The husband of missing Victorian mother Samantha Murphy has revealed he didn’t realize anything was wrong until until afterward while he was waiting for her at home.
Mick Murphy said Samantha, who went missing while out for an early morning jog on February 4, had been training for a marathon and while he knew her runs were getting longer and longer, he was not so not worried when she didn’t come back on time.
“The day she went missing I thought she was gone for a little bit longer,” he told the Ballarat Courier.
“She loved running in the bush, she left during the week at 5:30 a.m. every morning. I never called her because it was her time. She loved doing it herself,” Mr Murphy said.
No trace of the mother-of-three was ever found with the last phone location sent by Ms Murphy to Mount Clear, around 5km from her home, on the day she disappeared.
Police allege Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, “deliberately attacked” Ms Murphy and charged her with murder on March 7.
He was taken into custody and police say he repeatedly refused to cooperate with them in their search for Ms Murphy’s remains.
It’s now been 55 days since she went missing and police said Tuesday there were no new updates on the search.
Mick Murphy (pictured at an “Enough is Enough” rally in Ballarat this month) said he didn’t realize at first his wife was missing because she was doing longer runs in training for a marathon.
Mr Murphy said Samantha was a “very determined” woman and would have competed in the Ballarat Marathon held on Saturday.
Mr Murphy said his wife would have taken part in the Ballarat Marathon, the inaugural race of which took place on Saturday.
In a touching gesture, several of the hundreds of runners wore yellow clothing in his honor.
Yellow refers to his favorite AFL club, the Richmond Tigers, whose colors are yellow and black.
Mr Murphy said the mother-of-three would have been front and center among the participants because she had a very strong will when turning to a challenge.
She marked her 50th birthday not long ago by completing a 125km solo walk along the hiking trails of Apollo Bay on Victoria’s south coast.
“(It’s) how determined she is, she’s quite a strong woman,” Mr Murphy said.
The push to wear yellow during the Ballarat Marathon was started by former Greens Senate candidate Sissy Austin.
Ms Austin, a keen marathon runner, was attacked by a stranger while running in Lal Lal State Forest, 20 minutes southeast of Ballarat, in 2023.
“Lots of women are organizing this event for Samantha…supporters are encouraged to wear a pop of lemon yellow,” she wrote on social media.
“It has been an incredibly difficult few months for runners in the Ballarat community, training for a marathon while feeling terrified has been very difficult.”
“Myself and my amazing physiotherapist, coach and team members are all traveling to Wadawurrung country and running the full or half marathon event.”
Many of the hundreds of runners at the Ballarat Marathon (pictured) wore yellow clothing in honor of Ms Murphy.
Former Greens Senate candidate Sissy Austin spearheaded the push to wear yellow as part of her Take Back the Track campaign to increase women’s safety.
Earlier this month, Ms Austin organized an Enough is Enough rally in Ballarat to protest violence against women.
Mr. Murphy attended the event.
“If you see something wrong, speak up. Let the authorities know,” he told the crowd.
He also tearfully revealed this month that he would be leaving to find his wife.
“Sometimes I’ll go for a drive and it might not be in a particular place, or I’ll walk around for two hours. It varies every day,” he said.
“I was sitting at home, not doing myself any favors.
“You know, for someone so good, to leave the community, it’s quite difficult – she’s always been good to us and a good mother.
“You won’t hear a bad word about her, she was a good mother, caring and always providing for everyone.”
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