One month has passed since Victorian woman Samantha Murphy disappeared during her habitual morning run.
The Ballarat East mother of three ‘vanished into thin air’ on February 4 after leaving her Eureka St at 7am for a run in in Woowookarung Regional Park.
Despite a massive search effort involving police, SES and countless volunteers, no trace of the 51-year-old has been found.
Daily Mail has provided a run-down on all the details made public around the disappearance of Ms Murphy as the search enters the second month on Monday.
It has been one month since Samantha Murphy (pictured) disappeared from her home in Ballarat, Victoria
The mother of three has been the subject of a widespread search (pictured) for four weeks
Samantha Murphy doesn’t come home
Ms Murphy’s family immediately became worried when the dedicated mother failed to come home in time for their planned 11am brunch.
She was last seen leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East on Sunday, February 4.
CCTV footage captured the mother wearing a brown singlet and black half-length leggings outside her home.
About an hour after she started her run, phone data shows Ms Murphy reached the Mount Clear area, some 7km from her home.
From there her trail goes cold.
Ms Murphy wearing a brown singlet and black half-length leggings (pictured) outside her home
A wide-scale search onvolving police, Search and Rescue Squad, Mounted Branch and Dog Squad, SES (pictured) and CFA spent six days looking for the mother in Woowookarung Regional Park
READ MORE: Major update on missing Ballarat mum
False hope
What were understood to be two major developments in Ms Murphy’s case turned out to be false leads in the early days of her disappearance.
An ‘item of interest’ found by searchers on February 6 saw all reporters ejected from the area while detectives examined the apparent evidence.
However, the item was later cleared as it was not related to the disappearance.
Also on February 6, Ms Murphy’s husband, Mick, broke his silence for the first time and told reporters he was ‘not too bad under the circumstances’.
The second major lead was the release of a CCTV video showing a woman running across a driveway on February 6, which was believed to be Ms Murphy.
However, the hopes of the mother’s family and loved ones were once again dashed when the woman in the video came forward.
Mick Murphy faces intense scrutiny from internet sleuths
By the fifth day of his wife’s disappearance, the Murphy family was forced to issue a public statement for internet sleuths to stop harassing Mr Murphy.
‘For those questioning Samantha’s husband, you need not worry,’ the statement read.
‘He is in more pain than anyone and would be the last person to suspect in any of this.’
Ms Murphy’s husband, Mick Murphy (pictured), was repeatedly targeted by internet sleuths in the early days of his wife’s disappearance
The Murphy family issued a statement on speculation of Mr Murphy’s (left) involvement in Ms Murphy’s (right) disappearance, saying: ‘He is in more pain than anyone and would be the last person to suspect in any of this’
However, the scrutiny against Mr Murphy, who co-owns car repair business called Inland Motor Body Works with his wife, only increased.
Online trolls targeted the father for his apparent indifference to Ms Murphy’s disappearance, with criticism against him mounting when he said he would not participate in the search for her.
At the time, Mr Murphy explained he needed to keep his mind occupied to cope with the stress of the situation.
Last week, Missing Persons Unit Superintendent Mark Hatt was questioned over whether Mr Murphy is a suspect to which he said: ‘At this stage, he is not.’
He is however, along with everyone in Ms Murphy’s immediate family, a ‘person of interest’.
Murphy family plead for beloved mother to come home
Eldest daughter, Jess Murphy, joined her father in a public appearance to urge anyone with information about her mother’s whereabouts to come forward on February 8.
In an emotional address, Jess described her ‘mum’ as a ‘really strong woman’ who is ‘far too determined to give up this fight’.
‘Mum, we love you so much, and we miss you. We need you at home with us. Please come home soon. I can’t wait to see you and to give you the biggest hug when I do,’ she said.
‘And to tell you off for giving us so much stress. I love you.’
Mr Murphy shared his own impassioned plea, saying: ‘People just don’t vanish into thin air. Someone’s got to know something.
‘Whether it be any little thing that you might think is relevant, just call the police and let them know. It’ll give us a bit of peace of mind, some hope.’
Eldest daughter, Jess Murphy (pictured), urged anyone with information about her mother’s whereabouts to come forward on February 8
The family’s public address (above) came just two days before Victoria Police ‘scaled back’ its search effort for Ms Murphy
Police bring in missing persons and homicide specialists
On February 9, Victoria Police announced it would be enlisting the help of its elite Missing Persons Unit in Ms Murphy’s case.
The specialist investigators are often called in when it’s feared a missing person has been the victim of foul play, but a body has not been found.
Its officers have been deployed to some of Victoria’s biggest murder investigations in recent years.
The move marked the public beginning of police’s move from viewing the case as a rescue to a criminal investigation.
It followed several reports of strange men in the forest harassing female searchers and the admission from Ballarat runner Sissy Austin that she’d previously been viciously attacked in the same forest where Ms Murphy disappeared.
Victoria Police ‘scale back’ its search
On February 10, just six days after Ms Murphy vanished, volunteers who turned up to search the forest were told there would be no further ‘coordinated’ effort.
‘The current phase of the active search for missing woman Samantha Murphy has been scaled back over the weekend,’ authorities said at the time.
Victoria Police brought in the help of its Missing Persons Unit after Ballarat runner Sissy Austin (pictured) revealed that she’d been viciously attacked in the same forest where Ms Murphy disappeared
Passionate volunteers (pictured) remained present in Ballarat and regularly organise searches for Ms Murphy in places of interest
‘An extensive six-day search has been conducted involving local police, along with personnel from the Search and Rescue Squad, Mounted Branch and Dog Squad, plus significant assistance from members of the SES and CFA.
‘The investigative stage of the investigation continues and as any new information comes to hand identifying areas of interest, the search will be scaled up.’
Earlier this week, Victoria Police focused its investigation on the Murphy’s smash repair business, Motor Body Works.
Speculation outlaw motorcycle gangs were customers of the shop have swirled among the Ballarat community since the 51-year-old vanished.
The Ballarat community is no stranger to bikie violence, with a senior Bandidos member shot at its clubhouse during the club’s national run just months ago.
Victoria Police Missing Persons Unit Superintendent Mark Hatt on Friday refused to answer questions about potential links with bikies and Ms Murphy’s disappearance.
However, he did confirm the panel beater’s books were being closely examined by detectives.
Police also reportedly took away a number of ‘items of interest’ from the repairs shop.
‘Absolutely we are looking at everything we possibly can to find out what happened to Samantha,’ Superintendent Hatt said.
Volunteers continue the hunt
Despite dwindling morale and support on the ground, passionate volunteers have remained present in Ballarat and regularly organise searches for Ms Murphy in places of interest.
However, what on the surface appears to be a good-hearted group of people putting in the hours to solve the case could be harbouring the criminal behind it.
On Wednesday, February 28, respected Melbourne journalist John Silvester claimed detectives are now considering if Ms Murphy’s attacker is hiding among the search parties.
Last week, Victoria Police focused its investigation on the Murphy’s smash repair business, Motor Body Works (pictured)
‘Now we know that the local people, volunteers, have gone out there selflessly to search time and time again,’ Mr Silvester told Radio 3AW on Wednesday.
‘Police will also be considering that one of those searchers is the killer.
‘In that, they have inculcated themselves into that situation to be seen as part of the community, but also keeping an eye on what’s going on.’
More than 200 people attended the volunteer search last Saturday.
Bushcraft expert sheds doubt on search
Bush tracking expert and visiting volunteer Jake Cassar, whose airfare and accommodation were paid for by volunteers, said he has delivered several pieces of potential evidence to police.
Mr Cassar searched widespread areas of bushland around Ballarat, large parts of which he said hadn’t been previously searched.
‘There are many thick areas of bushland when I turned up that had not been searched,’ he told NCA Newswire.
‘Through my tracking experience, you can clearly tell when areas of scrub have not been disturbed.’
Bush expert Jake Cassar (pictured) claims he found a key piece of evidence in an area of bushland that had not been searched
Former Victoria Police homicide detective Charlie Bezzina believes police’s admission more than one person was involved in Ms Murphy’s disappearance shows it may already have suspects (pictured, Detective Superintendent Mark Hatt)
While he did not name the specific pieces of evidence, Mr Cassar said he found a key item of interest in an area that had not been searched.
Police also will not identify any pieces of evidence ‘unless it is determined this will assist the advancement of the investigation’.
Mr Cassar has also assisted in teaching volunteers how to properly search bushland.