Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #3

[Peppered_peach]

Any guesses where the press photo of divers was taken? It doesn't seem to be near the South Arkansas River.

Photo source: Suzanne Morphew search: Residents near Salida asked to save video cam recordings

This looks like the South Arkansas River. It looks different at some areas as it gets a little tougher in some areas where the river gets tighter.

Does anyone know dependable the cell phone reception is in that area? What I'm getting at is whether she might have brought a cell phone along on her bike ride.

I suspect the "personal item" that was found was a device that had GPS, like a cell phone or apple watch. That would be the first thing a kidnapper would want to get rid of.

Depends on which carrier you have. I have AT&T and can get reception almost all the way to monarch pass, but I know some other carriers t-mobile, boost etc that will not work outside of Salida.

 

[clearskies1]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but early media reporting only says BM was “on business” in Denver on Sunday, Mother’s Day. And this info was not from LE, IIRC.

We do NOT know if this absence had anything to do with wildland-firefighting volunteering, or Indiana landscaping business, or if he just drove to Lowe’s to pick up a new washer. Or was even in Denver.

BBM -- Correct!!!

 

[margarita25]

This is an example of accidents that occur in these types of terrains:

Salida:
Coroner ID’s missing hikers as father, daughter

(I’m following Suzanne’s case from a distance and admittedly haven’t studied the maps or all the facts yet. Just weighing in on a terrain standpoint.)

—-

See more examples from Chaffee County here:
News - Chaffee County Search & Rescue - North

 

[Peppered_peach]

From your post, I'm not sure if you know that the Arkansas River and the South Arkansas River are not the same waterway. They each come down from the mountains in different drainages.

The South Arkansas River is what goes by the Morphew's house and Maysville, then runs into the Arkansas River south of Salida. The headwaters of the South Arkansas River are up by Monarch Pass, west up Hwy 50 from Maysville, and it is smaller than the Arkansas.

The water way coming down from monarch you may also see it referred to as the “Little Arkansas”.

 

[MntnHiker]

We don’t know if his landscaping business was all that successful. Where I live, landscaping businesses are a dime a dozen. MOO

Exactly! We really don’t know anything for sure about their finances. They do own an expensive house. But people come into money from a variety of sources. It could have been a trust or an inheritance for all we know. I don’t think we have any verification that his business was over the top successful.

 

[Backstroke10]

This is an example of accidents that occur in these types of terrains:

Salida:
Coroner ID’s missing hikers as father, daughter

(I’m following Suzanne’s case from a distance and admittedly haven’t studied the maps or all the facts yet. Just weighing in on a terrain standpoint.)

—-

See more examples from Chaffee County here:
News - Chaffee County Search & Rescue - North

I think if LE believed it were an accident, they would have provided a detailed description of her and her bike, and asked for witnesses that were riding that day. MOO It appears as though the family doesn’t believe it was an accident either. If they did, the husband wouldn’t have put up a 100k reward the day after she was missing. MOO

 

[Ontario Mom]

This is one of the many things I’ve found so...curious...about this case. No description of clothing or personal items, height, hair color, nothing. No guidance on if you were in xyz area on this date around these times and saw anything please call. This is very unusual, in a true missing person’s case.

I agree, it's very unusual.

- No description of clothing because no one can say they saw her Sunday, or if Sunday is the day she even really disappeared.
- No height/weight/hair color/bike description because... whatever evidence they've already collected discounts the need to put that info out to the public.

I mean, it's the only thing that makes any sense to me.

jmo

 

[Ontario Mom]

Alright I’ve got the most out of the box potential theory ever, never been used before in any case:

Sudden onset of Covid-19 symptoms:
Elevation of that area is 11,000+ ft iirc.
A respiratory attack at that altitude could be quite severe...

Do we know if she had been self isolating all this time?

I’ve heard Dr. Mike Ryan talk about mental confusion that can sometimes occur due to depleted oxygen.

If she got confused, perhaps she got lost, or fell down a ledge, etc...

—

ETA: Quick reference:

“Normal blood-oxygen levels are around 97%, Moss said, and it becomes worrisome when the numbers drop below 90%. At levels below 90%, the brain may not get sufficient oxygen, and patients might start experiencing confusion, lethargy or other mental disruptions.”

'Silent hypoxia' may be killing some COVID-19 patients. But there's hope. | Live Science

That would certainly be terrible, but after all the searching so far, I do think they would have found her if she succumbed to something like that.
I mean with land, water and air searches, plus foot grid search, and with scent dogs. I don't think she's in the area at all.

jmo

 

[10ofRods]

Right, I just read the post as that someone from her family came out and said they couldn't get a hold of her and then presumably contacted the neighbor (versus the neighbor being told she was going for a ride and she didn't check back in or seeing her bike on the road and getting concerned, etc). I agree that no one can get a hold of her.

We don't know for sure why the neighbor contacted 911.

Exactly. Anyone saying that "the family contacted the neighbor" as fact is not using LE and MSM right now - or should post a link.

All we know is that a. neighbor called 911 to say Suzanne had not returned from a bike ride. How s/he knew, whether Suzanne or anyone else every contacted him/her, we don't know.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Posted 7 minutes ago:
“CHAFFEE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Salida, Colorado
PRESS RELEASE
May 18, 2020

Members of the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), continue the search for Suzanne Morphew.

Ms. Morphew is a Chaffee County woman reported missing on May 10, 2020.

On Monday, 18, investigators continued to review and follow-up on tips reported to the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office. There have been more than 150 calls to the tip line since the phone line was activated last week. There were no targeted searches conducted on Monday.

Continued from yesterday’s update: Chaffee County residents are being asked to preserve any and all video footage from devices such as Ring doorbells, security cameras, game cameras, etc., from May 8th thru May 12th.

Citizens are only being asked to preserve the video at this time. Please do not send these videos to the sheriff’s office or call the sheriff’s office. As search areas are identified, investigators will contact residents in those locations to collect any camera footage within that May 8-12 window.

PLEASE DO NOT CALL CHAFFEE COUNTY DISPATCH WITH QUESTIONS.

The Chaffee County Sheriff's Office asks the public to continue to report any information about this case by calling (719) 312-7530.

*****Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze*****“
Chaffee County Sheriff's Office

 

[margarita25]

I think if LE believed it were an accident, they would have provided a detailed description of her and her bike, and asked for witnesses that were riding that day. MOO It appears as though the family doesn’t believe it was an accident either. If they did, the husband wouldn’t have put up a 100k reward the day after she was missing. MOO

I hear ya. . Again I’m very behind here in all the maps and information, but just wanted to weigh in on what seems to be potentially dangerous terrain from a Coloradoan’s perspective. Perhaps some locals can weigh in more on that.

FTR though, as far as what family thinks, that to me is not necessarily an indicator of what may have actually happened — an off the top of my head example would be Jessica Heeringa’s mother who says she still thinks her daughter is being held alive somewhere, despite the fact that Jeffrey Willis, a likely SK, has been convicted of her murder. Very often imo the family thinks this, or hopes that a MP is being held alive somewhere, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that is the case.

I look forward to catching up on all the information here. . Thanks for being easy on me.

 

[Cindizzi]

150 tips received about missing Chaffee County woman. State, local, and federal agencies are still searching for #SuzanneMorphew
Investigators said there were no targeted searches today.
Lauren Scharf on Twitter

150 tips received about missing Chaffee County woman

 

[Tricia]

Going live in a few minutes (about 10:15 Eastern) about Maddie Bell and Suzanne Morphew. CLICK HERE FOR WEBSLEUTHS YOUTUBE LIVE

 

[Murphy1950]

I agree, it's very unusual.

- No description of clothing because no one can say they saw her Sunday, or if Sunday is the day she even really disappeared.
- No height/weight/hair color/bike description because... whatever evidence they've already collected discounts the need to put that info out to the public.

I mean, it's the only thing that makes any sense to me.

jmo

- No description of clothing because no one can say they saw her Sunday, or if Sunday is the day she even really disappeared.

Ok I get this...possibility that no one saw her that day to give a description....

- No height/weight/hair color/bike description because...

Because why? The public has no idea who to look out for I can only assume there is no need. Why no description unless there is no need?

 

[kay74]

We don’t know if his landscaping business was all that successful. Where I live, landscaping businesses are a dime a dozen. MOO

Well to have two very expensive homes, one over a mill. I would say he was successful. Probably did landscaping on a big scale for commercial properties, builders, etc.! That is big money, not your average home landscapers.

 

[Knox]

150 tips received about missing Chaffee County woman. State, local, and federal agencies are still searching for #SuzanneMorphew
Investigators said there were no targeted searches today.
Lauren Scharf on Twitter

150 tips received about missing Chaffee County woman

No searches today, just review and follow-up of submitted tips? Hopefully one of the 150 is the lead they need to find Suzanne.

 

[j_in_c]

- No description of clothing because no one can say they saw her Sunday, or if Sunday is the day she even really disappeared.

Ok I get this...possibility that no one saw her that day to give a description....

- No height/weight/hair color/bike description because...

Because why? The public has no idea who to look out for I can only assume there is no need. Why no description unless there is no need?

jmo

There are actually a lot of reasons why a clothing description may not be given - one being that they are not sure about what the missing person was wearing and therefore can't. Sometimes there is a concern about tunnel vision where if LE states "she was wearing a pink jersey", someone will not call the tipline if they passed a woman on a bike in a purple jersey. If they publish photos, I don't know that a height/weight/hair color adds much for people to "look" for.

I *do* agree that for whatever reasons, LE is not aggressively engaging the public to "be on the lookout" for her the way that has been done in other missing person cases.

Definitely some oddities in this case (which explains all the posting - 3 threads already!), but hard to really jump to any solid conclusions about what may have happened at this point.

 

[K9Enzo]

Well to have two very expensive homes, one over a mill. I would say he was successful. Probably did landscaping on a big scale for commercial properties, builders, etc.! That is big money, not your average home landscapers.

Exactly, think beyond grass cutting & mulch, where I think many are stuck. He could very much have a successful & profitable business.

 

[10ofRods]

- No description of clothing because no one can say they saw her Sunday, or if Sunday is the day she even really disappeared.

Ok I get this...possibility that no one saw her that day to give a description....

- No height/weight/hair color/bike description because...

Because why? The public has no idea who to look out for I can only assume there is no need. Why no description unless there is no need?

Well, there are pictures of her. We get a pretty good sense of what she looks like from the pictures. Unless she doesn't look like that now. She's thin, tan, has light brown hair, longish etc. We can actually see more than just height and weight (people are bad at identifying people by height anyway). She's 49, but looks younger in many pictures (to my eye).

I have seen her pictures so many times (outside of WS) in the past week. As for the bike, perhaps they already have all the info they need. They are definitely asking for tips, but appear to have gotten some good ones already.

Maybe it's a new phase of LE use of media, but pictures are used more and more, without those traditional descriptors (unless the person is unusually tall or unusually short, then height is mentioned).

 

[kay74]

Exactly, think beyond grass cutting & mulch, where I think many are stuck. He could very much have a successful & profitable business.

I did put a "like" on this but it didn't work.