Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #6

[branmuffin]

As far as him being out of town working, that's not a huge flag for me. My husband is in the construction trade and is often away. With weather being unpredictable here, and him having deadlines, I would always encourage him to do what needed done.....
especially if we ran our own company.

As far as being alone on Mothers Day, I'm must just be the odd one. If he couldn't be there, it is NOT going to be the end of my world. We would probably just pick another weekend to celebrate it, when everyone would be home.

I haven't had an official Mother's Day celebration for over ten years. My daughter married a JW and that put the kibosh on those types of celebrations.

The reality is in the grand scheme of things, it's not really a big deal. And I know my daughter must have some residual guilt because usually a week after Mother's Day I get a beautiful bouquet of flowers and this year it was a Vera Bradley weekender bag.

 

[Seattle1]

1. The last time SM was spoken to via phone, FT or in person.

Media reported SM was last in contact on May 9 but did not indicate the method or means of the contact.

3. Is the tape as seen by helicopter video crime scene or caution? Are they one in the same?

After a closer/enhanced view of the photographs, I believe this was caution tape. There's a walkway leading to the driveway being rebuilt or under repair where a footbridge is being erected over a stream using slabs slate. This walkway runs on the front side of the residence and with the overall increase in home deliveries-- especially in the past 90 days of shelter-in-place, the tape is smart and necessary to prevent injury and potential litigation against the property owners.

10. What has struck me is that most everything in MSM has been revealed by BM side of the family and nothing from SM’s side?

We can't sleuth family and our posts/discussion on the main thread are limited to MSM reports and apparently they are not talking.

However, Reporter Lauren Scharf provided in her fb live update last night that she also wanted to know if SM's relatives were receiving updates from LE about the investigation and would continue trying to make contact with them. She also reported that she believed they were responsible for the yellow and turquoise ribbons in town for SM. (Turquoise a fav color and color of SM's bike helmet).

Good Point and I haven't seen that concern posted anywhere on this thread until now.

Concern has long been here but sleuthing family and discussing on main thread violates TOS.

MOO

 

[OzzieB]

Well it has been nice talking to all you fine people. I will obviously be doing some sleuthing off the site and keeping the family in prayers. This whole sitution is gut-wrenching. I found myself totally obsessed... constantly checking my phone and the news for updates. If this is painful for us I can't imagine how the family must feel. It almost feels selfish and wrong to step away for a break when they have so much grief and so many question... I guess I can physically step away but Suzanne is stuck in my head and will remain there long after this case is over. I hope all of you are staying safe and mentally healthy... Take care

 

[Cindizzi]

Sounds like it. Tunnel vision. Really think this investigation has been mishandled.

IMO LE first searched and then began following leads as they become available to them. From the first day :
May 11, 2020

On May 10, 2020 at 1746 hours the Chaffee County Communications Center received a report of a missing female in the area on County Road 225 and West Highway 50.

Members of the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area and contacted the reporting party. They advised that their neighbor, Suzanne Morphew, age 49, from the Maysville area had reportedly gone for a bike ride in the area and failed to return home.

Sheriff personnel called members of Chaffee County Search and Rescue South and North and a search began immediately. The Department of Corrections was contacted and a request was made for tracking dogs to assist. They responded and joined the search. The search continued into the early morning hours with no results.

The search resumed in the early morning hours of May 11 with Search and Rescue. They once again scoured the area. Members were then called from the Chaffee County Tac Team along with search parties from the Department of Corrections and the area was once again scoured.

In all over 100 personnel were used during the search, however by late afternoon on May 11 Ms Morphew had not been found.

On day 4 :


PRESS RELEASE

May 13, 2020

On May 10, 2020 the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office responded to County Road 225 and West Highway 50 on a report of a missing woman. Investigation revealed that Suzanne Morphew, age 49, from Maysville had gone for a bike ride in that area and had not returned home.

A search began immediately. Over the past 4 days over 100 search personnel from Chaffee County Search and Rescue, Department of Corrections, and the Chaffee County Combined Tac Team have scoured the area. Numerous Drones have been used for countless hours to assist in the search. 8 different tracking and scent dogs from the Department of Corrections and the Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado were deployed to aid in the search. Members from Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the South Ark Swiftwater Rescue Teams have searched area watersheds and Reach Air Ambulance flew search missions as well, however Ms Morphew has yet to be located.

In conjunction with the search the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation into the disappearance of Ms Morphew. Investigators from the 11th Judicial District, Colorado Bureau of Investigations, the Salida Police Department, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigations have joined the effort.

A dedicated tip line has been established by the Colorado Bureau of Investigations. That tip line number is 719-312-7530. Anyone with information into the disappearance of Ms Morphew are asked to call the tip line.


Missing teenager located in Chaffee County - Chaffee County Sheriff

IMO this was treated as a missing person case for at least 4 days and then tips and evidence caused them to open an investigation to run parallel to the search efforts.

 

[Ontario Mom]

"I asked the same exact question days ago "

I apologize. My mind gets scrambled after reading so many posts, especially when they are repeats, I do start to scan.

MSM only siting one side of the family is definitely curious as in the past all sources were routinely contacted. With modern media it seems sensationalism gets the stage instead of in depth reporting. Investigative journalism gets less resourcing, is more national and less local. The locals are doing a good job it seems though so perhaps SM doesn't have much of a connection to her childhood family or it is a small family. I don't mean to assume, it just is such a gaping hole there. Why does MSM only reference BMs family and not SMs childhood family.

Apparently LE is asking people to be tight lipped for the investigation.

I thought for sure they would have had a good enough lead to excavate that site, but apparently not. That is absolutely crushing.

I don't know, maybe such a tight investigation that isn't leading anywhere needs to be loosened up to get some leads. I don't know. I just want them to find a trail that leads somewhere. Time is of the essence. Got to get a good trail.

No apology needed, and that was a really great post.
All excellent points.

 

[otto]

I don’t think they would have said they found “nothing related to the disappearance of SM” if they actually did. They could have just said they completed their search and will not be providing a briefing.

Appears they’re back to the drawing board.

This is the quote in the news:

"Investigators searched several locations on the property; however, they were unable to make any connection to Suzanne Morphew’s case at this time." (link)​

The critical point is "at this time." That could mean that forensic analysis is needed to conclude that anything they found is related to Suzanne.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Right? There’s a judge who signs a search warrant before something like this happens. A judge who has access to all of the evidence presented, who makes these types of decisions everyday. I don’t know why we think we know more than the judges and LEOs handling this case. Their job is to track down leads and when sufficient evidence arises, search physical spaces. Unless someone wants to tell them what happened they have to figure it out piece by piece as they go.

Great "reminder" post.
It should be stickied onto every thread when the case gets to this point.
Really spot on.

 

[carbuff]

I do field work in paleontology during the summers and we never use tents. Granted, the bone we're working on is about 67 million years old.

I provided muscle for a dig at an ancient chert mine; we were moving loads of rock and dirt from the mine shaft over to the processing area. We didn't have tents but we did have overhead canopies, but it was for heatstroke, not rain.

 

[Boxer]

I mean that’s why it’s “probable” cause and not cause beyond a reasonable doubt. Not every search is a winner.

Agree. MOO like a puzzle, each elimination is also an advancement.

 

[MsBetsy]

I mean that’s why it’s “probable” cause and not cause beyond a reasonable doubt. Not every search is a winner.

I wish we knew what tip led them there. At first I thought they had a solid lead and fully expected to find her there but now it seems as if they had a solid 'tip' and were hoping it would develop into something further. Imo

 

[Juvenile]

How is them not finding anything, mishandling the case?
I'm not following.

Right? There’s a judge who signs a search warrant before something like this happens. A judge who has access to all of the evidence presented, who makes these types of decisions everyday. I don’t know why we think we know more than the judges and LEOs handling this case. Their job is to track down leads and when sufficient evidence arises, search physical spaces. Unless someone wants to tell them what happened they have to figure it out piece by piece as they go.

I never said that the site shouldn’t have been searched, but I do question the amount of resources used for this dig. And if the evidence that led them there was so compelling, why only stay for 3 days and dig only a small, specific area and then leave?

 

[windrower]

Horrifying thought Well every scenario is horrifying. But what if a body was burned (like Tara Grinstead) and remains mixed in concrete and all they are looking for is any of her DNA. I would expect this has come about based on someone involved -after the fact- talking.
Im Trying to keep as generic as possible.

IF SM's body was burned (and I don't subscribe to that theory, as I've learned it takes a very hot fire for longer than you think to burn a body to ash), her ashes could not be mixed in with the concrete. Mixing is done at a plant and brought to the build site in a truck, where the truck driver runs the chute pouring concrete into prepared forms.

Ashes could be buried in or spread over the dirt prior to pouring the concrete. But again, I don't think that's what happened to SM.

Also, I see the news of no sign of SM found at the search on the east side of Salida.

Not necessarily, if she was mountain biking. Rode down a trail into a ravine, stopped at the bridge at the bottom which is a just simple pedestrian crossing, no railing, leaned her bike against a tree (you don't put your expensive heavy bike on the ground, where it could also get in other's way), and you go off somewhere: to pee, but get lost or taken by a mountain lion, or you choose to permanently disappear.

It's just a scenario and could be either that, or that's what someone wants people to think...or something else altogether.

Mercy me. If you were trying to be funny, it did not come across to me.

THE BIKE has given me a headache. I'll eat my hat if SM actually disappeared while on a bike ride.

I shall scroll and roll.

So I went to Google Earth and drove up and down that road and could not see that house or even the house that is closest to the road. I’m assuming the driver who takes the views is filming from the height of his vehicle ... but I don’t live there so these views may not be the same as what you can see.

I "drove" Hwy 50 with Google Maps, and at different points along the road, angled the view up or down while facing south toward the housing developement where the Morphew house is. The house is visible from the highway, as are some of the other homes.

I have a screenshot, I'll try to upload the image. The Morphew house is in the center of the screenshot.



https://goo.gl/maps/oJeypMcdhC6drW6V

I think the area is beautiful, and I think living there probably feels less remote than looking at it from afar. It doesn't feel remote to me, but I live in a mountainous area, where neighbors are acres away, on a private access road much like the Morphew's road into their house. Salida is close, and you'd go through tiny Maysville and Poncha Springs to get there. So people are just minutes away.

 

[LotsaLatte]

DBM

 

[IceIce9]

I haven't had an official Mother's Day celebration for over ten years. My daughter married a JW and that put the kibosh on those types of celebrations.

The reality is in the grand scheme of things, it's not really a big deal. And I know my daughter must have some residual guilt because usually a week after Mother's Day I get a beautiful bouquet of flowers and this year it was a Vera Bradley weekender bag.

My grandma used to say, “Every day is Mother’s Day.”

We should always show appreciation for our mothers, every day. If you really want to make your mother happy surprise her with a gift or flowers on a day that isn’t Mother’s Day.

 

[FelicityLemon]

I have nothing new to add, but still have to open my mouth. I'm not stating any facts, just random thoughts.

My thoughts regarding a MOTHER'S DAY mountain bike ride: Nope, never happened.

If she went riding with her daughters on that day, I'd believe that no problem, but to go alone without having spoken with them...NFW.

Fact: SM and her daughters never connected that day.
My thought: She wouldn't have left the home for any reason other than an emergency because she would be probably be hoping to speak with her children.

I can't believe a mother would have gone on a mountain bike ride alone at any time – but especially on Mother's Day – without telling anyone. Mountain lion, car accident, deliberate human attack, skid off the trail down a slope, break a bone, etc. and nobody knows where you are. NOPE, she wouldn't have gone on a ride that day under those circumstances.

LE searching the home and taking evidence: expected to a certain extent. But, not allowing reentry to the family? She didn't go on a bike ride. A kidnap or murder (or a fight that resulted in her death and not reported and body moved) would make it a crime scene.

LE searching, digging and sifting a husband's recent job site: they don't believe she went on a bike ride. At some point, we'll find out why they searched there specifically – someone pointed them to it with believable information that supported the possibility of her being buried there.

Nephew calling for people to ask LE about the condition of the bike: he knew the bike wasn't working and she wouldn't or couldn't have ridden it.

Suicide not an option on Mother's Day. That would be deliberately cruel and twisted for any mother to do on that day.

Sadly, many mothers have been murdered on Mother's Day.

If she didn't ride the bike, who would think to use that as a red herring and how and when was it left to be found?

 

[Seattle1]

CHAFFEE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Salida, Colorado
PRESS RELEASE
May 24, 2020

The three-day search conducted at a residence on County Road 105 on the east side of Salida has concluded. Investigators with the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, CBI and FBI went to the site to follow-up on leads developed during the course of the Suzanne Morphew missing person case.

Investigators searched several locations on the property; however, they were unable to make any connection to Suzanne Morphew’s case at this time. Details about the search are not available, as this is part of the active investigation.

The property owner was fully cooperative with law enforcement and not connected with the disappearance of Ms. Morphew.

“We will continue to follow-up on leads as they are identified and vetted by sheriff’s office investigators, the CBI and FBI,” said Chafee County Sheriff John Spezze.

Hundreds of tips related to Ms. Morphew’s case have been called to the designated tip line. The public is asked to continue to report any information about this case by calling (719) 312-7530.

“Someone has that key piece of information in this case that will help us locate Suzanne, and I’m asking our community members to continue to use the tip line to provide any information, no matter how inconsequential the tip may seem,” said Sheriff Spezze.

There are no searches set for Monday. Additionally, there are no plans for a media briefing on Monday.

I don't view the 3 days spent searching the residential home site of a private owner lost time or effort whatsoever.

I think LE found the tip credible and had a responsibility to thoroughly investigate the lead. For example, if a suspect told somebody he was going to hide remains at a job site-- why wouldn't the site be searched.

(Reminds me of convicted murderer PF that told KK he'd dispose of the remains of his fiance in the river or landfill. Investigators searched a landfill for weeks-- also without any results).

MOO

 

[otto]

I never said that the site shouldn’t have been searched, but I do question the amount of resources used for this dig. And if the evidence that led them there was so compelling, why only stay for 3 days and dig only a small, specific area and then leave?

We discussed this missing person case here 5 years ago. We couldn't understand why investigators spent so much time at the site with a tented area. They declared at the end of the search that no body was found. That was true. Also true was that they found tooth fragments of the three victims. That information was released during trial.

Just because there isn't a body, and just because there's no evidence related to the missing person at the time of the search, it is premature to assume that the search was a waste of time.

Calgary police search Airdrie property for more evidence related to Liknes and O’Brien homicides

 

[carbuff]

This is the quote in the news:

"Investigators searched several locations on the property; however, they were unable to make any connection to Suzanne Morphew’s case at this time." (link)​

The critical point is "at this time." That could mean that forensic analysis is needed to conclude that anything they found is related to Suzanne.

I noticed that too. It certainly leaves wide open the possibility that they sent a whole bunch of stuff to the lab to be tested and identified and will have a connection in the future.

 

[Trocroc9]

I’m sure this has been posted and I missed this somewhere but can someone tell me (if allowed) where BM is staying in relation to search sites (bike, home and latest construction site)?

 

[Boxer]

I never said that the site shouldn’t have been searched, but I do question the amount of resources used for this dig. And if the evidence that led them there was so compelling, why only stay for 3 days and dig only a small, specific area and then leave?

They were there on Thursday so assume they used Ground Penetrating Radar then to target their dig.