Police renew search near Ballarat for missing woman

Police are again searching an area near Ballarat as part of their investigation into the disappearance of Samantha Murphy.

Transcript

00:00 Detectives have today renewed their search for missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy.

00:06 They're looking in a targeted area of Ballarat but it's unclear where that is.

00:11 Now they tell us that the family is aware of the search and they're asking the public

00:15 not to join in at this time.

00:17 But we do know that previous searches have included cadaver dogs from New South Wales

00:22 and the missing person squad.

00:24 It has been quite some time.

00:26 So Samantha Murphy first went missing in early February, she was last seen leaving her home

00:31 at Ballarat East.

00:33 On the 4th of February she was going for a run.

00:36 She clearly vanished and never returned.

00:38 Now police are alleging that she was killed on the day she disappeared and it was done

00:43 so in a "deliberate act" in the Ballarat suburb of Mount Clear.

00:48 At the time Samantha Murphy was one of three women from Ballarat who was allegedly killed

00:55 by men and it's led to candlelight vigils across the nation but also this conversation

01:00 that we're having now around gendered violence.

01:03 So about a month after Samantha Murphy went missing, police arrested and charged Patrick

01:07 Stevenson with murder.

01:09 We know he's 22 years old, the son of former AFL footballer Oren Stevenson.

01:13 Now he's been in custody since he was arrested.

01:17 He'll return to court in August and hasn't been required to enter a plea to the murder

01:20 charge.

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