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

[Madeleine74]

I don't think he is lying in his statements. I think the whole way LE is presenting it to the public is strange and different to any case I have followed before.

LE isn't presenting anything to the public other than they continue to search for SM and follow tips and leads. LE has kept most everything quiet, which has angered people who want to know it all and know it right now. Everything else has been coming from mostly speculation, some news articles, personal theories, etc. Some believe because LE isn't sharing all that's going on or what they've learned or the evidence they have, that means nothing is going on and they're doing nothing.


<modsnip: quoted post was modsnipped>

 

[GordianKnot]

In the event that LE is unable to locate Suzanne, that doesn't mean that the person responsible can rest easy:

Getting a murder conviction without a body is tough, but technology is making it easier

SABBM:

Without a body, prosecutors must first prove that someone has died. Then they must persuade a jury of how someone died, or where and when it happened, said DiBiase and Brenda Beadle, the chief deputy Douglas County attorney, who has prosecuted no-body murder cases. <snip>

Circumstantial evidence becomes much more important, the two prosecutors said. But, they added, improvements in DNA evidence, as well as advances in cellphone and Facebook records, are helping fill in the blanks created when there’s no body found. <snip>

Not only do social media and text messages provide insight into someone’s thoughts and emotions, but they provide an “electronic trail” that investigators can use to show where a defendant, and victim, were, and at what time, DiBiase said. Plus, there are surveillance cameras everywhere today, he said. <snip>

DiBiase has amassed a list of more than 500 homicide prosecutions without a victim’s body. He said convictions were obtained in 86% of those cases, which is higher than the conviction rate — 70% — for all murder cases.

If it’s so hard to prosecute no-body murder cases, how could that be?

DiBiase said it may be that prosecutors, without a body, work to amass more evidence before taking such cases to trial.

 

[carbuff]

Question for the locals--I was looking at Salida on Googlemaps and noticed that there's a bike trail through the middle of town. Does that connect to any of the roads or trails where SM might have been riding?

 

[happyday]

Not that I have seen. It’s just not the missing Wichita woman.

I think y’all are mixing up two different found bodies. The one we’re awaiting ID on was found in Sumner county, not Wichita. No ID yet.

Update: KBI joins investigation of body pulled from river in Kansas6


SUMNER COUNTY — The Sumer County Sheriff's has requested the Kansas Bureau of Investigation's assistance to positively identity a person whose badly decomposed body was pulled from the Ninnescah River over the weekend.

It is a homicide investigation, according to Melissa Underwood with the KBI.

Sheriff’s deputies were called to an area in northeastern Sumner County, west of the Kansas Turnpike, around 1:30 p.m. Sunday after someone fishing in the river spotted the body.

Authorities said they were unable to say how the person died or whether the victim was a man or a woman because of the deteriorated condition of the remains. An autopsy has been scheduled at the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center in Wichita

 

[10ofRods]

In the Tyson Draper interview, BM tells Draper where it was found ("The bike was found at the bottom of the hill by that tree where the peak is") and begins to tell Draper how it was positioned but then stops himself ("The wheel was facing---"). He doesn't say who found the bike, although given the context there is some implication it was LE. <modsnip: random youtube video is not an approved source>

Why do you think it's important who found the bicycle, btw?

Very interesting, thank you!

Honestly if photos online are true, I.e bear hunting....then that person for me is the furthest from what I would be attracted to. I also have a very negative reaction to animal trophies and the people who flaunt them. I really don't think the halo effect applies in my judgement of BM and if it does it would be negative.

I just don't get the vibe that has murdered his wife. I don't think he is lying in his statements. I think the whole way LE is presenting it to the public is strange and different to any case I have followed before.



MOO


BBM

Being biased isn't the same as gut feeling.
Also thank you for the advice as my brain must be shutting down

<modsnip: Please don't discuss other members>

I can make a gut feeling judgement in this case because there isn't much else to go on.

MOO

You're always entitled to your gut feeling. I don't often have a gut feeling. In this case, I'm using my years of experience in applied work and field diagnostics and I am quite suspicious of BM. The entire case has unfolded in a way that has many of the characteristics of a "Husband did it" case, from an outside perspective on how LE is behaving. It's quite similar to the Gannon Stauch case, except that this family is remaining entirely silent.

Which is quite unusual in a missing persons case. The plea of the nephew for people to "ask LE questions" on the family's behalf was unusual. The offer of a reward through a mechanism that isn't LE-approved (CrimeStoppers) is unusual and quite perplexing. I guess I do have a mild gut reaction to that one fact (it feels like PR rather than an actual attempt to motivate someone to help find Suzanne).

On the whole, this case is clearly not a stranger abduction or a big cat event. For some reason, LE doesn't consider it to be a suicide either. IME, there's a definite checklist for ruling out suicide in a case like this, but it does make one ponder whether LE has good evidence that leads in a particular direction (which is obviously some form of homicide).

 

[alleyoop24]

Question for the locals--I was looking at Salida on Googlemaps and noticed that there's a bike trail through the middle of town. Does that connect to any of the roads or trails where SM might have been riding?

Not other than by going on the road (Hwy 50) or some really unlikely long and circuitous route. The bike trail in town is paved and short - not, IMO, a destination unless you were going to shop or eat, which on Sunday morning in a pandemic was not likely. Everything was still takeout, if it was open.

Also, it's a noticeable climb from Salida/Poncha back to Maysville. Certainly doable and people do it a lot, but probably not something you'd whip out for fun in the morning if you lived in Maysville with other roads and trails accessible.

 

[Seattle1]

May 14, 2020
CBS morning news and 4-minute audio phone with nephew TN

Begin about 1:49 mark - 2:10 for TN confirmation that bike located on Sunday evening and his response regarding the "condition" of the bike.

CO - CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 , MEDIA,MAPS,TIMELINE *NO DISCUSSION*

The nephew said something like "the brakes were jacked." This was the same statement where he said, "Go ask the police about the condition of the bike."

^^SBBM

Nope. No such words from the nephew about the brakes.

If you perhaps have a different MSM link for the same, please add here and the media thread. He certainly did not say those words to CBS. Thanks.

 

[J.M. Bee]

Nope. The only fact we know is that she is missing. Period. MOO is very healthy to mark a post as opinion.

Actually, we know all of the following as well:

• LE did a thorough search of a residential construction site where BM had done some dirt-laying
• BM claims that he was in Denver setting up for a job when Suzanne was reported missing; this was a Sunday and Mother's Day
• BM made a 25-second Facebook video plea in which he begins by addressing Suzanne ("Oh Suzanne") and then proceeds to imply that she may have been abducted
• BM was interviewed by a guerrilla reporter (Tyson Draper); in that interview BM says a number of interesting things, including "the bike was found at the bottom of the hill by that tree where the peak is" and (of the bike) "the wheel was facing ..."

These are all facts in this case as well. I'm sure other people can list other facts they think are relevant to understanding this case.

Links:
Facebook Video Plea
Emotional Video Plea Issued by Missing Colorado Woman's Husband

Video of Interview w/ Tyson Draper

 

[FelicityLemon]

A thought about making a video offering a reward for her safe return and posting it only on fb: it's possible that at that point, they all thought it would be someone who was aware of SM via that platform. We don't know if she posted what she'd be doing for her Mothers' Day, but if she posted that the girls were coming over after camping and that BM had an away-job then people knew she would be alone for a time. I'm surprised that no one, including LE, took that video and posted it anywhere else thinking they'd be helping.

I think LE knows this isn't a whodunit, but more a where-is-she at this point. I think they suspect or know whodunit, but are still gathering evidence for a stable arrest, trial and conviction.

 

[Lilypad13]

Thanks @happyday so the body from the article I posted this morning was NOT determined to be male. THAT body (sad there are so many) is the badly decomposed body that they could not tell if it was male or female but they know for sure that it wasn’t the young woman from Wichita so maybe thought that was why it’s male? How would they know already it wasn’t the other woman then? DNA or dental??? If they can already know it wasn’t that woman then could they already know if it was or wasn’t SM? Do you get what I’m saying?

 

[Dave F.]

Question for the locals--I was looking at Salida on Googlemaps and noticed that there's a bike trail through the middle of town. Does that connect to any of the roads or trails where SM might have been riding?

Yes and no. The trail through town is a road bike trail. There are three major mountain bike trail systems in the Salida area, which make it one of the premier venues for the sport in North America. All of the trail systems, both road and mountain bike, connect in some way, to US Highway 50 or US Highway 24, which criss-cross...........so it is possible to ride the entire trail system of Chaffee county without ever getting an automobile lift. Seriously, many bikers do it. The only road bike usage on Monarch Pass is Highway 50, and in the summer time the full crossing of the pass is popular with long-distance road bikers. SM is a mountain biker, and the trails of the Monarch Crest system are shown at the link below. You should land on the map. Left click once and it will go full page. Place your mouse pointer exactly on the top end of the squiggly yellow line that is a little left of center of the map, right click again, and it will zoom in to detailed topo map of the area of SM's house.
MONARCH CREST TRAIL SYSTEM

 

[brooks]

You'd think BM would want to work *with* LE on finding his missing wife, but he's not worked with them or coordinated anything with them right from the beginning; he's been quite critical of them, as we witnessed in the TD YouTube video interview.

The Caffee Sheriff said in his first news conference that BM was cooperating with them.

 

[Madeleine74]

The Caffee Sheriff said in his first news conference that BM was cooperating with them.

IMO that was before BM allegedly obtained an attorney (source: Nancy Grace some weeks ago).

 

[carbuff]

Thanks @happyday so the body from the article I posted this morning was NOT determined to be male. THAT body (sad there are so many) is the badly decomposed body that they could not tell if it was male or female but they know for sure that it wasn’t the young woman from Wichita so maybe thought that was why it’s male? How would they know already it wasn’t the other woman then? DNA or dental??? If they can already know it wasn’t that woman then could they already know if it was or wasn’t SM? Do you get what I’m saying?

I get what you're saying and I'm not clear how they ruled out the missing young woman from Wichita. Dentals would be most likely, or perhaps mismatched tattoos or other distinguishing characteristic.

Theoretically they could have ruled SM out the same way, I suppose--though since finding out this UID was found upstream from the Arkansas River, I've decided it's nearly impossible.

 

[Lilypad13]

KBI called in to assist with Ninnescah body investigation, case deemed a homicide | Sumner NewsCow

According to this they already determined the body found on Sunday in Sumner County in/near the box/gun safe was not the young woman from Wichita so if they can’t determine the sex how do they know that it’s not her? Maybe that phrasing makes more sense? Or not. Lol

 

[carbuff]

Yes and no. The trail through town is a road bike trail. There are three major mountain bike trail systems in the Salida area, which make it one of the premier venues for the sport in North America. All of the trail systems, both road and mountain bike, connect in some way, to US Highway 50...........so it is possible to ride the entire trail system of Chaffee county without ever getting an automobile lift. Seriously, many bikers do it. The only road bike usage on Monarch Pass is Highway 50, and in the summer time the full crossing it is popular with long-distance road bikers. SM is a mountain biker, and the trails of the Monarch Crest system are shown at the link below. You should land on the map. Left click once and it will go full page. Place your mouse pointer exactly on the top end of the squiggly yellow line that is a little left of center of the map, and it will zoom in to detailed topo map of the area of SM's house.
MONARCH CREST TRAIL SYSTEM

Thanks. Yes I have the map, just couldn't tell whether it connected to that other trail. But if it's a road bike trail, it makes sense that it wouldn't.

I know around here lots of people ride their mountain bikes everywhere. Not for long tours, but for in-between kinds of road trips, like maybe riding to the trail head. But then the roads around here are often potholed and ragged...

 

[Lilypad13]

I get what you're saying and I'm not clear how they ruled out the missing young woman from Wichita. Dentals would be most likely, or perhaps mismatched tattoos or other distinguishing characteristic.

Theoretically they could have ruled SM out the same way, I suppose--though since finding out this UID was found upstream from the Arkansas River, I've decided it's nearly impossible.

We posted at the same time...I understand it is a remote possibility but it would be possible especially if driven and dumped there as opposed to drifting down the river there. I was just confused how they already knew it wasn’t the other woman already. I guess I’ll just let it go for now. If it turns out to be SM we will all know in due time!

 

[IceIce9]

The Caffee Sheriff said in his first news conference that BM was cooperating with them.

Sheriff Spezze said Suzanne Morphew’s husband had been “cooperative to this point, and we hope he continues to do so.”

“we hope he continues to do so.” Hmmmm.

Arizona man secretly records husband of missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew saying he thinks she was 'abducted'

 

[Lilypad13]

DBM duplicate

 

[FelicityLemon]

I think that rewards don't influence the average, moral person to help because if they have information to help in a case like this, they're eager to help because it's the thing to do. I'd hate to imagine someone having information to help, but won't provide it until it's financially worth their while. Nope, that's a very specific kind of person who does that. Most people don't hesitate to help.

Rewards are incentive to people who might not do the right thing as a matter of their daily life, but the carrot of money might entice them to turn in someone they know or heard about.

Rewards might also trigger people to be proactive in “helping” where they wouldn't have otherwise. I mean, if someone in another county or **cough** state saw a huge reward of $100k and more, that's definitely worth their drive, money and time to travel and investigate.