Overview
- Detectives from Victoria Police’s Missing Persons Squad conducted a targeted search in the Ballarat area on Wednesday.
- Police did not disclose specific locations and asked members of the public not to attend, with the operation likely to resume on Thursday.
- Samantha Murphy, 51, disappeared after leaving home for a run on February 4, 2024, and her body has not been found.
- Investigators have repeatedly searched nearby bushland, including Enfield State Park, Canadian State Forest and Buninyong, where her phone and cards were recovered from a dam in June 2024.
- Patrick Orren Stephenson has pleaded not guilty to murder, with a Supreme Court trial set in Ballarat for April 8, 2026, expected to run about six weeks.