NEW DEVELOPMENT: A MAN in a blue hoodie was seen talking to Jill Meagher moments before her disappearance, CCTV footage reveals.

Police believe he could hold the key to the probe into finding the missing ABC radio worker, who disappeared just minutes from her home in Melbourne's inner-city suburb of Brunswick early on Saturday.

Victoria Police released several minutes of footage today, in which the man can be seen walking in front of the shop Duchess Boutique, between 1.39am and 1.43am Saturday.

In the last minute, he can be seen casually talking to Ms Meagher for 40 seconds as she holds her phone.

They then walk north towards Hope St.

“It’s the last moment that we have”, Detective Insp John Potter said.

“We are particularly interested in this man in the blue top who appears to be talking to Jillian.”

“She’s holding her phone, possibly about to phone or phoning someone.

“We are extremely keen to talk to that person.

Det Insp Potter said: “It was a casual conversation ... looking at the footage”.

Another man – one of seven people captured walking along Sydney Rd including Ms Meagher – can be seen looking back at someone over his shoulder.

“Something has caught his attention - that man needs to contact us.”

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He said anyone in the vicinity of the area at the time should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Insp Potter said Mr Meagher was not being treated as a suspect and police do not have a suspect at this stage.

He also said police were "looking more and more" at abduction as a possibility.

Police also believe Mr Meagher was at home when the footage was taken and that Ms Meagher did not come home.

“She doesn’t arrive home, no.”

He reiterated that police did still not know what had happened to Ms Meagher after the footage was taken.

Speaking at a media conference this afternoon, lead investigator Homicide Squad Det-Insp John Potter said the footage was released in a bid to solve Ms Meagher's disappearance.

"We hold grave concerns for Jill. She hasn't been heard of since Saturday morning and it is now Wednesday."

Inspector Potter also said that CCTV footage also showed that Sydney Rd at the time was relatively busy for the early morning.

A tram is among traffic, and others walking by just before Ms Meagher include a man with a trimmed beard and another man carrying a shoulder bag.

He said so far, none of the men depicted in the footage had approached police.

"We're interested in anyone in the Sydney Rd area who may have seen Jillian," Insp Potter said.

"If anyone knows anything we urge them to contact Crime Stoppers."

media_camera Missing: CCTV police released by Victoria Police showing Jill Meagher moments before her disappearance. Picture: ABC News 24

He confirmed the 1.43am footage was the last confirmed sighting, Inspector Potter said.

He also revealed that the footage shows that Ms Meagher was carrying two bags, including an ABC work bag.

Police earlier confirmed more than 130 calls to Crime Stoppers had been received and detectives had “collected extensive CCTV from the area” which is “being thoroughly reviewed.”

“The focus for detectives at this stage is on the investigation and they have a large number of tasks they need to undertake to ensure everything possible is being done to locate Jill,” Sharon Darcy said.

“Police will continue to provide updates to the public and will release information when we believe this will assist the investigation.”

Probe extends to Jill's house

Homicide detectives spent five hours in total inside the Melbourne home of the missing woman yesterday, leaving at 8.20pm with filled brown paper bags.

The search for clues continued after the last known moments of Ms Meagher were recovered, with crucial CCTV images showing the Irish national just minutes from home in the city's inner north.

A time stamp on the footage places Ms Meagher, 29, walking north on Sydney Rd in Brunswick less than 100m before Hope St, where her bag was found just around the corner.

As the probe enters its fifth day, the homicide squad's Detective Inspector John Potter said they did not have a suspect but it was odd there was no evidence of a struggle in Hope St, where her bag was found in a laneway.

He said Ms Meagher's last phone conversation, with her brother Michael McKeon, began at 1.43am when she was believed to be in Hope St; the conversation about her sick father lasting several minutes.

If she was in Hope St, it would have been just a few minutes walk from home.

Insp Potter said that presuming both time stamps were correct, it narrowed her last known movements but the location of her exact disappearance was still a mystery.

"They have a conversation for several minutes about their dad," he said.

"He can hear males in the background.

"There was a presumption she was at the nightclub, but clearly she is not.

"Whether the handbag is a smokescreen or not, we don't know. We had searched the area."

There was nothing to indicate a struggle took place in Hope St.

"If there was a struggle, you would assume the contents of the bag would be strewn," Insp Potter said.

"High heels - you could argue she would break those or they would come off ."

He said her bag being found two days after the initial search was odd and it could have been planted.

"It suggests whoever is responsible for her disappearance has placed it there," Insp Potter said.

The bag is being analysed for DNA and fingerprints. Police have spoken to colleagues and bar staff where Ms Meagher was drinking.

Her husband, Thomas, and brother-in-law are also co-operating with the inquiry.

Homicide squad detectives and forensics experts were yesterday invited by Mr Meagher to scour their apartment and car, taking away six bags of personal items.

Yesterday Kevin Meagher, Tom's father, told the Irish Independent that he did not wish to comment.

"We can't talk to anyone right now, thank you," he said at the family home in Cabinteely, Dublin.

The CCTV footage is shaping as a crucial lead to Ms Meagher's last known movements.

Ms Meagher was captured from a camera pointed at the street from within a Sydney Rd boutique.

Duchess Boutique owner Patricia said she installed the cameras for her own safety and never imagined they might capture something so important.

"I just hope it helps. For the sake of Jill being found, I want to do the right thing," she said.

Patricia said the colour video showed Ms Meagher strolling past her shopfront on the side of the road closest to Hope St.

She said Ms Meagher had her hair down, and was wearing a black jacket and high-heel shoes.

"I was confident it was her," Patricia said.

"She looked different from the photos that have been released," she said. Patricia said Ms Meagher was not using her mobile phone and did not appear to have been followed.

with Anthony Dowsley

Originally published as Mystery man seen with missing woman