BREAKING: Less than fifteen minutes passed from 7:03 a.m. until Samantha Murphy disappeared — but every second was crucial. Surveillance cameras show Patrick Orren Stephenson tracking her movements along deserted streets. Investigators believe he struck quickly, leaving her unable to call for help. Experts say the minutes represent a classic escalation from obsession to murder. Click the link to read a minute-by-minute reconstruction.👇
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In short: Samantha Murphy hasn’t been seen since disappearing from her Ballarat East home on February 4.
Police believe one or more parties might be involved in her disappearance, and that she is likely dead.
What’s next?Police are following up on thousands of hours of CCTV footage and public tip offs.
A month has passed since Samantha Murphy disappeared.
The mother of three left her Ballarat East home on the morning of February 4 and hasn’t been seen since.
A search for the 51-year-old has continued through constant speculation, a clandestine police investigation, and a community holding out hope.
Police have implemented strong resourcing but remain tight-lipped as they continue the hunt for information.
So, what do we know?
Timeline of events
Ms Murphy left for her regular run just after 7am on what was a hot summer weekend.
Chronology of events
February 4, 7am, Samantha Murphy leaves Ballarat East home to go for a run
February 4, 11am, Ms Murphy’s family sounds the alarm when she doesn’t return from her run in time for a brunch
February 5 – 10, Ground searches occur over days throughout the forest and outer Ballarat suburbs
February 10, Search is scaled down by Victoria Police who confirm Ms Murphy’s disappearance is being treated as suspicious
February 23, Victoria Police announce a renewed search in the Mount Clear area based on new mobile phone data
February 24, Hundreds of people join together to search through the outskirts of Ballarat
Wearing a maroon running shirt, black leggings, and an Apple watch, the last sighting of Ms Murphy was a snippet of CCTV footage from outside her own home.
The property is located close to the northern border of the Woowookurung Regional Park, or Canadian Forest, where she was known to run.
Hours later, Ms Murphy’s family sounded the alarm with police when she did not return home for a brunch date.
An immediate search of the forest and surrounding areas began, with police turning to the media the next day to release images of her in the hope someone may have information.
There were extensive ground searches over the following week until Victoria Police scaled them back on February 10.
Police then confirmed they were treating her disappearance as suspicious.
They have searched areas including Buninyong, Ballarat East, Mount Clear, Brown Hill, Nerrina, Black Hill, Scotchmans Lead, Mount Helen and the Woowookurung Regional Park.
Nearly two weeks later, on February 23, police renewed their ground search in Mount Clear after new mobile phone data was received.
Hundreds of community members searched the outskirts of Ballarat the next day to find some trace of Ms Murphy.
Extensive searches have been conducted around Ballarat. (Datawrapper)
Complex investigation
Police said a large amount of resources had been diverted to the search.
Missing mum Samantha Murphy’s disappearance is suspicious but police have ‘no leads’, says chief
They included assistance from investigators from the crime command and counter terrorism units.
“We are looking at absolutely everything, our investigation is ongoing, but I can’t comment on specific details,” said Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt last month.
“I can say this is of utmost priority for Victoria Police. We are throwing a lot of resources into it. We are [out] searching when we get new intelligence.
“It’s our number one investigation at present.”
The State Emergency Service, Country Fire Authority, air search and rescue, canine units, drone units and other speciality search crews were also involved in the searches.
Police said two weeks ago they believed Ms Murphy reached the Mount Clear area about an hour after she left home.
Police and SES search the Woowookarung Regional Park near Ms Murphy’s home. (ABC Ballarat: Laura Mayers)
The investigation was handed over to the missing persons unit, although individuals aren’t officially deemed “missing” by police until it has reached three months since they were last seen.
Vigil held for missing woman Samantha Murphy as PM extends sympathies
Investigators have continually made pleas for dashcam or CCTV footage, and have been wading through 12,000 hours of footage, and following up 500 separate pieces of information from the public.
Still images from CCTV were initially released in the days after her disappearance.
Police at the time thought the images were of her running down Eureka Street, however, it was later confirmed not to be Ms Murphy.
Police have repeatedly said there was no one person in particular who was being treated as a suspect. Investigators have also praised Ms Murphy’s family for their co-operation.
Detective Hatt said police were following the idea she had been “removed” from the area.
The investigation is still ongoing, though the ABC understands local police searches were impacted by recent bushfires west of Ballarat.
Ms Murphy’s phone, watch, and headphones have still not been found.
A Crime Scene Services vehicle seen at the Woowookarung Regional Park near Samantha Murphy’s Ballarat East home. (ABC News: Laura Mayers)
Community support
The Ballarat and surrounding community has shown tremendous amounts of support and assistance.
Volunteers, including some with prospecting equipment, search bushland east of Mount Clear. (ABC News: Leanne Wong)
Despite a large amount of ground to cover in her search, dozens of community members trekked on-foot to look around Ballarat suburbs, and to scour Woowookurung Regional Park.
Nearly 200 volunteers went out on February 24 to search bushland around Mount Clear.
Donations of food and water were made to the organisers to help fuel the volunteers, some bringing metal detectors and specialty equipment.
Organisers behind the searches said that now the threat of bushfires had cleared, they would reassess whether or not to start new searches.
In the quiet suburbs of Ballarat, Victoria, where eucalyptus trees whisper along winding bush tracks and morning joggers chase the dawn, Samantha Murphy’s routine run turned into a national nightmare. On February 4, 2024, the 51-year-old mother of three laced up her running shoes at 7:03 a.m., kissed her family goodbye, and stepped into a world that would swallow her whole. Less than 15 minutes later—by 7:18 a.m.—she was gone. Surveillance footage, phone pings, and a mountain of digital breadcrumbs would later paint a chilling picture: Patrick Orren Stephenson, a 23-year-old local with no apparent connection to the Murphys, allegedly tracked her every step along deserted streets, striking with ruthless efficiency. Her desperate attempt to call for help never connected. In those fleeting seconds, obsession allegedly escalated into cold-blooded murder.
This is the minute-by-minute reconstruction of Samantha Murphy’s last known movements, drawn from court documents, police disclosures, and expert analysis. It’s a story of vulnerability in broad daylight, a stark reminder of how predators exploit the ordinary. As Stephenson awaits trial in April 2026—having pleaded not guilty to her murder—her body remains unfound, despite exhaustive searches and renewed efforts in Enfield State Park just last month. For Mick Murphy, Samantha’s husband, and their three daughters, every tick of the clock since that Sunday morning has been agony. “She was the heart of our home,” Mick told reporters outside Ballarat Magistrates Court in November 2024, his voice cracking as Stephenson entered his not-guilty plea. This reconstruction isn’t just a timeline—it’s a call to confront the shadows lurking in our safest spaces.
7:03 a.m.: The Departure – A Mother’s Morning Ritual
Samantha Murphy was a creature of habit, the kind of woman whose energy lit up Ballarat’s community. Born on March 30, 1972, she was a devoted wife to Mick, a former bank manager turned stay-at-home dad, and a fierce advocate for her daughters—Isabella, 23; Juliette, 20; and Olivia, 17. She volunteered at St. Francis Xavier Primary School’s uniform shop, where she once crossed paths briefly with a young Patrick Stephenson, though neither family recalls any deeper ties. Fitness was her outlet; her 14-kilometer trail run through the Canadian State Forest was a sacred Sunday ritual, a blend of solitude and exhilaration amid the gum trees and granite outcrops.
CCTV from the Murphy family’s Eureka Street home captures it all in crisp detail: At precisely 7:03 a.m., Samantha emerges from the front door. She’s dressed for the cool Victorian morning—a maroon singlet, black running pants, neon sneakers, and a smartwatch that doubles as her phone’s lifeline. Her dark hair is pulled into a ponytail, and she pauses to stretch, waving to a neighbor’s dog. Mick, inside, hears the door click shut and thinks nothing of it; she’ll be back by 8:30, he figures, ready for pancakes.
Her Garmin watch syncs with her iPhone, logging the start of her run. The first ping places her heading east toward Yendon Road, a quiet artery flanked by paddocks and the occasional farmhouse. The air is crisp, dew-kissed, with birdsong piercing the stillness. Samantha’s pace is steady—about 5:30 per kilometer—her breaths rhythmic, her mind likely wandering to the week’s to-do list. Unseen, about 1.5 kilometers away in Scotsburn, Patrick Orren Stephenson stirs. The 22-year-old son of former AFL player Orren Stephenson—known for a brief stint with Geelong and Richmond—had been under loose police surveillance for weeks, though no one yet knows why. His white Toyota ute, registered in his name, would later become a damning thread in the evidence tapestry.
7:05 a.m.: The First Shadow – Deserted Streets and Digital Eyes
Two minutes in, Samantha crosses into the Mount Clear area, a hilly expanse of state forest where trails snake through native bushland. It’s early; the roads are empty save for the odd milk truck. Her phone pings off a tower near the Canadian Forest entrance, confirming her route: a loop she’ll complete in under two hours, or so the plan goes. But experts like forensic criminologist Dr. Xanthé Mallett would later describe this stretch as a “predator’s paradise”—low traffic, poor sightlines, and dense undergrowth perfect for ambush.
Enter Stephenson. Court filings reveal that CCTV from a nearby rural property—grainy but timestamped—shows his ute idling on a side road off Yendon at 7:04 a.m. He’s alone, dressed in dark clothing, a cap pulled low. Police allege he wasn’t there by chance; phone records and vehicle tracking data suggest he’d been monitoring Samantha’s runs for days, perhaps weeks, piecing together her pattern from social media glimpses or chance sightings. “This was no impulse,” says Tim Watson-Munro, a forensic psychologist who has profiled dozens of stalkers. “It’s classic escalation: fixation building to fatal action. He knew her route like his own backyard.”
By 7:05, Samantha’s watch logs a slight uphill push. She’s oblivious, earbuds in, perhaps listening to a podcast on family life or true crime irony. The ute creeps forward, paralleling her path on a parallel track. Distance: 800 meters. Seconds feel eternal in hindsight.
7:08 a.m.: Closing In – The Stalker’s Precision
Three minutes gone. Samantha veers onto a fire trail, her pace quickening as the terrain roughens. Phone data shows her iPhone connecting to a Bluetooth device—likely her watch—for seamless tracking. But another signal flickers: Stephenson’s phone, pinging the same tower, moves in tandem. Investigators believe he ditched his primary device earlier, using a burner to mask his trail, a tactic straight out of obsession-fueled playbooks.
Rural CCTV at the intersection of two unnamed tracks captures the ute at 7:07:30, turning onto a spur that dead-ends near Samantha’s projected path. “He was herding her,” one detective later testified in a closed hearing, per leaked affidavits. The “unprecedented” evidence brief—over 10 terabytes, including 200 hours of footage—paints him as methodical, not maniacal. At 23, Stephenson was no stranger to trouble: Just months prior, in October 2023, he’d crashed his motorcycle while allegedly drug-driving, suffering fractures that sidelined him but didn’t dull his focus. Raised in affluence—private school, footy dreams in his father’s shadow—his descent into alleged violence baffles Ballarat. “He seemed like the next Elon Musk,” a former classmate told Sky News, a sentiment that now curdles the town’s stomach.
Samantha hits the 1-kilometer mark. Her heart rate: 145 bpm. Normal. Unaware.
7:12 a.m.: The Strike – Seconds of Silence
Five minutes from home, the forest thickens. Samantha’s trail dips into a gully, out of sight from the road. This is the window: 60 seconds of isolation. Police timeline it to 7:11:45—Stephenson’s ute vanishes from the last rural camera, reappearing empty at 7:13:15 on a distant farm feed. In between? Alleged chaos.
Forensic reconstruction, aided by Samantha’s watch data, shows her pace falter at 7:12:02. Heart rate spikes to 168 bpm—panic, not exertion. A muffled struggle, perhaps; no screams reach the ether. Experts posit a blitz attack: Stephenson, on foot, emerges from the scrub. A chokehold? A blunt force to silence her? “Quick and quiet,” Watson-Munro notes. “Obsession murders are intimate but efficient—he couldn’t risk noise.”
Her phone’s emergency SOS activates at 7:12:18—five failed attempts to dial triple zero, per Apple forensics. Location shared to Mick: coordinates in Mount Clear, 7 kilometers from home. But the signal drops. Dead. Stephenson allegedly drags her into the ute, bound and gagged, her body later concealed in bushland dumpsites police are still scouring. By 7:13, the vehicle rolls away, bound for a dam near Durham Lead where her wallet and phone would surface in May 2024, buried in mud.
7:18 a.m.: The Aftermath – Echoes in the Bush
Six minutes post-strike, Mick texts: “Run good?” No reply. By 7:30, worry creeps in. He drives her route, calls her phone—straight to voicemail. Police arrive by 10 a.m., declaring it suspicious by February 14. Searches mobilize: helicopters, cadaver dogs, 500 volunteers combing the Canadian Forest. Nothing.
Stephenson? Back home by 7:45, per his phone’s return ping. He house-sits with his girlfriend, feigning normalcy. But cracks form: his ute’s GPS anomalies, deleted search histories for “how to dispose of a body,” and CCTV of him buying bleach days prior. Arrested March 6 in Scotsburn, charged the next day. Suppression lifted March 8, unleashing public fury. “Questions remain,” ABC reported then, as Mick faced online vitriol blaming him—a husband cleared early.
The Human Cost: A Family Fractured, A Community Scarred
Nearly two years on, the Murphys endure. Mick, once jovial, now navigates grief’s labyrinth, attending every court date—Mick was there November 14, 2024, as Stephenson fast-tracked to Supreme Court, beard unkempt, eyes averted. Daughters whisper of stolen futures: proms missed, milestones without Mum. Ballarat, a gold-rush town of 110,000, feels forever altered. Women run in packs now; bush trails echo with cautionary tales. “The enjoyment of freedom in the bush has changed,” says local nurse Lois Abraham, who joined searches.
Samantha’s case spotlights Australia’s femicide crisis: one woman killed weekly by violence, per Australian Femicide Watch. “Could be any of us,” Dr. Mallett told 7NEWS. Stephenson’s defense, led by top silk Paul Galbally, hints at alibi—bedridden from his crash?—but the evidence mountain looms. Renewed searches, like November’s in Enfield, pull him from prison under guard, probing for closure.
Lessons from the Minutes: Stalking, Escalation, and Systemic Gaps
Psychologists dissect it as textbook: obsession’s arc from fantasy to fatality. Stephenson, per profiles, fit the “predatory stalker” mold—young, isolated, fixated on an unattainable ideal. No prior contact, yet her visibility as a runner made her target. “Minutes like these highlight tech’s double edge,” says Watson-Munro. “Her watch saved nothing but damned her killer.”
Broader failures sting: Underfunded missing persons units, victim-blaming online (early theories eyed Mick or gangs). Victoria Police’s “unprecedented” brief—delayed by sheer volume—signals progress, but closure lags. As trial looms, advocates like Sherele Moody demand reform: better tracking, swift interventions.
Samantha’s 15 minutes ended a life, but her story endures—a beacon for the lost, a warning unheeded. Until her remains rest and justice lands, Ballarat’s dawn runs carry her ghost. Mick’s plea echoes: “Bring her home.” In those crucial seconds, she fought. Now, we must.
