Police have concluded a fresh search for missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy in the Ballarat area.
Ms Murphy disappeared without a trace after leaving her Ballarat East home on February 4 to go for a morning run.
Patrick Orren Stephenson was charged with Murphy’s murder a month later. He has not yet pleaded guilty and police allege he acted alone.
Investigators are still searching for the body of the missing mother.
Victoria Police confirmed a targeted search was carried out in the Ballarat area on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of the investigation into Ms Murphy’s disappearance.
Police have concluded a renewed two-day search for missing mother Samantha Murphy (pictured) who disappeared.
“The search involved detectives from the Missing Persons Team, as well as a range of specialist resources from across Victoria Police,” the statement read.
‘Since February, police have periodically carried out a series of small-scale investigations and searches as part of the current investigation.
“Samantha’s family has also been informed of the search.”
The search was suspended around 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Police added that the search would not resume Thursday.
Several items located during a search in Buninyong on May 29 are still being forensically evaluated.
These items include Ms Murphy’s phone, which was found in a dam about 14 kilometers from her home.
Speaking to Sunrise last week, Newcastle University criminologist Xanthé Mallett said the discovery of a phone, if it were Ms Murphy’s, could be a breakthrough.
“Unfortunately, it may have been damaged,” Dr Mallett said.
Victoria Police said they would not resume their search after officers carried out a targeted search in the Ballarat area of western Victoria on Tuesday and Wednesday (pictured, police found Ms’ phone . Murphy in a dam two weeks ago).
Investigators, including specialist divers (pictured), also found several other items during their search at Buninyong in western Victoria on May 29.
Ms Murphy was last seen leaving her home on Eureka St in Ballarat about 7am to run 14km through the nearby Woowookarung Regional Park.
Police believed she had arrived in the Mount Clear area, adjacent to the park, about an hour after leaving home, but had not been seen or heard from since she left.
Subsequent searches by police and volunteers failed to find any trace of the missing mother.
In February, a large group of volunteers trekked through the bush after meeting at Ballarat’s Eureka Stockade Memorial Park; some brought metal detectors and even a sniffer dog.
Later that month, police launched a targeted search in Buninyong Bushland Reserve involving a number of specialist units including mounted officers, dog squads and motorcyclists.
The search area was highlighted on “intelligence derived from various sources”, a police spokesperson said at the time.