After calling her mobile, with no answer, Mick notified police and began searching in nearby bushland.
More than three months on, he told 9News in an exclusive interview that he hasn’t stopped searching for his beloved wife.
“On that particular day, I was outside and thought she’ll be coming up the road pretty soon,” he said.
“I just thought, ‘Ah well, she might’ve gone a bit longer’. I went outside and said to the kids, ‘Has mum come home yet?’ and they said no. I thought that was a bit odd.”
It hasn’t stopped Mick, who searches 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.”
‘Beautiful mother and incredibly smart woman’
Mick and Samantha met at the pub in Gordon, near Geelong. They hit it off immediately.
“We were friends for a period of time and one thing led to another,” Mick said.
“We’ve always had our own drive to always be successful, we’ve always worked hard.
”Life was really good and then this came into our lives.”
The couple’s 27th wedding anniversary was February 21, a milestone that was hard to celebrate.
“[She] is an incredibly smart and wonderful woman … was kind, caring, loyal and would always offer to help anyone at any time,” Mick said.
“You won’t hear a bad word about her, she was a good mother, caring and always providing for everybody.
“She was always smiling and happy and we want people to remember Sam for who she was. Anyone who knows her knows what she’s like.”
Mick stopped briefly after tearing up, saying: “It’s hard for someone so good to be gone [from] the community”.
“The walk shows the respect the community has for Sam and the others who were killed,” he said.
“The support will be great and I think it will be a pretty emotional time too.
“Everyone will stick together and the Ballarat community is really good and everyone knows everybody, there will be lots of hugs and cuddles.”
Despite the community support, there is no escaping the nightmare for Mick, who will not rest until his beloved wife’s body is found.
“I wouldn’t wish this on anybody,” he said.
