The last known image of Victoria’s mother has been released by police in their desperate search for the runner who went missing four days ago.
Samantha Murphy, 51, left her home on Eureka St in Ballarat East about 7am on Sunday but failed to return, sparking fears for her welfare as temperatures soared to 36C (96.8F) across the area.
The three-second clip shows Murphy at 7:16 a.m. on Eureka Street walking northeast.
She had told her husband she was heading out on a regular 20km (12 mile) run through the Canadian National Forest but had not been seen since.
Investigators have asked residents in the area around Eureka St, Warrenheip Rd and Yankee Flat Rd to check their CCTV footage between 7am and 11am.
At about 12:30pm on Wednesday, crews searching a nearby bushwalk in Woowookarung Regional Park found “something of interest”, but police dismissed it.
Police are appealing for the public’s help to help locate Murphy. Victoria Police
“Items found today during the search for Samantha have been assessed and are not currently believed to be related to her whereabouts,” police said in a statement.
Murphy’s husband, Michael Murphy, arrived at the entrance to the state forest road before speaking to police shortly after the items were found.
Mr Murphy was not seen leaving his vehicle and was only at the scene for a short time before he drove away.
Murphy left his home in his running gear on Sunday. Victoria Police
Local resident Donne Crouch on Wednesday morning raised concerns about unusual features in the forest.
“That’s the biggest concern, that there are mine shafts out there that aren’t very visible in some areas,” he told Nine.
Murphy’s husband told the Herald Sun his wife ran in the area every day but said he worried as time went on.
“It’s just up in the air, we don’t know,” he said.
CCTV captured Murphy running past the Ballarat home. Victoria Police
“It’s just a matter of time at the end of the day.”
A major search operation is entering its fourth day, involving local police, officers from the Dog Squad, mounted branch, and the Air Wing.
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State Emergency Service personnel, Forest Fire Management Victoria and Parks Victoria were also involved in the search.
Police and family are concerned about his welfare following Sunday’s hot weather and described his disappearance as “unnatural”.
“Obviously, yesterday was a hot day … there (is) an increased risk there because of the heat,” Acting Inspector Lisa McDougall said on Monday.
“It creates an urgent need to find us and obviously we take into account the fact that it will affect someone’s health.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
