Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #8

[MyBelle]

This I agree with. MOO
MOO her husband is terrible. Left her alone in their rambling house with security cameras out of commission, daughterless on MD, and this after her fantastic news of cancer remission which seems like a day for them to celebrate.
Does not seem to know when he last talked to her or where she was since, whenever.

Please provide a link. I've seen no mention from LE that the home security cameras were out of commission.
Also, is it the father's fault her daughters were not with their mother on Mother's Day? From their photos, the young women appear old enough to make their own decisions.

JMO

 

[windrower]

A power line follows North Fooses Creek up the mountain.

The Colorado Trail, which goes up to Monarch Pass Trailhead, follows South Fooses Creek, and crosses over North Fooses Creek again fairly close to the top, near the trailhead.

But I think anything found of SM's was at either the bridge over Fooses Creek or the one over the S Arkansas River.

Apologies for quoting myself. But I thought I should clarify: I think the two bridges closest to SM's house--the bridge where County Rd 225 crosses Fooses Creek and the bridge where County Rd 225 crosses the S Arkansas River--are the most likely bridges for anything of SM's to have been found.

I think all of that was staged, and so I believe the items needed to be found sooner rather than later.

IMO

 

[Truecolors]

It was Mother's Day, and that seems to be the reason that alerts went out faster. I understand that she was self-isolating, other than cycling. She would have been expecting calls from her husband and children. We've read that no one was in contact with her on May 10, so it is surprising that one of the children, rather than the husband, was first to become concerned.

Bolding mine.

I just can’t get past that part. Your beloved wife, twice cancer survivor, high school sweetheart, mother of your two beautiful daughters—and he hasn’t checked in before 5 pm on Mother’s Day?

(Edited: had the dates wrong in my head)

This does not fit the narrative of the happy, loving relationship I’m reading about from family and friends.

Especially considering that the girls were away and he’d know she’s alone in the house, daily contact seems minimal expectation. A text, a phone call...

I wonder if they have a Life360 type app on their phones to keep tabs when apart.

 

[Tippy Lynn]

OT question...do you get to keep your identity private if you are verified? Or is it public?

Your identity will be private.

 

[Sillybilly]

<modsnip: Quoted post removed>

Also, SB, is there any way the list of VEs you've put together can be pinned to the start of new threads so posters here can see which experts from which fields we have contributing to Suzanne's case?

Good suggestion GK ... will do that shortly. Thanks.

 

[wheatnotchaff]

Thank you!

At 5:46 pm the 911 call was made. Was the alarm pulled because she normally goes for a bike ride before church in the AM (regardless if the church was closed due to CoVid)? If so, that’s a considerable amount of time that passed. Again, this is going off the assumption loved ones thought she left in the AM.

What else does the time of this 911 call potentially tell us?

I don't believe there's been anything reported in the MSM about precisely when she left home for the purported bike ride, only that she went for the ride and never returned. I suspect that the 911 call was made because of 1) information that the daughters relayed to the neighbor about their mother's expected whereabouts and/or, 2) as someone mentioned in a previous post, the neighbor came across something that raised concern -- SM's abandoned bike, e.g. There are other alternatives that are of course possible. As for her pre-church bike ride, that was simply something that the fire chief mentioned in an interview was her habit. We don't know if this was so much a predictable part of her routine that it sounded the alarm on the 10th.

 

[Dave F.]

A power line follows North Fooses Creek up the mountain.

The Colorado Trail, which goes up to Monarch Pass Trailhead, follows South Fooses Creek, and crosses over North Fooses Creek again fairly close to the top, near the trailhead.

But I think anything found of SM's was at either the bridge over Fooses Creek or the one over the S Arkansas River.

It was likely NOT at the bridge over the S. Arkansas, as drone-like helicopter footage from the end of the search showed the bridge clearly, and there no evidence tags anywhere near it. I'm locking in my final answer as "most likely Fooses Dam Bridge", @windrower IMO

 

[Seattle1]

This is from a post by @Dave F. BBM - I have no idea where Monarch Pass is or any of the bridges mentioned. I appear to have inserted the ravine myself confused, but could you please advise what is underneath local bridges please?

"I am saying that if the bike was found at, under or beside the Fooses Lake Bridge, the logical conclusion would be that she was separated from her bike there, on a return descent from the top of Monarch Pass toward her own house. It is highly unlikely that staging would have taken place there.
One example might be that she was descending at high speed, came around the bend and at first sight of the bridge saw that it was blocked by a person, took the only high speed escape route to the right of the bridge, slammed on her brakes so hard that they locked, throwing her forward and rendering her incapable of defending herself. Backing that imaginary vision up to start, we have heard that a biker called LE to report a car parked on CR 225 with a man in it, who looked suspicious. CR225 is entirely below Fooses Lake Dam, so It would have been possible to observe SM starting her bike ride from that road, but not possible to observe her descending to Fooses Lake Bridge from CR 225. In plain English, the could have seen her going up, and waited for her to come down at the one bottleneck where she could be stopped.
Did it happen that way? I don't know.
IMO

Monarch Pass is only about 8-10 miles from Morphew residence, and I think Dave F. posted a video of the bike trail that ends at Fooses Bridge in prior thread. However, I'm pretty sure that neither the trail or the bridge are at the top of Monarch Pass. And yes, that bike trail in the video looked black diamond to me-- several places where brakes could lock up.

 

[cody22]

Thanks! I am a white collar defense lawyer. We fight people who fight crime

LOL !....moo

 

[ChuckMaureen]

Family offers $200k reward for missing woman’s ‘safe return, no questions asked’

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.

If SM had left her bike on an in-the-woods bike trail, she would have had to walk away from the area on her own, be carried from or otherwise have had to have been transported via ATV (assuming ATVs are permitted) from the location. She certainly couldn't have driven a car or SUV from the trail because such vehicles are typically not permitted on bike trails. An abductor would have had one heck of a time carrying her, regardless of her assumed-petite sizing.

LE has not indicated (that I could find) if sniff dogs keyed in on SM's scent in areas surrounding the bike and the so-called "personal item(s)" recovery locations.

No scent doesn't necessarily mean no SM, since I'm guessing that riding a bike on the (assumed) terrain in question can be somewhat arduous so scent-producing cells would be all over the area. Correct me if I'm wrong.

LE has been so tight-lipped in this case I hope they're not making a mistake. When LE holds the reigns this tightly it means, IMO, they think someone looks good for the (assumed) crime, or, at least, they want to perform complete due diligence to fully eliminate that line of thought and free themselves to fully pursue other avenues. Perhaps avenues that by then are ill-defined and potentially cold.

Lack of information is feeding wide-ranging speculation that is of no use and I'm refusing to assume BM as BG (bad guy). It's possible, as I do find the plea video odd but that is not enough.

I'm torn at this point.

 

[LietKynes]

While keeping an open mind, I’m inclined to agree. The whole show reminds me of something that would be run by ACME Kidnappers.

• Wheel out bike to a spot where it can’t be missed.
• Jam on bike brakes (police will surely have seen the movies where kidnappers’ van swerves in front of victim).
• Get dodgy contractor who owes a favour to spend weekend driving round town in a distinctive, kidnappery-looking van, being sure to be seen
• Contrive situation where someone else makes 911 call.
• Get stooge to set up Gimme fund (donations and inevitable gushing statements of support will demonstrate popularity)
• Have picture of a helmet at the ready
• Avoid press conference (haha, not gonna fall for that one).
• Get irritated when police don’t publicize condition of bike. Manipulate someone to leak info about bike.
• Drive up and down road looking ...pensive? distraught? Whatever. Handsome and brooding will do. Throw a few extra items out car window as LE don’t seem to be taking the bait yet.

Moo, of course. What have I missed.

eta fixed typo

Good post. ^^^

Aside from a handsome or brooding perp...
Everything else sounds plausible !
Imo

 

[Tate123]

Your identity will be private.

(It's not me... my SO is a recently retired Supreme Court Justice ( Criminal) NY and I think he could add good info to the mix. He asked me if it would be kept private..working on him joining)

 

[MyBelle]

This is the part I like thinking about the most. I keep pondering what possible category of evidence could exist that would convince LE that there was no need for a BOLO, no abduction, no danger to the community.

Whatever it is, there would be lots of evidence processing. If it's the case that the house is now released back to the family, then I don't think there was a lot of blood evidence (if any). Perhaps there was, but it was in a small area and it's now being examined by various experts. First step, obviously, is to figure out whose blood. I'd think they'd have Suzanne's DNA profile by the Friday of that first week - but maybe not, PCR machines are not everywhere, perhaps they had to send away - maybe it was sometime in the week of the 18th. Lab workers who were working weekends due to CoVId have started getting back to normal routines, even taking days off.

Then, there would be the matching of that DNA to evidentiary body fluids and blood (if any). I would suspect that they took samples from drains, septic tanks, etc.

It's only May 25th. As all these different pieces of lab work get done, then a team has to assemble a timeline and basically, a storyboard and discuss all the permutations.

If they did find anything forensically valuable at the concrete digging site, it might take a couple of weeks to bring it to the attention of the D.A. Then more talks and storyboards, etc.

I do believe that the wording regarding the dig was ambiguous ("at this time" no connection to the case).

BBM. My take is that LE received a tip about the owner of the property might be possibly involved and there was fresh concrete just poured. If nothing of evidentiary value was found then LE would be ambiguous.

JMO

 

[Alethea]

Bolding mine.

I just can’t get past that part. Your beloved wife, twice cancer survivor, high school sweetheart, mother of your two beautiful daughters—and he hasn’t checked in before 5 pm on Mother’s Day?

And no contact the day before???

This does not fit the narrative of the happy, loving relationship I’m reading about from family and friends.

Especially considering that the girls were away and he’d know she’s alone in the house, daily contact seems minimal expectation. A text, a phone call...

I wonder if they have a Life360 type app on their phones to keep tabs when apart.

This really stuck out to me too. How many objectively bad husbands and fathers still pull it together one day of the year for a Mother's Day brunch or flowers or day together? After going through what Suzanne went through you'd think her family would have done SOMETHING even if they couldn't be together. But not a call til 5pm?

 

[Alethea]

(It's not me... my SO is a recently retired Supreme Court Justice ( Criminal) NY and I think he could add good info to the mix. He asked me if it would be kept private..working on him joining)

When I first joined I worked at a Wall Street lawfirm that is crazy about confidentiality and Tricia and the mod who worked to verify me kept everything completely confidential and even joked they'd forget everything they saw as soon as they wrote my name down. So he should join! It's safe and confidential.

 

[Tate123]

When I first joined I worked at a Wall Street lawfirm that is crazy about confidentiality and Tricia and the mod who worked to verify me kept everything completely confidential and even joked they'd forget everything they saw as soon as they wrote my name down. So he should join! It's safe and confidential.

Thank you! I'll relay that info.

 

[pepper 34]

Bolding mine.

I just can’t get past that part. Your beloved wife, twice cancer survivor, high school sweetheart, mother of your two beautiful daughters—and he hasn’t checked in before 5 pm on Mother’s Day?

And no contact the day before???

This does not fit the narrative of the happy, loving relationship I’m reading about from family and friends.

Especially considering that the girls were away and he’d know she’s alone in the house, daily contact seems minimal expectation. A text, a phone call...

I wonder if they have a Life360 type app on their phones to keep tabs when apart.

Do we know BM never tried to contact SM on MD? Do we know he had no phone contact or wasn't home the day before MD? There's so much contradictory information and information that's been changed over time that I could have easily missed that.

 

[Steelslady]

Would you call 911 right off the bat because someone didn’t return from a bike ride? Or would you wait until a whole bunch of friends and relatives had tried to get in touch with Suzanne and were unable to as well? There has to be more. If I went out for a bike ride, and I was home alone for the weekend, I might see a friend and stop by for a spell. Maybe even end up having dinner, with my friend saying they would drive me home later and drop off me and my bike. Have a couple of glasses of wine and kick back. Plenty of times I have come home to an empty house when someone should have been home. Haven’t called 911 yet.

This has always been a puzzle to me as well. I am going to take a small guess and say perhaps her daughters had been trying all day to reach her and couldn't, so they called the neighbor.

I am still in awe as to how fast this case went from a missing woman to several agencies called in, drones, divers in the lake, dogs, etc. They didn't bother ruling out that she left on her own, and it seemed that right away, LE felt something was very off about her disappearance. Basically ruled out mountain lion attack, didn't feel self harm was involved, or kidnapping.

The only thing that I can think of for such fast action is if what was left of Suzanne's personal items, whether it be a bike or whatever else they have, somehow shows that some violent crime happened against her.

We don't know if the dogs picked up her scent near her bike or not, at the home or not, etc. More questions than answers, but so far, no ransom has been demanded that we know of, so at this point, that is off the table.

They haven't found her body, no one has heard from her, and they're still searching for her and evidence.

I do believe they have much more than we can imagine, and it really saddens me to think of what happened to her, on or before Mother's Day, without anyone around for her to cry out for help. Someone knew she was alone. JMO

 

[MsBetsy]

EK on Twitter
There has been so much information spreading around on social media that appears to be coming from bad faith actors. I really hope none of these people are also giving police bad tips -- they have to follow up on everything. 400 so far. #suzannemorphew
6:13 PM - 26 May 2020

Lauren Scharf on Twitter
UPDATE: Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office have received more than 400 tips for #MissingPerson #suzannemorphew The Morphew home has been released back to the family. Investigators continue to search and follow up on tips. Tip Line: (719) 312-7530

6:46 PM - 26 May 2020

Wow, I thought they only had 200 tips just a few days ago. Have they doubled since then?

 

[MsBetsy]

Do we know BM never tried to contact SM on MD? Do we know he had no phone contact or wasn't home the day before MD? There's so much contradictory information and information that's been changed over time that I could have easily missed that.

No, I don't think any of that has been confirmed. I haven't heard anything about when BM last spoke to Suzanne or saw her, or if the girls spoke to him by phone. He may have been the one who told them she was planning on a bike ride, for all we know.