Shock twist in search for mum who vanished without a trace while on a run near Melbourne

Residents living near a national forest where a mother of three disappeared have expressed concern about unnoticeable mine shafts in the area.

The search for 51-year-old Samantha Murphy is now in its fourth day after she disappeared Sunday morning while out for a run in the Canadian State Forest, about an hour and a half northwest of Melbourne.

She was last seen leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East at 7am on Sunday.

The avid runner had embarked on a 12-mile run through the woods, an area her husband says she is very familiar with, but never returned.

One local resident said the mine shafts in the Canadian State Forest were a “big problem.”

“The mine shafts out there are not very noticeable in some areas,” she said A current issue.

Mrs Murphy’s elderly neighbor Ray said he was stunned by her disappearance.

“I can’t believe it,” he said, adding that her husband Michael sometimes mowed his lawn for him.

“She usually goes for a run in the morning and waves at me.”

Mrs. Murphy and her husband own and operate a large repair business.

Mr Murphy said he was ‘not that bad under the circumstances’.

“It’s just up in the air, we don’t know,” he told the station Herald Sun.

‘In the end it’s just a matter of time.’

Mr Murphy told Nine News he would not be joining the search and preferred to stay at home to try to keep his mind occupied while he waited for an update.

He was pictured on Tuesday speaking to police as the desperate search continued

Mrs Murphy is listed as head of administration at the Inland Motor Body Works, a car repair shop run by the couple in Delacombe.

There is a large-scale search for the mother coordinated by the Search and Rescue Squad, involving local police, more than 100 specialist officers from the Dog Brigade, Mounted Unit, Solo Unit and Air Wing.

SES crews and teams from Forest Fire Management Australia and Parks Victoria have also joined the search.

The Ballarat community has come together, with a growing number of residents and Ms Murphy’s friends joining the search.

Ms Murphy’s ‘appalled and concerned’ family have serious concerns, describing her disappearance as ‘out of character’.

On the morning Ms Murphy disappeared, she was captured on her own CCTV system wearing a brown shirt and black mid-length leggings.

Acting Inspector Lisa MacDougall said Ms Murphy’s mobile phone had pinged in Buninyong but “investigations are ongoing to see if (the phone) is still on”.

“It’s clear that phone batteries can run out, but that’s part of the investigation,” she told reporters on Monday.

Mrs Murphy was known to be fit and walked through the national forest almost every day.

“The search area is not completely remote, we are on the outskirts of Ballarat, and it’s not that far from urban areas either,” Insp MacDougall said.

Temperatures rose to a scorching 36 degrees Celsius on Sunday and it is not known whether Ms Murphy had food or water with her.

“It was clear that (Sunday) was a hot day… there is clearly an increased risk there because of the heat,” Insp MacDougall added.

‘It increases the urgency of the search for us and of course we take into account that this has consequences for someone’s health.’