any infidelity involved, a reason that Samantha would want to leave Mick?

I don't know who is going to ask him that. As to what the answer would be...

 

[bearbear]

im wondering could they have been living separate lives under the one roof, maybe an area of the house each where they come and go, neither knowing what the other was doing? it could explain her husbands seemingly odd indifference?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Also maybe some people don't answer their phone right away if they're doing something like having some time to themselves, ie go for a run, meditate etc.
There are times I put my phone on Do Not Disturb if I'm having some me time.
It did take me a long time to stop feeling guilty about it. But it did me the world of good.

Perhaps during the run it was Samantha's practise to "switch off".

Of course it doesn't explain where she is and why.

 

[MrJ]

When VicPol go quiet, they sometimes are busy doing something targeted. Which we have discovered in so many cases here ... Erin Patterson, Karen Ristevski, Russell Hill and Carol Clay .....

Well that's fair, it's a bit of projection on my part since I don't know anything and it is frustrating not knowing anything or any details the police would be privy to. It's nice to know they're not giving up. I'm sure we'll hear something in time.

 

[Sillybilly]

Was there any infidelity involved, a reason that Samantha would want to leave Mick?

There is no known fact from any approved source on which to base such negative speculation about a victim. Members can speculate in PM with one another but it is not something that gets brought to the public thread.

 

[Trooper]

im wondering could they have been living separate lives under the one roof, maybe an area of the house each where they come and go, neither knowing what the other was doing? it could explain her husbands seemingly odd indifference?

I wonder if you could expand a bit on your take, in regard to the 'odd indifference'... I would so appreciate it, because I cannot quite pin down what was going on at that public appeal. The daughter was clear as a bell, but he was ... the word I came up with was inappropriately comfortable. I don't see things clearly all the time, but the word 'indifference'.. that has a real resonance with me, he was, I do honestly think, abnormally detached...

 

[T-dawg420]

The FB group closing has made mainstream news

After reading the article I can get a better understanding of why it was closed down. Part of me still thinks there could be another reason for it to be closed down. Another part can understand the creators reasoning.

As SouthAussie mentioned a lot of nasty stuff happens on these kind of groups. I have been a member from the start of another case‘s FB group, the case is of 4 murdered college students in the USA, and let me tell ya, that page is crazy! Proper wild! Ive Talked to one of the creators and the amount of time she and the other creator have to dedicate to the page is unreal. The page had at one point over 250k members, a little more than 20k but still, The time and dedication to properly run and administrate a group like this can be full on. I can understand the want and desire to delete the group, esp if it was literally only created to better organise volunteer searches, and it somehow morphs and manifests into this whole other beast.

 

[MrsWattle]

Is it possible she had her phone switched off and the ping was only when someone switched it on and off later.
Usually a phone would ping every time it was called? Maybe it wasn't on?

 

[Poirot's niece]

RSBM
Is it possible that she returned early for any of these reasons and saw something she wasn't meant to? Just a thought.

I also had that thought.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

All endings to all cases don't involve death.