Samantha Murphy Ballarat * Patrick Orren Stephenson Charged With Murder

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Yeah, but 7am in that area is not teeming with foot or vehicle traffic, so lessens the risk somewhat. E.g. if a local perp or someone who'd scoped out her habits and the area beforehand.

I agree it's less likely, but wouldn't rule it out. Just look at the dearth of any dashcam or cctv that anyone has provided, despite repeated requests from police.

It appears the coppers believe something possibly happened in Mt Clear area - that's a fair hike from home (around 6kms). Factor in a few stops / walks and so on means she probably arrived around 7.30ish.


Dearth of CCTV is due to her run being through an area without streetwise CCTV coverage and bushland.
 
Looking at the satellite image of the Mt Clear area looks like a couple of small dams/water bodies. Unsure how deep they are this time of year though
 

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Looking at the satellite image of the Mt Clear area looks like a couple of small dams/water bodies. Unsure how deep they are this time of year though

Quite a big one off recreation rd. Probably used for firefighting purposes, looks like it would be holding water most of the time.


Wonder if it's been canvassed extensively.
 
Interesting development. Wonder how this impacts the local planned search tomorrow?

Haven't managed to glean much locally the past few days. Had fire debris from Burrumbeet landing at home last night, so a bit preoccupied.

(Also been away in Sydney taking taekwondo classes and visiting ch10 studios... that's a joke btw. I was nowhere near those tragic events. ☹)
I'd say this information is being released by the Police today in order to stop the planned search or at least contain it.
The problem with the planned search from a Police perspective would be the possible contaminating of evidence, interfering in sites that they maybe surreptitiously watching or watching someone and don't want them on the scene 'searching' etc.
Reading between the lines, the timing and what has been said in the press conference that she is unlikely to be alive, points strongly to the Police not wanting it to happen, for whatever their reasons.
 
Do you mean hard to get data quickly even in your own family/360 group? Or in a professional capacity? (I've never used it, but understand how it works, just not the data access behind it. There was a guy who went missing in Perth a while back, and I think his daughter/s knew immediately that something was wrong.)
In a professional capacity, LEA typically have a line in to most carriers/providers (etc...) that will provide access quicker than most think, but there are apps that provide different challenges (geographically, legislative). For the most part in instance like these, most are pretty active, but some not so much.
 
It appears the coppers believe something possibly happened in Mt Clear area - that's a fair hike from home (around 6kms). Factor in a few stops / walks and so on means she probably arrived around 7.30ish.


Dearth of CCTV is due to her run being through an area without streetwise CCTV coverage and bushland.

But even her departure from home and short section on sealed road hasn't prompted any cctv.
Agree on later timeline - I'd expect more activity in Mt Clear area by 730-ish than 7am departure from home.
 
I'd say this information is being released by the Police today in order to stop the planned search or at least contain it.
The problem with the planned search from a Police perspective would be the possible contaminating of evidence, interfering in sites that they maybe surreptitiously watching or watching someone and don't want them on the scene 'searching' etc.
Reading between the lines, the timing and what has been said in the press conference that she is unlikely to be alive, points strongly to the Police not wanting it to happen, for whatever their reasons.

Thanks Pam, that's pretty much what I was thinking. Even with bush tracker guidance (!short time frame to 'train" people) police don't want a bunch of amateurs crashing through the bush. And yeah, I was also thinking there might be one or more people on a watch list atm.
 
But even her departure from home and short section on sealed road hasn't prompted any cctv.
Agree on later timeline - I'd expect more activity in Mt Clear area by 730-ish than 7am departure from home.

I would imagine CCTV coverage from when it happened to be probably overwritten by now and also largely irrelevant as CCTV usually focuses on entry points to properties rather than the street in general.
 
In a professional capacity, LEA typically have a line in to most carriers/providers (etc...) that will provide access quicker than most think, but there are apps that provide different challenges (geographically, legislative). For the most part in instance like these, most are pretty active, but some not so much.

Thanks. You'd think if life360 was in play though, she'd have family or friends (or someone) in her group who could give Police immediate info, so agree I think the delay has been police accessing data family can't (or won't?) provide.
 
There is a definite change in the tone of media reporting by the police.


I believe they've matched mobile phone data to a suspect that correlates with Samantha meeting foul play in the Mt Clear area but that alone probably isn't enough for an arrest so they'll turn up the pressure publicly now.
 
I'd say this information is being released by the Police today in order to stop the planned search or at least contain it.
The problem with the planned search from a Police perspective would be the possible contaminating of evidence, interfering in sites that they maybe surreptitiously watching or watching someone and don't want them on the scene 'searching' etc.
Reading between the lines, the timing and what has been said in the press conference that she is unlikely to be alive, points strongly to the Police not wanting it to happen, for whatever their reasons.
Could also be that they know when and where she's disappeared from and potentially with whom but don't know where she is now? Kinda like a 'we know who you are. We're watching you. Why don't you just turn yourself in'?
 
I would imagine CCTV coverage from when it happened to be probably overwritten by now and also largely irrelevant as CCTV usually focuses on entry points to properties rather than the street in general.

I meant more broadly to encompass dashcam as well, but yeah your point still stands, dashcam even more likely to be over-written by now than cctv on structures.
 

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There is a definite change in the tone of media reporting by the police.


I believe they've matched mobile phone data to a suspect that correlates with Samantha meeting foul play in the Mt Clear area but that alone probably isn't enough for an arrest so they'll turn up the pressure publicly now.

Could also be that they know when and where she's disappeared from and potentially with whom but don't know where she is now? Kinda like a 'we know who you are. We're watching you. Why don't you just turn yourself in'?

Certainly giving that indication, isn't it?
 
I'd say this information is being released by the Police today in order to stop the planned search or at least contain it.
The problem with the planned search from a Police perspective would be the possible contaminating of evidence, interfering in sites that they maybe surreptitiously watching or watching someone and don't want them on the scene 'searching' etc.
Reading between the lines, the timing and what has been said in the press conference that she is unlikely to be alive, points strongly to the Police not wanting it to happen, for whatever their reasons.

The Ground Crew have been liaising with the police about the search and it’s still going ahead.

In fact they are calling on anyone to come and assist if they are able to.

Of course if something happened today and the ground crew got a directive to stop the search they would. But they haven’t.
 
Certainly giving that indication, isn't it?

It is. But is a suspect's mobile phone data matching the victim's data enough for an arrest? All that would show is they were both in the area on the day of the disappearance.
 
The Ground Crew have been liaising with the police about the search and it’s still going ahead.

In fact they are calling on anyone to come and assist if they are able to.

Of course if something happened today and the ground crew got a directive to stop the search they would. But they haven’t.

That's interesting. Maybe police believe some critical evidence can be found and risk of contamination is low/outweighed by it?
 
Thanks Pam, that's pretty much what I was thinking. Even with bush tracker guidance (!short time frame to 'train" people) police don't want a bunch of amateurs crashing through the bush. And yeah, I was also thinking there might be one or more people on a watch list atm.
Yes, that old "The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions".
I would say that the Police certainly don't want to loose sight of any 'target(s)' in a crowd of outsiders, let alone a 'target(s)' having the ability to plant, interfere or dispose of something during said search.

Also with those fires being so close (reletively) it's not a good idea for a whole lot of people swarming into the area and clogging up the roads.
It must be tough enough being in the emergency services up there at the moment without having the possibility of having further drains or other on resources. Hope you and yours are all safe and everyone in the state in fact.
 
It is. But is a suspect's mobile phone data matching the victim's data enough for an arrest? All that would show is they were both in the area on the day of the disappearance.

If they were in the same area at the same time though? Any suspect would be likely to have at least seen her given few people around, but denying they did would be a big red flag.
 
With all the extra investigation resources allocated and this newly released information it sounds like the coppers are closing in on solving the disappearance.
The presser sounded promising. It's interesting that he answered most questions including ruling out the husband, we're talking to family, friends and colleagues etc but gave a "I can't comment" regarding any Bikie links. Or am I reading too much into it? He also reassured everyone that the area is safe and there is no danger posed to anyone which suggests a targeted attack.
 
Anyone who was involved in the disappearance who was in the area at the time must know that the police will eventually be able to track them down if they had their mobile phone with them.


Problem is they rightfully assumed it would take a significant period of time for LE to get the necessary warrants and to filter out the huge amount of irrelevant mobile phone data from the day of the disapperance.

Giving a potential suspect quite a head start on concealing a body.
 
Could also be that they know when and where she's disappeared from and potentially with whom but don't know where she is now? Kinda like a 'we know who you are. We're watching you. Why don't you just turn yourself in'?

That's what the coppers did with old mate Jetstar pilot from CS in the Wonnangatta couple case. Eventually sent him bonkers and they closed in to arrest him as they thought he might off himself.
 
Yes, that old "The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions".
I would say that the Police certainly don't want to loose sight of any 'target(s)' in a crowd of outsiders, let alone a 'target(s)' having the ability to plant, interfere or dispose of something during said search.

Also with those fires being so close (reletively) it's not a good idea for a whole lot of people swarming into the area and clogging up the roads.
It must be tough enough being in the emergency services up there at the moment without having the possibility of having further drains or other on resources. Hope you and yours are all safe and everyone in the state in fact.

Thanks. Fires are to the north and west, so search area not impacted at this stage.
(Had a few hairy moments last night with fire debris landing at home. Hoping Avoca is safe today. 🤞 )
 

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Samantha Murphy Ballarat * Patrick Orren Stephenson Charged With Murder

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