Explosive new theory emerges in Samantha Murphy search – after the mum vanished without a trace 24 days ago

A crime expert has suggested Samantha Murphy’s killer may be lurking amid searches for the missing mother-of-three, posing as a Good Samaritan.

Ms Murphy has not been seen since she left her Ballarat East home at 7am on February 4 to go for a run in a national forest on the outskirts of the regional city.

Legendary Melbourne journalist John Silvester said detectives were investigating whether Ms Murphy’s killer was someone from the Ballarat community who volunteered their time to search for her.

“Now we know that the local population, volunteers, have selflessly set out to search time and time again,” he told Radio 3AW on Wednesday.

‘The police will also take into account that one of those searchers is the murderer.

“They put themselves in that situation to be seen as part of the community, but also to keep an eye on what’s going on.”

Mr Silvester said Victoria Police had already ruled out that Ms Murphy had harmed herself, had a medical episode or orchestrated her own disappearance.

Extensive searches had also ruled out the possibility that she had fallen down a mineshaft, raising suggestions of foul play and ‘probable murder’.

“Many different theories have been explored, because under these circumstances the victim has no secrets,” the veteran crime reporter said.

‘You have to dig deep into that person to discover potential enemies or what could have happened. One particular theory they look at, surprise, the person of interest turns out to be fully cooperative.’

His comments come as a major repair business owned by Samantha’s husband Mick Murphy became a major focus of the police investigation.

The Inland Bodywork Workshop iIt is the largest in the Ballarat region, northwest of Melbourne, and has a “strong reputation” in the area.

Speculation about outlaw motorcycle gangs frequenting the store’s customers has been swirling among the Ballarat community since the 51-year-old disappeared.

The Ballarat community is no stranger to motorcycle violence, with a senior Bandidos member shot in the clubhouse several months ago during the club’s national run.

Volunteers have launched a massive search for missing woman Samantha Murphy. Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting any of them were involved in the search for Ms Murphy

Volunteers gathered for a briefing in Ballarat on Saturday, 20 days after Ms Murphy disappeared

Mark Hatt, chief inspector of Victoria Police’s Missing Persons Unit, declined to answer questions on Friday about possible links to motorcycles and Ms Murphy’s disappearance.

However, he said Mr Murphy’s financial records were ‘closely examined’, with officers also seen removing a number of ‘important items’ from the store.

“We are doing absolutely everything we can to find out what happened to Samantha,” said Chief Inspector Hatt.

When asked if police had executed search warrants in connection with the search, Chief Inspector Hatt declined to say.

The motorcycle shop’s website describes itself as Ballarat’s ‘preferred choice for broken down repairs’ and has built a ‘strong reputation’ over 60 years.

Ms. Murphy is credited as head of administration and the “backbone” of the office, including “keeping Mick in check.”

The Murphy family business, Inland Motor Body Works, (pictured) is being investigated by police as part of their hunt for Samantha Murphy

Mick Murphy is seen leaving Buninyong Police Station on February 9

Chief Inspector Hatt also said police believe Ms Murphy’s body has been removed from the area they are searching.

“That is certainly a scenario we are looking at. Based on our elimination process, we believe there is another party involved – whether it is one person or a number of people,” he said.

Although it was not directly stated, Chief Inspector Hatt suggested that police believed whoever helped Ms Murphy disappear had specifically targeted her.

He said police had “no information or evidence” to suggest others were in danger.

Ms Murphy’s family and close relatives are all considered ‘persons of interest’ but no suspects have been identified.

Ms Murphy was wearing an Apple Watch during her flight, but police have not yet revealed whether they obtained any information from the device.