Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #4

Status
Not open for further replies.
Probable Cause (PC) for a search warrant (SW) requires showing that there is a substantial probability that items searched for are:

(1) Connected with criminal activity, and;
(2) Likely to be found on the premises.

How do the police persuade an impartial magistrate that there’s a substantial probability of items connected with criminal activity and that such items are likely found on the premises? In the warrant application, criminal investigators will submit sworn statements listing their reasons for believing both (1) and (2) are the case. The affidavit cannot say, “In my considered judgment as a criminal investigator, there is a substantial likelihood that there are items on the premises connected with criminal activity and they are likely to be found on the premises.” Instead, the affidavit must assist the impartial magistrate in making an independent judgment that both (1) and (2) are true.

So, take the case of Casey Anthony. Imagine the sworn statements the investigators submitted in their application for a search warrant. Or, take a look at the application and warrant here:

https://shakedowntitle.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/60117140-casey-anthony-various-documents.pdf

I hope that's helpful.
Brilliant-- and thanks again for your courtesy! :)
 
I don't believe SM went missing during a bike ride.

But in the interest of discussion, I encourage everyone to go to Google Maps, and use the street view of Hwy 50 west of Maysville. You'll be able to "see" the terrain, and why I think it highly unlikely that neighbor JR saw SM leave her house for a bike ride. The houses are across the river from each other.

Start your "drive" just west of Maysville, and travel along Hwy 50, until you get to the Monarch River Estates sign, which is the entry to Monarch River Drive (to the right after turning off the highway) and Monarch Estates Drive (to the left after turning off the highway).

Turn the "driving" camera angle to the south (left if you are driving up the highway to the pass), and zoom in to look at Monarch Estates Drive road to your left. You will see a flat concrete span (might be a large culvert) that is the bridge over the South Arkansas River, and will give you some idea of what the bridges on the other subdivision roads probably look like.

Monarch River Drive, to the right after turning off the highway, is the road JR lives on, which is across the S Arkansas River from the Morphew house.

If you continue "driving" up the highway, turn to the south on occasion, and you will see the Morphew house across the way. The high roof peak with the large windows will be visible over the trees from the highway. Continue on up the highway, there are two homes on Monarch River Drive, JR's house is the second house in the trees on the highway side of the river. The structures are not totally exposed to the highway, but are somewhat visible through the trees.

This can get a tad confusing, but stick with me.

If SM went on a bike ride, she would have ridden down her driveway to Puma Path, then turned right, which would take her close to the river and a two-track trail, or she walked her bike across the river and up to JR's house.

Yes, there could be a small walkover bridge between the two homes, but JR's house is on a cul-de-sac, meaning after leaving the cul-de-sac, SM would have had to either go west across private property (several lots) and the river again to get to County Road 225. Or she'd have to take Monarch River Drive east out to Hwy 50, and ride along the highway back to the west to the trailhead.

Or there is one way for SM to ride close to JR's house. If SM turned right out of her driveway onto Puma Path, it looks like there is a two-track trail that passes below JR's house on SM's side of the river, then it curves back up to County Road 225. The two-track crosses private property, but it is vacant lots, so probably not an issue. SM might have been visible to JR if JR was out on a deck or looking out a window at the time SM rode by down below.

It's hard to tell on Google Maps if the two-track is rideable. But in any case, I think SM riding by JR's house is too complicated and unnecessary for SM to take that route.

I'm fairly certain SM would not have ridden by JR's house. It's out of the way, and in the opposite direction from County Road 225 and the trailhead to the west. It appears that there are several choices for places to ride at that trailhead at the junction of Hwy 50 and County Road 225.

I think it more likely she turned left out of her driveway onto Puma Path, and passing one driveway and house, rode to County Road 225, where, again, she could go left or right. Left takes County Road 225, past one driveway and house, to a trailhead area by Fooses Dam and Fooses Lake, where the road turns into the Colorado Trail.

Right takes her toward Hwy 50 and the trailhead, in which case she would cross Fooses Creek (likely just a concrete span like on Monarch Estates Drive as mentioned above). She'd also cross S Arkansas River, probably across a concrete span like the one across the river on Monarch Estates Drive. So not bridges in the truest sense of the word, or how many people are imagining a bridge.

Again, I don't believe she went on a bike ride. But if she did, it is HIGHLY unlikely that neighbor JR saw her leave.

I'll try to post some screenshots of the Google Maps streetview I took as I "drove" the highway, but I encourage each of you to go and look for yourself at the area. I think it would eliminate a lot of the inaccurate and unrealistic posts about the roads and highways and waterways and neighbors, etc. This is a rural area, and the idea of subdivision here is radically different than a subdivision in a suburb of a city or even a town.

In way of giving some heft to my statements above: I live in a rural area, in a rural subdivision, in a mountainous area, with homes on private wells, and septic tanks with drainage fields. I'd absolutely live where SM does, if I were looking for a new place. Where I am now is very similar, albeit closer to the town area.

I'm also a retired CAD jockey--I was a draftsman, a mapmaker, using AutoCad for many years, working for an engineering firm. I love maps, which is how I orient myself wherever I am. Which probably explains why I like maps to show north UP. Always. Less room for confusion and misinterpretation.

As always, IMO on the statements that are my supposition.
IF Suzanne's bike was found on a bridge, do you find it likely that it was on the Country Road 225 or elsewhere?
 
Probable Cause (PC) for a search warrant (SW) requires showing that there is a substantial probability that items searched for are:

(1) Connected with criminal activity, and;
(2) Likely to be found on the premises.

How do the police persuade an impartial magistrate that there’s a substantial probability of items connected with criminal activity and that such items are likely found on the premises? In the warrant application, criminal investigators will submit sworn statements listing their reasons for believing both (1) and (2) are the case. The affidavit cannot say, “In my considered judgment as a criminal investigator, there is a substantial likelihood that there are items on the premises connected with criminal activity and they are likely to be found on the premises.” Instead, the affidavit must assist the impartial magistrate in making an independent judgment that both (1) and (2) are true.

So, take the case of Casey Anthony. Imagine the sworn statements the investigators submitted in their application for a search warrant. Or, take a look at the application and warrant here:

https://shakedowntitle.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/60117140-casey-anthony-various-documents.pdf

I hope that's helpful.
thank you for this - I am going to put it in the media thread so we have it available for reference. it does seem to come up every time we have a missing person case on WS.
 
For anyone interested in what the the terrain looks like, this link has photos of the Monarch Crest Trail. Monarch Crest Trail Mountain Bike Trail, Salida, Colorado
Also, in the pic of her in biking gear, that's a mountain bike helmet and she appears to be wearing a Camelbak hydration pack. Both are more specific to mountain bikers than roadies, although some use gear interchangeably. I do .
 
NG’s guest tonight Nicole Partin says, at 6:08 into the podcast that the neighbor SEES SM and knows she’s headed out on a bike ride – when she doesn’t return the neighbor gets concerned

I thought I heard one of the ladies who spoke towards the later part o f the convo that apparently SM would usually go out on a Sunday bike ride, and that she saw her that day...but didnt see her return.

What grabbed my attn was the neighbor saying that She was known to take a bike ride on Sundays.... just/sayin'
 
It's still probably one of the least likely scenarios, but I've been thinking about something re: foul by a stranger.

There's a large state prison not too far away in Buena Vista. Does anyone know what the procedures are for prisoners being released from a prison like this, kinda in the middle of nowhere? Do they just walk out the doors? Are they expected to arrange for their own transportation upon release? How many prisoners have been released recently? Has COVID affected how they're releasing people?
Hi, all -- By road, the correctional facility is about 25 miles to Salida from Buena Vista.

If you take Highway 285 from Buena Vista to Salida, you can bypass Salida and end up in Poncha Springs; a left turn at the junction of 285 and Highway 50 takes you another 12 miles to Maysville. SM's house is not right on Highway 50; from satellite photos, you have to turn onto another road and then drive a bit -- someone made a map from Google satellite photos showing that back in Thread 1 or 2 here. There does not appear to be direct access from 50 to her house. It's wooded and hilly, and though you could probably walk down the backside of a hill and get to 50, you'd have to drive on the available road to get there by car.

The correctional facility sits near the junction of 285 and Highway 24; there's a lot of heavy truck traffic and other traffic at that intersection, as 285 is how you get to Denver and 24 is how you get to Leadville and the mountain communities past that along I-70.

You can see the <a href="خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏">satellite image of the facility and the highways on Google.</a>

Click the satellite image in the lower left corner to see how it looks topographically. (did that link come through?)

The facility has been in this area for decades. Not sure what its procedures are for release, but most likely they'll have to have family or friends come to pick them up. There is car service in this area -- Uber and Lyft -- and I just looked up how much it would cost to get to Salida from BV via Lyft. It's about $35, which is probably prohibitive for somebody just getting released from prison. But the inmate might not be from the immediate area, so they'd probably have to get it figured out.

PrisonPro notes that it's considered a minimum security facility that houses inmates soon slated for release and that the primary function of the facility is to prepare inmates for that release:
Buena Vista Correctional Complex Visiting hours, inmate phones, mail

Also, there is at least one known inmate who was quarantined last month because he tested positive for COVID-19. He was a transfer from Denver, according to Cañon City Daily Record:
Department of Corrections says inmate in Buena Vista tests positive for COVID-19 – Canon City Daily Record
 
Does anyone know what the typical time frame of evidence being removed from a scene and lab test & results being completed usually is?

Depends on the evidence and what they are processing.

If they are using, say, correspondence and bank records found in the home, that will be processed quickly and then might lead to other warrants.

If it's physical evidence involving blood or DNA, it's hard to say in CoVid times (as PCR machines are in use for other purposes). But I'd guess that there's a nearby crime lab that has one (say, in Colorado Springs) and it will probably take 3-4 days at the most for results. Results could be same day if this case is prioritized.

I'd think that if they did find anything resembling blood, the first thing they'd want to do is make sure it was human - 24 hours max for that in a potential murder case (or a missing person case). Maybe even less. But again, I don't know the impact of CoVid on their system or whether Chaffee has its own DNA lab.
 
Depends on the evidence and what they are processing.

If they are using, say, correspondence and bank records found in the home, that will be processed quickly and then might lead to other warrants.

If it's physical evidence involving blood or DNA, it's hard to say in CoVid times (as PCR machines are in use for other purposes). But I'd guess that there's a nearby crime lab that has one (say, in Colorado Springs) and it will probably take 3-4 days at the most for results. Results could be same day if this case is prioritized.

I'd think that if they did find anything resembling blood, the first thing they'd want to do is make sure it was human - 24 hours max for that in a potential murder case (or a missing person case). Maybe even less. But again, I don't know the impact of CoVid on their system or whether Chaffee has its own DNA lab.[/QUO
 
I live in Breck about an hour away and there is DEF zero options for any ride share right now... not even in much more populated Summit County... that stuff is few and far between
Especially due to the covid stuff going on much more heavily up here than the cities In Colorado... And to get out of jail and wait around for the chances you MAY come across a person or may not for days, highly doubt this occurred
 
LE asked for people *not* to send in the videos just yet.
I envision this information that is being retained by the homeowner/business owner would be requested by LE as they try to trace the movement of a suspect vehicle. EXAMPLE: a tip reports a car along side the highway in the vicinity of her disappearance and LE requests to review the tapes and slowly maps out or picks up more clues and is able to show the path of the vehicle. I can't think of any other reason to do the reverse 911 call, except to see if they can find a car and driver.
 
LE Holding BM's Phone?
I doubt cops would take the phone if his alibi was rock solid and verifiable.
@Rrock22 :) In MP/suspicious disappearance cases, when a spouse's/SO's alibi of being 500 miles away at the relevant times has been verified as rock solid, that does not negate the LE's need for data from spouse's/SO's phone/e-devices.

Possibility of accomplices to commit the crime in person, while spouse/SO is halfway around the planet, ya know.
Not saying that ^ applies in this case. jmo
 
Last edited:
Per Nancy Grace..at 5:45 at https://www.crimeonline.com/podcast/ on May 19 podcast... "She goes on a bike ride on Mother's Day in the afternoon. She's reported missing by neighbors at 6 pm. I believe husband is 150 miles away in Denver on Mother's Day, but hey! that's just 3 hours if you are going 60 mph and you stop once to go to the bathroom. So, Nicole Partin, with that in mind, tell me what you know.

Yes Nancy, 49 year old mom missing, and apparently it's her next door neighbor that alerts authorities. She sees her and knows that she is headed out on the bikeride................." (e.d. If neighbor saw her that day, why no description like we had with Sierra Joughin?)

"...neighbor called because it was getting dark..." (e.d. dark at 6 pm???)

"husband lawyered up"

Where is Nicole Partin getting this info?
Yes, that's the question. IMO, the reporter may have just been reporting what she "heard" and didn't actually speak to the neighbor herself. She should have clarified that if that's the case. Take it with a grain of salt at this point. I commented something similar in an earlier post about this. Nicole doesn't say how she knows this as fact, that the neighbor supposedly saw SM on a bike. It seems unlikely that the neighbor did.

Also, on the podcast, in the very next breath, Nancy mentions the unconfirmed report that a daughter, unable to reach SM, "calls the neighbor and asks her to call... Jackie, are you saying she asked her to call the mom or asked her to call police?" Answer: "Call the police."

Then Nancy says, "So in any event, you're correct, that it is the neighbor. I was wondering what prompted the neighbor to realize that Suzanne was missing." And then tells Nicole to pick it up from there. Nicole says, "So authorities were alerted and..." So the whole thing about "wait was it the daughters who called the neighbor or did the neighbor notice on her own that she saw Suzanne leaving for a bike ride and never return home" clarification kind of got glossed over.
 
<modsnip: quoted post was removed>

If a perp left the bike as a ruse, then that person would not know when it would be spotted, but they may have left it very early in the morning where it was still dark outside and maybe off the road enough where nobody could see it in the dark. Depending on the time they left it and if it was dark out, that may have given the perp plenty of time to get away from the area without worrying too much about the bike being found.

And of course a perp is sometimes willing to take risks which a normal person would not take.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It’s interesting that Rose says it’s common for investigations to start from the home and then work their way out or something like that. So why didn’t they do this a week ago? Why now? Is it due to obtaining a search warrant? How long do those usually take to get approved?
It's simply not realistic to expect that the search warrants could have been drafted and signed by a judge and/or executed last week when the only information available was that SM allegedly left on her bike and did not return home. It's not a crime to go missing -- people do it all the time. They check out, stop taking or making calls or run away.

Several teams of investigators from at least 3 agencies including the local sheriff, CBI and FBI have been working diligently to collect information to establish that SM did not go missing voluntarily. We know SM had no family near when she was reported missing by a neighbor and it doesn't exactly appear that her husband has been most cooperative with LE.

Please take note of the following requirements posted below that LE has been working at the past week to establish reasonable cause to obtain the search warrants now being carried out by LE.

Probable Cause (PC) for a search warrant (SW) requires showing that there is a substantial probability that items searched for are:

(1) Connected with criminal activity, and;
(2) Likely to be found on the premises.

How do the police persuade an impartial magistrate that there’s a substantial probability of items connected with criminal activity and that such items are likely found on the premises? In the warrant application, criminal investigators will submit sworn statements listing their reasons for believing both (1) and (2) are the case. The affidavit cannot say, “In my considered judgment as a criminal investigator, there is a substantial likelihood that there are items on the premises connected with criminal activity and they are likely to be found on the premises.” Instead, the affidavit must assist the impartial magistrate in making an independent judgment that both (1) and (2) are true.

So, take the case of Casey Anthony. Imagine the sworn statements the investigators submitted in their application for a search warrant. Or, take a look at the application and warrant here:

https://shakedowntitle.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/60117140-casey-anthony-various-documents.pdf

I hope that's helpful.
 
I believe that people using the trails would have noticed the bike abandoned by/near the bridge, especially if it had been there for a day/few days. That makes me think it wasn't there before Mother's Day, so does that mean she did go missing on Mother's Day and not before? Or did LE get tips that it had been seen earlier?

I agree if SM's bike had been left on a bridge near her house before Mother's Day Sunday, others may have noticed it and already reported having seen it.
But to me, that doesn't mean that's when she actually went missing.

The DM article mentions that the last time anyone had contact with her was on the 9th.

"Suzanne, 49, has not been heard from since May 9. A bike owned by the mother-of-two was recovered from a bridge close to her home on May 10, according to local sources – the same day she was reported missing." Police search and carry out evidence bags from the $1.5M home of missing Colorado mom | Daily Mail Online

The article doesn't say she actually spoke to anyone, it says "heard from" so that could have been a text and that might have not actually even been her, as is more and more common in our digital age and criminal minds faking texts from the victim's phones. We also don't know when the girls left for camping or when hubby left for wherever he was.

Just going by the "last heard from" it's certainly possible she actually went missing sometime on the 9th, and her bike was placed on the bridge close to their home on the Sunday, May 10th... to lend credence to the "she went on a bike ride and never came back" story that hit the media later.

LE's electronic forensics people will have a better idea on a pinpoint time, based on her last digital activity on her phone, tablet, laptop or whatever she uses to access messages, banking, GPS, social media, etc. It is curious that the Sheriff's office asked locals to hang onto surveillance videos from as far back as the 8th. They didn't pull that date out of nowhere, they had a reason for it.

jmo
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
141
Guests online
914
Total visitors
1,055

Forum statistics

Threads
589,931
Messages
17,927,818
Members
228,004
Latest member
CarpSleuth
Back
Top