Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #17

[Lilypad13]

I’m trying to find the information posted about the witness that claimed they saw a vehicle (parked?) that seemed suspicious or out of place. Does anyone remember if he described it?

 

[Cassady]

I wonder if he and girls are staying at the house and if they're in fear.

Whether they are staying at their house or not, most people who have a loved one go missing are in tremendous fear for a variety of reasons...IMO.

 

[OldCop]

IMO, he really didn’t have to go beyond FB. The media picked it up anyway.

3k shares
268k views

They did because people started sharing it. If it was my wife, I’d want it out there on every news network and social media site ASAP. It would have been day one, not day 7. It would have been from the heart and not rehearsed. I would be there in person. I would not wait a week and bury it on a FB page that a lot of people didn’t even know existed and hope some media outlet picked it up.

 

[MassGuy]

I certainly assume by now, BM has been cleared. She is somewhere and I hope she is being kept alive. I suggest praying.

Why would you assume he’s been cleared? If he had, then we wouldn’t be seeing what we’re seeing (no press conferences, and no information released to draw leads).

This is almost certainly going to take a long time, and that doesn’t mean anyone has been cleared. Cases without a body tend to take months, if they ever lead to charges.

For instance, It took law enforcement in Connecticut 7 months to charge Fotis Dulos with murder, and that was with a mountain of evidence against him.

 

[Cassady]

Pun intended, Dave F?

Sorry, following this case is tough. As always, where is Suzanne?

LE must, by now, have a treasure trove of digital evidence. But, via posts by others who work with investigators and LE, we know digging through that digital evidence is going to take a LOT of time.

Another dose of patience needed.

The FBI and most state investigative agencies have access to software that rapidly analyzes digital evidence. If LE had access to cars, phones and computers within the first two weeks of the investigation, they have already processed and analyzed this data by now...IMO.

 

[Goldenseal]

I’m trying to find the information posted about the witness that claimed they saw a vehicle (parked?) that seemed suspicious or out of place. Does anyone remember if he described it?

IIRC, he was a cyclist and in his interview he did not describe the car at all. I assume LE told him not to describe it for the media.

 

[Sillybilly]

Please do not bring other individuals into discussion unless LE has indicated a possible connection or
Tricia gives specific permission to discuss them.

As always, if members wish to discuss privately, they may do so without bringing the info to the public thread.

Thanks.

 

[Dave F.]

IIRC, he was a cyclist and in his interview he did not describe the car at all. I assume LE told him not to describe it for the media.

@Lilipad13 - The original interview was by KDVR News, but Francis Bach has been scrubbed from it.
Authorities cordon off home of missing Chaffee County woman
I agree with @Goldenseal that Bach did not describe the vehicle. <modsnip: Do not discuss rumors>

 

[Sillybilly]

@Lilipad13 - The original interview was by KDVR News, but Francis Bach has been scrubbed from it.
Authorities cordon off home of missing Chaffee County woman
I agree with @Goldenseal that Bach did not describe the vehicle. <modsnip: Do not discuss rumors>

FB's short interview is still there, starting at about the 34 second mark.

 

[OldCop]

My thoughts ........(the bike) The bike is eating away at me. Who had easy access to the bike?, two people come to mind, SM and BM. I don't think a perp would stage the bike to look like an abduction, I could be wrong.I thought maybe BM had a helper with planting the bike but I think BM is an army of one kind of guy. The timing is bugging me, of when and who got it to where it was (supposedly) found. This also came two mind,did BM say to SM, let me take your bike in for a tuneup and maybe that is when it was planted.


Just moopinion

J4SM

My thoughts: I’ve always believed SM was killed sometime between Friday night and early Sunday morning. I believe that LE asked people to save video from 5/8-5/12 because the 8th, Friday, was the last day someone outside the family had seen or talked to her.
I envision that the bike was planted after dark on Saturday. It had to be easy enough to find when the search started, but not so obvious that someone might see it and steal it before the whole story could be put into play.
Where the bike was found in the area fits several narratives that have been offered: dragged off by a mountain lion, accident with head injuries and wandering off to fall in the river, or abduction. It also fits with the original report given to LE, that SM had taken a bike ride and never returned.
MOO

 

[MassGuy]

You're correct about norms of human behavior, and making judgments based on norms of behavior is perfectly reasonable. For example, if I know that a money manager is cheating on his wife, I'm not going to invest with him: he's already shown dishonesty in one area of his life, so trusting him with my money would be foolish.

However, in this situation, we have two competing norms:

1. How do innocent people who desperately want their loved one back act?

2. How do innocent people who believe that they are suspected by investigators for their loved one's disappearance act?

The second norm exists because it's become a rule of thumb that when a person goes missing, his/her spouse/GF/BF is immediately placed under the microscope due to statistical probabilities. After all, how can the innocent spouse/BF/GF
ensure that the loved one is found if s/he is in jail based on an erroneous focus by investigators?

Now, I'm not saying that I know that Barry Morphew is innocent or not. I am saying that conclusions should not necessarily be drawn based on the exercise of one's 5th and 6th Amendment rights.

I can’t tell you how many cases I’ve followed where a potential suspect (spouse/bf) came out right away and did the human thing: made an appeal for their significant other.

That’s standard. That’s normal.

BM didn’t do that, instead saying that it was “too soon.” I have never, not once, seen an innocent person behave this way.

Now, I have seen someone make an appeal, then shut down after it’s clear suspicion is directed their way. That’s not what happened here though.

This guy remained silent, before releasing a video that appears to have been an effort to quell the criticism that he didn’t care about his missing wife.

It failed, and he continues to behave in a manner that is contrary to that of every loving spouse in a similar situation.

 

[Nerissa]

I can’t tell you how many cases I’ve followed where a potential suspect (spouse/bf) came out right away and did the human thing: made an appeal for their significant other.

That’s standard. That’s normal.

BM didn’t do that, instead saying that it was “too soon.” I have never, not once, seen an innocent person behave this way.

Now, I have seen someone make an appeal, then shut down after it’s clear suspicion is directed their way. That’s not what happened here though.

This guy remained silent, before releasing a video that appears to have been an effort to quell the criticism that he didn’t care about his missing wife.

It failed, and he continues to behave in a manner that is contrary to that of every loving spouse in a similar situation.

True - & yet he also does this bombastic nonsense: what did he offer - $200,000 for information!?

Egads - what nonsense

It's all about image - smoke & mirrors - for Mr. Morphew IMO: that kinda living can catch up with you.....

JMO

 

[Seattle1]

LE must, by now, have a treasure trove of digital evidence. But, via posts by others who work with investigators and LE, we know digging through that digital evidence is going to take a LOT of time.

Another dose of patience needed.

^^bbm

Counting 48 days so far. IMO

The FBI and most state investigative agencies have access to software that rapidly analyzes digital evidence. If LE had access to cars, phones and computers within the first two weeks of the investigation, they have already processed and analyzed this data by now...IMO.

I agree with @windrower. We've seen and heard first hand (during the Colorado murder trial of Patrick Frazee) the time investigators needed to analyze the digital evidence-- especially from rural, mountainous areas -- not to mention time necessary to retrieve deleted information from the instruments and back up sources, or possible warrants required for the phone tracking records of others that were in suspicious contact with any alleged POI/suspect.

So we will take that additional dose of patience. As @riolove77 reminds us, they only get one bite of the apple.

 

[Nerissa]

& to further riff on my previous post lol:

He only offered the bombastic ridiculous sum of $200,000 because he darn well knows he's never going to shill out a dime....

But, it sure makes him look all pretty & stuff, don't it?

JMO

Ugh, you know: I'd love to be wrong about Mr. Morphew: LOVE to: but I still won't ever like 'em, nope.....I've counted to three, made up my mind

 

[TKG]

I’m trying to find the information posted about the witness that claimed they saw a vehicle (parked?) that seemed suspicious or out of place. Does anyone remember if he described it?

He did not describe the vehicle. He simply said it stood out to him as being very out of place. I posted the video a week or so ago. I’ll go back and see if I can find it. @Dave F. found it before I could, thank you!

 

[LietKynes]

My thoughts: I’ve always believed SM was killed sometime between Friday night and early Sunday morning. I believe that LE asked people to save video from 5/8-5/12 because the 8th, Friday, was the last day someone outside the family had seen or talked to her.
I envision that the bike was planted after dark on Saturday. It had to be easy enough to find when the search started, but not so obvious that someone might see it and steal it before the whole story could be put into play.
Where the bike was found in the area fits several narratives that have been offered: dragged off by a mountain lion, accident with head injuries and wandering off to fall in the river, or abduction. It also fits with the original report given to LE, that SM had taken a bike ride and never returned.
MOO

bbm
Great point !
Someone obviously put some thought and a whole lot of effort into Suzanne's disappearance.

Not saying who it could be as LE haven't provided an update as they're combing through mountains of digital evidence and possibly interviewing other people behind the scenes.

But Occam's Razor would apply in this scenario.
Imo.

 

[Feistyomi]

Wouldn't that be kind of a dead giveaway? IMO

It certainly would be great to have them update us on all the investigation results. IMO, the phone records would have nailed him long ago, if there was any hinkyness. ( is that a word)?
At this point, it’s just as possible, the results are clearing him, rather than convicting.

 

[10ofRods]

How do you know he had his phone?

He mentions calling someone (either the neighbor or the daughters) from Denver. IIRC, BM tells the neighbor to call the police. Daughters speak to neighbor, BM speaks to neighbor, IIRC.

 

[JosieMae]

And another thing ... if you are a dirt guy with your own digging equipment, how convenient is it that you have something to bury after the ground has thawed? As in, late spring.

Yet another interesting bit of timing.

 

[TKG]

@Lilipad13 - The original interview was by KDVR News, but Francis Bach has been scrubbed from it.
Authorities cordon off home of missing Chaffee County woman
I agree with @Goldenseal that Bach did not describe the vehicle. <modsnip: Do not discuss rumors>

Thank you!