Inside the Ballarat mines it's feared Samantha Murphy's body could be

As the search for clues continues for missing mum Samantha Murphy, one man is going deep underground in pursuit of answers.

Esteemed mine shaft explorer Raymond Shaw believes one of the 5,000 mine shafts hidden beneath Ballarat could be where the Victorian mum's body is lying as he continues doing his bit to help police in their quest to locate her. Last week, 22-year-old Patrick Orren Stephenson was charged with her murder however no trace of the 51-year-old has been found.

Over the past five weeks, the mining hobbyist has put his skills to use by abseiling down many of the city's former mine shafts left behind by a once-booming gold industry, looking for "belongings, electronic devices and clothing" that could help in the investigation of the alleged murder.

Shaw, who lives in Melbourne, told the ABC his fascination with disused mineshafts began as a child having grown up in Victoria's goldfields where this week a group of miners became trapped when a gold mine caved in on top of them.

The body of a worker was recovered on Thursday morning after the mine collapsed at Mount Clear in Ballarat, the same area where Samantha Murphy went missing. Two people were pinned by fallen rocks in the mine while 29 workers took refuge in a safety pod and were later brought to safety.

Shaw explores depths of Ballarat mines

Donning his overalls, helmet and harness, Shaw has been scaling mine shafts he's uncovered in the Ballarat area and sharing updates with his followers on social media with many applauding his efforts with Samantha Murphy's case.

Shaw said he's mostly focused on the mines police don't know about. "There are too many. It is overwhelming what we've seen," he told the ABC. Victoria Police told Yahoo News Australia, "there is no search activity immediately planned" in mine shafts in the area.

"We've abseiled a lot of shafts in the area today and checked about a hundred shafts with nothing in them other than debris," he recently wrote on social media. Pictures shared on Facebook show the eerie depths of some of the mine shafts he's explored, some of which can be up to about 100 metres deep.

Mine shaft 'great place to conceal a body'

Speaking on Nine's Under Investigation last month, Shaw said there's a chance Murphy's body could be in one of the thousands of unused shafts. "No one is going to hear you crying for help, there’s no phones, there’s nothing, it’s very dark and damp down there," he said, describing the eerie depths of the mines.

"They can be semi-collapsed or filled with foliage, and that foliage on top can take you down to the depths of about 40 or 60 metres," he added.

Former Victorian detective Damian Marrett agreed the theory is plausible. "They could be a great place to conceal a body or a crime after the fact… and you'd probably never find it," Marrett told the program.

The experienced 'mine shaft chaser' said he usually drives his four-wheel drive into the bush then searches on foot and then sets up to abseil in, with his wife as a spotter close by.

"We will go down to the bottom if oxygen levels are adequate and see if there is anything down there," he said adding it's "very involved".

Shaw, who runs the Victorian Historical Mineshaft Chasers Facebook group, said he has plans to continue searching mineshafts in Ballarat for items of interest. "It is one of those situations that is difficult for everyone but we need answers," he said.

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