Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #41

[Cindizzi]

I have seen it said a few times here that by the first day of the search CCSO had pulled back and weren’t doing as promised in support of the search. All I can find of their promise is this, in the media thread:



What was the pulling back?

Thanks

They had told AM they would tell him what areas had already been searched according to PE. I guess that changed once AM got to town.

 

[Chichi baby]

Good morning all. Just wondering, where is Andy today and what's taking place? Any news on the tree sitting last night?

Thanks and MOO

 

[elliefant]

They had told AM they would tell him what areas had already been searched according to PE. I guess that changed once AM got to town.

And then they didn’t do that? I see, thank you.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I noticed CM made 2 statements about LS.
She’s not allowed to talk about it and She can’t talk about it.

I'm trying to recall which case it was... Frazee/Bereth case??..or was it the Vallow/Daybell I think more likely...

where a YouTube person had been working with someone who was a reporter, and then was very very upset that the person went quiet and would no longer share information with this youtuber as iirc it was told they had signed a contract with Dateline or ??? so no longer could share information with him anymore.

I think it was the Daybell/Vallow case.

Others here may recall.

ETA: Oh, I just recalled who the youtuber was. It was with the Daybell/Vallow case. He was very vocal about family members who had spoken with him, and then no longer would. (I was incorrect in recollection that he was upset with reporter... it was family members)

 

[swedeheart]

this was my post to the media thread yesterday - his name was at the bottom of this entry

That tells us that in the last 24 hours the sheriff leading the Suzanne Morphew case REMOVED his name from the official FB page on all recent posts pertaining to her. (I see his name attached to the other posts).

WHY?

 

[bestill]

This is just a shame. Perception matters, like it or not. Fair or not. True or not. And the perception this morning is that the sheriff dept isn’t doing their part out of spite or corruption or....something. You would think they would do whatever they could to correct that. If all that takes is sending a dog to confirm or deny a hit at a spot why would you not do that? It’s just a shame.

Which plays right into a certain persons complaint about how the investigation has been handled from the beginning...

 

[elmomom]

Is the position of Sheriff an elected office in CO?

 

[elliefant]

IMO - All handlers I know of working dogs (HRD, SAR-live find) work at the request of LE ONLY, period. There’s a reason LE trusts them and has a working relationship with them.
Those that have been around long enough in the working dog community remember the case of dog handler Sandra Anderson and how this caused LE everywhere to really take a look at their resources. This case was such a shame for the working dog community. An Eagle-Eyed Investigation?

IMO Not all handlers and dogs are created equal. They’re just not. Some handlers who do not have a relationship with LE will reach out to family members of this missing and say “hey, I’m here to help but the Sheriff won’t let me’. Family in return get’s very upset because they don’t understand. They don’t understand why they can’t SEE any action. These folks show up on the sidelines of search areas sometimes and you can spot them a mile away – large flashy decals on their vehicles, as an example. They also overstate their dogs abilities. They may work alone or on an unproven team that get’s together here and there, and does the bare minimum to keep certs active. Sometimes they don’t even have them. Sometimes they desperately want to be part of the action. Now, before anyone jumps on my comments here – I am not saying that’s the case here. We don’t know, regardless of what some hosts say. Also, many handlers will not speak to the media.

The only example I can think of and it’s my opinion. Volunteer search for a presumed murder victim - dog indicated on disturbed dirt. LE comes out and actually started to dig, nothing. Then the dog indicated on another area before LE will dig, they call in their trusted handler who request NOT to know any areas of interest and wants to come in blind and work his dog and requests everyone stay on the sidelines (no way would he allow a non team member or non LE follow him around with his dog while they are working). His dog does not alert, at all. The detective tells him now the other handler is now saying that it must have been a false alert because of buried vegetation that was given off methane gas. Detective wants to know what he thinks of that – handler says no clue, I can only speak for my own dog. Don’t know that dog, don’t know that handler.

The situation that is playing out right now is sad and one that I was afraid of. I never believed LE was going to give any investigation areas of interest for AM to search. I anticipated tension would happen. I don’t at all believe there’s any be-hind-the-scenes collaboration between AM, LE and the PE guys. We are not watching a performance that will hopefully catch the bad guy off guard. I don’t believe there’s any sort of coverup, the mountains don’t hold secrets, there’s no puppet master people are afraid of or powerful people that are preventing local LE, CBI and the FBI from doing their jobs. IMO

I feel so bad for AM right now. I cannot stress that enough.

Thank you for this, it is the most credible explanation I have read. I do still slightly cling to the thought/hope that LE and PE have been mostly agreeing tactics.

The brouhaha of last night has focused people on slating LE when I don’t feel it is warranted until we truly know what they have and haven’t done.

I realise I am probably the only one here who feels this way, c’est la vie.

I hope Andy will receive all the support he needs, I feel for him greatly

 

[kritafo]

Sheriff an elected office in CO

elected in Caffee County Spezze runs for re-election as sheriff

 

[TIGER0822]

I am going to rope in my favorite sleuther here! @OldCop . The situation is so complex. Are there any options that you can suggest? Both sides have serious constraints. Time, money, legal restraints, protocol and resources. LE can’t just set up a legal precedent of having to dig up every site every time a dog hits. It looks like there are no winners only losers here.

 

[elmomom]

elected in Caffee County Spezze runs for re-election as sheriff

Yeah, this brouhaha is probably stressing him out then. Which can be a good thing.. or not. I just hope everyone stays focused on bringing Suzanne home.

 

[branmuffin]

That is weird as heck. Is that a separate little tree? Or not?

View attachment 265939

Evergreen trees like pine and spruce have cantilevered branches in their growth patterns to withstand snow load unlike deciduous trees. It's a very normal thing and just a coincidence that they intersect the 2 alpens trunks for want of a better word to form crosses.

 

[EggSalad]

this was my post to the media thread yesterday - his name was at the bottom of this entry

One commonality is that all 3 of the press releases without Speize’s name are from the time frame of AM’s search and are related to AM’s search.

Maybe it’s just a distancing thing to ensure that AM’s search is not directly associated with the Sheriff’s office?

 

[PhoebeTries]

I can't help but think back to the beginning, when Barry said LE were botching up the investigation. I don't know if they were and/or are but it is a weird little tickle in the back of my brain now!

 

[enelram]

So what's going on this morning?
Any official tweets showing activity at the properties?
Are the Feds still in town?
Where's Andy?
Sheriff needs to get in front of this story, but due to their size, may not even have a communications person.
Just listened again to PE from last night and Chris's is stressing that normal protocol didn't happen at the sites when the dogs hit.
And he also said normally LE will inform the family of what LE did or did not do and the outcome of any further investigtion. that has not happened. Instead they told Andy, "We Got This", back off.
Horrible optics here.

 

[MsBetsy]

Wow. Just read a couple dozen comments. Very few are in support of LE.

That's because the sheriff's statement doesn't fit their narrative. How can they criticize an investigation they know nothing about?

LE has spent four months investigating this case. We have no idea what they know. Do they really believe they have done such a bad job that it only took four days for volunteer searchers to solve the case and find the body? Based on information LE has had for months?

 

[oviedo]

So what's going on this morning?
Any official tweets showing activity at the properties?
Are the Feds still in town?
Where's Andy?
Sheriff needs to get in front of this story, but due to their size, may not even have a communications person.
Just listened again to PE from last night and Chris's is stressing that normal protocol didn't happen at the sites when the dogs hit.
And he also said normally LE will inform the family of what LE did or did not do and the outcome of any further investigtion. that has not happened. Instead they told Andy, "We Got This", back off.
Horrible optics here.

I updated the media thread not much is known IMO

 

[Hatfield]

One commonality is that all 3 of the press releases without Speize’s name are from the time frame of AM’s search and are related to AM’s search.

Maybe it’s just a distancing thing to ensure that AM’s search is not directly associated with the Sheriff’s office?

I tend to agree and what I am gathering is that he must have a certain person on his staff write up his summaries because up until now, I have been overall pleased with his updates because at least he gave them periodically to try to ensure the public they have not forgotten Suzanne and are still working the case. In some other cases we dont even get comments or updates like that.

But with how his name was pulled from the recent updates, I now feel he has a staff writer writing them up for him so I am not as thrilled about the updates anymore. Just speculating of course about that.

Here is my take on some of what we are seeing as lack of action on their parts.

From the very beginning, the sheriff indicated he and other LE was not the ones organizing this search and they would only be available in a support role because of liability reasons I believe was even mentioned in one of the updates. That is fair enough to me and I think that was LE's intent going into this.

Since then, as the days progressed, I think what has happened is a lot of little things were brought to them as possible evidence and it quickly overloaded them when combined with the places where dogs are "hitting". I think local LE underestimated the amount of resources they would need on hand to handle anything the search teams felt was important. That is on them because it has been obvious from the very beginning that it would take some resources to handle this large search group and anything they felt should be looked at. They should have known it would take quite a few resources to manage.

So what I think has happened as this last dog "hit" where AM was by himself, LE did not treat it as seriously as they should and because of the way the PE YT fellows have communicated their displeasure, it has grown legs for the public that follow them. I am not a fan of the tactics being shown from the PE group (like all the hints of new news to come to keep us guessing) but I do appreciate their real concern and real emotions to want to solve this case. Sometimes we have to take the good with the bad.

All of this sort of thing was easy to see coming. A better plan from local LE to manage the search group may have alleviated some of the public's perception of them. They can still turn this around but in order to do so, they cannot continue to ignore it and stay silent. Just do the small things that are expected of them and should not be a problem for them.

Because just as if a total stranger found something and brought it to their attention, the same goes for our searchers on the ground. They should be treated no differently than any other person finding potential evidence. LE can repair most of the damage if they would just be honest and upfront and that begins with explaining why they did not at least go out to look at the scene where AM was by himself.
All JMO of course

 

[A2FMNST]

The silence is deafening.

 

[elmomom]

Could this all be as simple as waiting for the FBI dig team to get assembled and into town?