Victoria police say there are “some suspicions” in the disappearance of Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy after she vanished 10 days ago.
The 51-year-old was last seen on Sunday 4 February, and little new information has emerged since then. She told friends she was planning a 14-kilometre run through the nearby Woowookarung regional park but did not attend a planned brunch that morning.
The police commissioner, Shane Patton, on Wednesday said Murphy’s disappearance was “suspicious” but there were no new developments in the investigation.
“When someone’s been missing for this period of time, we have no trace, well clearly there must be some suspicions there because we haven’t been able to locate her,” he said.
Patton said it was “certainly unusual” that police had not been able to “locate any trace of her or any other evidence” since she was last seen.
“It’s suspicious, whether that means there’s foul play involved, or not, I don’t know, but obviously detectives are investigating a matter where a woman’s been missing for a significant period of time,” he said.
Police had previously said they were not treating Murphy’s disappearance as suspicious. Last week, police announced that the missing persons squad would take over as lead investigators.
Murphy’s disappearance came about a year after Sissy Austin, a former Greens Senate candidate, was attacked while running in the vicinity near where Murphy vanished last week.
Austin was brutally bashed by a man while running along a motorcycle track in the Lal Lal state forest, about 20km from where Murphy had planned to run, on 11 February 2023.
Her attacker has never been found. Police said the man, who knocked Austin unconscious with a rock tied to a stick, was believed to be Caucasian, wearing black jeans, a cap and no shoes or shirt.
After Austin regained consciousness, she ran 4km back to her car and called the police. At the time, police combed through the area looking for the weapon and said they were looking for dashcam footage and vehicles that were out of place. They also said they would ramp up patrols in the local area as an added safety measure.
Austin told Guardian Australia on Wednesday that police were yet to speak to her about the missing person investigation into Murphy but that she would help if approached.
“My reason for having a voice in this is hoping that my story can help find Samantha,” she said.
Austin said she wanted to understand what stage the police investigation into her attack had reached.
In response to questions from Guardian Australia about Austin’s case, police said it was an “ongoing assault investigation”.
Austin, who last week joined the ground search for Murphy, said the disappearance had caused “angst” in the community, particularly for the running community.
“Everyone is on edge,” she said.
The former Victorian homicide detective Charlie Bezzina told the ABC on Tuesday he would be looking into the investigation file of Austin if he was on the case.
“Did they have suspects? Let’s start re-interviewing these suspects, let’s get them alibied.”
Murphy, 51, was last seen on Sunday, 4 February when she left her Ballarat East home at about 7am. She had told friends she was planning a 14-kilometre run through the nearby Woowookarung regional park. Her family sounded the alarm when she did not attend a brunch at 11am.
A CCTV camera in the family’s driveway captured Murphy outside her home at 7am on 4 February, wearing a purple running singlet and black leggings.
On Saturday, police scaled back the official ground search for Murphy but said the investigation continued.
Police last week widened their appeal for dashcam and CCTV footage that could assist the investigation.
