Tim Watson-Munro described Samantha Murphy’s disappearance as a “very strange case” and said nothing could be ruled out.
A respected criminal psychologist has raised the possibility that missing mother Samantha Murphy may have had a stalker if her disappearance is determined to be the result of a crime.
The 51-year-old woman has not been seen or heard from since Sunday morning, when she disappeared while out for a run in Woowookarung Regional Park, in Ballarat, northwest of Melbourne, shortly after 7am. .
While police have said they are not currently treating her disappearance as suspicious, detectives from the missing persons unit were called in on Friday to take over the search.
Now, worried residents hoping to join rescue efforts to find Ms Murphy have been left shocked after learning the search had all but been abandoned.
On Saturday, locals who turned up hoping to help rescuers in the search for Murphy were told there would be no coordinated effort and they could carry out their own searches alone.
Tim Watson-Munro described Murphy’s disappearance as a “very strange case” and said nothing could be ruled out.
‘Who is responsible? I don’t think we can say. As I understand it, it was a happy home life,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
Ms Murphy (pictured) has not been heard from or seen since Sunday morning.
“It could be that she was being harassed, if you have a regular pattern, stalkers love that and she had a regular pattern of running around that area.”
Watson-Munro also said a misadventure could be a possibility, noting that locals in the area had raised concerns about undetectable mine shafts in the state forest.
He also said that if any crime has occurred, it is also possible that it was opportunistic, in the sense that someone saw Ms. Murphy leaving and decided to act on it.
The theory emerged when camper Rebecca Agheli told Daily Mail Australia about a chilling encounter she had with a “disheveled man” in bushland near Ms Murphy’s home just days before she disappeared.
“It seems like (Ms. Murphy) is not someone who ran away from home,” Watson-Munro said.
“Bringing in the homicide squad isn’t that unusual, but the mention of homicide always pushes people’s buttons.”
Attention has also been focused on Murphy’s husband, Michael, with online trolls posting negative comments about the father.
Watson-Munro said any criticism of Murphy was “totally unfair”.
“I think it’s a big mistake, with respect to those who want to be armchair detectives, to read too much into people’s body language,” he said.
“You don’t know how you’re going to react to something.”
Murphy’s husband, Michael, is seen speaking to police on Friday.
The expert said it was good that so many people were interested in what happened to Ms Murphy, given that a lot of information comes from the public.
“It’s good that people are talking about this case, it keeps it alive,” he said.
CCTV footage showing Ms Murphy outside her home on Sunday was the last confirmed sighting of her alive.
The family remembers reporting him missing after he failed to arrive at a brunch scheduled for that morning.
On Friday, Acting Detective Superintendent Mark Hatt told reporters that detectives would now investigate Ms Murphy’s movements and interactions with other people in the days before her disappearance, including her friends and family.
SES teams are seen on the sixth day of the search for the 51-year-old man.
Part of the investigation, now called Operation Primus, will see detectives trawl through Ms Murphy’s computers and devices in the hope of finding clues.
Superintendent Hatt said police were still working to determine who may have been in the area where Ms Murphy’s phone lost communication with the mobile towers.
His mobile phone had rang in the nearby suburb of Buninyong before going off.
Detectives are still working with phone companies to obtain data that could prove vital in shedding some light on the investigation.
‘At this time we cannot share any information regarding this. “We are still working with our telecommunications technicians to establish telephone movements and who was in the area at the time,” Superintendent Hatt said.
“I can also confirm that we have not identified any suspicious or sinister circumstances, however we have significant concerns for Samantha’s wellbeing at this time and that is increasing as the days go by.”
Rebecca Agheli said she saw Murphy running past her for 24 hours before disappearing after a terrifying encounter she had with a “disheveled man” in the bush just days earlier.
The investigation continues as a camper told Daily Mail Australia she saw Ms Murphy running past her for 24 hours before disappearing after a terrifying encounter she had with a “disheveled man” in the bush just days earlier.
Rebecca Agheli and her partner, Michael, hired a caravan for a long weekend trip to Ballarat on a gold hunting excursion near Woowookarung Regional Park, arriving on February 1.
Agheli said he learned last Thursday that Murphy was missing and discovered he had seen her running past his campsite Saturday morning before she disappeared.
When they arrived on February 1, about 15 minutes from the state forest, Mrs. Agheli prepared to search for gold while her partner explored the area.
He quickly returned to his car after seeing a strange man.
“He’s a big guy, he’s not normally afraid of anything, but he told me he’d seen a strange, scruffy man come out of the bush talking to himself with the crotch of his pants ripped,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
The couple decided to pack their bags and go to another area, which Agheli guesses was about a seven-minute drive away.
Before Rebecca Agheli and her partner Michael left the state forest, they saw Ms Murphy (pictured) running past as the mother-of-three wished them good morning.
He said his partner had warned him about mining pits in the area and suggested they go somewhere else, but Agheli wanted to take a quick look and walked a little away from the car.
“Then I saw the same guy again, even after driving for about seven minutes,” he said.
‘His whole face lit up when he saw a woman alone.
“I was thinking, ‘How did this guy get here so fast?’ He must know a shortcut.” He had both hands behind his back and started walking towards me very fast.
Before the couple left the state forest, they saw Ms. Murphy running past as the mother of three wished them good morning.
Agheli has spoken to detectives investigating Murphy’s case about what he saw.
Michael also lost his Apple Watch and Agheli said police had told him the last time it pinged was in a similar area to where Murphy’s phone had also rang in the nearby suburb of Buninyong.
Agheli hopes what he saw can help in the investigation into Murphy’s whereabouts.
“I’m worried that something similar could happen to someone else,” he said.
“That was my first camping trip and I’ll never go back there.”
On Saturday, locals who turned up hoping to help rescuers in the search for Murphy were told there would be no coordinated effort and they could carry out their own searches alone.
One resident told Daily Mail Australia he was hoping to join the effort after working all week.
“It’s the first opportunity I’ve had and I just wanted to help,” he said.
Police are advising locals not to enter the bush alone and to team up with a friend on the rugged terrain.
“It’s a little disappointing that the process is already closing,” said one man. ‘I mean, she could still be alive out there. It hasn’t been that long.
Murphy’s husband was also seen returning to the police station Saturday morning and spent about half an hour inside before leaving.
He declined to comment on leaving the building.