Cops hugged and shook hands when they found Samantha Murphy’s phone near a dam. But a veteran officer has revealed why they still may be no closer to finding her body

A senior officer has claimed that investigators are still a long way from finding the body of missing mother Samantha Murphy, despite the recent discovery of her phone.

Ms Murphy disappeared without a trace after leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, Victoria, on the morning of February 4.

The 51-year-old set off at 7am for her morning run through the nearby Woowookrung Regional Park – a 14km route she had run numerous times before.

Months of empty-handed searches for Ms Murphy led to police finding her phone at Buninyong Dam on Wednesday.

The breakthrough led to a silent celebration among the researchers, who quietly high-fived and shook hands.

But retired homicide detective Charlie Bezzina has warned police not to celebrate too early, saying her alleged killer could have ditched her phone to ‘take the police off’.

Mr Bezzina told the Herald Sun it was possible that the alleged killer had left the phone in the dam while disposing of her body in a completely different location.

He added that they may also have ditched the phone some time after she disappeared.

‘We don’t know when that phone was dumped there. It is not unusual for offenders to keep items for a while, especially cell phones… for all we know, they may have been thrown away a few weeks ago,” he told the publication. .

‘Often perpetrators go back and do things, keep the phone somewhere or on them and dump it later.

“And that’s where they’ll get all the evidence against him, if it pings at all… so not at all unusual for it to be dumped in a separate location (near the body).”

He added that it “doesn’t make sense” that the phone was found on Wednesday without prior information, as it would have been submerged underwater.

A leading criminologist previously warned that the phone may be too damaged for police to analyze.

Criminologist

Dr. However, Mallett added that the phone had been exposed to the elements for an extended period of time.

“Unfortunately, it may have been damaged,” she said.

‘Samantha Murphy has now been missing for 116 days, almost four months.

‘If it does happen [the phone] is from her, they may not have gotten as much information as they could have if it had been found earlier.

‘It really depends on the quality of the phone and how damaged it is. Don’t forget it was outside.

Dr. Mallett said technicians would immediately assess the condition of the phone, but that process could take weeks.

“They will work on it soon, but it won’t be short-lived. We are not talking about days, but weeks at the earliest,” she said.

“We’ll have to wait and see exactly what condition that phone is in.”

Officers found the mud-splattered cell phone in a wallet at the water’s edge. It is believed to have been found by a police technical sniffer dog.

In a statement issued shortly after the mobile phone was found, police said they had found some “important items” during the search for the missing mother.

The phone, along with other items found in the search, underwent forensic testing, with sources confirming this 7News the device belonged to Mrs. Murphy.

The property owner, who asked to remain anonymous, said police contacted him about three weeks ago asking for permission to access his land.

The man said officers returned Wednesday and told him they were going to conduct a line search along the road.

“A dog found something on the bank and they came to me and asked me and my wife to make a statement,” he said.

The man said police were interested in the levels of his dam.

‘I didn’t see anything suspicious there. We don’t have cameras. But yeah, I think one of those tech dogs found it,” he said.

The man said detectives came to talk to him about a month after Ms. Murphy’s disappearance, but only returned in recent weeks.

“They just asked me if I had seen anything suspicious,” he said.

Daily Mail Australia understands police are still searching for other key pieces of evidence, such as Ms Murphy’s missing watch and headphones, or a possible murder weapon.

On Thursday, a police spokesman said investigators’ search for the Buninyong location had been completed.

“There is no update on the forensic assessment of the items,” the spokesperson said.

The update from police would come as a blow to Ms Murphy’s family after the latest search raised new hopes that her body would be found.

In early March, almost five weeks after Ms Murphy’s disappearance, 22-year-old local man Patrick Orren Stephenson was charged with her alleged murder.

Police allege Stephenson ‘intentionally assaulted’ Ms Murphy in Mount Clear, about 7km into her run.

Stephenson, who has no ties to the Murphy family, was charged on March 7 with the murder of the mother of three.

The 22-year-old is the son of former AFL player Orren Stephenson, who played 15 games for Geelong and Richmond between 2012 and 2014.

Stephenson remains in custody and has yet to enter a plea.

Stephenson is due back in court on August 8.