Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #7

[Seattle1]

A few days after Suzanne's disappearance a mountain biker was interviewed and it was posted here that he had seen a vehicle when he was out biking, he seemed very clear that the vehicle was in a place it should not have been. Has there ever been any follow up on that? I haven't seen anything. Also, the Sheriff had asked that neighbors save their security camera video in case LE wanted to review it. Did we ever hear anything more about that? I have searched for both and have not found anything. Thank you!

I recall that soundbite interview. The mountain biker said he felt like the car didn't belong. Since the biker was willing to approach a reporter about his concern, I think he probably gave this information to LE. See something, say something. That's what we're all are encouraged to do. No tip is too small.

 

[Love Never Fails]

I think a tip led LE to the site but not necessarily to BM.

So you think it is his coworker or someone who works for him?
What leads you to think that? I guess it doesn’t matter yet since LE aren’t letting us know what evidence they do have but I’m just wondering what your thoughts are.go

I think BM was doing some work in the landscaping business as evidenced by the hauling of fill dirt to the home site just searched. Jobs picked up by word or mouth, friend to friend.

The overhead shots showed a piece of equipment that most regular homeowners don't have on hand, equipment that could be used for landscaping. He has a three bay garage at his home that could hold more landscaping equipment. That type of landscaping work usually requires a crew of some number. I have found nothing that says that he has a business site where dirt hauling trucks and graders (please understand that I have no idea what the correct terminology for this equipment is) would be kept. Therefore, his workers or crews may come by the house to get their orders from him and to pick up the equipment etc. He has a large circle of firefighter friends and acquaintances and people he has met and knows from church and town.

I think the circle of who had been to the house, who knew he was not around that weekend, people who she would not find strange to be at the house or garage is a lot larger than just her husband. MOO MOO MOO MOO-Can't say enough MOO's these days.

Good thoughts. Hoping you are right.

 

[Dr.StClements]

What are these observations?

As I mentioned at the beginning of my post, I am not prepared to cite the individual instances and what they pertain to. That would be overstepping the mark clinically, I believe.
They aren't the kinds of things people read in books on micro-tells. The expressions on the face are often very nuanced and so subtle that it takes multiple reads of slowed and stilled footage. Also, this is a live case. Some of the phases I refer to might be linked to a feeling of guilt about something else, but still closely associated to the missing person.
We time the spaces between words, examine the order in which certain words occur, correlate these with facial expressions on the upper and lower face, include where hands are placed and what they are doing, position of legs, and at what times during the conversation, where pauses for breath are taken, when a person speaks more loudly or more quietly, and in which directions they are looking when saying certain things. There are many more indicators that we take into account.
The majority of us know when someone familiar greets us with a false smile - the mouth smiles while the eyes do not! We are looking for micro-expressions, far, far, more subtle facial movements, combined with what is being said.

What is fascinating is that armed with the knowledge, some people think they can practice sufficiently to iron out these clues. That's where they fall down. There is extensive forensic research on this. Trying to cover certain behaviours usually elicits others! One of the common ways of trying to get around being caught out on footage is to continually practise, then pre-record it...

There are exceptions: certain individuals with particular personalities can lie with impunity and not register it in their verbal/non-verbal behaviour. They do, however, manifest certain severely disordered personality traits, which are diagnostic in themselves.
That's why some sociopaths/psychopaths can pass polygraph tests that prove them to be innocent when they are in fact guilty.

I'll give you a common, well-known example of a non-verbal behaviour - apologies if you already know this.
Blinking that is atypical of the individual's usual pattern can be a useful indicator. When something is too unpalatable to contemplate, or the individual wants to distance themselves from it, they'll begin rapid or double blinking when talking/being forced to talk about that issue.

 

[BeckyF]

Ok, cognisant of what moderators/admin have most recently about the importance of not posting comments that are directly accusatory of BM, I am writing the following with same in mind:

Video posted by BM, imploring whoever has Suzanne to let her go/that a substantial reward is available.
Re the video content - I am not prepared to discuss, in detail, the specifics I cite about the content. I don't want to dissect the various elements I refer to, for obvious professional reasons.
In the course of my clinical work, I have analyzed multiple appeals given by relatives/friends in the case of missing persons and suspected murder cases. Sometimes I've done this as a forensic psychiatrist. Earlier in my psychiatric medical career, I did so as a clinical psychologist. In situations where I have detained patients under mental health acts (for their own or others' protection), I have sometimes been privy to police interviews with those patients.

So, appeals made by individuals are commonly some of the richest sources of evidential material. They are always analyzed by experts, as part of LE inquiries. The interviewee/s are never told this, for obvious reasons.

The video made by BM is one in which I immediately noted 9 phases of some of the most serious red flags. This is a very high index. I'm not referring to common tells, known by a large percentage of populations with an interest in crime sleuthing. And when I refer to phases, this does not refer to one instance, but rather a particular set of behaviours, however many times they occur during the course of an interview.
The evidential material unwittingly provided by BM would give absolute justification for LE conducting immediate, extensive analyses on the home, very possibly for the purpose of reconstructing a crime scene. It doesn't render him guilty. It does, however, provide an abundance of clues.

The video content gave the police a valid reason to examine the home address. They would have been remiss had they not done so. For those of you saying it took the police over a week to go over the house, they would have needed justification for a search warrant. BM's video provided that in bucketfuls.

This case will probably turn out to be a murder. It is highly unlikely that Suzanne ran away. Look at the photos with her girls. They are close and love one another. She would not leave them without a word. The police will know when they were last in touch with her.

The police have BM's car and phone. They will already know when and where he travelled. They are asking for home camera etc footage from the 8th onwards because they desperately need physical evidence to show certain people on film who can be identified. This is most likely to corroborate existing evidence to make it more watertight.
Obviously this is my personal opinion but draws on my medical background also.
With regard to the LT team. It is my opinion that the level of expertise with which they are operating is exemplary. They are not at liberty to tell us the kinds of things some people are speculating about. They have closed down the sharing of information intentionally, and we should respect that, rather than criticise it.
It's possible that Suzanne's body will never be found. For those who have said they are clutching at straws by destroying someone's property, it was first reported by a CBS channel, I think, that the owner of the property got in touch with LE (the owner was interviewed by the channel), after hearing the news about Suzanne being missing. He wanted the police to know that BM had worked on his property, laying subsoil, the weekend she was reported missing.
LE responded with lightning speed.

Look at the facts. LE brought in CSI and FBI straight away. They assigned over 90 officers to the case. That points to a leader who is keen to marshall all the expertise he can, as quickly as possible. The police personnel, in my opinion, are behaving both expertly and robustly, which I find impressive.
If I can find the interview link between news channel and owner of the house, I'll do so before tomorrow morning (on call presently)

Thank you for posting this. I'm so glad you are posting with us.

 

[RickshawFan]

If two people have unlocked iPhones or Android phones they could swap SIM cards so if someone was trying to track their location it would appear as the location where the SIM card is. Of course, if someone tried to CALL you that would pose a problem. As a matter of fact, in the scenario I posited, the parents DID call their daughter and the friend answered saying she was in the shower so she couldn't come to the phone.

But why not just swap phones? Why mess about with the SIMs? That's what I don't understand.

 

[Murphy1950]

Maybe, maybe not. It wasnt until the trial of P. Frazee that LE stated as evidence that they sifted and located her tooth.

So true Warwick and regarding Gannon,
LE never told us about finding the bloody board and sock, that had to be on or by Feb 15th the day they ended their search of Southern Douglas County. In fact their only comment was...they still thought he was alive.

 

[Spartygirl]

It is a rehearsed response and only he will know the reason for that at this stage. Pure speculation on my part and I'd have to go back to look at the timeline; it's not uncommon for individuals to speak out once they believe they are "safe". To give you an example, a case in which the person was tried and convicted for murder, he was reticent to say anything because he was "too distraught". I observed him during this time period and noted how he never produced any tears when he was so loudly weeping. There was no physiological reason for this on his part. He was fake crying, and we knowingly let him do an appeal, where he used the same fakery techniques. He realized halfway through his appeal and covered both eyes with a handkerchief.
He'd felt safe to do the appeal because he'd moved the child's body to a place where he thought it would never be found, and so felt more confident about not being caught.

Again, I am not accusing BM of committing a crime. It is a fact that some individuals will feel emboldened when they are on "safe" ground. Having concrete poured on a building site might be one such instance. LE is being circumspect with their findings; it seems - at least superficially - that nothing has emerged from that building site at this point in time.

On the flip side, we had mouthy LS stepmom of GS who couldn't stop talking to reporters and on SM while mom and dad only spoke a few times, from the heart, IMO
We just never know how a family member feels by what they say or don't say during an interview.
Some guilty ones don't say much if anything, other guilty ones talk non-stop while the Innocent ones are the same, some speak, some don't.
Human nature at it's best and a complex study of how different people act in such different ways.

 

[cody22]

Sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake, but reviewing the list of agencies involved in search efforts for SM, something jumped out at me.

The list is pretty exhaustive in terms of Sheriff Spezze utilizing nearly all the available resources at his disposal.

I say nearly all, because there is one notable exception:

It does not appear as if LE has at any point enlisted the help of the local Fire Department.

In both the Kelsey Berreth and Gannon Stauch cases, we saw local fire departments assisting LE in their investigative and/or search efforts.

Not so in this case.

I suspect this was not an oversight on the sheriff's part.

Sheriff Spezze, I tip my hat to you, Sir.

The fact that I'm not even wearing a hat, notwithstanding.

Smart, smart decision.

JMO.

Great post, GK !.......You did good spotting that one......moo

 

[K9Enzo]

My unprofessional thoughts on the video released by the husband. It’s important to note, for me at least, this video was released before the private property search of one of the husband’s recent job sites.

IMO, the husband did not want to do this video and was ill advised to do it (again, my opinion). He comes across as having distain for his wife, that he knows what she’s been up to, it’s been revealed to him & her not returning home is her own doing. I’m not implying he thought she got what she deserved. I believed the money he put up was sincere to bring her home. His knee jerk reaction is to throw money at it. At first I really believed he thought she was abducted but later changed my mind.

For the record, I do believe SM is a victim of a crime and was never abducted but murdered quickly after whatever event happened and was disposed of. I don’t believe her end was planned & the aftermath to conceal what happened was not well thought out. I do believe she will be recovered.

I am one that doesn’t subscribe to the husband is always guilty & roll my eyes with immediate “Chris Watt’s vibes” some have on cases. I’m one in the Barbara Thomas case that does not believe her husband harmed her but that she got lost & had a medical emergency during their outing. I did find them both to be odd in general. My opinion has swayed a lot in this case after the private property search. I don’t believe LE is going down ghost trails.

 

[Madeleine74]

LE will say nothing, or as little as they can.

The place where people will learn about the details in a case and what evidence exists is in a trial. Outside of that, it will seem like a lot of <crickets>.

Those new to following a crime case need to understand this is very typical in criminal cases. The public is not entitled to know the details of an investigation and sleuthers have no standing with investigators, because they are just members of the public too.

 

[MassGuy]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

We’ve followed countless missing persons investigations on here, and regardless of who conducting the investigation, we generally see the same things:

A physical description (clothing, height, weight, etc).

The time and date the person was last seen.

Public searches, daily press conferences, and appeals from the family.

Here, the FBI and CBI were on scene very quickly, and searches were conducted by law enforcement. They did not ask for public help in that regard.

That tells me that they knew a crime had been committed, and had a very good idea that the perpetrator was close to home.

We know how the CBI and FBI operate, and how they handle certain situations. I’m convinced this is a murder investigation with a strong suspect.

Not a stranger abduction. Not a runaway wife. Not an accident. Not an animal attack. Not a lost woman.

This could take a while.

 

[Madeleine74]

It does not appear as if LE has at any point enlisted the help of the local Fire Department.

You are correct, and if they didn't announce it someone pointed it out early in the investigation. Obviously there could be a conflict of interest since BM is a volunteer firefighter, so that agency was purposely excluded. Protection of the case is vital and the sheriff knows what he's doing.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

We’ve followed countless missing persons investigations on here, and regardless of who conducting the investigation, we generally see the same things:

A physical description (clothing, height, weight, etc).

The time and date the person was last seen.

Public searches, daily press conferences, and appeals from the family.

Here, the FBI and CBI were on scene very quickly, and searches were conducted by law enforcement. They did not ask for public help in that regard.

That tells me that they knew a crime had been committed, and had a very good idea that the perpetrator was close to home.

We know how the CBI and FBI operate, and how they handle certain situations. I’m convinced this is a murder investigation with a strong suspect.

Not a stranger abduction. Not a runaway wife. Not an accident. Not an animal attack. Not a lost woman.

This could take a while.

Wahayyyyyyyyyy we have missed you!!

 

[windrower]

Personally I am really anti-media for anything that’s even a little complicated because I’ve seen innocent people - whistleblowers even - get dragged through the mud. You’re really opening yourself up to serious liability once you start talking.

That said, if I represented a family of a missing person and I found actual evidence that the people were telling the truth and they aren’t involved, then media attention helps. It puts pressure on LE. Squeaky wheel gets the oil. But I will say it might be the situation of picking one representative to represent the family. The spouse may be too upset or awkward where it really wouldn’t help. Really truly innocent people even the best lawyer can’t stop them.

I recently had a case where against my advice the client did a story with the NYT to exonerate himself- it predictably blew up and he looked like a jerk even when all charges against him were dropped. He became a viral meme because sometimes you can be 100% legally right but still a jerk to the public.

Long way of saying if Barry came off like a jerk even if he’s innocent I might try to pick someone else to do the media pleas- a best friend with him standing behind her? A maternal family member?

Marc Klaas set the bar pretty high for how a kidnapped person's innocent family behaves: Speak up, and keep speaking up. Let LE investigate the family, friends, whatever it takes for LE to find the kidnapped person. Meet with any and all media to keep the story in the news. Speak up, tell the world what your kidnapped person was like, and keep speaking up for them.

So did the Elizabeth Smart family, when she was abducted in the middle of the night from her home. From wikipedia: In the early hours of June 5, 2002, Mitchell broke into the home of Edward and Lois Smart in the Federal Heights neighborhood of Salt Lake City, where they lived with their six children.[9] He abducted 14-year-old Elizabeth from the bedroom she shared with her nine-year-old sister,

On June 6, 2002, Ed and Lois went on television and pleaded for the kidnapper to return their daughter.

Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart - Wikipedia

Elizabeth's parents were on camera pleading for the return of their daughter THE NEXT DAY.

And as AmandaSkis noted in a post quoted below, Kelsey Berreth's mom put herself in the public arena because she hoped it would make a difference to both Kelsey's baby, who was with the perpetrator's family, and Kelsey herself, who is still missing.

SM doesn't have what those cases had: an impassioned spokesperson who wanted just one thing--to find the missing person and bring her home.

Instead, she's got her husband's friends being interviewed and sharing second-third-fourth hand "information," a lukewarm Facebook Find page, a questionable g f m, a huge monetary reward posted (for safe return, not just any return), and one of the most inane videos I've ever seen, the one and only public plea SM's husband has made.

SM is in trouble, and I hate that.

Find Suzanne Morphew

No update since 17th of may. I find that extremely odd.

IMO, the Find SM page and admin were never in sync with BM. We just didn't know it at the time. But it explains a lot if the Find SM people were not in the BM camp.

I’ve been recently getting caught up on this case. I just watched BM video plea and thought the focus on kidnapping was interesting. Reminds me of Barbara Thomas case. I’m trying to keep an open mind though.

How many searches were conducted? Does it seem unlikely that she fell off her bike, hit her head and wandered off?
JMO

I don't believe SM was on a bike ride when she went missing. So, I'll answer your question: It does seem unlikely.

In Kelsey’s case, we weren’t sure what to think at first. Her mom indicated that Kelsey and Patrick had a great, loving relationship. It was only during the trial that we learned Kelsey’s mom put up a good front because 1) she was petrified of losing her granddaughter too; and 2) LE had asked her to not talk about that relationship.

So we were left scratching our heads at stuff that didn’t appear to add up. That’s how I’m feeling with Suzanne.

This.^^^^

Quite a bit doesn't add up for me in SM's case. Too many oddities and coincidences.

Um Nothing happening! I believe Barry is innocent and they are a wonderful family. I think someone grabbed her. That's my theory. If its not popular so be it. It's not always the husband.

Not always, but usually. We'll have to wait and see which statistic column this case will add to.

It was mentioned Barry's mother is out there and then there is the friend who also put up 100K. If they suspected Barry in the least they would never do this. How many people have a friend that puts up 100K!

A bamboozled friend? One who has been manipulated into believing the cover story?

Really? That money is an empty promise. I could say right now I’d give anyone a million dollars if they bring my missing husband to me. Doesn’t mean I will. I know who the anonymous donor is and there could be another reason they did it.

Can you give us a path as to where to look for this info? WS allows posters some leeway when pointing out comments on Facebook and news media sites.

So, do we know who sent the message? This is the first time I've heard about a mountain lion in the area, and a bike crash.

"CrimeOnline has viewed a message that was sent to members of the Morphew’s former church in Indiana, requesting prayers following the news of her disappearance. The message notes that Morphew’s bike was found “crashed,” and mentions that a mountain lion had been seen in the area where the bike was discovered.
“Barry is just beside himself and so are the rest of us because they can’t find her,” the message, sent on May 11, reads in part."

‘They can’t find her’: Message to church group shows desperate plea in early days of search for missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew [REPORT]

And the ground-laying, story-making, red herring-planting continues. Even further afield. (Who did send that message, NuttMegg, do you think? Another bamboozled friend or family member?)

"The Fable of the Bike Ride." Great title.

 

[BrownRice]

Agreed.

I'd have to know someone very well, or owe them something to match that amount.

Not necessarily. If I had a lot of money and lived comfortably, and someone I cared deeply about was in danger, I’d do it.

 

[oviedo]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

We’ve followed countless missing persons investigations on here, and regardless of who conducting the investigation, we generally see the same things:

A physical description (clothing, height, weight, etc).

The time and date the person was last seen.

Public searches, daily press conferences, and appeals from the family.

Here, the FBI and CBI were on scene very quickly, and searches were conducted by law enforcement. They did not ask for public help in that regard.

That tells me that they knew a crime had been committed, and had a very good idea that the perpetrator was close to home.

We know how the CBI and FBI operate, and how they handle certain situations. I’m convinced this is a murder investigation with a strong suspect.

Not a stranger abduction. Not a runaway wife. Not an accident. Not an animal attack. Not a lost woman.

This could take a while.

Welcome to WS! I’m sure your insight will be appreciated

 

[Seattle1]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

We’ve followed countless missing persons investigations on here, and regardless of who conducting the investigation, we generally see the same things:

A physical description (clothing, height, weight, etc).

The time and date the person was last seen.

Public searches, daily press conferences, and appeals from the family.

Here, the FBI and CBI were on scene very quickly, and searches were conducted by law enforcement. They did not ask for public help in that regard.

That tells me that they knew a crime had been committed, and had a very good idea that the perpetrator was close to home.

We know how the CBI and FBI operate, and how they handle certain situations. I’m convinced this is a murder investigation with a strong suspect.

Not a stranger abduction. Not a runaway wife. Not an accident. Not an animal attack. Not a lost woman.

This could take a while.

Hear, hear!

 

[Tippy Lynn]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

We’ve followed countless missing persons investigations on here, and regardless of who conducting the investigation, we generally see the same things:

A physical description (clothing, height, weight, etc).

The time and date the person was last seen.

Public searches, daily press conferences, and appeals from the family.

Here, the FBI and CBI were on scene very quickly, and searches were conducted by law enforcement. They did not ask for public help in that regard.

That tells me that they knew a crime had been committed, and had a very good idea that the perpetrator was close to home.

We know how the CBI and FBI operate, and how they handle certain situations. I’m convinced this is a murder investigation with a strong suspect.

Not a stranger abduction. Not a runaway wife. Not an accident. Not an animal attack. Not a lost woman.

This could take a while.

 

[BrownRice]

Marc Klaas set the bar pretty high for how a kidnapped person's innocent family behaves: Speak up, and keep speaking up. Let LE investigate the family, friends, whatever it takes for LE to find the kidnapped person. Meet with any and all media to keep the story in the news. Speak up, tell the world what your kidnapped person was like, and keep speaking up for them.

So did the Elizabeth Smart family, when she was abducted in the middle of the night from her home. From wikipedia: In the early hours of June 5, 2002, Mitchell broke into the home of Edward and Lois Smart in the Federal Heights neighborhood of Salt Lake City, where they lived with their six children.[9] He abducted 14-year-old Elizabeth from the bedroom she shared with her nine-year-old sister,

On June 6, 2002, Ed and Lois went on television and pleaded for the kidnapper to return their daughter.

Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart - Wikipedia

Elizabeth's parents were on camera pleading for the return of their daughter THE NEXT DAY.

And as AmandaSkis noted in a post quoted below, Kelsey Berreth's mom put herself in the public arena because she hoped it would make a difference to both Kelsey's baby, who was with the perpetrator's family, and Kelsey herself, who is still missing.

You’re not comparing apples to apples. In many instances, the husband is guilty! A father or mother going public is completely different than a spouse. Of course parents can be guilty too, but often they are not guilty.

 

[Jackielee09]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

We’ve followed countless missing persons investigations on here, and regardless of who conducting the investigation, we generally see the same things:

A physical description (clothing, height, weight, etc).

The time and date the person was last seen.

Public searches, daily press conferences, and appeals from the family.

Here, the FBI and CBI were on scene very quickly, and searches were conducted by law enforcement. They did not ask for public help in that regard.

That tells me that they knew a crime had been committed, and had a very good idea that the perpetrator was close to home.

We know how the CBI and FBI operate, and how they handle certain situations. I’m convinced this is a murder investigation with a strong suspect.

Not a stranger abduction. Not a runaway wife. Not an accident. Not an animal attack. Not a lost woman.

This could take a while.

Agreed.

The police DO NOT NEED PUBLIC’S HELP. And I believe they asked family not to talk to media. I have confidence in local police because they asked for help by other agencies. Not The public. I think they know what they are doing. It’s only frustrating (them not asking for help, or giving news conferences) to the people that don’t know Suzanne or her family. “Us”
We’re just gonna have to wait and watch things unfold.