Huge group of volunteers join search for missing mother Samantha Murphy - Sky News Australia

The search for missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy has ramped up with a large group of volunteers joining efforts to help find the Victorian mother. 

Volunteers on Saturday donned hi-vis as they scoured bushland around Ballarat for any signs of Ms Murphy, who has not been seen since Sunday, February 4.

Her disappearance is being treated by police as suspicious, with detectives revealing "one or more parties" are likely involved. 

Saturday's massive ground search involved some volunteers using metal detectors and riding postie bikes after the group gathered at Eureka Stockade memorial park.

Volunteer group Ground Crew, which has dedicated itself to helping locate Ms Murphy, had taken to social media to put the call out for residents to join the search. 

"We fully appreciate that there are many different opinions on what should and shouldn't be happening, but we remain steadfast in believing that searching for anything that can assist the authorities is worth pursuing," a Facebook post said.

"Furthermore, after researching other similar incidents, our group plans on keeping the forward momentum and enthusiasm going in our efforts to find answers. In other words, we don't want the search for Samantha to just fade away like so many others have."

Ms Murphy left her Eureka Street, Ballarat East home about 7am on February 4 to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest but never returned for a family event that day.

Victoria Police on Friday revealed they had launched a targeted search for Ms Murphy in the Mount Clear area after obtaining intelligence gleaned from her phone data.

Crime Command's Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt told a press conference the area was searched in the early stages following Ms Murphy's disappearance but the new effort would be focused on finding the mum-of-three's phone and body.

"Unfortunately, given the time, and the fact we have found no trace of her, we do have severe concerns, and are very doubtful that she is still alive," he said.

"We do think another party has been involved whether that be one person or a number of people."

Detective Acting Superintendent Hatt also confirmed police had searched the Murphy family home but that her husband, Mick Murphy, was not a suspect at this stage, however, he added that "everyone in relation to Samantha is a person of interest".

"We are speaking to everyone that was in her life," he said.

Police believe Ms Murphy reached the Mount Clear area, about 7km from her house, within an hour after leaving her home on the day of her disappearance.

Ms Murphy is described as Caucasian, about 173cm tall with a slim build and shoulder-length blonde hair. She was last seen wearing black half-length leggings and a maroon/brown-coloured singlet.

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2024-02-24 06:27:25Z
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