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A widespread police search for the body of allegedly murdered Victorian mother Samantha Murphy sparked by new intelligence has been called off.
Police spent around eight hours today scouring thick bushland in Buninyong, about 11km from Ballarat, where Murphy, 51, was last seen leaving her home on the morning of February 4.
The search came to an end just after 2pm, with police announcing there were "no updates from the search".
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"Sadly we did not locate Samantha," a police spokesperson said.
Police said no search was planned for tomorrow, but police expected to continue searching in the coming weeks.
Police said the area being searched, which is littered with mineshafts and full of wildlife, had been highlighted by new "intelligence derived from a number of sources".
9News understands 22-year-old Patrick Stephenson, who was charged with Murphy's alleged murder, is not cooperating with police, with the police's new intelligence unlikely to have come from him.
Police had asked that members of the public not join in today's search, as they were seeking Murphy's body.
Searchers, including specialists from the mounted police, dog squad, and the search and rescue squad, among others, combed through the Buninyong Bushland Reserve.
Earlier, Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt said: "Hopefully today's search will benefit the investigation or provide further avenues of enquiry for police."
READ MORE: How the investigation into the disappearance of Samantha Murphy unfolded
"We will also look at further searches in the Ballarat area as the investigation progresses," he said.
Murphy was last seen leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, about 7am on Sunday, February 4, to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest.
A police operation to find her was launched after she failed to attend a brunch later that day.
Initially, police said they did not suspect foul play.
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Her phone was last pinged near the Buninyong Golf Club.
Her death was later treated as suspicious, but it was only on February 23 that police said publicly they believed somebody else was involved in Murphy's disappearance.
Stephenson was arrested on March 6 and charged with murder.
Police said it would be alleged he killed Murphy the day she disappeared, in the Mount Clear region, where much of the search had been focused.
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Police said at the time that Stephenson, an electrician and the son of former AFL player Orren Stephenson, was not known to Murphy or her family.
They also said they did not think Murphy was killed in a hit-and-run, though it's understood police did also seize Stephenson's white ute.
Stephenson's name was initially suppressed, with his defence lawyer claiming the man was at a potential risk of self-harm.
However, the suppression order was lifted after a media challenge.
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