A volunteer search for missing Victorian woman Samantha Murphy has been called off amid a catastrophic fire danger warning.
Ground Crew, the group leading the effort, said this week it would postpone the search for the Ballarat mother of three, citing safety concerns over scorching temperatures and the risk of bushfires in the area.
Ms Murphy left her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East on February 4 to go jogging at Woowookarung Regional Park and has not been seen since.
On Saturday, more than 300 volunteers turned out to help search for the 51-year-old man after the official police search was scaled back.
Dressed in high-visibility jackets, long pants, backpacks and hats, searchers gathered at Ballarat’s Eureka Stockade Memorial Park with metal detectors and a sniffer dog.
But Ground Crew told volunteers Tuesday: “Due to the ongoing wildfires and warnings of catastrophic fires, we have made the decision to postpone this week’s search efforts for Samantha Murphy.”
Samantha Murphy from Ballarat has been missing since February 4 after going for a run
A voluntary search was called off Tuesday citing safety concerns over scorching temperatures and fire warnings (pictured: A searcher on Saturday uses a metal detector)
‘We do not want to put any more pressure on the community or on the current SES and CFA volunteers who are already working tirelessly. Safety is paramount for everyone.’ The ground team said.
The Wimmera region is under a catastrophic fire danger warning for Wednesday as a fire at Bayindeen, near Ballarat, continues to burn out of control.
Ballarat is forecast to reach 37C on Wednesday with possible fires fanned by 45km/h north-northeast winds.
Police have concentrated the search on areas around Mount Clear, south of the Victorian regional town, based on intelligence obtained from telephone data.
Acting Detective Superintendent Mark Hatt said police were looking at multiple scenarios regarding Ms Murphy’s disappearance, but said it was most likely to involve one or more parties.
The police have ruled out any type of medical episode and there is nothing to indicate that he left the area of ​​his own volition.
Inspector Hatt told reporters in Mount Clear on Friday that as it has been more than three weeks and “we have found no trace of her”, police “have serious concerns and very doubt she is still alive”.
Police narrowed their search and said they would only expand it to follow specific information (pictured: volunteer-led search on Saturday).
The community-led search attracted about 300 people over the weekend.
Among the searchers who showed up at the Eureka Stockade Memorial Park were volunteers from SES and CFA.
Police were also investigating the possibility that Murphy’s body was moved from where she disappeared, he said.
Several people have been questioned over her disappearance, including family, friends and colleagues, but Detective Superintendent Hatt would not reveal the number of suspects in the case.
He clarified that Ms Murphy’s husband, Mick, is not a suspect “at this time”.
‘Everyone associated with Samantha is a person of interest in our investigation. We’re talking to everyone who was in her life,’ she said.
The detective also declined to comment on whether police had discovered links to outlaw motorcycle gangs or the financial situation of the accident repair business owned by the Murphys.
A targeted search by between 20 and 40 people will begin on Friday in a fairly small area in Mount Clear, almost seven kilometers from his home, based on intelligence derived from telephone data.
It is not the first time this area has been searched since Ms Murphy’s disappearance, but search teams would be looking for smaller items that may indicate how she disappeared.
Extensive searches have been carried out throughout the Canadian Forest area since Ms Murphy’s disappearance almost three weeks ago, however no trace of her has been located.
Experienced detectives from various units of the force’s crime and counter-terrorism command have been deployed to join the missing persons squad, which is leading the investigation.
Investigators are reviewing around 12,000 hours of CCTV footage and following up on more than 500 separate pieces of information.
Police released this image of Ms Murphy from the morning she disappeared.
Detective Superintendent Hatt sought to reassure Ballarat locals and wider Victorians that detectives were doing everything they could to provide some answers to Ms Murphy’s family.
“I encourage anyone who has information that may be relevant to this investigation, whether it be a person or vehicle seen in the area that day, anything unusual like a damaged vehicle or property, to come forward and speak to police or provide the information. information through Crime Stoppers,” he said.
Police continue to ask everyone in the Ballarat East and Mount Helen areas to check their CCTV for possible sightings over the past three weeks.
Detectives are also urging anyone traveling in the area, especially between 7am and 7pm on Sunday, February 4, who may have dash cam footage, to also review it for possible sightings.
Ms Murphy is described as physically and mentally fit and was training for an upcoming race by doing 15km runs.