Questions over disappearance of Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy ...

There are many reasons why the disappearance of Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy has captivated the nation.

For many, the 51-year-old mother-of-three was a lot like someone they knew, or a lot like themselves.

She was a mum with a loving family, she was involved in her local community, she helped run a small business, and she was one of thousands of Australians who left their home of a morning to squeeze in a run before the day gets too busy.

Her life was, for lack of a better word, normal.

People identified with that, and they empathised with the tearful family she had left behind.

But after February 4 when Ms Murphy failed to return from that fateful run in the bushland around Ballarat, another key reason behind the national fascination emerged.

Unlike many disappearances, Ms Murphy's seemed to be truly without a trace.

The Woowookarung Regional Park in Ballarat offers many trails through dense bushland.(ABC News: Rochelle Kirkham)

Police remained tight-lipped, sightings were non-existent, clues were unheard of, and into that void fell wave after wave of speculation, innuendo and rumour. 

In the information age, the lack of available information spurred interest to higher and higher levels.

The media fuelled this, with the tabloids turning everything from a police "no comment" about possible bikie involvement, to an old family holiday the Murphys took to Bali, into a news story to help fill the information void.

Police combed thick bushland near Mount Clear, south of Ballarat, while searching for Samantha Murphy.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)

Then, yesterday, the dam broke, threatening to fill the empty gulf of nothing — the arrest of a 22-year-old Scotsburn man who was subsequently charged with Ms Murphy's murder.

The young man appeared in court, dressed in hi-vis, flanked by security.

His name was quickly suppressed by the court and it started to become clear that the flood of breaking news was actually a trickle.

The void had returned, leaving more questions than ever before.

A scenic lookout over Woowokarung Regional Park where Samantha Murphy disappeared.(ABC News: Rochelle Kirkham)

Police had indicated multiple people were involved, so where were the others?

If the accused has not given up the location of a body, how can they be charged with murder?

What was the piece of information that led to the arrest?

And how did a young man from a seemingly well-to-do background end up accused of murder?

While it is true that some people, especially those who had stopped running by themselves in the Ballarat bushland, will sleep easier knowing an alleged murderer is behind bars, those who knew Ms Murphy will be wondering if anything has truly changed.

Police searched dense bushland near Mount Clear.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)

Ms Murphy, after all, is still missing. The search for her body continues, and the details about what happened on February 4 are as much a mystery as ever. 

And that means interest in this case will not go away. So long as the void of information remains, the disappearance of Samantha Murphy will continue to captivate a nation.