A veteran cop has claimed investigators could still be far from finding the body of missing mum Samantha Murphy, despite the recent discovery of her phone.
Ms Murphy vanished without a trace after she left her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, Victoria, on the morning of February 4.
The 51-year-old set out for her morning run at 7am through the nearby Woowookrung Regional Park - a 14km route she had done countless times before.
Months of empty-handed searches for Ms Murphy led to police finding her phone at the Buninyong dam on Wednesday.
The breakthrough sparked hushed celebrations between investigators, who were seen quietly high-fiving and shaking hands.
Samantha Murphy (pictured) vanished without a trace after she left her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, Victoria on the morning of February 4
But retired senior homicide detective Charlie Bezzina has warned police not to celebrate too early as her alleged killer could have ditched her phone to throw police 'off the scent'.
Mr Bezzina told the Herald Sun it was possible the alleged killer may have left the phone in the dam while discarding her body in a completely different spot.
He added that they may have also dumped the phone some time after she disappeared.
'We don't know when that phone was dumped in there, it is not unusual for offenders to keep items for a while, especially mobile phones … for all we know that might have been discarded just weeks' ago,' he told the publication.
'Often offenders go back and do things, keep the phone somewhere or with them, and then dump it later on.
'And that's where they'll get any evidence against him, if it's been pinging … so not unusual at all for it to be dumped in a separate location (to the body).'
He added it 'doesn't make sense' that the phone was found on Wednesday without prior intelligence as it would have been submerged underwater.
Police made a major breakthrough in her case on Wednesday after discovering a phone
Retired senior homicide detective Charlie Bezzina has warned police not to celebrate too early
A leading criminologist earlier warned that the phone may be too damaged for police to analyse.
University of Newcastle criminologist Xanthe Mallett told Sunrise on Thursday the phone discovery was 'very significant' as it could provide information on where Ms Murphy had been.
However, Dr Mallett added the phone had been exposed to the elements for an extended period of time.
'Unfortunately, it may have been damaged,' she said.
'Samantha Murphy has been missing for 116 days now, so almost four months.
'If it does transpire [the phone] is hers, they may not have got as much information as they could have done if it had been found earlier.
'It really depends on the quality of the phone and how damaged it is. Remember, it has been outside.
Dr Mallett said technicians would immediately be assessing the condition of the phone - but that process could take weeks.
'They will be working on them quickly but it is not going to be short term. We are not talking days, we are talking weeks at the earliest,' she said.
'We are going to have to wait and see exactly what condition that phone is in.'
Officers located the mud-splattered mobile phone in a wallet at the water's edge of a damat a property south of Buninyong, approximately 14km from Ms Murphy's home
Criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallett (pictured) told Sunrise the discovery was 'very significant' but depended on the condition of the phone
Officers located the mud-splattered mobile phone in a wallet at the water's edge. It 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 7News the device belonged to Ms Murphy.
The owner of the property, 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 hasn't seen anything suspicious out there. We don't have cameras. But yeah I believe one of those tech dogs found it,' he said.
It is believed the phone was found by a police tech detector dog
Police have been desperately searching for Ms Murphy's body
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 other key pieces of evidence, such as Ms Murphy's missing watch and headphones, or a possible murder weapon.
On Thursday, a police spokesman said the missing persons detectives' search of the Buninyong location had concluded.
'There is no update on the forensic assessment of the items,' the spokesman said.
The update from police would be a blow to Ms Murphy's family after the latest search sparked new hope her body would be found.
In early March, almost five weeks after Ms Murphy's disappearance, local man Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, was charged with her alleged murder.
In early March, Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, (pictured) was charged with Ms Murphy's alleged murder
Police allege Stephenson 'deliberately attacked' Ms Murphy in Mount Clear, about 7km into her run.
Stephenson, who has no connection to the Murphy family, was charged with murdering the mother-of-three on March 7.
The 22-year-old is the son of formerAFL player Orren Stephenson, who played 15 games for Geelong and Richmond between 2012 and 2014.
Stephenson remains in custody and is yet to enter a plea.
Stephenson is due to face court again on August 8.
