Heartbreaking twist after Samantha Murphy went missing: Husband reveals why he didn’t realise something was wrong

The husband of Samantha Murphy has explained why it took him such time to realise something was wrong when she did not return from her regular morning jog.

Mick Murphy said Samantha, who never returned from a jog on February 4 and is presumed dead, had been training for a marathon so when she did not return at the usual time, he thought she was running further.

He did not call to check, as he did not want to interrupt. 

‘On that particular day when she went missing, I thought she’d just gone for a bit of a longer run,’ he told The Ballarat Courier.

‘She loved going running out in the bush, she would leave on a weekday at 5.30am every morning. I never called her because that was her time. She liked to do it by herself,’ Mr Murphy said.

No trace of the mother-of-three has ever been found with Ms Murphy’s last sent phone location as Mount Clear, about 5km from her home, on the day she went missing.

Police allege Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, ‘deliberately attacked’ Ms Murphy and charged him with murder on March 7.

He was remanded in custody but police efforts for him to divulge where her remains are located have not borne fruit.

It has now been 55 days since she vanished and police on Tuesday said there are no new updates on the search.

Mr Murphy said his wife would have run in the Ballarat Marathon which was held for the first time on Saturday.

In a touching gesture, many of the hundreds of runners wore a piece of yellow clothing in her honour.

The yellow references her favourite AFL club Richmond, whose colours are yellow and black.

Mr Murphy said the mother-of-three would have been front-and-centre among those participating because she had such a strong will when she set her sights on a challenge.

She marked her milestone 50th birthday by completing a 125km solo walk along hiking trails at Apollo Bay on Victoria Southern Coast.

‘(That’s) how determined she is, she’s a pretty strong woman,’ Mr Murphy said.

The push to wear yellow during the Ballarat Marathon was instigated by former Greens Senate candidate Sissy Austin.

Ms Austin, a keen marathon runner, had been attacked by a stranger while running in the Lal Lal state forest 20 minutes southeast of Ballarat in 2023.

‘A lot of women are running this event for Samantha … supporters are encouraged to wear a touch of lemon yellow,’ she wrote to social media.

‘It has been an incredible challenging few months for female runners in the Ballarat community, to train for a marathon whilst feeling terrified has been very hard.’

‘Myself and my incredible physio, coach and squad members are all travelling to Wadawurrung country and running the full or the half marathon event.’

Earlier this month, Ms Austin had organised an Enough is Enough Rally in Ballarat to protest for action on violence against women.

Mr Murphy attended the event.

‘If you see something that’s not right, speak up. Let the authorities know,’ he told the crowd. 

He also tearfully revealed he continues the fruitless search for his wife. 

‘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.

‘If I sat at home, I wouldn’t do myself any favours.

‘For someone so good to be gone out of the community, it’s pretty hard – she was always good to us and a good mum.

‘You won’t hear a bad word about her, she was a good mother, caring and always providing for everybody.’