Samantha Murphy could still be ALIVE: Bush tracking expert explains how missing Ballarat mum could have survived nine days lost in forest – as he slams police over major search mistake

An expert bush tracker believes missing mother Samantha Murphy could ‘absolutely’ still be alive after nine days in bushland, and has accused Victoria Police of being too hasty in scaling back the search.

The mother-of-three left her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat, west of Melbourne, about 7am on February 4 to go for a jog in Woowookarung Regional Park and has not been seen since.

The scale of the search was scaled down after a week of fruitless efforts, with fears growing that she may no longer be alive.

But pprofessional tracker Jake Cassar told Daily Mail Australia Ms Murphy could survive in the bush for weeks, provided she had access to water.

“She could absolutely still be alive if she found her way to water,” he said.

“You can survive about three days without water and about a month without food, but people have survived for months in the past.”

He said police usually call off searches between five and nine days due to a lack of funding and resources

Mr Cassar urged authorities to call on bush trackers to help, saying he would be willing to organize his own search.

“It’s not a good way to be left to the elements,” he said.

‘The SES does a great job, as do the police, but volunteers need to return to their families and their jobs.’

Mr Cassar said drones with heat sensors, sniffer dogs, military trackers and indigenous trackers should be deployed regularly to help find missing persons.

‘People can survive incredible situations, so it’s a shame they stopped the search. “She is a mother and a beloved family member and it would be wonderful to see more funding allocated to search and rescue efforts,” he said.

“If there was money available, I would be happy to come and help find her.”

Volunteers from police, the Country Fire Association and the State Emergency Service and hundreds of local residents scoured bushland for six days looking for Ms Murphy, but the official search was called off on Saturday.

Small teams of locals scoured the bushland for the missing mother on Sunday, while another group organized a rally at Buninyong police station the next morning, but with temperatures soaring to 36 degrees, no one showed up on Monday.

On Monday, the administrator of the Facebook group ‘Find Samantha Murphy’ – which has amassed thousands of members since her disappearance – announced she would delete the group.

A Facebook group dedicated to helping find Ms. Murphy was also dramatically closed on Monday and group messenger chats were dramatically deleted.

Cin Hobbs, who led the group, said: “This group has served its purpose and we have been given permission to remove.

“This in itself is a huge mission as I have to remove every member… the best thing you can do for her is help speed up the process by removing yourself.”

There were other Facebook groups devoted to the search, but none were as large as Ms. Hobbs’ group.

Before it was removed, locals posted maps of the areas they covered during their independent searches and reported their findings.

One person found a black bra cut in half hanging from a fence on Saturday and reported it to police.

The members were shocked and confused to discover that all their search cards and information about clues found would be deleted, but no further explanation was given beyond Ms. Hobbs’ original message.

Ms Murphy’s husband, Mick, was not at his repair shop on Monday and his colleagues declined to comment on the situation.

The official police search for Ms Murphy has now been transferred to the Missing Persons Unit a full search will not resume until new information emerges.

Crime Command Detective Acting Chief Inspector Mark Hatt confirmed last week that Ms Murphy was wearing an Apple Watch and had her mobile phone with her when she disappeared.

It is believed a local mobile phone tower recorded a ping from Ms Murphy’s phone on Sunday after she disappeared, but police declined to say more about the timing or location of the phone.

“We can’t answer that at this stage,” Supt Hatt said.

“That goes on to our telecommunications technicians.”

During an independent search last weekend, concerned locals came across a defaced council sign about a water quality problem at Dean Reservoir, northeast of where she went missing.

The sign read: “Please be aware that the water quality issue is currently affecting the clarity of the water in Dean Reservoir.”

Below the paragraph, the vandal wrote: “Thanks Sam.”

The resident reported the vandalism to police and posted a photo of the shocking act to a social media group dedicated to the search.

One group member wrote, “The implication is that the reservoir is closed because of Sam.

“I’ll leave it to you to find out why. If it’s a sick joke, it’s not funny.’