Investigators will analyze data from mobile phone towers to identify the movements of people in the area where Victorian woman Samantha Murphy disappeared.
The 51-year-old mother of three went missing on February 4 after leaving her Eureka Street home at 7am to go for a run in Woowookarung Regional Park.
Despite an intensive search involving the police, the SES and numerous volunteers, no trace of the 51-year-old man has been found.
Police will try a new tactic in the search for missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy.
Detectives are now set to track mobile data from the Ballarat area, with particular interest in phones that were “pinged” from towers covering the area they believe Ms Murphy was in hours after her run.
Phone data could help detectives identify people of interest and provide new leads as the search for Ms Murphy enters 30 days.
However, analyzing cell tower data could be complicated in the Murphy case due to the number of people living in the area.
The telephone ‘ping’ would detect people traveling on the roads in cars and even those who ride a bicycle or walk on the roads.
The phone’s metadata has been crucial to the investigation after they identified a precise location in the Mount Clear area, about 7 kilometers from his home, about an hour after running 14 kilometers.
Initial reports claimed Ms Murphy’s phone rang at Buninyong Tower at 5pm on the day of her disappearance.
However, that information, which has not yet been confirmed, came 10 hours after she had gone out for a run.
Despite an intensive search involving the police, the SES and numerous volunteers, no trace of the 51-year-old man has been found.
Last month, police indicated it was unlikely Ms Murphy would be found alive, and detectives were investigating whether her body was moved.
Acting Detective Superintendent Mark Hatt said police were keeping an open mind about Murphy’s disappearance, but said the most likely scenario was that it involved 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.
“Unfortunately, given the time and the fact that we have found no trace of her, we have serious concerns and we highly doubt she is still alive,” Detective Hatt said.
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 auto repair business owned by the Murphys.
Investigators are reviewing around 12,000 hours of CCTV footage and following up on more than 500 separate pieces of information.
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.