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

[Seattle1]

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 not reason to deny SAR and LE access.

JMO, MOO, etc.

I think LE knew as early as 7 pm if not before that SM was not inside her home.

The 911 call came in to dispatch at 5:47 pm, and CCSO reportedly traveled to Maysville to take the report from the caller (neighbor).

I don't imagine LE would sit and wait for BM to get home and unlock to door to see if SM was inside.

I also believe the location played a big part in the expedient employ of the SAR because this resource came from the prison very close by.

CCSO and the prison SAR have a longtime partnering relationship because they are needed to help with the frequent reports of lost hikers that travel to Chaffee County.

MOO

 

[Dr.StClements]

BBM:

I do believe that the Gimme was "officially" launched by a family member of BM's.

I do not for one second believe that BM had no idea that the family member would launch a Gimme.

In fact, I'd bet on the exact opposite:

I think BM pulled at the (heart)strings of someone in such a way that he knew it would result in the family member being inspired to help BM raise funds to (ostensibly) aid in covering the costs to the "family" for the search effort.

Puppets and Puppeteer.

That's what I'm seeing here.

So. Much. Manipulation.

JMO.

And it would also beggar belief given that the management of that site purportedly transferred to BM's mother for a while, before being changed to one of the SM/BM daughters.
Yep - he was aware of it from the get-go, IMO

 

[Murphy1950]

Following that idea, her possible making it back to the house after a biking accident, would LE have asked permission to look for her inside the house before BM got back? Moo

From the WEB....
No court order is required for the police to conduct a welfare check. Essentially, as long as they have reasonable grounds to believe that an inhabitant in a residence in endangered, they can legally enter the premises. They typically knock on the door and await a response before announcing their law enforcement affiliation. If they still receive no response, they may enter the property. This is particularly useful when someone inside the house is unconscious or otherwise unable to respond. The ability to enter the property without permission means that emergency aid can be rendered. In some cases, this is a life-saving intervention.

What Is A Police Welfare Check?

 

[Goldenseal]

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.

Of course it would be ok for them to go in, even if all they had to go by was a worried neighbor. In SM's case, LE should also have had BM's OK, or the older daughter's OK, over the phone. I have always assumed the house was checked (in a 'welfare check' manner) before BM or the girls ever got home. I may be wrong.

As a person who called LE to perform a welfare check on a friend of a friend, I can attest that LE was perfectly OK (with my permission) with breaking a small window pane to let themselves into the house. The circumstances were similar to SM -- he was older/sick, had gone missing(he talked to our mutual friend every day and hadn't called back for 2 days), and, when I arrived at the house and LE was waiting for me, I pointed out that his front driver's side car door was standing slightly open. They took my info, friend's info over phone, and broke in.

IMO, when LE sees that the person really shouldn't be missing and unreachable and a couple of other things are out of whack (car door in my case, bike/Mothers Day in SM's case), I don't think they have anything to worry about legally as long as they don't go beyond what would be necessary to find a body. JMO.

P.S. Our friend was found in hospital -- he wandered away and was picked up by kind strangers. He was fine, but it was the first indication that he was developing dementia. He'd forgotten which house was his. He moved to a nursing home and died a year or so later.

 

[Puzzles8]

Of course it would be ok for them to go in, even if all they had to go by was a worried neighbor. In SM's case, LE should also have had BM's OK, or the older daughter's OK, over the phone. I have always assumed the house was checked (in a 'welfare check' manner) before BM or the girls ever got home. I may be wrong.

As a person who called LE to perform a welfare check on a friend of a friend, I can attest that LE was perfectly OK (with my permission) with breaking a small window pane to let themselves into the house. The circumstances were similar to SM -- he was older/sick, had gone missing(he talked to our mutual friend every day and hadn't called back for 2 days), and, when I arrived at the house and LE was waiting for me, I pointed out that his front driver's side car door was standing slightly open. They took my info, friend's info over phone, and broke in.

IMO, when LE sees that the person really shouldn't be missing and unreachable and a couple of other things are out of whack (car door in my case, bike/Mothers Day in SM's case), I don't think they have anything to worry about legally as long as they don't go beyond what would be necessary to find a body. JMO.

P.S. Our friend was found in hospital -- he wandered away and was picked up by kind strangers. He was fine, but it was the first indication that he was developing dementia. He'd forgotten which house was his. He moved to a nursing home and died a year or so later.

My heartfelt condolences for you and your friend. Dementia is a cruel disease.

IMO, SAR and LE probably searched their home that night, without an official SW. I don't know if anything they saw in the home made them suspicious or helped lead to the Official SW 10 days later.

JMO, MOO, etc.

 

[FelicityLemon]

Tha

So here's the route she took
Imgur
Looking at the spot marked in google maps, you can see they found the bike close to the South Arkansas River, not out of the question she fell in there. It looks steep enough that she could have fallen in there atleast from the satellite view.
خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏‬‏‏

How is that route verified? If she went on a bike ride, it doesn't make sense that she would ride up to the main road at all twhen there's a direct route from her home to the trail without having to backtrack up to the trail head. She didn't have to go near the highway. imo.

 

[Hatfield]

From the WEB....
No court order is required for the police to conduct a welfare check. Essentially, as long as they have reasonable grounds to believe that an inhabitant in a residence in endangered, they can legally enter the premises. They typically knock on the door and await a response before announcing their law enforcement affiliation. If they still receive no response, they may enter the property. This is particularly useful when someone inside the house is unconscious or otherwise unable to respond. The ability to enter the property without permission means that emergency aid can be rendered. In some cases, this is a life-saving intervention.

What Is A Police Welfare Check?

Exactly.

That is my understanding as well. When they think someone could be in danger LE can enter a residence without any permission and even if nobody is answering the door. They can bash down the door if they have to if they think there is a chance of an endangered person being inside. JMO

 

[Seattle1]

From the WEB....
No court order is required for the police to conduct a welfare check. Essentially, as long as they have reasonable grounds to believe that an inhabitant in a residence in endangered, they can legally enter the premises. They typically knock on the door and await a response before announcing their law enforcement affiliation. If they still receive no response, they may enter the property. This is particularly useful when someone inside the house is unconscious or otherwise unable to respond. The ability to enter the property without permission means that emergency aid can be rendered. In some cases, this is a life-saving intervention.

What Is A Police Welfare Check?

I think the correct answer is depending on the laws of the state.

Every rule is always subject to change but I recall hearing that "welfare check" here works fine if you are the owner of the property and request police do a welfare check at your own home.

If you contact authorities for a welfare check and you're not the owner, I think there has to be some evidence that an impaired individual needs aid. Evidence somebody needs aid would be if police can see through the window, somebody on the floor that's not responding. Without evidence, I don't think your neighbor can call 911 and expect the police to break down the door to see if you are OK.

Also, I know that some states have an "Emergency Doctrine," and states that have repealed and/or abolished their "Emergency Doctrine."

And I believe some states rely on civil use (i.e., non-criminal) of the exigent circumstance exception to enter without permission and without a warrant.

Tagging one of our legal eagles to clarify.

@lamlawindy

ETA: I believe the legal reference for "Welfare Check" is ‘community caretaking exception' or the 4th Amendment's community caretaking exception.

In my comment above about states relying on civil use of exigent circumstances, the Supreme Court ruled "community caretaking" only applied to vehicles, but state courts and the federal circuit are undecided or split.

Courts in a muddle over 4th Amendment’s community caretaking exception

 

[Fireflize]

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 not reason to deny SAR and LE access.

JMO, MOO, etc.

Following that idea, her possible making it back to the house after a biking accident, would LE have asked permission to look for her inside the house before BM got back? Moo

From the WEB....
No court order is required for the police to conduct a welfare check. Essentially, as long as they have reasonable grounds to believe that an inhabitant in a residence in endangered, they can legally enter the premises. They typically knock on the door and await a response before announcing their law enforcement affiliation. If they still receive no response, they may enter the property. This is particularly useful when someone inside the house is unconscious or otherwise unable to respond. The ability to enter the property without permission means that emergency aid can be rendered. In some cases, this is a life-saving intervention.

What Is A Police Welfare Check?

Thx. I like thinking about them being able to have a look before BM got back. Moo

 

[crhedBngr]

Hi. I agree with you about the DM content. And senior journalists didn't do themselves any favours in the past by resorting to phone-hacking - including the phone hacking of a young girl who had been murdered.
DM is notorious for wanting to break high profile stories and have employed nefarious means to do it in the past. Listening to the voice messages on a murdered teenager's phone crossed one line too many for me.
Please forgive me if I have the wrong person. I've seen replies to my previous posts, some requesting more information. There's no reply option under your post, if it was you (there are others too). If it was you - I'm sorry for not replying sooner. I'm back to hospital having had secondary breast cancer confirmed in the last week and I'm not spending a lot of time on this site = at least not enough to always respond to queries about my posts
Was it you who asked about more construction-related details at the Salida site? I was trying to message you and someone else and seem to have only managed to post myself a message!! I'll see if I can find the original articles I read.
One reference here relates to BM's working timeline: Finding Suzanne Morphew: Investigators Search Husband's Job Site Near Salida

where the property owner mentions that he's only known BM for 3 weeks, and that BM started work there approximately 1 week before SM was reported missing.
Sorry for the late reply - and for hijacking you here I didn't know what else to do (embarrassed face emoji...)

@Dr.StClements : I'm so very sorry to see you're dealing with a breast-cancer recurrence. May you knock it out quickly!

 

[Topppps]

Tha


How is that route verified? If she went on a bike ride, it doesn't make sense that she would ride up to the main road at all twhen there's a direct route from her home to the trail without having to backtrack up to the trail head. She didn't have to go near the highway. imo.

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.


Here's a labeled map Imgur

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.

 

[Topppps]

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.

 

[Seattle1]

From the WEB....
No court order is required for the police to conduct a welfare check. Essentially, as long as they have reasonable grounds to believe that an inhabitant in a residence in endangered, they can legally enter the premises. They typically knock on the door and await a response before announcing their law enforcement affiliation. If they still receive no response, they may enter the property. This is particularly useful when someone inside the house is unconscious or otherwise unable to respond. The ability to enter the property without permission means that emergency aid can be rendered. In some cases, this is a life-saving intervention.

What Is A Police Welfare Check?

Re. Colorado

Does anybody else recall when police responded to the welfare check for Shan'ann Watt's called in by her friend and when police arrived, they circled around the house and garage, trying to peer through the windows, saying they could not break-in?

Perhaps the police could not break-in because the welfare check request was not from the homeowner?

I'm still thinking about this Welfare Check and how it seems to be different depending on the state and now it's bugging me!!

Chris found out the police were there so he finally came home and let the police, friend, and her son inside.

Police walked through all the rooms in the house, left, and went to the neighbor's house to watch the surveillance video.

 

[Knox]

Re. Colorado

Does anybody recall when police responded to the welfare check for Shan'ann Watt's called in by her friend and when police arrived, they circled around the house and garage, trying to peer through the windows, saying they could not break-in?

Perhaps the police could not break-in because the welfare check request was not from the homeowner?

Chris found out the police were there so he finally came home and let the police, friend, and her son inside.

Police walked through all the rooms in the house, left, and went to the neighbor's house to watch the surveillance video.

So you think LE never spoke to Barry via phone on the drive home from Denver?

 

[Seattle1]

So you think LE never spoke to Barry via phone on the drive home from Denver?

I sure hope they did -- regardless of the reason! We know that BM didn't call them. He put that on his neighbor.

 

[lamlawindy]

I think the correct answer is depending on the laws of the state.

Every rule is always subject to change but I recall hearing that "welfare check" here works fine if you are the owner of the property and request police do a welfare check at your own home.

If you contact authorities for a welfare check and you're not the owner, I think there has to be some evidence that an impaired individual needs aid. Evidence somebody needs aid would be if police can see through the window, somebody on the floor that's not responding. Without evidence, I don't think your neighbor can call 911 and expect the police to break down the door to see if you are OK.

Also, I know that some states have an "Emergency Doctrine," and states that have repealed and/or abolished their "Emergency Doctrine."

And I believe some states rely on civil use (i.e., non-criminal) of the exigent circumstance exception to enter without permission and without a warrant.

Tagging one of our legal eagles to clarify.

@lamlawindy

ETA: I believe the legal reference for "Welfare Check" is ‘community caretaking exception' or the 4th Amendment's community caretaking exception.

In my comment above about states relying on civil use of exigent circumstances, the Supreme Court ruled "community caretaking" only applied to vehicles, but state courts and the federal circuit are undecided or split.

Courts in a muddle over 4th Amendment’s community caretaking exception

It really is a state-specific question. The rules you posted about being the homeowner vs. being a non-homeowner are correct general guides.

Here in Indiana, officers will knock on the door & walk around the perimeter to ensure that they don't see anything that creates an exigent circumstance (bleeding person, sounds of fighting). It would be very strange here for an officer to kick in a door based on a phonecall from a non-homeowner; officers know that such an action could get them shot by a startled homeowner.

 

[lamlawindy]

CCSO and the prison SAR have a longtime partnering relationship because they are needed to help with the frequent reports of lost hikers that travel to Chaffee County.
MOO

That is one thing I didn't realize before I visited Colorado (not Chaffee County specifically): those mountain areas are vast. Here in the Midwest -- because of our agricultural roots and relatively flat topography -- we have small towns every so often. Once I actually saw the vastness, then I understood how hikers could become lost.

 

[10ofRods]

Since we really don't know what the personal item is, it may prove to be inconsequential, and only served to get SM's scent in the area or a location relative to the bike.

I think it will not be completely inconsequential. It either points to a direction taken by Suzanne (or her abductor/murderer) or it doesn't.

If LE thinks it's irrelevant and doesn't use that piece of evidence, then I think that's a win for the defense. How can it be irrelevant? Either Suzanne left it there in some way, or it was planted.

If LE believes she left it there but it means nothing in a case against BM, then there's a strong reason to suspect that LE has no explanation whatsoever for that item being there.

It can't just be lying around and without explanation. If it is her item.

How can it possibly be inconsequential??

 

[10ofRods]

It really is a state-specific question. The rules you posted about being the homeowner vs. being a non-homeowner are correct general guides.

Here in Indiana, officers will knock on the door & walk around the perimeter to ensure that they don't see anything that creates an exigent circumstance (bleeding person, sounds of fighting). It would be very strange here for an officer to kick in a door based on a phonecall from a non-homeowner; officers know that such an action could get them shot by a startled homeowner.

No one is talking about kicking in doors. In Indiana, if a household member who was away from home was reporting that their mother was missing, and gave a code to enter the house - do you really think that LE wouldn't go check on Mom?

What if she was having a medical emergency? (Which is what most sons and daughters would hope if Mom was not answering the phone on Mother's Day, the night before her next chemo treatment).

Surely there's a way for LE in Indiana to check on whether people are still alive, when their household members think they may be missing...or...not responding?

When Suzanne was reported missing, there was no firm evidence that she hadn't just fainted or died within the house...was there?

 

[tmar]

So if she shows up unharmed...do they have to split the reward with the mountain lion (?)..I mean, after all

Certainly. The mountain lion probably has a family to feed.