Warning: This article discusses an assault and has graphic images.
A woman who was brutally attacked in the same area an Australian mother went missing is "furious" with the police as the search for Samantha Murphy enters its 11th day.
Murphy mysteriously went missing on February 4 after she left her Ballarat East home in Victoria to go for a jog at Canadian State Forest at about 7am.
Sissy Austin, a former Greens Senate candidate, was attacked on February 11 last year while jogging in neighbouring suburb Lal Lal.
A shirtless Caucasian man attacked her with a homemade weapon, leaving her bloodied and bruised.
She experienced post-concussion syndrome and said the injuries have impacted on her speech. She also suffers from PTSD because of the attack.
The attacker was never caught.
Posting to Facebook on Tuesday, Austin said Murphy disappearing on the anniversary of her attack "obviously forces my brain to draw linkages in how Samantha might be feeling if she has been attacked running".
Austin's attack at the time was dismissed by some as a political stunt, as she has a background of activism, and some people are still attacking her along those lines.
She said the comments that hurt the most were from the Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative (BADAC) and the Victoria Police.
"BADAC never reached out to me following the attack," she said.
"Victoria Police never properly investigated my attack. They never kept me updated and the last comment they made to me was that the only way the person would be caught is if they hand themselves in or if they attack again."
Austin told news.com.au police have failed to contact her again despite telling media organisations they were revisiting her case in relation to their search for Murphy.
"What makes me furious is one of the last things the cops said to me after my attack.
"The only way we will find the person that attacked you is if they hand themselves in or if they attack again, and here we are," she said.
Austin's case could provide a valuable avenue for officers investigating Murphy's disappearance, retired homicide detective Charlie Bezzina told ABC Australia.
"It remains unsolved. It was a vicious attack on another woman running in the vicinit," he said.
"I'd be looking very closely about the whole investigation; did they have suspects?"
Victoria Police have discouraged people speculating on Murphy's disappearance while investigations continue, stressing no foul play has been uncovered thus far.
However, nothing has been ruled out, police said.
A vigil for Murphy was held on Sunday as the search continues in a reduced capacity.
Prime Minister Antony Albanese has extended his sympathies to Murphy's family.
Austin, meanwhile, has made clear: "I am not making this about me, this is about women's safety, women's right to go for a run and return home safely and calling out racism and defamation.
"Silence is violence. This is not a question of why women go running alone, this is a question of why men are violent towards women."
