Detectives are leading the investigation into the disappearance of Samantha Murphy, mother of three, clings to clues that they believe will solve the mystery.
On Friday, Mark Hatt, chief inspector of the Missing Persons Unit, held a strategically designed press conference that left many questions unanswered, including one about outlaw motorcycle gangs.
For more than 15 minutes, the veteran detective answered question after question from a horde of reporters until they ran out of strength.
Police were questioned about possible links between Samantha Murphy’s disappearance and cycling. Ballarat is the meeting point for the Bandidos (pictured last year during the national run in Ballarat)
CCTV captured Samantha Murphy’s last known movements on the morning of February 4
The meeting outside the Mount Clear Scout Hall was billed as a “major update” but in reality offered few real insights into what investigators believed happened to the 51-year-old.
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, west of M.elbourne.
Last week’s press conference was called to give reporters an opportunity to document police returning to a remote part of the bush they had searched weeks earlier.
Although the ‘targeted search’, which strangely also involved members of Victoria Police’s Major Collision Investigation Unit, turned up nothing, it did make headlines across the country that day.
On Saturday, locals desperate to continue the search for Ms Murphy once again ventured into the bush in what has become little more than a grim sideshow to the real hunt.
Chief Inspector Hatt said police believe Ms Murphy’s body has been removed from the area they are all 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.
As he walked through the undergrowth, any questions that Chief Inspector Hatt did not answer were undoubtedly a hot topic of discussion.
Chief Inspector Mark Hatt of the Missing Persons Unit prepares to confront the press outside a scout hall in Mount Clear on Friday. He answered questions for a full 15 minutes until they stopped coming
Ballarat locals carried out another futile bush search on Saturday, despite detectives stating they believed Ms Murphy’s body had been moved
Questions about Mrs Murphy’s actions that day, her husband Mick’s movements and whether or not he was a suspect were answered with caution.
“He is not a suspect at this stage,” Detective Chief Inspector Hatt replied, after initially avoiding the question.
However, he, like everyone in Ms Murphy’s immediate family, is a ‘person of interest’ in the case.
Chief Inspector Hatt suggested several people could potentially prove suspects as the investigation progressed.
If they had a suspect now, he declined to say.
“We have a number of people we’re talking to,” he said.
“All I can say is that our paths lead us in a certain direction and we follow everything.”
Who was home at the time Ms Murphy embarked on her flight remains unanswered, but Chief Inspector Hatt suggested they knew the answer and where they were going that day.
“There’s a lot of movement to and from the house throughout the day and again we’re confident that we’ve tracked all those movements and that we’re following up on everything,” he said.
Just days after she disappeared, volunteers conducted a search outside Murphy’s home
As part of that investigation, police searched Murphy’s property for clues.
“It has been searched to some extent,” said Chief Inspector Hatt, who declined to confirm whether Mr Murphy’s phone or other electronic devices had been looked at.
As the search for Mrs Murphy evolves into a hunt for her body, Chief Inspector Hatt confirms the family business has come under scrutiny.
The Murphys own and operate sInland Motor Body Works repair facility, which is one of the largest of its kind in the region.
Speculation about criminal motorcycle gangs frequenting the store’s customers has spread among the Ballarat community since Ms Murphy disappeared.
The Ballarat community is no stranger to cycling-related violence, with a senior Bandidos member shot in the clubhouse several months ago during the club’s national run.
Chief Inspector Hatt refused to answer questions about possible links to motorcycles and Ms Murphy’s disappearance.
However, he did confirm that the panel beater’s books were being closely monitored by detectives.
“We are doing absolutely everything we can to find out what happened to Samantha,” said Chief Inspector Hatt.
Mick Murphy comforts his daughter Jessica during his only press conference in the week after his wife disappeared
The results of that study would not be discussed.
He also would not say which vehicles were searched and where they were taken from.
When asked if police had executed search warrants in connection with the search, Chief Inspector Hatt declined to say.
“Would you say no if it was no?” asked Channel Seven’s Paul Dowsley.
“No comment,” Chief Inspector Hatt replied with a grin.
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 Murphy family business (pictured) is being investigated by police as part of their hunt for Samantha Murphy
If detectives have information about other phones monitoring Ms. Murphy at the same time, they are not saying so.
‘Unfortunately I cannot comment on details regarding the telephone records. That is part of our policing methodology and is something we require to protect its integrity as we conduct our investigation,” Chief Inspector Hatt said.
Police have now ruled out any idea that Ms Murphy disappeared due to a medical episode or because she simply wanted to disappear.
Chief Inspector Hatt claimed the 7km run to where her phone went out took the experienced runner more than an hour – about half an hour longer than necessary.
Although it was not directly stated, Chief Inspector Hatt suggested that police believed whoever helped Ms Murphy disappear had specifically attacked her.
“We have no information or evidence to suggest there is any risk to anyone else,” he said.
Police continue to sift through 12,000 hours of CCTV footage and 500 separate intelligence reports from community members.
If police believe anyone has credible information about seeing Ms Murphy in the bush, Chief Inspector Hatt declined to say due to concerns about ‘revealing the methodology’.
“Our investigation is ongoing and I cannot comment on specific details about what we are looking at,” he said.
Chief Inspector Hatt warned that whoever was responsible for Mrs Murphy’s disappearance would be caught sooner or later.
“It is our main investigation at the moment… We want to resolve this as quickly as possible,” he said.
Anyone with information about the case can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.