In an ongoing effort to locate missing Victorian woman Samantha Murphy, police initiated a fresh search in a new area of bushland near Buninyong.
The latest search was prompted by recent intelligence, but it yielded no breakthroughs.
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The mother of three was reported missing by her family on February 4 after she failed to return home from a jog.
Despite extensive search operations involving various specialised units from Victoria Police, including search and rescue squads, mounted branches, and canine units, no trace of Murphy has been found thus far.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said on Wednesday that there would be no planned search on Thursday.
“Sadly we did not locate Samantha,” she said.
“However, we expect to continue searching over coming weeks.”
The search area near Buninyong was chosen based on information gathered from multiple sources.
Police had previously focused their efforts on areas including the Buninyong Golf Club, where Murphy’s phone was last traced, and Mount Clear, closer to her home, all without success.
Murphy’s disappearance has been linked to 22-year-old Patrick Orren Stephenson, who has been charged with her murder.
Stephenson was arrested on March 6 and remains in custody. However, despite the charges, Murphy’s body has not been found.
According to Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt, police remain committed to finding Murphy’s body.
“We will have a range of specialist resources involved; however, as we are searching for Samantha’s body, we ask that members of the public do not try and join today’s search,” Superintendent Hatt said.
“Hopefully, today’s search will benefit the investigation or provide further avenues of inquiry for police. We will also look at further searches in the Ballarat area as the investigation progresses.”
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