Samantha Murphy’s husband says he instantly recognized a mud-splattered iPhone discovered next to a game belonging to his missing wife.
The mother of three disappeared without a trace on the morning of February 4 after leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, Victoria.
Her family reported her missing after she failed to show up for a family lunch.
Police called her husband, Mick Murphy, moments after the iPhone was discovered near Slaughterhouse Road, south of Buninyong, on Thursday.
Mr. Murphy said 9News He immediately knew it was Samantha’s.
Mick Murphy (pictured in April) says he instantly recognized an iPhone found next to a female dam as belonging to his missing wife Samantha, who is believed to be dead.
Police called her husband Mick Murphy moments after the iPhone was discovered near Slaughterhouse Road, south of Buninyong, on Thursday (pictured).
The phone was found next to a dam 5 kilometers from the phone tower where the device last pinged before going silent.
The breakthrough sparked celebrations among the researchers, who were seen high-fiving, hugging and shaking hands.
The phone is believed to have been found by a police technology detection dog.
It is understood police will return to the area to look for further clues and determine how the iPhone ended up next to the dam.
In a statement issued shortly after the mobile phone was found, police said they had located some “items of interest” during the search for the missing mother.
The phone, along with other items found in the search, underwent forensic testing and sources confirmed the device belonged to Ms Murphy.
Samantha Murphy (pictured with her husband Mick) disappeared without a trace after leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, Victoria, on the morning of February 4.
The breakthrough sparked silent celebrations among the researchers, who were seen silently high-fiving, hugging and shaking hands (pictured).
Officers located the mud-spattered mobile phone in a handbag at the water’s edge of a dam at a property south of Buninyong, approximately 14 kilometers from Ms Murphy’s home.
The property owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, said police contacted him about three weeks ago for permission to access his land.
The man said officers returned Wednesday and told him they were going to conduct a search along the highway.
“A dog found something on the shore and they came over and asked me and my wife to make a statement,” he said.
The man said police were interested in the levels of his quarry.
“I haven’t seen anything suspicious out there. We don’t have cameras. But yeah, I think one of those tech dogs found it,” he said.
The man said detectives came and spoke to him about a month after Ms Murphy disappeared, but only returned in recent weeks.
“They just asked me if I had seen anything suspicious,” he said.
Daily Mail Australia understands police are still searching for Ms Murphy’s missing watch and headphones, or a possible murder weapon (pictured, a map of previous search areas).
Daily Mail Australia understands police are still searching for Ms Murphy’s missing watch and headphones, or a possible murder weapon.
In early March, almost five weeks after Murphy disappeared, local man Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, was charged with her alleged murder.
Police allege Stephenson “deliberately attacked” Ms Murphy in Mount Clear, about 7km into her run on a route she had ridden “countless” times.
Stephenson, who has no connection to the Murphy family, was charged with murdering the mother of three on March 7.
He has not yet entered a plea and will appear in court on August 8.