Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #14

[Cassady]

The chances of the property owner being a co-conspirator are super small. I am certain that’s not the case here. LE stated that he is not involved. However, that can be true in a case like this. So why risk it?

But more importantly, this search involved property damage and expensive equipment. Have you ever seen LE conduct a search in a high profile missing person/murder investigation where they bring all that to property and destroy it, without a warrant?

I have not. It seems like a high probability that the process would be impeded by the owner and that would be a huge waste of time for nothing. There’s a reason why search warrants are LE protocol in cases like this, IMO.

LE is very well trained in the use of SW's and the exceptions to SW's. Sometimes they do not have enough evidence to get a search warrant. If someone consents, and it is voluntary, that is still a lawful exception to the warrant requirement. LE uses these searches in all sorts of cases, including murder, which is one of the most serious offenses on the books.

Consent Searches are an important tool for LE and I have seen them used it many types of cases. And yes, sometimes they destroy property during consent searches. The only time damage comes into the analysis is if there is a challenge to the reasonableness of the scope of the search or whether it exceeded the areas listed to be searched on the SW itself.

Again though, one must have standing to challenge a search and in this matter the spouse of the missing person would not have standing to challenge the search at the job site and LE would have known that.

The Chaffee County Courthouse should be able to confirm the existence of a sealed SW for that property if there was one used.

 

[Seattle1]

The initial permit was issued by the Chaffee County Building Department on December 17, 2019. Anyone can look on Google Earth and see that the site has changed dramatically. The demolition and prep work turning it into the present building site required extensive use of a landscaping contractor. The homeowner met BLM three weeks before May 22, 2020. I think it's a given that the homeowner was not the person who scheduled the work of sub-contractors on that building site.
So when and where exactly did the homeowner meet BLM? I have no idea. Rick Sallinger didn't ask. IMO

At the link, fill the "Permit Number" box with:

10070781

Building Department Permit Search By Permit Number

Maybe the homeowner is a residential developer?

Maybe the homeowner had a habit of visiting the site and watching the progress? I have a friend who did that. Every day at lunch, he’d leave the office and drive over to the site. Check progress. Chat with the contractors.

MOO

I recall the homeowner had temp power since Nov 2019 and may have been doing his own clearing and grubbing for months if not years before the demo work completed. It was not mandatory for the owner to hire a "landscaper."

BM may not even engage in residential construction and may have agreed to help get the area ready for the foundation because of other friends contracted and waiting.

We have no reason to believe that BM ever worked on the homesite prior to laying the dirt for the foundation work estimated around April/May 2020 or close to when the owner told the reporter he first met BM.

I would also not be surprised if the owner is managing his own project. I don't recall a general contractor associated with any of the submittals or permits.

Nothing is a given; it's all speculation. We should let this owner get his house built and enjoy his privacy.

MOO

 

[alleyoop24]

That’s one option. Another is that BM has not been told the condition of the bike by LE. That’s not to say he doesn’t know the condition of the bike. Making it all the more intriguing as to why he may have pressed his spokesperson to ask the public to enquire about it.

Actually this is where I landed, too. At first, I thought - yeah JMBee, that's probably right. Then - wait - what if he suddenly realized/remembered he wasn't SUPPOSED to know how it looked, just like he seemed to catch himself on a couple of other things in that video, so he didn't say anything about it. I do think the whole bike *ride* thing is a red herring, but the facts about the bike, as well as who does or doesn't know things and who is supposed to know things, are important. We just don't have the whole picture and we get to guess a lot.

 

[RickshawFan]

Did they ID the body in the Arkansas river in Wichita yet?

Male.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

This case just seems to have a curtain of silence like I haven't seen before. It gives me the impression that LE and family are trying to keep SM safe, as in she is being held against her will.

But to be honest it is all gut feeling, I genuinely see him talk and don't think he is lying. I also don't see any evidence presented to us that makes me believe he is guilty.

I have to admit, after being wrong on the HB case about her fiancee, if I am wrong here and he is guilty which the majority think, I will never again trust my judgment on human beings!

MOO

Gut feeling tho, = rapid processing of data and all that. Something there has set yours off. I find intuition very interesting

 

[Ontario Mom]

Just to clarify, we don't have a named source for the information about the condition of the brakes. We know the nephew wanted folks to ask LE about the condition of the bike, but he did not specify any details.

That whole thing was sort of weird.
It was being repeated on social media then eventually found it's way into MSM that the brakes were jammed.
With no known, named source.
So... do we even know who found the bike, and when it was found?
Was the nephew even part of the search Sunday night?
If not, did LE tell him the condition of the bike?
Did they keep that to themselves and that's why he was so adamant the public press the sheriff's office about it?
What time did BM show up that night?
Did he see/find the bike?
Did LE tell him the condition of the bike?
(Has LE told anyone anything, at all?)
If not, how did he know?

I know these questions have been asked before but it's driving me nuts not knowing the facts about that stupid bike.

 

[Sillybilly]

How does BM know where the bike was? I can only assume it's either because LE told him during the early days or a neighbor showed him. He doesn't get home until the search is well under way and her bike was found some 3 hours before he returns.

<rsbm>

I don't recall there being any time provided for when the bike was found. Do you have a link for that?

IIRC, the 911 call was made just prior to 6:00 pm (5:46 rings a bell, but somebody will correct me if I have this wrong). BM said he got home around 9:00 pm.

ETA: Found it ...

Maysville’s Suzanne Morphew, 49, is missing. The Chaffee County Communications Center received a call about a missing female at 5:46 p.m. on Sunday. Sheriff John Spezze said that’s they day they think she went missing.

 

[Cassady]

Yay, more lawyers!
My brain will melt but it'll be fun watching the legal experts lay it out.
I love the lawyers on WS

I try to keep the lawyer stuff on the D/L...most people think I am a farmer and fishing guide!

 

[Ontario Mom]

If I promised y'all a pony, LE wouldn't put that on their flyer either.

It's not a vetted reward and therefore unendorsed.

LE is checking boxes.

JMO

And just to be clear, I haven't any ponies to give.

If you know you never have to give out free ponies, you can still offer them.
Even 100,000 ponies.

P.S. I wouldn't believe you either.

 

[Dave F.]

Yes. That’s the point. This is a major case and that was a major search involving property damage. I cannot think of one high profile missing person/murder case where a search was conducted involving actual property damage, without a warrant.

It defies logic. Colorado is on its toes in the cases we’ve seen. Brilliant. They’re not going to risk a case for something like that.

But let’s put aside the risk of having evidence thrown out (which I admit would be low risk if they had signed consent) or the search halted by a disgruntled property owner (which seems like high risk to me).

Do we believe LE (FBI, CBI) would expend the resources on such a high tech and involved search, on a whim? On gut instinct alone?

They used sonar, apparently, and jack hammered the cement pad in particular spots. That’s a lot to do based on no more than slight suspicion or gut instinct.

I'm not trying to interpret or dispute your legal opinion here, but have to state my general observation that the threshold LE must reach to obtain a search warrant in a Colorado missing person case is not high. I believe that a sworn statement from a neighbor that he or she saw BLM working at the site of the day that BLM said he was 200 miles away in Denver, along with the property owners consent, would fly over that threshold.
Further, I can speculate that BLM's close friend and companion during the other searches could have been working at that site on that Sunday, as his name is on one of the permits for the Sunday work. As has been pointed out by others in this thread, BLM and his friend drive similar trucks. If there is any merit to my guess that LE my have had a bona fide tip, then it could be just a case of horribly timed mistaken identity, in my opinion.
I don't count this as an "Oopsie". My general belief is that any investigation is going to have some wrong turns. If LE only followed the guaranteed ones, we would have considerably more backlog of cold cases in this country than we do. IMO, IANAL

 

[J.M. Bee]

One theory regarding why LE did not put the reward on the new flyer is that they want to signal to BM that they are looking at him. And this because they want to make him worry, make him nervous, irk him, maybe even prompt him into calling LE to ask why they didn't put the reward on the flyer, a conversation that would be recorded. Interesting theory.

 

[Poedelini]

<rsbm>

I don't recall there being any time provided for when the bike was found. Do you have a link for that?

IIRC, the 911 call was made just prior to 6:00 pm (5:46 rings a bell, but somebody will correct me if I have this wrong). BM said he got home around 9:00 pm.

Yep 5:45. Not sure how traffic is between denver and maysville but it seems like BM left later then she went missing. Or he was a bit farther in denver. Imo

 

[Mimi in London]

OK, but if LE didn't tell BM where and in what condition the bicycle was found, why did BM describe where and in what condition the bicycle was found to Tyson Draper, implying either that LE had told him this or that he had seen this with his own eyes when he returned home at 9pm that night?

Secondly, and this a more general question: do we think LE would have told BM about where and in what condition they found the bicycle? My assumption is that they would have done this. After all, he is the husband of a woman who has gone missing, and her bike has been found along the roadside somewhere. Wouldn't they tell him something about where and in what condition they found it? I tend to think so, but I could be wrong.

I tend to think police would tell the spouse those details, too.

Re the first point, I don’t think it was the location of the bike that was in question when the spokesperson was urging the public to lobby LE, just the condition. BM wanted the public to know
the condition of the bike.

 

[oviedo]

That whole thing was sort of weird.
It was being repeated on social media then eventually found it's way into MSM that the brakes were jammed.
With no known, named source.
So... do we even know who found the bike, and when it was found?
Was the nephew even part of the search Sunday night?
If not, did LE tell him the condition of the bike?
Did they keep that to themselves and that's why he was so adamant the public press the sheriff's office about it?
What time did BM show up that night?
Did he see/find the bike?
Did LE tell him the condition of the bike?
(Has LE told anyone anything, at all?)
If not, how did he know?

I know these questions have been asked before but it's driving me nuts not knowing the facts about that stupid bike.

the bike, cinnamon rolls, there's always a nagging thing - I am not even sure LE ever confirmed it was found - I think it might have been in the one interview the Sheriff did - but was it in their written press releases? I can't recall. But if a "bike" was found who would have confirmed it was her bike? I can only think of one person...
JMO

 

[Seattle1]

oh the bike... the bike... the bike...
Was the nephews' plea to ask LE about the bike on the Find Missing page??? - I know I remember it.
IMO

It's not likely in print as TN limited himself to audio only interviews. This one is likely May 14 and available in the Media thread. (I refreshed most of the videos a few days ago).

 

[rainbowshummingbird]

OK, but if there is any chance she's still alive --- and obviously, there is still some chance, albeit slim --- wouldn't LE want to list the reward on their flyer? After all, this might coax someone into taking an action that might free Suzanne or save her life. I agree that LE thinks the chances of her still being alive are very slim, but the chances are not zero, and given that there is a $200,000 reward for her safe return, I would think they would put this on the flyer. Unless they have other intentions in mind with this omission.

There are likely legal and financial compliance that must be met in order for LE to advertise rewards. Showing that the reward is funded is probably part of the requirement in showing the legitimacy of the reward. IMO BM used the reward purely as an image management strategy because he already knew that Suzanne would never safely return. Since he knew that Suzanne would never be safely found, he would have no reason to fully fund his reward.

 

[Ontario Mom]

the bike, cinnamon rolls, there's always a nagging thing - I am not even sure LE ever confirmed it was found - I think it might have been in the one interview the Sheriff did - but was it in their written press releases? I can't recall. But if a "bike" was found who would have confirmed it was her bike? I can only think of one person...
JMO

I think there is a link somewhere where he did confirm it was found, but that's it. Not another word about it, from LE.
I know, there's always that 1 thing in some of these cases. It does tend to become super annoying thought doesn't it?

 

[oviedo]

It's not likely in print as TN limited himself to audio only interviews. This one is likely May 14 and available in the Media thread. (I refreshed most of the videos a few days ago).

can you transcribe them too please? (LOL) I think I can watch them with captions (sound off) as one smart sleuther (you?) posted some time ago... I'm of the opinion the bike just isn't that important now. thanks for keeping the media thread updated
IMO

 

[BeckyF]

I am sorry, I was referring to the site where they were digging. I see several posts saying he there Sunday but I had only read that he had recently done work there. I certainly could have missed it. Moo

There were several discussions on this a few threads ago. It was never confirmed which day he did the pouring of dirt on the property.

 

[CronesEye]

The initial permit was issued by the Chaffee County Building Department on December 17, 2019. Anyone can look on Google Earth and see that the site has changed dramatically. The demolition and prep work turning it into the present building site required extensive use of a landscaping contractor. The homeowner met BLM three weeks before May 22, 2020. I think it's a given that the homeowner was not the person who scheduled the work of sub-contractors on that building site.
So when and where exactly did the homeowner meet BLM? I have no idea. Rick Sallinger didn't ask. IMO

At the link, fill the "Permit Number" box with:

10070781

Building Department Permit Search By Permit Number

Good catch. So BLM met homeowner around May 2. I am not indicating anything, just wondering, that is a lot of dirt to bury associated items in if premeditated, but why bother if it could be scattered in the mountains or mines? To possibly never be found if one wanted to remain in the community? I am not indicating any who dun it, just extrapolating.
I saw a Forensic Files last night where they had to go look at a basement later and found a depression that wasn't before. Ground had time to settle, I think 8 months? Yes, I know they used compacting equipment. Ground still settles. It's on a river bank. Lots of houses have cracks from ground settling.