EXCLUSIVE
The family of missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy have revealed how her husband tried to find her on the morning she went missing.
Mrs. Murphy’s aunt and uncle, Allan and Janice Robson, told Daily Mail Australia their niece’s husband, Mick Murphy, called the police himself two hours after she failed to return home at 9am on February 4.
‘She was reported missing around 11am. Mick reported her missing. He said she would be back that morning for a meeting,” Allan said.
‘She wasn’t home. I didn’t go there… he called and reported it and then they started looking for the other side of Buninyong, which is 20-30 km away.”
Allan received the information directly from his brother John Robson, with whom he maintains regular contact.
‘She was reported missing around 11am. Mick reported her missing. He said she would be back that morning for a meeting,” said Samantha’s uncle Allan Robson (pictured by Mick and Samantha Murphy).
“(Mick) (pictured above) closed the gate and locked (reporters) out,” Allan said. ‘He took a beating from the reporters’
“She was only going to run 10km and be home by 9am. She said she would then come back to the meeting. Something in Ballarat,” Allan said.
It remains unclear whether any of Murphy’s three children, whose ages range from early teens to early 20s, were at the family home at the time their mother went missing.
“The young guy would have been home. He’s only twelve or thirteen,” Allan said.
Mrs Murphy’s father called Allan and Janice just as they were about to have dinner the night she went missing.
“He said, ‘Oh Janice, Sam’s gone. Samantha’s missing,'” Janice said.
“I said, ‘What do you mean missing?’ He said, “She’s missing. She went outside.” He didn’t say she had gone jogging, but that she was missing. ‘She didn’t show up. She never came back.”
Allan said his niece routinely ran 12 miles on weekends, but this time she planned to run a shorter distance so she could attend her appointment.
Police confirmed Ms Murphy was due to attend a brunch that morning.
“She was supposed to be back at nine in the morning because it was stinking hot too,” Allan said.
On Thursday, a woman who identified herself as Ms Murphy’s sister refused to allow Daily Mail Australia to speak to her parents, who live in Gordon, about 14 miles from their daughter’s home.
‘People don’t just disappear into thin air. Someone has to know something,” Mick Murphy (pictured above) said at a press conference
The rugged terrain where police and community members searched for Samantha Murphy
Ms Murphy’s relatives spoke to Daily Mail Australia in the hope the general public would not forget she was missing.
“That’s the only way they can find her,” Janice said.
“(Mick) closed the gate and locked (reporters) out,” Allan said. “He’s fed up with reporters.”
Allan said Murphy had never attracted public attention.
Daily Mail Australia also does not suggest that Murphy had anything to do with his wife’s disappearance.
Janice said Murphy likely felt the media attention was an invasion of his family’s privacy.
‘On the other hand, they have to stop and think. Nothing else works. The more people talk about it, something might emerge,” Janice said.
“We have to keep refreshing people’s memories,” Allan added.
Mr. Murphy made his only public statement to the media on February 8 at a press conference that was memorable more for his daughter Jessica’s emotional words than his own.
‘People don’t just disappear into thin air. Somebody has to know something,” Mr. Murphy said at the time.
“Whether it’s something small that you think is relevant, just call the police and let them know. It will give us a little peace of mind and hope.”
Janice said that in the week since he made his plea for help, she has been bombarded with theories and opinions about Mr. Murphy’s behavior.
Some of the theories Janice mentioned have been rolled out repeatedly on Facebook pages claiming to “help” police find Ms. Murphy.
‘She was the boss. Mick is different. He is quiet. He stays in the background. He doesn’t say much.
‘He’s too easy-going, Mick. Nothing would worry him.’
The pair said Ms Murphy’s father told them his daughter had not had an argument with her husband in the lead-up to her disappearance.
“It was the first thing I thought (when she disappeared) that maybe they were blue or something, but (John) seemed to think not,” Allan said.
‘He thinks there are no money worries or anything. He has no problems at all.’
Mick and Samantha Murphy’s house “is worth a lot of money,” her aunt and uncle said
Mrs. Murphy was in regular contact with her parents and would meet up with them regularly on weekends when she was not at work.
Allan and Janice insist that a sinister person is responsible for Mrs. Murphy’s disappearance.
“I think someone’s been watching them since they bought that house.” Because it’s worth a lot of money,” Allan suggested.
But with no cash demands and Ms. Murphy’s bank accounts likely untouched, it’s a gamble.
“If she was going somewhere she would have taken some money, wouldn’t she,” Allan said.
On the morning Ms Murphy disappeared, she was captured on her own CCTV system wearing a maroon/brown singlet and black mid-length leggings.
Allan and Janice rejected suggestions that Mrs Murphy may have staged her own disappearance.
‘She might have brought some clothes or something… the cars were still at home (on the camera image). She would have gotten one,” Janice said.
“She just disappears after she leaves the front door. It just happened that way.”
The pair reiterated that Ms Murphy would never have switched off her mobile phone, which police believe died in dense bush about 20km from her home.
“That phone hasn’t been turned off since she got that thing. Then all of a sudden it shuts off,” Allan said.
Samantha Murphy disappeared without a trace on February 4
Last week, Missing Persons Detective Chief Inspector Mark Hatt said police were still working to establish who may have been in the area where Ms Murphy’s phone lost communication with mobile phone masts.
Her cell phone had pinged in the nearby suburb before it got dark.
Allan claimed the task may have been made more difficult by several phone towers in the area going offline.
‘That day half the repeaters were out of order; everything went through Buninyong,” he said.
As time passes, the family begins to come to grips with the fact that Mrs. Murphy may not be found alive.
‘She’s not injured anywhere. You’d be looking for a body,” Allan said.
Anyone with information about Ms Murphy’s disappearance is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.