Last image of jogger Samantha Murphy, missing for four days in Canadian State Forest, released
The last known image of a Victorian mom has been released by police in their desperate search for the jogger who vanished four days ago.
Samantha Murphy, 51, left her home on Eureka St in Ballarat East about 7 a.m. on Sunday but failed to return, raising concerns for her welfare as temperatures soared to 36C (96.8F) across the area.
The three second clip shows Murphy at 7:16 a.m. on Eureka Street running in a north easterly direction.
She had told her husband she was heading out on her regular 20km (12 miles) run through the Canadian State Forest but has not been seen since.
Investigators have asked residents in the areas around Eureka St, Warrenheip Rd and Yankee Flat Rd to review their CCTV footage between 7 a.m. and 11a.m.
About 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a crew searching a walking trail in nearby bushland at Woowookarung Regional Park found an “item of interest,” but police have since ruled it out.
“Items located today during the search for Samantha have been assessed and at this time are not believed to be related to her whereabouts,” police said in a statement.
Murphy’s husband, Michael Murphy, arrived at the dirt road entrance of the state forest before speaking with police soon after the items were found.
Mr. Murphy did not appear to leave his vehicle and was only at the scene for a short time before he drove away.
Local resident Donne Crouch on Wednesday morning raised concerns about an unusual feature in the forest.
“That’s the biggest concern, that there are mineshafts out there that aren’t very noticeable in some areas,” he told Nine.
Murphy’s husband told the Herald Sun his wife runs in the area daily but said he was worried as time wears on.
“It’s just up in the air, we don’t know,” he said.
“It’s just a whole time thing at the end of the day.”
A major search operation is entering its fourth day, involving local police, officers from the Dog Squad, the mounted branch, and Air Wing.
State Emergency Service, Forest Fire Management Victoria and Parks Victoria personnel are also involved in the search.
Police and family have concerns for her welfare due to the hot weather on Sunday and her disappearance being “out of character”.
“Obviously, yesterday was a hot day … there (is) obviously increased risk there because of the heat,” Acting Inspector Lisa McDougall said on Monday.
“It raises the urgency of the search for us and obviously we account for the fact that will have an impact on someone’s health.”
