Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #23

[OldCop]

Yes, if the personal item wasn't found along a bike trail, it would seem to be planted by someone, thinking that would point to the route that an abductor took. Moo

Yes. What if the daughters came home and said, “Mom, would never bike up that way. She doesn’t like to cross the highway. She always bears left on 225 towards Fooses Dam or she goes left on the road off Puma Path towards the campground.”
If I were a woman and riding alone and no one was home, I might take the bike trail by Fooses Dam as there were likely more people around. (Please do not take this as a sexist remark. It is the unfortunate reality that women alone in isolated areas are more vulnerable to attack than men. It is not right, but it is fact.)

 

[Blue Amethyst]

Just speculation:
What if they entered the house and there were strong odours of bleach or cleaning solutions. Perhaps that was a red flag.

 

[Fireflize]

Just speculation:
What if they entered the house and there were strong odours of bleach or cleaning solutions. Perhaps that was a red flag.

Still better, strong smell of bleach/cleaning solutions and no bleach/cleaning solution bottles?
It would be so interesting to know of all the different ways that perps have tripped up.
Moo
Moo

 

[Megnut]

JMO but I wonder if Suzanne's bike was located, it just wasn't the one in the ditch. My own idea, what if her bike actually went to Idaho, an inoperable bike remaining home, in its place? Hence, a need for repairs. Something all the girls in a family might know, but not the boy. That'd be a big problem, an unrideable bike down a ravine. Could explain LE's reticence to confirm and all references to THE bike. As in A bike but not HER bike....

IMO the bike ride never happened but the bike is still key. Who had motive for a bike to be found there?

JMO JMO JMO

 

[MrsWatson]

JMO but I wonder if Suzanne's bike was located, it just wasn't the one in the ditch. My own idea, what if her bike actually went to Idaho, an inoperable bike remaining home, in its place? Hence, a need for repairs. Something all the girls in a family might know, but not the boy. That'd be a big problem, an unrideable bike down a ravine. Could explain LE's reticence to confirm and all references to THE bike. As in A bike but not HER bike....

IMO the bike ride never happened but the bike is still key. Who had motive for a bike to be found there?

JMO JMO JMO

And then, there is that picture of BM with the truck with bikes in the background. Perhaps unloading gear from a trip? Hmmm.

JMO

 

[FelicityLemon]

Draw it out on a map and show me what you're talking about, there is no more direct route there is only 1 route out of her house to where she was found unless you want to go off roading, and you need to stay on that road to go over the river. What do you mean she didn't have to go near the highway, her bike was found next to the highway on the dirt leading up to the highway that's certainly near the highway. Not sure what you're talking "direct route" there's is no other route unless you think she didn't travel on a dirt or paved road.
Are you saying she could have went from her house to area marked in green B or C? B is a dead end and C doesn't make sense unless she's mountain biking which I highly doubt it that looks like rough terrain, not only that but leads to a totally different direction from where her bike was found. She likely went to point A as that is where her drive way leads, and then point D as C is a dead end and then from D to the area where her bike was found.

Here's my crude attempt at what I mean in map form of the direct route from their home to meet the trail. No need to go up to the trailhead on the highway. I could be reading the Google map wrong (cataracts, sigh), but it looks like a direct path to me.

Her bike being found up there doesn't mean that she and her bike were there; that's why people are saying the bike was planted there. To me, that doesn't make sense either because she wouldn't have gone up there to use the Colorado Trail - if that's the trail she was going to ride. If the bike was planted in that location, it wouldn't have been someone who knew that there was a direct path from her home to the trail unless they thought she was going to go up to the highway and go... where? The Colorado Trail makes the most sense solely because of proximity. It's entirely possible she intended ride up to the highway, ride along the highway until she hit another trail. What trail might that be? I don't know, other people would know. I'm not interested in that because the Colorado Trail is what would make sense, especially for a solo ride. Keeping it close to home on Mother's Day makes sense. Having that trail in your backyard (almost literally) makes the most sense to me.

 

[newsjunkie]

If the bike was planted (as I believe), why not the personal item too? I think this a reasonable explanation of how the item got there. MOO

This somewhat reminds me of Jennifer Ramsaran. Her husband Remy made a circuit around their town. Dropped the van off at one location, her cell phone at a second, her body was finally found at a third.

 

[FelicityLemon]

There are other routes the sources out there have her bike ride wrong like this one in the daily mail
For one thing that is not Suzanne Morphews house. Her address is 19057 Puma Path Pa, Salida, CO 81201. As I found from here Barry Morphew Phone, Address, Court Records - Zabasearch
Looking at the property on Zillow 19057 Puma Path, Salida, CO 81201 | Zillow
it does appear to match the area footage of the house here
The route in the daily mail looks wrong and the house is wrong.

I believe you where you placed her bike because that's where Lauren Scharf reported it as being found and marked. Yes, that top picture is wrong. That's not their home and it's not their road.

On a map I posted weeks ago, I had wrongly marked a dead-end as a second through-path directly meeting the trail. The map I posted a few minutes ago is corrected.

 

[Truecolors]

Here's my crude attempt at what I mean in map form of the direct route from their home to meet the trail. No need to go up to the trailhead on the highway. I could be reading the Google map wrong (cataracts, sigh), but it looks like a direct path to me.

Her bike being found up there doesn't mean that she and her bike were there; that's why people are saying the bike was planted there. To me, that doesn't make sense either because she wouldn't have gone up there to use the Colorado Trail - if that's the trail she was going to ride. If the bike was planted in that location, it wouldn't have been someone who knew that there was a direct path from her home to the trail unless they thought she was going to go up to the highway and go... where? The Colorado Trail makes the most sense solely because of proximity. It's entirely possible she intended ride up to the highway, ride along the highway until she hit another trail. What trail might that be? I don't know, other people would know. I'm not interested in that because the Colorado Trail is what would make sense, especially for a solo ride. Keeping it close to home on Mother's Day makes sense. Having that trail in your backyard (almost literally) makes the most sense to me.

The Colorado trail you have marked in orange crosses highway 50 and continues in that direction. I think it’s just as likely she could’ve been in the habit of taking the trail in that direction.

MOO

 

[10ofRods]

I have to wonder what parameters SAR used to search on Sunday night 5/10. How did they know she was not inside of her own home? Either alive, injured or dead.

IANAL or LE, but I would think the house might have been one of the first places to look for her. If I had a bike accident and was injured, I know the first thing I would try to do is get back to my home.

If BM arrived back in Maysville about 9pm - don't you think LE would request to search their home?

If BM was keeping in character (as the very concerned and devoted husband) there would be no reason to deny SAR and LE access.

JMO, MOO, etc.

I suspect the neighbor went to the door, called for Suzanne and it's quite possible that one of the family members, in their flurry of phone calls, gave permission to check if Suzanne was inside.

I also pictured that it was the neighbor who found the bike, since the bike was so close to home. Perhaps LE saw it as they drove up. We don't know. But it's really unlikely that the Sheriff would start a night search for a missing woman without first ascertaining that she wasn't in medical distress inside the house. If the daughters, for example, talked to LE and were frantic, they would have given permission to go inside to check on Suzanne.

LE probably did not request a thorough search that night. They probably asked BM if they could accompany him throughout the house to make sure no obvious search clues were missed, to see if she was someplace unusual (if there's an attic - was the door to it open?)

A welfare check is not a thorough search, it's just to see if the person is okay and can be found. Since I believe LE were on scene from around 6 pm, I don't think they just stood around and talked - I think they saw the bicycle and I think someone allowed them in the house (by phone).

I do not think BM denied them access, nor do I believe he consented by phone to a thorough search of his home - he likely listened to, understood and consented to a welfare check.

 

[FelicityLemon]

Yes, in the Watt's case they said they could not enter unless there were obvious signs that she was in distress. I think the police officer gave the example of seeing her lying on the floor (through a window) as one reason they could enter without permission from the homeowner. He said he couldn't enter just because no one answered the door.

Imo

I think you're correct. They can go in with homeowner's permission (or legal resident?), but otherwise, it's like you say: if they see something obvious - body, blood, etc.

I say that because there's a video where LE is talking to CWatts on the phone while they're at the house with her best friend who reported it and he makes them wait until he gets there - he wouldn't let them go in until after he went in alone and (allegedly, haha) checked around first. I think most of us would agree that we would say "break down the door if you have to; I'll be there as soon as I can!" if we were innocent.

 

[MassGuy]

Just watching the “Profiling Evil” episode with Lauren Scharf today.

Lauren thinks that “something major happened in that home.”

There was a rumor on Facebook that law enforcement marked the walls of the home with magic marker.

Chris says that whenever a marker is used, it is used to mark biological evidence. This is an “old school” technique.

One of the CSI people in the Daily Mail photos was older, so this seems to make sense to him.

You take a photo of the evidence, circle the area with a marker, and use a ruler in order to show orientation.

They keep saying “we haven’t left the house yet,” which just shows how the investigation centers there.

 

[oviedo]

Just watching the “Profiling Evil” episode with Lauren Scharf today.

Lauren thinks that “something major happened in that home.”

There was a rumor on Facebook that law enforcement marked the walls of the home with magic marker.

Chris says that whenever a marker is used, it is used to mark biological evidence. This is an “old school” technique.

One of the CSI people in the Daily Mail photos was older, so this seems to make sense to him.

You take a photo of the evidence, circle the area with a marker, and use a ruler in order to show orientation.

They keep saying “we haven’t left the house yet,” which just shows how the investigation centers there.

I missed it so thank you. I have always thought they found something in the house very early - whether it was traces of blood, the smell of cleaning supplies, etc. I also wonder if the neighbor's video (if they had it) showed something in those early days before she was reported missing
JMO

 

[MassGuy]

A couple more tidbits:

The neighbor Lauren talked to, said the security cameras at the rental property near the house had dead batteries.

The Morphew house seems to be covered by cameras from just about every angle. The neighbor didn’t know if they were working.

The second search warrant could have been based off the lab work in the first search warrant.

Lauren really was ticked off by Barry saying the media was “bothering him.” -Someone else mentioned this earlier.

“We’re trying to help you find your wife and the mother of your children.”

She thinks that’s very curious. She goes on to say that the reward needs to be repurposed to help catch this guy.

 

[10ofRods]

A couple more tidbits:

The neighbor Lauren talked to, said the security cameras at the rental property near the house had dead batteries.

The Morphew house seems to be covered by cameras from just about every angle. The neighbor didn’t know if they were working.

The second search warrant could have been based off the lab work in the first search warrant.

Lauren really was ticked off by Barry saying the media was “bothering him.” -Someone else mentioned this earlier.

“We’re trying to help you find your wife and the mother of your children.”

She thinks that’s very curious. She goes on to say that the reward needs to be repurposed to help catch this guy.

Let's conjecture about the second search!

Let's say that during the first search, various samples were taken, resulting in DNA that doesn't belong to any of the household occupants. Could be there for a bunch of different reasons, but let's say it's on door frames and cabinets in the house.

They'd ask the family for a list of everyone who had been permitted inside within the past few months, then they'd ask those people to voluntarily submit DNA. This would take some time to accomplish and process.

At any rate, those findings might have led to a request for another search.

That's just one fairly simple (and common) reason for a second search. It may all be to no avail, or it may be crucial evidence.

The digital footprints could have led them back, as well. Economic transactions may have led to a desire to see specific dates on home security cameras - there are so many possibilities, but certainly LE has their theories and are working those lines of investigation thoroughly.

 

[RumorMonger]

One other thing to note from the PE video: They all commented on the absolute silence from LE. Very unusual, LS has never seen a case like that, where LE continues to say part of ongoing investigation to everything.

The group also discusses the silence of the family (note that they don't say BLM specifically or only). PE guys say the most important thing for the family can do to encourage a successful outcome is to keep the missing person in the media and the fact that everyone is silent is confounding. Elizabeth Smart is the example they cite of the importance of this point.

 

[Seattle1]

Do we know whether the personal object was found along an actual bike trail or along the road? Moo

In TD's video with BM, they are standing at the alleged location where the bike was recovered from in the ravine when BM references the personal item ("they won't tell us what it is") and points and says the item was located west.

I don't remember if BM gave a distance how far west.

 

[notbornyesterday]

Or as was the case in Michigan where there were a bunch of empty bleach bottles that were all from the same production lot with a date coinciding with the murder.

 

[MassGuy]

The group also discusses the silence of the family (note that they don't say BLM specifically or only). PE guys says the most important thing is to keep the missing person in the media and the fact that everyone is silent is confounding. Elizabeth Smart is the example they cite of the importance of this point.

Yeah, which is why I find the suggestion that BM was told by LE to keep quiet, to be laughable.

There is nothing more important that he could be doing, than keeping Suzanne in the media. Instead, media efforts to facilitate this are somehow bothersome.

Find your damn wife Barry.

 

[Kimmer]

Yeah, which is why I find the suggestion that BM was told by LE to keep quiet, to be laughable.

There is nothing more important that he could be doing, than keeping Suzanne in the media. Instead, media efforts to facilitate this are somehow bothersome.

Find your damn wife Barry.

And or tell us where you put her.