The search for Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy has entered the fifth day, with police providing an update on progress so far.
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00:00 My name is Acting Inspector Lucy McDougall, I'm the local area commander for the Ballarat Police Service area.
00:06 We're here today to talk about the investigation into missing person Samantha Murphy,
00:11 who was last seen at 7am leaving her residence on Sunday morning, which was the 4th of February 2024.
00:18 What we really want to appeal to everyone today for is footage that they may have from their residence
00:26 or from their dash cam from that period of time after she left her residence.
00:33 That period of time that we would wish for those community members to look at their CCTV from their residence
00:40 is from 7am on Sunday morning through to the hours of about 11am.
00:45 We would like the community to not make any decisions about what is or isn't relevant.
00:50 Certainly if they find anything of interest on the footage, we'd like them to let police know that
00:55 and the most efficient way to let police know what they've found is via Crime Stoppers.
01:01 You can reach out to Crime Stoppers via their phone number or you can go online and register the information online
01:09 and that will come directly through to investigators.
01:12 Today we have continued the ground search in relation to Samantha.
01:19 We have 40 resources on the ground at the moment and they are both VicPol resources and CFA and SES.
01:27 So our partner agencies are assisting us greatly with the search.
01:30 We have used various assets internally, so that includes things like Mounted Branch over the last few days,
01:38 our search and rescue, we've also had Polair up assisting us with the search
01:43 and today we also have some drones up assisting us with that search, so that's ongoing for today.
01:50 That's really, for me, that's where we're at and we're going to continue to search
01:59 and we're keeping an open mind and considering all possibilities
02:02 and we're being extremely thorough and methodical with that investigation.
02:07 It's been five days now since Samantha went missing. How confident are police that she'll be found?
02:13 We're keeping an open mind and we're hopeful.
02:15 So that search is ongoing and we're throwing all those resources at it in the hope that we find Samantha
02:22 and get some answers for her family who are obviously concerned
02:26 and hence the reason I'm here, asking for the community's assistance
02:31 so that they can provide that information to us that might be crucial to that investigation.
02:36 Do police believe there are suspicious circumstances involved?
02:39 There are no suspicious circumstances that we've identified at this stage.
02:43 Beyond the CCTV that was released yesterday, have police been able to map out where Sam may have gone?
02:49 We have some information that we are utilising to direct our searching
02:54 and so I should mention that the particular areas of CCTV and dash cam footage that we're looking for
03:01 are the areas of Ballarat East, Canadian and Mount Helen
03:05 and like I said, to the east of Main Road or Geelong Road in particular,
03:11 are areas of interest to investigators.
03:14 We've seen a lot of local community come out to help as part of this search.
03:18 Have any of them been able to find information to help with your investigation?
03:22 Look, there's been a number of items located and raised with investigators
03:27 and those have been assessed.
03:28 There hasn't been anything that has had a direct connection to the investigation at this point in time
03:33 but again, we appeal to the community, if something is of interest to you,
03:39 raise it to investigators so that we can assess it to see its relevance to the investigation.
03:43 Can you confirm why Bun and Yong was initially included in the search
03:47 and then ultimately why it was ruled out?
03:49 So there was information provided to us that led us to that area
03:53 and informed that aspect of the search.
03:55 Are you still collecting information from Sam's phone?
03:58 So again, that forms part of that information that I'm referring to.
04:03 We've seen a huge turnout from members of the community, a really heartwarming response.
04:07 What would you say to those people who volunteered their time to help search for Sam?
04:11 Well, sincere thank you to everyone in the community.
04:14 It has been really heartwarming.
04:15 As a community member myself, it's great to see everyone's concern and obvious concern, as we all are,
04:22 and we really thank them for their help, along with our partner agency,
04:26 remembering that SES is a volunteer agency and their assistance has been gratefully received,
04:32 as all the agencies that have assisted us with the search.
04:35 Yesterday there was a bit of confusion.
04:36 Some community members we spoke to thought they weren't needed in the search anymore.
04:40 Do police still really need them to be out and about searching?
04:43 What else can they do to help?
04:44 So we're not going to officially register searches from the community.
04:48 Unfortunately, we don't have the capacity to do that.
04:50 We're not going to tell people not to search.
04:52 So it's something they can assess of their own volition.
04:56 There is some information at the front of the Bunion Police Station.
04:59 If they do wish to do that, it provides some guidance and some safety information to them.
05:04 You're not treating it as suspicious, but as a female who runs by herself,
05:08 is there any concern for people in that area?
05:11 Should people not be doing that at the moment?
05:13 I'm not going to say what people can and can't do, okay?
05:16 So I'm just going to say that at the moment there are no suspicious circumstances that have been identified.
05:21 We're just going to allow people to assess their safety and comfort levels.
05:24 Are any disused mine shafts factoring in the search at all?
05:27 Not at this point.
05:28 When you say not suspicious, is there anything in Sam's history that might indicate that she does not want to be found?
05:35 There's nothing I can comment on that at this point.
05:38 We've received reports that police are investigating her movements at a Ballarat Hospitality venue prior to her disappearance.
05:45 Is there any truth to that?
05:47 Yeah, I don't have anything to provide comment on that at this point.
05:50 Did anyone at all know exactly where she was planning to run,
05:53 what trail she was going to use prior to her leaving on Sunday morning?
05:56 So I understand that Sam had a routine and that she did regularly go out walking and running in those areas,
06:04 but we're not aware of the exact route.
06:07 Can we confirm that it was a run she went on?
06:09 The family released a statement online last night that seemed to indicate it might have been a walk instead of a run.
06:15 I think she was a recreational user of that area in general, so it may have been walking, it may have been running.
06:20 And that CCTV still released by police, that was from the morning before she set out behind that run?
06:25 Is that the CCTV that shows her in her clothing?
06:28 Yes.
06:29 And then she was seen running technically away from the forest in a northeasterly direction,
06:34 so if that's the case, why is much of the search effort still in the forest?
06:39 Are you referring to the CCTV that's been recently released?
06:42 So that CCTV footage is being examined and analysed to see if there is relevance,
06:47 and we're still waiting on absolute confirmation that that is Sam.
06:51 In terms of earlier we did hear about that confirmation of the phone ping,
06:56 have you had any further pings or from her watch, was she wearing her watch?
07:00 Have you been able to track any of that?
07:01 Yeah, I won't comment on any of that particular detail,
07:04 but I will say that that forms all of the investigation and the information that we're using to direct our search.
07:10 As time goes on, how desperate and dire does this search become?
07:15 Yeah, look, obviously we're still maintaining hope and we're still looking for all of the relevant information
07:20 to help us find some answers for Sam's family.
07:23 Have police been able to rule out foul play at this stage?
07:26 So we're maintaining an open mind,
07:28 so there's no suspicious circumstances that we've identified at this point in time.
07:32 Have her bank accounts been accessed or bank cards?
07:35 I won't go into the particulars of the investigation.
07:38 Obviously we're about to talk to MEPH, but can you tell us how the family are faring?
07:42 Yeah, so obviously, as any family would be, they're very concerned and they're very worried
07:47 and they are also really appreciative of the community assisting with this.
07:52 Can you talk through the scale of the police operation working in the background,
07:56 particularly here at Ballarat West?
07:58 Yeah, so it is a large-scale operation.
08:01 Obviously everyone that's visible out on the ground can be seen by everyone,
08:04 but that's supported behind the scenes by having our structure in place to manage all of that.
08:10 And how long is the search expected to go for in its current form?
08:13 Yeah, that's going to be continually assessed.
08:15 Does the initial CCTV show anyone else leaving the house after Sam went over to run on Sunday morning?
08:20 I'm not going to make any further comment on that.
08:22 And can you give any idea, a rough idea, of how much ground has been covered or searched in terms of this area?
08:28 I can just say it's been very comprehensive and an extensive search.
08:32 There's been a huge amount of resources directed at it.
08:36 Has Samantha ever gone missing before?
08:40 No, not to our knowledge, no.
08:42 And that's one of the reasons it's out of character for Samantha to go missing.
08:46 Who reported Sam missing to police?
08:49 It was her family members.
08:52 Does she have any mental health, history of mental health issues?
08:55 Yeah, I won't go into that in this forum, thanks.
08:58 Do you have a time on Sunday when she was reported missing?
09:02 So it was in the morning on Sunday.
09:05 And how does that 40 resources today compare to Tuesday and Wednesday's search?
09:11 Yeah, it's along similar lines.
09:14 Anything else?
09:17 Thank you everyone.
09:19 Thank you.
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