Detectives may face another hurdle in their investigation into the disappearance of Samantha Murphy if her loved ones don’t know her iPhone passcode.
The mother-of-three’s phone was found on Thursday near Slaughterhouse Road, south of Buninyong, near Ballarat in Victoria.
The 51-year-old vanished without a trace on the morning of February 4 when she left her home for a run in Ballarat East.
While her remains have not been found, the recovery of her phone has been seen as a major milestone in the investigation, with detectives seen hugging and cheering after it was located covered in mud beside a dam.
Even if the phone has been damaged in the four months since Ms Murphy was last seen, the data will reportedly still be accessible.
But investigators may face trouble accessing the phone if nobody can provide the right passcode.
Detectives may face another hurdle in their investigation into the disappearance of Samantha Murphy if her loved ones don’t know her iPhone passcode
The phone of the mother-of-three was found on Thursday near Slaughterhouse Road, south of Buninyong, near Ballarat in Victoria
According to Apple: ‘Devices locked with a passcode are protected by passcode encryption, and Apple can’t help remove the passcode lock without erasing the device.
‘For security, Apple requires and verifies legal documentation before we can assist with a deceased person’s account.
‘This generally includes a death certificate, and may also require a court order or other documentation. The requirements vary by country and region.’
Her phone may be able to provide medical data from the time of her disappearance.
It comes after Ms Murphy’s husband Mick said he instantly knew the phone belonged to his wife.
Mick Murphy (pictured in April) says he instantly recognised an iPhone found beside a dam as belonging to his missing wife Samantha, who is believed to be dead
Police called Mr Murphy moments after the iPhone was discovered.
Mr Murphy told 9News he immediately knew it was his wife’s.
The phone was found beside a dam 5km from the phone tower where the device last pinged before falling silent.
The device is believed to have been found by a police tech detector dog.
In a statement issued shortly after the mobile phone was found, police said they had located some ‘items of interest’ during the search for the missing mum.
The phone, along with other items found in the search, underwent forensic testing with sources confirming to the device belonged to Ms Murphy.
Samantha Murphy (pictured with her husband Mick) vanished without a trace after she left her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, Victoria, on the morning of February 4
The breakthrough sparked hushed celebrations between investigators, who were seen quietly high-fiving, hugging and shaking hands (pictured)
Officers located the mud-splattered mobile phone in a wallet at the water’s edge of a dam at a property south of Buninyong, approximately 14km from Ms Murphy’s home
The owner of the property near the dam, who wished to remain anonymous, said police contacted him about three weeks ago asking for permission to access his land.
The man said officers returned on Wednesday where they told him they were going to perform a line search along the road.
‘A dog found something on the banks and they came up and asked me and my wife to make a statement,’ he said.
The man said police were interested in the levels of his dam.
‘I haven’t seen anything suspicious out there. We don’t have cameras. But yeah I believe one of those tech dogs found it,’ he said.
The man said detectives came and spoke to him about a month after Ms Murphy vanished, but only returned again in recent weeks.
‘They just asked me if I’d seen anything suspicious,’ he said.
Daily Mail Australia understands police are still searching for Ms Murphy’s missing watch and headphones, or a possible murder weapon (pictured, a map of previous search areas)
Daily Mail Australia understands police are still searching for Ms Murphy’s missing watch and headphones, or a possible murder weapon.
In early March, almost five weeks after Ms Murphy’s disappearance, local man Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, was charged with her alleged murder.
Police allege Stephenson ‘deliberately attacked’ Ms Murphy in Mount Clear, about 7km into her run on a route she had done ‘countless’ times.
Stephenson, who has no connection to the Murphy family, was charged with murdering the mother-of-three on March 7.
He is yet to enter a plea and will next front court on August 8.
