Samantha Murphy’s husband makes a sad revelation after her mobile phone was found
Samantha Murphy’s husband says he immediately recognized a mud-splattered iPhone discovered next to a dam belonging to his missing wife.
The mother-of-three disappeared without a trace on the morning of February 4 after leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, Victoria.
Her family reported her missing after she failed to show up for a family brunch.
Police called her husband, Mick Murphy, shortly after the iPhone was discovered near Slaughterhouse Road, south of Buninyong, on Thursday.
Mr. Murphy told it 9News he knew immediately it was from Samantha.
Mick Murphy (pictured in April) says he immediately recognized an iPhone found next to a dam that belonged to his missing wife Samantha, who is believed dead
Police called her husband Mick Murphy shortly after the iPhone was discovered near Slaughterhouse Road, south of Buninyong, on Thursday (pictured)
The phone was found next to a dam, three miles from the telephone tower, where the device last pinged before going silent.
The breakthrough sparked celebration among the researchers, who gave high fives, hugged each other and shook hands.
The phone will probably be found by a technical police sniffer dog.
It is understood police will return to the area to look for other clues and determine how the iPhone ended up next to the dam.
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 the device belonged to Ms Murphy.
Samantha Murphy (pictured with her husband Mick) vanished without a trace after leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, Victoria, on the morning of February 4.
The breakthrough led to a silent celebration between the researchers, who quietly high-fived, hugged and shook hands (photo)
Officers found the mud-splattered mobile phone in a wallet at the water’s edge of a dam on a property south of Buninyong, about 14km from Ms Murphy’s home.
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 Ms Murphy’s missing watch and headphones, or a possible murder weapon (pictured, a map of previous search areas)
Daily Mail Australia understands police are still searching for Ms Murphy’s missing watch and headphones, or a possible murder weapon.
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 ‘deliberately attacked’ Ms Murphy in Mount Clear, about seven kilometers into her run on a route she had completed ‘countless’ times.
Stephenson, who has no ties to the Murphy family, was charged on March 7 with the murder of the mother of three.
He has yet to enter a plea and will appear in court on August 8.