Police say “items of interest” have been found in a new search to find the body of missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy, with detectives scouring areas of the regional Victorian city on Wednesday.
Murphy, 51, was last seen nearly four months ago, when she left her Ballarat East home to go for a run on 4 February.
In March, police charged 22-year-old Patrick Stephenson with Murphy’s murder after arresting him in the nearby farming town of Scotsburn.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Victoria Police said detectives from the missing persons squad “located some items of interest” in Buninyong, about 11km south of Ballarat, on Wednesday morning during the search for Murphy.
Footage and photographs from the scene show officers lifting what appears to be a phone on the bank of a dam, although police would not confirm what the items of interest were.
“The area has been cordoned off and those items will now be forensically tested,” police said.
“The items were located during today’s targeted search, which involved investigators and other specialist units from across Victoria Police and assistance from the AFP.”
Police said further information would be provided after the testing was completed.
Earlier, police said they were “undertaking a targeted search in the Ballarat area” on Wednesday.
“Police ask that members of the public do not attend the search at this time.”
Murphy’s family has been advised of the search, police said.
On Thursday morning police said there were “no plans for police to search the same area” it did on Wednesday, and that the investigation remained ongoing.
Victoria Police said since Murphy’s disappearance detectives had conducted a range of inquiries and small-scale searches as part of the investigation.
Ballarat locals also organised volunteer-led searches in an effort to assist the investigation.
Past searches have zeroed in on Enfield state park, about 25km south of Ballarat, and Buninyong. Searches have also focused on the Woowookarung regional park, known by locals as the Canadian forest, on the south-eastern fringe of Ballarat.
Police charged Stephenson on 6 March and he was taken into custody. He is due to appear at Ballarat magistrates court on 8 August.
Murphy’s husband, Michael, issued an emotional plea after police charged Stephenson, saying he hoped the 22-year-old had information that would help police find the body.
Police have not disclosed if they know how Murphy was killed but the commissioner, Shane Patton, alleged it was an “intentional act”.
He said Stephenson was not known to Murphy’s family and alleged that he had acted alone.
Murphy’s family reported the mother of three missing when she did not return home from a 7am run on Sunday 4 February. She had told family and friends she planned to go for a 14km run.
