Samantha Murphy vanished without a trace two weeks ago and police have already given searching for her. Now her dad has broken her silence

• Samantha Murphy went missing on February 4
• She vanished without trace after going for a run
• READ:  Inside the frantic hours after missing mum Samantha Murphy vanished 

The heartbroken father of missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy has expressed frustration at not being able to talk openly about his beloved daughter’s disappearance.

As the search for Ms Murphy is reduced to the efforts of a bunch of local sleuths, John ‘Pud’ Robson told Daily Mail Australia police had told him to keep his mouth firmly shut.

‘Forget about it mate. I’m not allowed to say “boo”,’ Mr Robson said on Tuesday afternoon.

‘The police have asked us not to say bugger all.’

The heartbroken father of missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy has expressed frustration at not being able to talk openly about his beloved daughter’s disappearance

When asked why he was unable to talk about his daughter, Mr Robson said police had told him all information regarding her and the investigation would come from them.

‘Anything that is going to be released, they’ll release it,’ he said. ‘We’re not talking mate. Thanks very much.’

Mr Robson said he was hopeful some sort of news would be forthcoming ‘soon’.

‘But don’t worry about it. There’s not much anyone can do until something turns up. Thanks for your endeavours,’ he said.

When asked how he and his family were holding-up, he responded: ‘How do you expect us to be going?’

Last week, Mr Robson’s sister-in-law Janice Robson told Daily Mail Australia Mr Robson had been keeping himself busy by going back to work driving trucks interstate.

John went back to work. He said “there’s nothing I could do”,’ Mrs Robson said.

‘And I think if put in that position we’d be that way ourselves.’

Samantha Murphy’s husband Mick Murphy looked shock after speaking to police in the early stages of the search on February 7

Kind hearted locals have continued the search for Ms Murphy across rugged terrain

Ms Murphy’s father had phoned his brother Allan and Janice just as they were about to sit down for dinner the night that she went missing.

‘He said “Oh Janice, Sam’s gone. Samantha’s gone missing”,’ Janice said.

‘I said “what do you mean gone missing?” He said “She’s gone missing. She went out”. He didn’t say she’d gone jogging, but she’d gone missing. “She hasn’t turned up. Never came back”.’

Allan said he asked his brother if he knew of any reason why his daughter may have vanished, but he had no answers.

It is understood both Allan and Janice Robson have since been told not to speak with media representatives for fear of ‘tainting the police investigation’.

Police and emergency services crews all but abandoned the search for Ms Murphy within a week of her being reported missing.

Police on horse back walk past the Murphy homestead in the days after Samantha Murphy vanished

By then Victoria Police’s Missing Persons Unit had taken over the investigation, immediately focusing its efforts on friends and family of the missing 51-year old.

On Tuesday, a group of volunteers organised through social media were the only bodies on the ground continuing to search the thick bush where Ms Murphy was last seen.

Ms Murphy’s husband Mick Murphy told the Herald Sun the public support had been great and the search effort had been extraordinary so far.

‘We [would] like to thank each and every person that has donated their time for searching for Sam,’ Mr Murphy said.

‘I hope we can find something soon.’

The group, known online as the ‘Ground Crew’ has organised a local search party starting from Eureka Stockade Memorial Park, just off Eureka Street, on Saturday morning.

Ms Murphy left her home off Eureka Street in East Ballarat, north-west of Melbourn to go for a run in the Woowookarung Regional Park just after 7am on February 4 and has not been seen since.

State Emergency Services volunteers and police initially searched the bush in an area between the Canadian Plantation and Yankee Flat Road – about 15km from Ms Murphy’s home – where they believe her phone was switched off.

Anyone who has information on Samantha Murphy’s disappearance should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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