Samantha Murphy campaigned to free a beloved employee from jail after horror bus crash – as fresh ‘private army’ update emerges in search for Ballarat jogger

A team of private investigators employed by a television network have joined the hunt for missing mother of three, Samantha Murphy.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Channel Nine’s Under Investigation has hired at least five private sleuths to put together tonight’s show on Ms Murphy’s disappearance, titled ‘The Runner’.

It comes as more information about Ms Murphy’s private life emerges, including details about her campaign to free a former employee from prison.

Mick Murphy, left, with Jack Aston, center and Aston’s wife Wendy

Ms Murphy and her husband Mick publicly supported Ballarat bus driver Jack Aston in 2019, telling the Ballarat courier his old job at their panel shop, Inland Motor Body Works, was waiting for him when he was released from prison.

“The last time he talked to me, he told me that he’s afraid he’s going to be lazy, that he’s going to be lazy because there’s not enough to do. He is someone who is always doing something,” Ms. Murphy told the newspaper.

Last week, Victoria Police Missing Persons Unit Chief Inspector Mark Hatt said cases were now a key focus in the investigation into Ms Murphy’s disappearance.

Both Aston and his son worked at the Murphy family business, which was co-owned by Mrs Murphy.

Mr Murphy had gone so far as to give Aston a character reference in court after his pal was found guilty of six charges of negligently causing serious injury.

Aston had crashed a bus on Melbourne’s infamously low Montague Street Bridge.

His five-year prison sentence in 2019 angered much of the Ballarat and wider community, who believed it was nothing more than an unfortunate accident.

He was released on appeal after serving a year behind bars.

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting that Murphy’s defense of Aston has anything to do with her disappearance, only that the defense took place.

Samantha and Mick Murphy publicly defended Ballarat bus driver Jack Aston (centre) after he was jailed for a 2016 bus crash in Melbourne that injured six passengers

Jack Aston was jailed for five years after crashing into Melbourne’s infamous low Montague Street Bridge in 2016. Even his victims claimed he was treated harshly.

The community had rallied around the release of Aston, a beloved employee of Mick and Samantha Murphy

Mrs. Murphy was revered by those who knew her for her compassion and strong community spirit.

New photos obtained by Daily Mail Australia show her helping out at the local primary school her children attended.

The Ballarat community has returned the favor in spades since she disappeared while jogging on February 4.

Large crews have continued to push into the bush in search of Ms Murphy, long after police and emergency services volunteers gave up all hope.

On Wednesday, crime reporter and Underbelly author John Silvester claimed police suspected Ms Murphy’s likely killer was among them.

‘We know that local people, volunteers, have selflessly set out to search time and time again. Police will also take into account that one of those searchers is the killer,” he told Melbourne radio 3AW.

Samantha Murphy at a Mother’s Day event at her child’s elementary school. She was an active member of the school community

A planned search by Ballarat locals was called off on Wednesday due to extreme weather conditions in Victoria, causing bushfires to rage around the Ballarat region.

The Under Investigation programme, which airs nationwide at 9pm, is being promoted as using ‘cutting edge technology’ as part of the investigation.

“Technology specialist Nigel Phair will follow Samantha’s digital footsteps and collect vital data from the phone she carried and the watch she wore – extraordinary digital clues to her last movements,” read a promo for the show.

Chief Inspector Hatt has provided the public with only limited details about Ms Murphy’s phone and watch.

Last week, the detective declined to say what information was or was not obtained from the Apple watch Ms. Murphy was wearing when she went on the run.

He also would not say whether Ms Murphy had enabled Google location tracking on her phone.

Chief Inspector Hatt claimed detectives knew Ms Murphy was on foot when she entered the bush because of data obtained from that phone’s communications with a nearby telecommunications tower.

The Under Investigation program will also include input from missing persons specialist Valentine Smith, former Victorian detective Damian Marrett and mineshaft investigator Raymond Shaw.

Anyone with information about Ms Murphy’s disappearance can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.