Samantha Murphy’s accused murderer Patrick Stephenson escorted from prison again to remote area

Samantha Murphy’s accused murderer has been escorted by police to a remote area in Victoria for a second time.

Patrick Stephenson was recently escorted from Melbourne Assessment Prison to part of Enfield State Park, south of Ballarat.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: 7NEWS reveals details about Samantha Murphy search

And this time 7NEWS can reveal that excavators were brought in to dig up an undisclosed area in a bid to find the remains of Murphy.

This is the second time the 23-year-old, who has pleaded not guilty to her murder, has been escorted from prison by police, the first time being in November of last year.

While this time was more recent, their search was again fruitless.

Murphy was last seen leaving her home for a 14km run along a route she frequented in the Canadian State Forest on February 4, last year.

Stephenson was arrested and charged with her murder a month later. He has pleaded not guilty.

7NEWS.com.au does not suggest Stephenson was involved in Murphy’s alleged murder, or knows where the body is.

Murphy’s body is yet to be found, despite extensive searches by police and members of the public, with a particular focus on the Canadian State Forest, Enfield State Park and Buninyong Bushland Reserve.

The search for Murphy located her credit cards, licence and iPhone in a teal-coloured case, in mud at the bottom of a dam in Buninyong, not far from her home, in June last year.

7NEWS revealed at the time the phone was in near-perfect working condition.

Stephenson’s trial is likely to start later this year.