New photos of Samantha Murphy sharing happy moments with her husband Michael have emerged as he was joined in grieving the loss of the missing mother at an emotional rally last night.
The photos show the pair lovingly arm-in-arm as they smile warmly for the camera in a heart-breaking reminder of the times before mother-of-three Ms Murphy, 51, went for a morning run from their Ballarat home on February 4 and never returned.
The release of the photos come as Mr Murphy revealed the pair would have celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary on February 21.
Mr Murphy showed his bravery by addressing Friday night’s rally in the central south Victorian town of Ballarat, held to honour Ms Murphy and two other women, Hannah McGuire and Rebecca Young, who were all killed in the space of just two months.
New photos of Samantha Murphy sharing happy moments with her husband Michael have emerged as he was joined in grieving the loss of the missing mother at an emotional rally last night
Mr Murphy (pictured left) revealed that he and Samantha would have celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary on February 21
Despite saying he had not planned on speaking, Mr Murphy said he felt compelled by the size and sorrowful determination of the crowd with many people bringing hand-made signs calling for an end to violence towards women.
‘I’d like to thank you all for coming and supporting the families of the three women,’ he said.
‘If you see something that’s not right, speak up. Let the authorities know.
‘On a positive note, the support here behind the women and the violence is incredible.’
A ‘Bring Sam home’ chant echoed loud from the crowd.
The Enough is Enough – Snap Rally Against Men’s Violence in Ballarat was organised by former Greens Senate candidate Sissy Austin and was attended by local councillors.
Mr Murphy spoke at a rally calling for an end to violence against women on Friday night
The rally honoured the lives of Ms Murphy (pIctured, right) and Hannah McGuire (pictured, left and Rebecca Young (pictured, centre)
The family of Ms Young are seen leading the rally in an act of tribute at Ballarat on Friday night
More than 1,000 people rallied in Ballarat after the deaths of three women, many bearing hand-made signs calling for an end to violence towards women
Ballarat councillors were also seen at the march along with local residents brandishing homemade signs (pictured)
In March, detectives charged 22-year-old tradesman Patrick Orren Stephenson with Ms Murphy’s alleged murder.
However, search efforts for her remains have so far proved futile with the latest effort on bush tracks near the Murphy family home in east Ballarat being abandoned early Friday afternoon.
‘If we’d found anything you would have all heard about it,’ one officer told Daily Mail as police packed up their dirt bikes and indicated they would not be resuming the search on Saturday.
A tearful Mr Murphy revealed on Friday that he still searches for his missing wife every day.
‘Sometimes I go for a drive and it might not be anywhere particular, or I go for a walk for two hours. It varies every day,’ he told Nine News.
‘It’s very good for my mind and if I sat at home, I wouldn’t do myself any favours.’
Mr Murphy fondly recalled his wife being an ‘incredibly smart and wonderful woman’.
The pair met at a pub in Gordon near the Victorian city of Geelong and ran a smash repairs business together in Ballarat.
‘You know, for someone so good to be gone out of the community, it’s pretty hard – she was always good to us and a good mum,’ Mr Murphy said.
‘You won’t hear a bad word about her, she was a good mother, caring and always providing for everybody.
Mick Murphy broke down while talking about his missing wife Samantha, who vanished from Ballarat on February 4
Samantha Murphy (left) and Michael Murphy (right) are pictured in Indonesia in 2017
‘She was always smiling and happy and we want people to remember Sam for who she was. Anyone who knows her knows what she’s like.’
He said Friday night’s rally for Ms Murphy, Ms McGuire, 23, and Ms Young, 42, was a demonstration of the devastation being felt in Ballarat over the compounded tragedies.
‘The march for her today, the respect that the community has not only for Sam but the other women that have lost their lives in the last few weeks, the support will be great and I think it’ll be a pretty emotional time,’ Mr Murphy said.
‘I wouldn’t wish this on anybody.’
Mr Murphy said his wife operated like ‘clockwork’ so when she didn’t return from her run as expected, alarm bells started to ring.
‘On that particular day, I was outside and thought she’ll be coming up the road pretty soon,’ he said.
‘Then she didn’t.
‘I just thought, ‘Ah well, she might’ve gone a bit longer’. I went outside and said to the kids, ‘Has mum come home yet?’ and they said no. I thought that was a bit odd.’
Shockingly the devoted husband also revealed he has been subjected to ‘verbal abuse’ and trolling on social media in the first few weeks after his wife’s disappearance.
‘You start second guessing yourself,’ he said.
‘You know you’ve done nothing wrong.’
Samantha Murphy was allegedly murdered while out for a Sunday morning jog
Police pack away their dirt bikes after another unsuccessful search on Friday
An officer prepares to pull out of the area after another unsuccessful search on Friday
Police entered thick bush in an area about 25 kilometres from where Samantha Murphy vanished on February 4
Search crews have been looking down mine shafts and navigating treacherous conditions in the hunt for clues
Specialist dogs capable of finding bodies have been brought in to assist the search
Detectives from the missing persons squad and other specialist crews have been combing the region to find Ms Murphy.
‘Over the past two months, police have also regularly undertaken a range of enquiries and small-scale searches as part of the current investigation,’ the spokesperson said on Friday.
On Thursday, Victoria Police brought in specialist cadaver dogs from New South Wales to scour the bush at multiple locations in dense scrub spanning a vast stretch of countryside.
Teams of officers focused their search within Enfield State Park, 30km south of Ballarat – but another search team was also working 25km away in thick scrub in the Durham Lead Nature Conservation Reserve.
The nature reserve is just south of Buninyong where Ms Murphy’s phone was last detected by mobile phone towers at 5pm on the day she vanished.
Ms Murphy was last seen leaving her home on Eureka Street, Ballarat East, to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest on the morning of February 4.
Police were believed to be looking in bush about 20km south of the Murphy family home.
Ms Murphy’s husband Mick Murphy was informed about this week’s search. He had been previously kept in the dark about similar search efforts
A helicopter was seen flying overhead the dense woodland just before 2pm on Thursday, with search crews making their way deeper into the thick scrub.
By 4pm, the search was suspended for the day.
Thursday was the first time search crews have used the highly-trained cadaver dogs, brought in from NSW Police, since the investigation was launched.
They are specially trained to be able to sniff out human remains and corpses, even under extreme conditions.
Police on trail bikes have also been used to help cover the wide area of the increasingly desperate hunt for Ms Murphy’s remains, more than eight weeks after she vanished.
Officers had previously made unsuccessful search efforts at Buninyong Bushland Reserve in March.
It remains unclear what new information triggered the fresh search locations for police on Thursday.
Samantha Murphy in the last haunting image of her captured before she took off on her run on February 4
Patrick Orren Stephenson has been charged with murder
It is alleged Stephenson killed Ms Murphy at Mount Clear on the day she went missing.
Stephenson is the son of Orren Stephenson, who played 15 AFL games for Geelong and Richmond between 2012 and 2014.
It is understood Stephenson has refused to cooperate with police.
Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt described Thursday’s effort as an ‘extensive’ large scale search that built on targeted searches in other areas.
‘I want to assure those in the Ballarat community that police remain focused on doing everything we can to return Samantha to her family,’ he said.
Anyone with any information about Ms Murphy’s disappearance is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
It comes after the death of Ms McGuire, who was allegedly murdered by her ex-partner Lachlan Young a week ago.
The McGuire family are expected to be at the rally handing out t-shirts sporting Hannah’s face.
‘Tomorrow we will march and stand in solidarity for Hannah McGuire and every other female who has lost their life to violence,’ a post on the family pub’s Facebook page stated.
‘We have had T-shirts made for Hannah and would be honoured if you wore one.’
In another tragedy in Ballarat, Ms Young was found dead inside the property on the edge of the city in February, alongside her partner Ian Butler, who has ties to the Bandidos bikie gang, in a suspected murder suicide.
Fellow Ballarat woman, Hannah McGuire, was allegedly murdered
Mick Murphy and daughter Jess made a desperate plea for Samantha Murphy to come home