A fresh search has been launched for missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy more than 30km away from Ballarat.
Victoria Police said the search would focus on an area of Enfield State Park ‘highlighted by intelligence derived from a number of sources’.
The park is less than 30km away from where the body of 23-year-old Hannah McGuire was discovered on Friday.
Emergency services found her body inside a burnt-out car in bushland near State Forest Road at Scarsdale, 25km south of Ballarat.
Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt said the search would involve ‘a significant number of detectives from the Missing Persons Squad and police from a number of specialist areas’.
‘I want to assure those in the Ballarat community that police remain focused on doing everything we can to return Samantha to her family,’ he said.
Officers have asked members of the public not to join the search efforts.
Police will allege Ms Murphy was murdered by Patrick Stephenson, 22, on February 4 after she left her Ballarat East home to go for a morning run.
On March 7, Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, was charged with Ms Murphy’s alleged murder, but there have been no major breakthroughs since then.
The development comes three weeks after police launched a search in the Buningyong Bushland Reserve, just south of Ballarat, on March 20.
A fresh search for missing jogger Samantha Murphy has been launched near Enfield State Park
The new location is 30km away from Ballarat and has not been searched before by police
Dozens of officers, cadaver dogs were deployed to the new location but no trace of the 51-year-old one was found after eight hours of searching.
Ms Murphy was last seen on CCTV on the driveway of her Ballarat East home as she left for a run in Woowookarung Regional Park over two months ago.
An extensive search followed, with professionals and volunteers combing over a large area of bushland in the hope of finding her body.
A local group, the Ground Crew, is also still searching for her, keeping in touch with the police and SES, and being careful not to disturb any potential evidence.
Mick Murphy revealed earlier this week he also searches for his missing wife as the family celebrated her 52nd birthday without her last Saturday.
It was ‘the first birthday without Sam… That’s a hard thing but we’ve gotta face reality and realise she’s just not coming back,’ Mr Murphy told the Herald Sun.
Mr Murphy said he misses Samantha but tries to keep high spirits, saying: ‘I need to be strong myself and look after everyone around me.’
Enfield State Park (bottom left) is less than 30km away from State Forest Road near Scarsdale, where the body of Hannah Maguire was found on Friday
Emergency services found Ms MsGuire’s body inside a burnt-out car in bushland near State Forest Road at Scarsdale, 25km south of Ballarat
He shared his deep sorrow for the McGuire family on Wednesday, telling 9News: ‘It’s very sad. I feel for the family.’
Mr Murphy added that he would like to see tougher laws for those convicted of violence against woman.
‘More needs to be done in the country,’ he said. ‘Penalties need to be a lot harsher.
This Sunday marks 10 weeks since Ms Murphy was allegedly killed as pressure mounts on police to find the body and bring closure to her family.
Stephenson is not set to appear before Ballarat Magistrates Court until August 8.
