Police reveal day Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy was allegedly murdered
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A man has been charged with murder over the disappearance of Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy, but he has not disclosed where the body is.
Police allege she was murdered at Mount Clear on 4 February, on the day she disappeared.
The 22-year-old Scotsburn man, who has not been named by police, was arrested at his home early on Wednesday morning. He is not linked to the Murphy family, police say.
He will face Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Police have yet to recover the body of Murphy, and the investigation remains ongoing.
They are not looking for an accomplice.
Shortly before police announced the charges, Murphy’s husband Michael told reporters charges had been laid over his wife’s disappearance.
He did not go into further details.
Murphy, a mother of three, left her home at Eureka Street in Ballarat East, in country Victoria, on 4 February to go jogging and has not been seen since
“Despite a significant investigation and extensive searches of the Canadian Forest area, no trace of the 51-year-old has been located,” police said in a statement on Thursday.
Murphy’s disappearance sparked weeks of extensive searches around the greater Ballarat area by trained emergency services workers and hundreds of concerned locals.
They combed through dense forest, private land and walking tracks.
Victorian police chief commissioner Andrew Patton said the family had been told and said they had no involvement in the matter.
“We’re still at a critical stage of this investigation, where we are trying to locate Samantha’s body as well as a whole range of other evidence.
“We have identified through a very painstaking, methodical investigation an offender. We’ve charged that person with murder. They are now or could be at this very moment … fronting Ballarat Magistrates’ Court to face that charge,” Patton said.
He thanked detectives and asked the public to come forward if they had any information.
Police did not give further details about the ongoing investigation.
Finding Murphy’s body was “vital”, Patton said.
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