The search for the body of missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy could be coming to an end as police tighten the net around the relatives of her alleged killer.
Victoria Police search teams returned to Buninyong bushland, south of Ballarat, on Wednesday in what was the first publicly announced search by the force since February 22.
At the time, journalists were invited to a carefully managed research site in Mount Clear – a suburb of Ballarat – as part of what was described as a “major update”.
Mick and Samantha Murphy in happier times. Ms Murphy is believed to be dead – believed to have been murdered by a 22-year-old Ballarat resident.
Telltale signs that police may be closing in on her body include 1) a media opportunity to feature the search for Ms. Murphy earlier this week (above), which one source said sparked “publicity (that) can get people talking. 2) Police said new “intelligence” led them to the Buninyong site 3) The use of technology detector dogs
Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, was arrested for the alleged murder of Ms Murphy on March 6 – a day just two weeks after Mr.Missing Persons Unit SSuperintendent Mark Hatt strategically briefed reporters outside the Mount Clear Scout Hall.
Detectives have so far failed to extract the location of Ms Murphy’s body from Stephenson, who will remain behind bars until her next court appearance in August.
But a source with close links to Victoria Police’s missing persons unit told Daily Mail Australia that while Stephenson might not be cooperating, his henchmen probably would be.
Patrick Orren Stephenson was charged with the murder of Samantha Murphy
“The police would have been limited in what they could do, ask and say while Stephenson was out in the wild, but with him in the trash these questions can now be asked,” he said.
“What we are seeing here is likely information provided by people who might be persuaded by suggestions that remaining silent could be seen as assisting a suspected killer. »
Wednesday’s search was presented to journalists by Victoria Police’s media team as a “viewing opportunity” where a “range of specialist services on site could be filmed”.
Police said the search was based on “new intelligence from a number of sources” which led them to return to bushwalking in the Buninyong area.
Only a photographer and a television cameraman were allowed into the bush in what was later described by one of these operators as “a spectacle”.
Missing Persons Unit Superintendent Mark Hatt briefed reporters outside Mount Clear Scout Hall on February 22 (pictured)
Police gather at a Buninyong reserve before heading into the bush on Wednesday
Police are searching the bush on Wednesday in an event announced to the media by Victoria Police.
Footage from the search captured cadaver dogs, cops on motorcycles and dozens of officers on foot roaming the grounds.
The source said police kept an eye and ear on Stephenson after the search.
“This kind of advertising can get people talking. Whether with another inmate, on the phone or in a factory,” he said.
While jail calls are all monitored by staff, countless inmates have incriminated themselves over the years by disclosing information about themselves.
Undercover police officers have also been known to pose as detainees while suspected offenders await trial.
On Thursday – a day after the high-profile search – Victoria Police Commissioner Shane Patton revealed on Melbourne radio that investigators were searching again.
His frank comments on the investigation caught his finely assembled media team off-guard.
Although the location of this search was not disclosed, it was revealed by the Australian Federal Police. technological detection dogs had been brought into the bush.
These are the same kind of dogs that were used to sniff out iPads, a USB drive and a smart watch at the home of Erin Patterson, the Victorian woman charged in an alleged mushroom poisoning plot last year last.
Commissioner’s ‘fall’ forced Victoria Police to admit they executed “small-scale searches” as part of his investigation for weeks.
The latest haunting image of Samantha Murphy taken outside her home on February 4 – the same day police say she was murdered in the bush.
Samantha Murphy’s husband Mick walks away from a group of media outside his home on March 7. He was forced to hear updates about the police search for his wife from the same people he tried to avoid.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton has suggested police are back in the bush, a day after a coordinated search involving the media.
M.S. Murphy, 51, left home in Ballarat East to go for a 14km run in nearby Woowookarung Regional Park at around 7am on February 4, ad has not been seen since.
TThe latest police searches were not even disclosed to Ms Murphy’s immediate family.
The Daily Mail Australia revealed on Wednesday that Ms Murphy’s husband, Mick, and father, John Robson, were unaware of the searches in their own neighborhood.
Mr Murphy was seen on a desperately lonely walk through bushland as he tried to find the site where police were searching for his wife’s body.
Mr Robson later said he and his son-in-law were excluded from any developments in the investigation.
“We’re in the dark, buddy. We have no idea what’s going on. Mick is in the same boat as us,” he said.
Mr Robson said he and his wife were no closer to achieving the closure they desperately needed.
“They didn’t tell us anything,” he said.
The answers they seek may come sooner than they imagine.