ChancesC fade in jogger mystery

Missing mum-of-three Samantha Murphy is probably dead and a search is now under way for her body, police revealed, 19 days after she went missing on a morning jog.

The 51-year-old disappeared three weeks ago after she went out for a run in the Woowookarung Regional Park in East Ballarat at 7am on February 4.

Investigators said they were “very doubtful” they would find her alive and have launched a targeted search in the Mount Clear region, following new intelligence derived from Ms Murphy’s phone data.

Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt said “more parties” – meaning more than one person – are likely to be involved in her disappearance.

He said police were “certainly” looking into whether she was removed from the Mount Clear area.

“We are absolutely looking for a phone, we haven’t yet found that, we are (also) looking for a body,” Superintendent Hatt said on Friday.

The area police will be searching has already been searched extensively but the focus this time will be for smaller items that could reveal what happened to Ms Murphy.

“That area has been searched for Samantha herself and we have not found her in that area,” Superintendent Hatt said. “Unfortunately, given the time and the fact no trace has been found, we do have severe concerns and are very doubtful that she’s still alive.

“We are keeping an open mind, but believe the most likely scenario is that her disappearance involves one or more parties.

“Given the extensive and detailed search that has already been undertaken, and the fact no sign of Samantha or her personal belongings has been located, we have ruled out any type of medical incident.”

Police are speaking to everyone in Samantha Murphy’s life as part of the investigation into her disappearance, including family, friends and work colleagues.

Superintendent Hatt said police had been in touch with her family “every day”.