A criminologist has revealed the mobile phone police found on the banks of a dam in their search for missing mum Samantha Murphy might be damaged beyond use.
Ms Murphy vanished without a trace after she left her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, Victoria, on the morning of February 4.
The 51-year-old left her home 18 minutes after sunrise, at 7am, for her 14km run through nearby Woowookrung Regional Park – a route she had done countless times.
In early March, almost five weeks after Ms Murphy’s disappearance, local man Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, was charged with her alleged murder. Her body has yet to be found.
On Wednesday, police launched a new search in the hunt for her remains with the focus on a dam at a property south of Buninyong, approximately 14km from her home.
Samantha Murphy (pictured) vanished without a trace after she left her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, Victoria on the morning of February 4 for a run through the nearby Woowookrung Regional Park
Police made a major breakthrough in her case on Wednesday after discovering a phone in a wallet (pictured) while searching for Ms Murphy’s body
Officers located a mud-splattered mobile phone in a wallet at the water’s edge, which was believed to have been found by a police tech detector dog.
In a statement issued shortly after the mobile phone was found, police said they had located some ‘items of interest’ during the search for the missing mum.
Police said the phone, along with other items found in the search, will be subject to forensic testing to determine whether it belonged to Ms Murphy.
University of Newcastle criminologist Xanthe Mallett told Sunrise on Thursday the discovery was ‘very significant’ as it could provide information on where Ms Murphy had been.
However, Dr Mallett added Ms Murphy’s phone had been exposed to the elements for an extended period of time.
‘Unfortunately, it may have been damaged,’ she said.
‘Samantha Murphy has been missing for 116 days now, so almost four months.
‘If it does transpire [the phone] is hers, they may not have got as much information as they could have done if it had been found earlier.
‘It really depends on the quality of the phone and how damaged it is. Remember, it has been outside.’
Criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallett (pictured) told Sunrise the discovery was ‘very significant’ but depended on the condition of the phone
Dr Mallett said technicians would immediately be assessing the condition of the phone and whether it belonged to Ms Murphy – but that process could take weeks.
‘They will be working on them quickly but it is not going to be short term. We are not talking days, we are talking weeks at the earliest,’ she said.
‘Whether it has been for four months or if it transpires it is Samantha’s or longer, we really don’t know yet. We are going to have to wait and see exactly what condition that phone is in.’
Aerial footage of the search showed detectives in jubilant celebrations after locating the phone at the water’s edge of the dam.
Police hugged, backslapped and shook hands in the wake of the discovery, in the video captured by the ABC.
A team of police divers were also sent into the water to scour the small dam for any further possible evidence.
Dr Mallett said the reaction by police showed the discovery was a ‘good moment’ in their desperate search for Ms Murphy.
‘I think we have to remember the police are people too,’ Dr Mallett said.
‘This case has really touched everybody not only the Ballarat community but the wider community and the police.
‘To find [her phone] after so long of no real leads… it would have been a really good moment for them, giving them hope they can progress this case for Samantha’s family.’
Officers located the mud-splattered mobile phone in a wallet at the water’s edge of a dam at a property south of Buninyong, approximately 14km from Ms Murphy’s home.
It is believed the phone was found by a police tech detector dog
The owner of the property, who wished to remain anonymous, said police contacted him about three weeks ago asking for permission to access his land.
The man said officers returned on Wednesday where they told him they were going to perform a line search along the road.
‘A dog found something on the banks and they came up and asked me and my wife to make a statement,’ he said.
The man said police were interested in the levels of his dam.
‘I hasn’t seen anything suspicious out there. We don’t have cameras. But yeah I believe one of those tech dogs found it,’ he said.
The man said detectives came and spoke to him about a month after Ms Murphy vanished, but only returned again in recent weeks.
‘They just asked me if I’d seen anything suspicious,’ he said.
Daily Mail Australia understands police are still searching for other key pieces of evidence, such as Ms Murphy’s missing watch and headphones, or a possible murder weapon.
Police have been desperately searching for Ms Murphy’s body after she vanished from her home
Police allege Stephenson ‘deliberately attacked’ Ms Murphy in Mount Clear, about seven kilometres into her run.
Stephenson, who has no connection to the Murphy family, was charged with murdering the mother-of-three on March 7.
More to come…