EXCLUSIVE
The shattered father of missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy hopes the arrest of a suspect in her disappearance may finally give the family ‘closure’.
John ‘Pud’ Robson, aged in his 80s, told Daily Mail on Thursday morning the arrest of the 22-year-old man had taken the family by surprise.
‘My wife just texted me to say that it had been on the radio,’ he said. ‘We haven’t been told and evidently Michael hasn’t been told either.’
Around 1.45pm on Thursday however, Victoria Police detectives were seen arriving at the home of the Murphy family in Ballarat East, Victoria, to discuss the latest developments.
A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection to the disappearance of Samantha Murphy – who was last seen leaving her East Ballarat home on February 4
Ms Murphy’s husband addressed the media on Thursday afternoon outside the family home
Mr Robson said he knew nothing about the man arrested by detectives and had been keeping himself busy by returning to his job as a long distance truck driver.
‘I’m still working. I’m stuck in a truck up on the other side of Avoca (70kms north of Ballarat) ,’ he said.
‘We haven’t heard a thing unfortunately,’ he said just before 11am on Thursday.
‘All my wife said is she heard it on Triple M [radio] that they’d arrested some bloke and that no charges have been laid yet.’
Mr Robson said he had no idea of any alleged links between the 22-year-old man arrested and his daughter.
‘I haven’t got the faintest, mate. Not in that age range. I’m never home, if you know what I mean,’ he said.
Ms Murphy’s father said he and her daughter’s husband Mick Murphy (pictured) had not been told details of the arrest
Police released this image of Ms Murphy from the morning she vanished. Detectives believe ‘one or more parties’ are behind her mystery disappearance
Mr Robson said he remained hopeful the arrest would provide some clarity over what had happened to his daughter.
‘I can only hope that he is the bloke responsible because that way, we might get a bit of closure,’ he said.
‘You know, it’s sort of too late to think that she might still be alive.’
Mr Robson said had given up hope of Ms Murphy being found safe and well – and believed if his daughter was alive, he would have heard about it by now.
‘I don’t know. I’m only assuming they’ve grabbed him and they’re going to grill him for a little while,’ he said.
‘If they’ve got someone else in mind, that bloke might flap his gums without thinking.’
Addressing reporters outside his home on Thursday afternoon, Ms Murphy’s husband Mick, 53, said his family was holding up as best as possible.
‘I can’t comment on anything at the moment,’ he said. ‘The family are going okay. It’s just the whole unknown.’
Mr Murphy said he would be happy to speak more about the past month when the legal process has run its course.
‘When it comes time to talk, we’ll talk, okay?’ he said.
Despite a significant investigation and extensive searches of the Canadian Forest area, no trace of Ms Murphy has been found in over a month
The 22-year old was arrested shortly after 6am on Wednesday at his Ballarat home by Missing Persons Squad detectives, Victoria Police said on Thursday.
He remains in custody, however no charges have been laid.
The arrest marks the first significant breakthrough in the case that has sent shockwaves across .
Ms Murphy, 51, left her home in Victoria’s Ballarat East to go for a 14km run in nearby Woowookarung Regional Park at about 7am on February 4, and has not been seen since.