Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #42

[elliefant]

JMO
5 = 5 bikes
Killer threw fifth bike in ravine
Condition of bike was new vs old
Pink bike was to be MD present
Her old bike kept “for parts” or backup, just
not gotten rid of at purchase of new.
My speculation.
Also killer expected to find everyone home on MD... family annihilation/ home invasion.
Motive? I have one but I have to wait on this.
Sometimes, rarely, the #1 suspect IS innocent and #2 suspect needs to be vetted...
It lines up with a good bit of info we have.
#2 suspect is going to be harder than #1, to build case, because there is no time line or digital info, and w/o probable cause, no search warrants, etc.
This is My speculation and while is not as wild as some, it fits as well as some, but it still is speculation.

4 bikes +1 would make sense to me for the 5. But why then do PE keep saying we know who you are, when talking about the famous five?

I appreciate you exploring alternative suspects. Tunnel vision can be dangerous after all. On day 1 I’d have been more open-minded but everything we’ve seen since re BM’s behaviour and LE’s focus is too big for me to ignore.

 

[Dave F.]

JMO
5 = 5 bikes
Killer threw fifth bike in ravine
Condition of bike was new vs old
Pink bike was to be MD present
Her old bike kept “for parts” or backup, just
not gotten rid of at purchase of new.
My speculation.
Also killer expected to find everyone home on MD... family annihilation/ home invasion.
Motive? I have one but I have to wait on this.
Sometimes, rarely, the #1 suspect IS innocent and #2 suspect needs to be vetted...
It lines up with a good bit of info we have.
#2 suspect is going to be harder than #1, to build case, because there is no time line or digital info, and w/o probable cause, no search warrants, etc.
This is My speculation and while is not as wild as some, it fits as well as some, but it still is speculation.

I agree. LE has received 1,123 tips, conducted 180 interviews and 130 searches and is not ready to acknowledge that they have a POI. If LE is not yet "thinking out of the box", it might be a good idea to consider. IMO

 

[Seattle1]

So, if one wanted to get a little more picayunish - maybe there wasn't any sign of a struggle, but there may have been signs of an "event" (or maybe a clean-up, after an event), but not necessarily signs of a struggle; in which case they'd still say no. Right?
(Anybody know what I mean?)

Also, can't LE simply flat-out lie, if they feel it's to protect the integrity of the investigation?
That's an actual question - I know I've read that before, but not sure how accurate it is.
MassGuy would know!

When listening to AM (on an earlier PE episode) describe his questioning of CBI and the response he received, I took the negative response from CBI about both a struggle and the phone as CBI not confirming any details.

I do not believe CCSO/CBI/FBI are disclosing any specific details about this case to anyone including family-- other than to correct the lies BM previously told SM's family about being 100% vetted and polygraph cleared when he was not even cooperating.

MOO

 

[Seattle1]

So what does that say to you?

IMO, releasing physical details/characteristics of a missing person (not believed missing by LE) only invite tips of sightings from all around the world. These alleged sightings serve only to tax authorities that are required to follow up the tip and dismiss.

 

[24Brix]

Using the same formula/Switching out variables...it’s my own idea lol. There’s no such thing, I don’t think haha.

Of course, these points would all be assessed by LE (and you guys)...It’s just an idea to cross reference awareness space and KNOWN case locations as implemented in Rossmo’s, to come up with a possible disposal area, that’s why I said “crazy idea“ to “cross-apply”. You could switch out the variables...it would be like Reverse Rossmo’s

Eta: What do we have to lose? I’m curious now. Especially since you guys have all those locations. Shoot, really what we need is all those points on one map, do we have one? Again, sorry if rehash. If there’s not a map with these, maybe cousin @otto can help. I’ll check the media thread. There’s probably one there already.

I’m six pages behind, but don’t forget the Colorado Firecamp training facility.

MOO.

Colorado Firecamp facility

 

[Sillybilly]

For those members who may have missed this ...

ADMIN NOTE:

Websleuths does not allow sleuthing of random individuals (i.e. guy with a wig?).

Although PE is an approved source, if the content of any approved source is not in accordance with Websleuths TOS or values, please do not discuss it.

Sleuth away behind the scenes but don't post about it here.

 

[10ofRods]

IMO, releasing physical details/characteristics of a missing person (not believed missing by LE) only invite tips of sightings from all around the world. These alleged sightings serve only to tax authorities that are required to follow up the tip and dismiss.

I remember when someone remembered seeing a “little boy” with an adult Woman in Times Square and calling that boy in as Gannon Stauch. The description was something like “brown hair and about Gannon’s age.”

(My keyboard is capitalizing things at random...ergh).

This was in the first few days after he “went to a friend’s house.”

 

[Seattle1]

House
Hotel
River Jobsite
Longhorn Ranch
Whatever location where someone snapped a pic of him laying down on the ground (where was that)?
Poncha Springs Store

Confirming the location of BM laying on the ground is White Pine in Gunnison County. (This location was initially described by AM as Crested Butte).

 

[LietKynes]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>

One day he's 'patrolling' his property with a shot gun against people searching for Suzanne.
Another day he's all nice and inviting AM to look on his property and home.
Unbalanced can mean dangerous.
MOO

 

[ivegotthemic]

There was some discussion on this when we were trying to put the timeline together. Someone, sorry I can’t remember who!, posted some photos of the market. It appears there is a large dumpster on the left rear side and a regular size trash can in the front of the market. The consensus was that it was probably the trash can in front that he was going through.

Im several pages behind on the thread, but wanted to say thank you to @OldCop for taking the time to keep the timeline updated. It definitely helps to put all the events into perspective and get a rough idea of what happened that day and how much time someone may have had to accomplish this

 

[Dave F.]

As Private Search Concludes, Chaffee County Sheriff Updates the Search for Suzanne Morphew

-One of the locations investigated by the task force was along the Arkansas River in the county.

-A second property near the Morphew home was also investigated after the same dog team alerted to an area on that private property.

-A third location was also identified in unincorporated Chaffee County near Salida on private property where a different pair of human remains dogs alerted.

(more info at link. i had not seen this article posted here, but don't mind me if it has already been posted. what does "unincorporated chaffee county" mean?

and who's calling and hanging up on the tip line? weird flex, but ok.)

"what does "unincorporated chaffee county" mean?"

There are three incorporated areas of Chaffee county..............The City of Salida and the towns of Buena Vista and Poncha Springs. All of the rest of Chaffee county is unincorporated including the communities of Maysville, Nathrop, Smeltertown and Cleora. Under Colorado law, incorporated cities and towns may pass some of their own laws and must provide law enforcement. Unincorporated areas are the primary jurisdiction of the county.
Chaffee county addresses are very confusing, even to residents. For example, SM's home is west of Maysville, which is west of Poncha Springs, which is west of Salida..........but SM's address is Salida. To cut the confusion, the Chaffee County Sheriff's Department seems to use the term "unincorporated areas" to define that "it's our case".

"who's calling and hanging up on the tip line?"

I have read that the hot line for this case is answered by a recording asking the caller to leave a detailed message and provide convenient times for a call back. ALL phone numbers in the western United States are plagued with random robo-calls, most of which are programmed to hang up if a machine answers. I let any call go to voice mail that I'm not expecting, and record an average three hangup calls per day. I see no reason why the LE hotline would be different.
IMO

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I was never upset, because I knew that LE would never leave a potential crime scene unsecured.

It always made sense to me that LE would maintain a covert presence there, in case the bad actor decided to return to the area.

The mistrust of LE that's been expressed in this case is completely unwarranted.

JMO.

Thank you so much for your posts supporting LE, especially during the last few days with insight. I know it's hard to merely support without speaking to specifics and to analyze and buttress as to why now, but learning work arounds within TOS.

Not trying to get into a debate, but it does appear that the CCSO addresses public opinion in their press releases. I do think they need some PR training; I know budgets are tight and this is a small town with a huge investigation but a woman is missing and the public is concerned.

Not sure that after all is said and done, that they need PR training? IIRC, the spokesperson / agency just switched in the last week?

S&BBM

This is the challenge because when reporting isn't accurate, it's easy for those reading or viewing the reporting to want to do something *immediately* to fix what they perceive is an injustice. A lot of triggering occurred as a result.



Thank you for saying this, as coming from a retired cop the reality is well-highlighted.


It's tough being in the dark. It illustrates why the fallacy, "if I can't see what's going on and I'm not being told, it must mean nothing is going on" is a common one.




For sure. And once Andy left to go back to Indiana, it was like all the air went out of the proverbial balloons. Then the perception emerges again that no one cares about the case, no one is talking about the case, and LE isn't doing anything.

Best hopes for Andy and all who love and care about Suzanne.

 

[Seattle1]

A lot of folks were concerned or angry when the question of budget came up. It’s not as if the CCSO has unlimited monies that can be spent as they choose. They receive their money from the county budget which is a finite amount. I have attached a copy of the CCSO 2020 budget. This budget allots $12,000. for Criminal Investigations and $75,000. for overtime for the entire year. This amount is minuscule in a months long investigation. It must also cover every other case that comes up during the course of the year. It’s not that they don’t want to spend the money, it’s that they don’t have it to spend.

^^RSBM

@OldCop - thanks much for bringing up a very significant issue in this investigation. Colorado's state constitution does not allow spending more money than they have!

I've posted the link before but I think it bears repeating -- especially after Chris (PE) made such a big deal about the CCSO mentioning his budget. Knowing that Chaffee County is very dependant on tourist revenue, and falling short due to COVID19, I was appalled when Chris was so critical here. It's clear Chris must be relying on his California state experience ($11 Billion+ in debt) and/or federal budgets.

https://leg.colorado.gov/explorebudget/

Colorado must maintain a balanced budget each year, meaning that spending may not exceed the amount of tax and fee revenue that the state collects or saves. In other words, unlike the federal government, the state cannot run a deficit. With voter approval, the state can take on a limited amount of debt by issuing bonds that must be repaid over a set period of time. The last time this occurred was in 1999 when voters approved $1.7 billion in bonds for transportation projects.

 

[24Brix]

I think it all started in the home. Officers TWICE went to Kelsey B's townhouse and reported no signs of a scuffle (my assessment), even though poor Kelsey was BLUDGEONED in that space.

JMO

RSBM.

Agreed. And, if I’m recalling correctly. LE did not find the burn pit when they searched the Frazee ranchette. They needed KK for that because he had “cleverly” put a new layer of dirt over the area.

IMO, BM clearly has more and better fire skills and earthwork skills than PF did. And when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

I suspect anyone else with first- or second-hand inside knowledge of what happened will be fire- or dirt-related.

MOO.

 

[crhedBngr]

Barry only appears to be a few inches taller than SM, Not sure why i had in my head he was like 6ft+

It is that fine, spiked, frosted-tip hair style BM is sporting.

JMVHO.

 

[TxGidget]

If the dumpster is the green big thing, I'm wondering, how one might be able to search in it, without climbing into it?

MOO, it was a trash can. right outside the front door.

 

[elliefant]

Im several pages behind on the thread, but wanted to say thank you to @OldCop for taking the time to keep the timeline updated. It definitely helps to put all the events into perspective and get a rough idea of what happened that day and how much time someone may have had to accomplish this

It is excellent and I’ve already found it so helpful many times.

I still want to know what the 3.5 hours window is that Andy mentioned for disposal of Suzanne. SM was in contact with friend until an uncertain time on Saturday but even if she stopped at the earliest version of the time there would not be 3.5hrs left until BM picked up employee. So, possibilities seem to be within:

Sat 1100 (employee left work site) - afternoon unspecified time (BM talks to JP in Salida)

Sat afternoon - Sun 0500 (if BM spoke to SM then)

Sun 0500 - 1746 (SM stated as missing). With an unspecified time period within this to travel to Broomsfield hotel, 30mins at job-site, and poss do a chlorine bath

So many 3.5 hour time periods in there.

Hopefully we will learn more soon about when the 3.5 hours is.

 

[Feistyomi]

4 bikes +1 would make sense to me for the 5. But why then do PE keep saying we know who you are, when talking about the famous five?

I appreciate you exploring alternative suspects. Tunnel vision can be dangerous after all. On day 1 I’d have been more open-minded but everything we’ve seen since re BM’s behaviour and LE’s focus is too big for me to ignore.

My speculation. Valid point, I believe home invasion would have involved at least 2 perps, so 3 more conspirators? Whell we have speculated about BM having help.
Seems a stretch, what possible motive for 5 coconspirators?

Money, follow the money!

BM seems to have been doing pretty well, with SM alive.
Paul Newman supposedly said, “why chase hamburger, when I can have steak at home“, when asked about his faithfulness to Joanne Woodward, or something like that...why? Indeed.
I’m not buying DV, someone with SMs inner strength doesn’t stay in that marriage, nor would girls support abusive BM.

Go back to early threads, home invasion would explain BM going from window to window, and also “girls being protected”.

Try this, for a little bit, instead of why this scenario doesn’t fit, try making it fit, actually some pieces go in too easily.

A lot of pieces may have already been put in place by LE, if BMs timeline has made it impossible for him to have killed and disposed of SM, that’s a lot of pieces already.

JMVHO, speculation and possibilities.

 

[Dave F.]

RSBM.

Agreed. And, if I’m recalling correctly. LE did not find the burn pit when they searched the Frazee ranchette. They needed KK for that because he had “cleverly” put a new layer of dirt over the area.

IMO, BM clearly has more and better fire skills and earthwork skills than PF did. And when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

I suspect anyone else with first- or second-hand inside knowledge of what happened will be fire- or dirt-related.

MOO.

Actually PF did much more than move some dirt. He moved an adjacent corral fence, altered the path of the "lane" itself and removed a large woodpile and several other landmark. The first site chosen by KK looked promising, but lab tests did not concur. It was a burn site, but not THE burn site. As I understood from watching the video released, LE covered that spot and then brought KK. She was asked if she could identify it again. KK walked toward the house, commenting as she went that nothing looked the same. She turned around and walked back, pointing out minor landmarks that she recognized in the opposite direction. This time, she walked to the exact spot. IMO

 

[LietKynes]

RSBM.

Agreed. And, if I’m recalling correctly. LE did not find the burn pit when they searched the Frazee ranchette. They needed KK for that because he had “cleverly” put a new layer of dirt over the area.

IMO, BM clearly has more and better fire skills and earthwork skills than PF did. And when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

I suspect anyone else with first- or second-hand inside knowledge of what happened will be fire- or dirt-related.

MOO.

bbm
As in fellow volunteer fire fighters or employees of the hardscaping business ?
That would make sense.
Although there's always friends and relatives.
If that's the case, let's hope someone talks soon !
Imo.