Ballarat search: Community looks for missing mum who vanished on a run

A large-scale search for Victorian mother-of-three Samantha Murphy has failed to locate her after she went missing four days ago.

Emergency crews continue to search for missing Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy who disappeared five days ago after going for a run.

The 51-year-old was last seen leaving her Eureka Street home at Ballarat East, Australia, at about 7am on Sunday.

Victoria police said her disappearance was out of character and they were concerned for her welfare after temperatures reached 36C.

Crews have been searching in the Canadian Forest area since Monday before shifting their focus to the suburb of Mount Helen, east of Geelong Road, on Wednesday, with a third search party canvassing paddocks in nearby Warrenheip.

Victoria police have released CCTV of missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy running at about 7.16am.

A friend of Murphy said the 51-year-old was an extremely dedicated mum and described the situation as an “absolute nightmare rollercoaster”.

“I’m beside myself and I could not even imagine how (the family) are at the moment or how they’re even coping,” Virginia O’Loughlan told Sunrise.

She said Murphy had recently got back into running and was training for a race.

“Sam is extremely fit. Sam is the most strong woman I know and I’m not just talking about mind, I’m also talking about body,” O’Loughlan said.

“Sam is a fierce woman who will be doing whatever she can at the moment to make sure that she’s reunited with her family.”

Murphy’s friend praised the community for their efforts in searching for the missing mum, saying she was a sensible person who would have stuck to the tracks.

“We need as many people as we can out there, whether it be on car, on foot, horseback, motorbike, just continually looking and just trying to work out where Sam would be,” she said.

Police on Wednesday released more CCTV footage they said showed Murphy running at 7.16am on Sunday near her home heading towards Yankee Flat Rd.

Residents in the area have been asked to review any CCTV they have between 7am to 11am on Sunday.

Crews found some items on Wednesday but they were not believed to be related to Murphy’s whereabouts.

Murphy is Caucasian, about 173cm tall with a slim build and shoulder-length blonde hair.

She was last seen wearing black half-length leggings and a maroon or brown singlet.