Four simple words in a new police statement appeared to provide a sliver of hope that missing Victorian mother Samantha Murphy could still be alive – lighting up Facebook groups dedicated to her disappearance.

Ms Murphy left her home at Eureka Street in Ballarat East on February 4 to go jogging in the Woowookarung Regional Park and has not been seen since, with a 22-year-old man arrested in connection to her disappearance on Thursday.

A Victoria Police statement about the arrest said that ‘anyone who sights Samantha’ was asked to call police on triple zero immediately – intriguing locals who have joined searches to find Ms Murphy.

But the sad reality is police have – for weeks – believed that Ms Murphy is likely dead, with a senior officer telling reporters weeks ago that she had ‘most likely’ met with foul play.

Samantha Murphy from Ballarat has been missing since February 4 after going for a jog
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Samantha Murphy from Ballarat has been missing since February 4 after going for a jog

Missing persons detectives arrested a 22-year-old Ballarat man at his house on Wednesday about 6am in connection to the mother-of-three’s ‘suspicious disappearance’.

Police said the man remains in custody but no charges have yet been laid.

Police said there are no further updates at this stage and the investigation remains ongoing.

Samantha Murphy visited a butterfly park during a 2017 trip to Bali

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The statement added that they ‘have also spoken with a number of people already as part of this investigation’.

‘Detectives continue to appeal for anyone who has CCTV or dash-cam footage and is yet to speak to police to come forward.

‘Anyone with any other information regarding her disappearance is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.’

The police search for Ms Murphy was ‘scaled down’ shortly after her disappearance with detectives saying they would only ramp it back up acting on specific information.

But last month a community-led volunteer group continued with the search, painstakingly scouring the bushland around Ballarat.

Wearing hi-vis jackets, long pants, backpacks and hats, about 300 searchers gathered at Ballarat’s Eureka Stockade Memorial Park on February 24 with metal detectors and a sniffer dog.

A number of people have been questioned over her disappearance, including family, friends and colleagues.

However, Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt in February would not be drawn on whether police were looking at any suspects in the case.

He did clarify that Ms Murphy’s husband, Mick, was not a suspect ‘at this stage’.

‘Everyone in relation to Samantha is a person of interest in our investigation. We’re speaking to everyone that was in her life,’ he said.

The detective also wouldn’t comment on whether police had uncovered links to outlaw motorcycle gangs or the financial standing of the smash repair business owned by the Murphys.

Among the volunteer searchers who turned up at the Eureka Stockade Memorial Park to conduct their own search in late February were SES and CFA members on their own time
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Among the volunteer searchers who turned up at the Eureka Stockade Memorial Park to conduct their own search in late February were SES and CFA members on their own time

On the morning she vanished, CCTV footage captured the mother wearing a brown singlet and black half-length leggings outside her home.

About an hour after she started her jog, phone data showed Ms Murphy reached the Mount Clear area, some 7km from her home but from there her trail goes cold.

Police were looking into the possibility that something had happened to Ms Murphy and she had been moved from where she vanished.

On February 8, eldest daughter Jess Murphy joined her father in a public appearance to urge anyone with information about her mother’s whereabouts to speak up.

In an emotional address, Jess described her mum as a ‘really strong woman’ who is ‘far too determined to give up this fight’.

‘Mum, we love you so much, and we miss you. We need you at home with us. Please come home soon. I can’t wait to see you and to give you the biggest hug when I do,’ she said.

‘And to tell you off for giving us so much stress. I love you.’

The family's public address (above) came just two days before Victoria Police 'scaled back' its search effort for Ms Murphy
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The family’s public address (above) came just two days before Victoria Police ‘scaled back’ its search effort for Ms Murphy

Mr Murphy shared his own impassioned plea, saying: ‘People just don’t vanish into thin air. Someone’s got to know something.

‘Whether it be any little thing that you might think is relevant, just call the police and let them know. It’ll give us a bit of peace of mind, some hope.’

On February 9, Victoria Police announced it would be enlisting the help of its elite Missing Persons Unit in Ms Murphy’s case.

The specialist investigators are often called in when it’s feared a missing person has been the victim of foul play, but a body has not been found.

Its officers have been deployed to some of Victoria’s biggest murder investigations in recent years.

The move marked the public beginning of the police force’s move from viewing the case as a rescue to a criminal investigation.