SAD UPDATE THREE MONTHS AFTER SAMANTHA MURPHY WENT MISSING
- Ms Murphy missing since Feb 4
- Patrick Orren Stephenson charged with murder
- The mother's body is yet to be found
- READ MORE: Samantha Murphy's alleged killer hit with fresh charges
It's been three months since beloved mother-of-three Samantha Murphy went missing and her family are no closer to knowing where her body may be.
The 51-year-old left her home in Ballarat East, northwest of Melbourne, on February 4, for her usual morning run but never returned.
Her disappearance made headlines around the country, sparked countless police and community-led searches and left her husband Mick and their three children devastated.
In early March, Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, was charged with her alleged murder.
Police allege Ms Murphy was killed on the day she went missing in the Canadian State Forest but no trace of her has been found since she vanished.
Stephenson has not entered a plea and it's understood he has not cooperated with police and questions still remain as to where her body could be.
Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro said it is unlikely any more information into what happened to Ms Murphy will be made public in the near future.
'The accused has reserved his plea and in that setting he's entitled to the presumption of innocence so it's unlikely anymore information regarding her will be coming,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'I imagine he's maintained his right to silence.'
While speaking generally about those who have been convicted of murder, Mr Watson-Munro said there can be reasons why they stay quiet
'They'd rather go the grave maintaining a position of innocence than an acknowledgement of guilt.'
He said another reason was that they may fear how their loved ones may react.
In Victoria in 2017, the 'no body, no parole' law was introduced, meaning convicted killers can be refused parole if they don't disclose where their victims were.
The law was introduced in NSW in 2022, and is also used in Queensland and South Australia.
A Victoria Police spokesperson confirmed to Daily Mail Australia there are currently no active searches for Ms Murphy.
'The community has been incredibly impacted by Ms Murphy's disappearance,' Mr Watson-Munro added.
'You'd hope the body could be found for the sake of the family.'
Victoria Police added the investigation was still ongoing and they were 'continuing to do all we can to locate her'.
Detectives from the Missing Persons Unit have been in a race against time to find Ms Murphy's body.
In the three months since she vanished, the area around Ballarat has seen heatwaves, bushfires and heavy rain as search teams tried to retrace her steps.
Wild animals including foxes are also known to have large populations in the dense bushland in the forests surrounding Ballarat.
If left uncovered in the harsh bush, experts believe a body can quickly decompose, destroying important DNA evidence.
'The time taken for a body to decompose depends on climatic conditions, like temperature and moisture, as well as the accessibility to insects,' the Australian Museum stated.
'In summer, a human body in an exposed location can be reduced to bones alone in just nine days.'
Experts believe if Ms Murphy's body has been buried, or dumped down one of Ballarat's many mine shafts, detectives could still be able to extract important evidence.
'A body that is buried 1.2m under the ground retains most of its tissue for a year,' the museum stated.
Last month, police brought in specialist cadaver dogs from New South Wales to scour the Victorian bush at multiple locations in dense scrub.
Teams of officers focused their search within Enfield State Park, 30km south of Ballarat - but another search team was also working 25km away in thick scrub in the Durham Lead Nature Conservation Reserve.
The nature reserve is just south of Buninyong where Ms Murphy's phone was last detected by mobile phone towers at 5pm on the day she vanished.
Just weeks ago, Ms Murphy's long suffering husband Mick Murphy told Channel 9 he had not stopped searching for her.
'On that particular day, I was outside and thought she'll be coming up the road pretty soon,' he said.
'Then she didn't.'
Mr Murphy said he searched daily, either by driving through town or spending two hours walking through a pine plantation.
'Sometimes I go for a drive and it might not be anywhere particular, or I go for a walk for two hours. It varies every day,' he said.
'It's very good for my mind and if I sat at home I wouldn't do myself any favours.'
Missing Persons Unit Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt has previously stated police would never give up looking for Ms Murphy.
'I want to assure those in the Ballarat community that police remain focused on doing everything we can to return Samantha to her family,' he said last month.
It comes as Ms Murphy's accused killer was hit with new charges in relation to an alleged drug and alcohol-fuelled bender last year.
Stephenson has received drink and drug driving charges after he allegedly crashed a motorbike into a tree on the night of October 1 following the AFL grand final.
He has also been also charged with careless driving.
Daily Mail Australia doesn't suggest that Stephenson has been involved in any wrongdoing, only that charges have been laid.
He has not yet entered a plea to the new charges.
Stephenson is due to face court again on August 8 over the driving and murder charges.
Anyone with any information about Ms Murphy's disappearance is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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