<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>329846</docID> <postdate>2024-09-27 08:41:29</postdate> <headline>Latest search for Samantha Murphy’s body called off</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-329685" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20240309001914509133-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy has been missing for 10 months. (Jeremy Bannister/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Rachael Ward</strong> in Melbourne</span></p> <p><strong>The latest search for the body of missing mother Samantha Murphy has failed to turn up anything of interest and has been called off.</strong></p> <p>State and federal police faced wet conditions on Tuesday as they began a new search in Grenville, south of Ballarat, which wrapped up on Thursday.</p> <p>The 51-year-old was last seen alive when she went for a run on the morning of February 4.</p> <p>In March, police charged 23-year-old tradesman Patrick Orren Stephenson with Ms Murphy's murder.</p> <p>The most recent search remains focused on the Enfield State Forest at Grenville.</p> <p>The location is approximately a 15-minute drive from Buninyong, where Ms Murphy's phone was found buried in the mud on the edge of an agricultural dam in May.</p> <p>"Police have concluded their current search of the Enfield State Forest and no items of interest were located," a police spokesperson said.</p> <p>"The investigation remains ongoing and is focused on locating Samantha's body.</p> <p>"We are not in a position to supply further specific details of operational activity at this time."</p> <p>Ms Murphy's disappearance led to an outpouring of grief in the Ballarat community and the nation, with an influx of volunteers joining multiple earlier searches.</p> <p>Stephenson is due to next face court in November after prosecutors asked for a delay to go through an extensive evidence brief including reams of CCTV footage.</p> <p> </p> </body>