Tragic photo that could hold key to the hunt for missing Ballarat mum Samantha Murphy’s body
A treasured family photo has revealed how Samantha Murphy had carried her phone for a long time in the separate wallet case it was still in when it was found in a muddy dam last month.
Sitting next to husband Mick, the mother-of-three is seen clinging to it during what is believed to be her last family holiday abroad.
The image showed Ms. Murphy’s wallet filled with so many IDs, credit cards, store cards and rewards cards that she couldn’t even snap it closed.
On May 29, police found what appeared to be a near-identical match to the exact same phone Ms Murphy was pictured with during her holiday to Bali.
The phone was recovered from the muddy banks of a dam along the Buninyong-Mount Mercer Road in the same region where the phone last connected to a mobile phone tower before nightfall.
An image of the device recovered from the scene showed what appeared to be an Apple iPhone in a wallet filled with ID cards.
The dam is about 15km from Ballarat East, where Ms Murphy set off for her final run on February 4.
Samantha Murphy clutches her phone in the eye-catching case during a trip to Bali in 2017
Samantha Murphy owned a phone and wallet (left) that appear identical to the one recovered from a dam last month
Aerial footage of the scene could be seen police officers hugged, slapped and shook hands as they examined the phone.
On Friday, Victoria Daily Mail Australia police declined to provide further information about the find, including whether it was indeed Ms Murphy’s phone.
Mick Murphy claimed he immediately recognized his wife’s phone when he saw the dramatic television footage.
His wife had long used such a wallet to protect her phone and store her various credit cards and ID cards.
Mrs Murphy had enjoyed a holiday to Bali with her husband and three children in 2017.
The search for clues in the Samantha Murphy case continues
A police officer picks up a phone that appears to be almost identical to the one Samantha Murphy was using
The dam where police found the muddy phone
Touching photos of what is believed to be her final overseas adventure were revealed by Daily Mail Australia in March.
Dozens of images show what appeared to be an enjoyable trip, with Ms Murphy and her family traveling to many of the island’s iconic locations.
Their guide in Ubud’s famous Monkey Forest, Pete Mahendra, told Daily Mail Australia he remembered Ms Murphy and her family fondly.
Mr Mahendra said the Murphys seemed happy and at ease during their time with him.
‘Hopefully the authorities will get clues to find her. I hope the news isn’t true. I hope she is alive and healthy. God bless her,” he said.
Little did the guide know that an image he captured of Ms. Murphy would capture the apparent phone wallet that police would discover years later.
It is understood detectives believe the discovery of the phone could be the key breakthrough they needed in the long-running search for Ms Murphy’s body.
The phone is believed to have been submerged in the dam since February 4 – the same day police allege Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, killed Ms Murphy while she was jogging on Sunday.
Daily Mail Australia was told detectives from the Missing Persons Unit quickly became suspicious of the dam after taking charge of the investigation, questioning the owner just weeks later.
The police would not return until early May when they again asked the owner if he did not mind the police entering his building.
Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, has been charged with murder following the disappearance of Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy
The Murphy clan took a trip to Bali in late 2017
Samantha Murphy during her latest visit to Bali. Her body has yet to be located
Forensic testing is underway on the phone as police try to obtain data in an attempt to receive further clues.
Reports indicate that the phone is in near perfect condition.
Cybersecurity expert Nigel Phair told 9News last week that the phone was a “game changer” for the investigation.
“The physical properties of the phone will obviously be damaged, but what’s behind it, those ones and zeros of data, will be recoverable,” he said.
It is understood Stephenson, who was arrested five weeks after Ms Murphy was murdered, has not told police the whereabouts of her body.
He will appear for a preliminary hearing at the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court in August.
Stephenson is the son of former AFL Richmond and Geelong AFL player Orren Stephenson and is not known to the Murphy family.
Melbourne-based lawyer Paul Galbally of Galbally & O’Bryan, one of Australia’s top criminal lawyers, has reportedly been hired by Stephenson to lead his defense case.
Anyone with information about the Murphy case is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.