Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #35

[GordianKnot]

Exactly. Mountain lions don’t have opposable thumbs either, so even with the password they would be unable to unlock a phone. Probably.

I still think BM was initially trying to sell an abduction, but something put the mountain lion idea in his head.

BBM:

Something, or someone.

It's possible that BM may have been telling the truth (I know, I know) when he informed TD that a deputy spotted a mountain lion in the area that day, in which case, you'd better believe BM would have latched on to that like a drowning man clutching a life preserver.

I think he keeps repeating that mountain lion garbage because he's counting on the fact that a LEO is going to have to testify under oath that he did in fact see a mountain lion that day in the area.

That said, BM has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at the wall in the hopes that it will stick as far as a story.

He's pointed so many fingers in so many different directions at this point, he's exhausted all his digits.

Maybe he can start pointing his toes, or something.

JMO.

 

[Louise369]

I thought about this too. IMO after planting the bike, he realized that Suzanne would always have this item with her if she was riding. It could be her helmet, a water bottle or any other item she usually had with her. He couldn’t leave it in the house to be discovered by LE so it had to be left near the bike. Why didn’t he leave it with the bike or just make it disappear? He may have overthought it. He may have run out of time and just tossed in the general direction on his way past the bike spot. Maybe he figured a mountain lion could have dislodged it from the bike or, if it was her helmet, that it could have come off while she was being dragged up the mountain by her feet. So far, he may get points for dumb luck but I don’t think he’s getting any for his smarts.

Great thoughts. The personal item is definitely something she took on her bike which narrows it down to helmet, water bottle, arm band, sunglasses , etc. I kinda am leaning toward he just overthought it.

 

[dgfred]

Would have been the stealthiest mountain lion ever. Ninja like.

His scenarios stunk like a fish market.

 

[nyvictoria]

Interesting things that make you go hmmnn ...

• Barry calls MG Monday morning crying, telling her a mountain lion has gotten Suzanne, we're headed up the mountain to find her.
• On Tuesday, Barry tries to sell Andy the same story about a mountain lion attacking Suzanne. Andy isn't buying it.
• CCSO-John Speeze tells media within days after Suzanne went missing, they don't believe she was attacked by a mountain lion.
• LE finds the personal item on Thursday, May 14th.
• Sunday, May 17th CCSO is searching water sites and the request to local residents to preserve video between May 8-12 goes out.
• Sunday, May 17th Barry's 26 second plea is aired on facebook, no mention of mountain lion. He seems to address "whoever is out there".
• June 1st, Tyson Draper video- BM "what seems to have happened, from the investigator's and they don't give much and I've got private people working for me. Is maybe she was abducted right here and they found an article going west of hers, they won't tell us what it is". He does mention the mountain lion, but says they found no signs, but it did rain.

So to me it appears BM was initially hoping the mountain lion story would sell itself. LE would look for Suzanne for a couple of days, not find her and he would be able to play the grieving husband and move on with his life.

When that didn't work out so well, he moves on to pointing to a phantom abductor(s).

BM never expected/anticipated LE's response to Suzanne's disappearance, I truly think he thought he would get a way with killing her.

Just jumping off your post. These geniuses are always soooo surprised that everyone makes such a big deal about the missing person. They can’t seem to comprehend that a normal person wants to find their missing loved one. You’d think they’d do a little research.

 

[MassGuy]

Great thoughts. The personal item is definitely something she took on her bike which narrows it down to helmet, water bottle, arm band, sunglasses , etc. I kinda am leaning toward he just overthought it.

Yeah, I think he overthought this too, which doesn’t work well when you aren’t all that bright.

Whatever it was he was trying to sell, whether it be animal attack or abduction, he was staging a scenario that told law enforcement that something bad happened on that bike ride.

The issue he encountered was that law enforcement (apparently) quickly determined that staging occurred. So in an effort to mislead authorities and point suspicion away from him, he inadvertently made himself the prime suspect.

Only someone close to a victim stages a scene like that. Sucks to suck.

 

[ReckoningDay]

Interesting things that make you go hmmnn ...

• Barry calls MG Monday morning crying, telling her a mountain lion has gotten Suzanne, we're headed up the mountain to find her.
• On Tuesday, Barry tries to sell Andy the same story about a mountain lion attacking Suzanne. Andy isn't buying it.
• CCSO-John Speeze tells media within days after Suzanne went missing, they don't believe she was attacked by a mountain lion.
• LE finds the personal item on Thursday, May 14th.
• Sunday, May 17th CCSO is searching water sites and the request to local residents to preserve video between May 8-12 goes out.
• Sunday, May 17th Barry's 26 second plea is aired on facebook, no mention of mountain lion. He seems to address "whoever is out there".
• June 1st, Tyson Draper video- BM "what seems to have happened, from the investigator's and they don't give much and I've got private people working for me. Is maybe she was abducted right here and they found an article going west of hers, they won't tell us what it is". He does mention the mountain lion, but says they found no signs, but it did rain.

So to me it appears BM was initially hoping the mountain lion story would sell itself. LE would look for Suzanne for a couple of days, not find her and he would be able to play the grieving husband and move on with his life.

When that didn't work out so well, he moves on to pointing to a phantom abductor(s).

BM never expected/anticipated LE's response to Suzanne's disappearance, I truly think he thought he would get a way with killing her.

What always got me, was that at the same time he was trying to sell the mountain lion story, BM made his big 20 second plea for the perp to return SM, no questions asked. Just curious, do the mountain lions in Colorado have televisions? Here in the South, our mountain lions must just rely on books for their information, as I've never seen one with TV or even social media.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Thanks for the additional info. I asked the question thinking along the lines of an attorney arguing, as an example, a screenshot is not solid evidence of timestamps, it could have been falsified to look an actual text exchange between parties, etc. I would imagine actual evidence turned over from the cell provider or recovered from LE is better but screenshots still work as evidence. IMO

In the real world, I'm a graphic designer. I cannot tell you how much it bothers me that screenshots can be/are considered evidence, when I could manufacture one in less than an hour, that looks 100% legit, but is 100% fake.
I think if the text/conversation in question could then be proven to have taken place via logs from the platform, then and only then should a screen shot be entered as evidence. But never without proof. They're way too easy to fake.

jmo

 

[MsBetsy]

Jumping off your excellent post-

While the search for Suzanne Morphew continues, a specific area just west of County Road 225 and Highway 50 (outside of Maysville), is being targeted by investigators after they located what’s believed to be a personal item of the missing woman.

On Friday, May 15, members of the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) plan to launch a comprehensive search of the area.

More than fifty searchers and investigators will comb the area in an effort to seek additional items or other clues that may identify the whereabouts of Ms. Morphew.

Unfortunately, this search will cause a temporary closure U.S. Highway 50, Monarch Pass for an undetermined amount of time.
http://chaffeesheriff.org/2020/05/15/hwy-50-temporary-closure-for-search-for-missing-woman/

Yesterday we went over details from Andy regarding the area's he and a few others searched. We learned one of the area's was actually right where the personal item was found, but they missed it. I believe this would have been on the Tuesday or Wednesday after Suzanne went missing. Further, Andy stated that same area had already been searched by LE and at the time he was looking there, LE was searching down in the valley.

CCSO found the personal item of Suzanne's on Thursday, May 14. Then the following day conducted a larger search which closed Monarch Pass May 15 update on search for Suzanne Morphew - Chaffee County Sheriff

I'm puzzling over what led them back to search the area the personal item was found in again?

Good point as to the location, if it is the helmet and potential damage it should have shown in a mountain lion attack. Barry obviously was suffering from lack of sleep, so clarity wasn't his strong point in thinking that one through, JMO.

If it was the helmet that was found, it's hard to believe the searchers missed a bright blue object of that size the first time around.

 

[GordianKnot]

Am I correct in that LE has still not told anyone , including Andy, what the personal item was? What kind of a clue does this item hold? I have seen missing person cases where LE releases information about things that were found that belong to a missing person (ex: “her wallet and keys were found in X location) or something like that. So is the fact that it wasn’t found until Thursday alarming in terms of it may be that Barry planted it days after Monday/Tuesday when they were searching?

BBM:

I think LE has shown nothing short of sheer genius in both their disclosure of having recovered a personal item, and in their refusal to identify specifically what it is they recovered.

I've said this before, but the reason this is such a brilliant move is that it really puts the perp in a state of disequilibrium.

What if the perp planted more than one item that he intended for LE to find?

What if LE is publicly stating that they've recovered "an item" but have in fact recovered more than one?

What if LE recovered something that the perp did NOT mean to leave behind, i.e., he dropped something inadvertently?

There's no way for the perp to know the answers to any of those questions.
Unless he goes out to check the location(s) where he planted items, he can't verify whether or not LE recovered what he intended them to find.

Obviously, he can't risk going back to the spot where he planted evidence, because LE may have surveillance on that area and/or on him.

It has to be driving him absolutely batty not knowing what LE has in hand.
He has no idea whether it's something he meant for them to discover, or if it's a neon flashing bread crumb he unintentionally left behind for LE.

The perp is now "completely in the dark here," as BM would say.

And I guarantee you he's extremely unhappy about that.

It really is genius on the part of LE to handle it this way.

JMO.

 

[MassGuy]

If it was the helmet that was found, it's hard to believe the searchers missed a bright blue object of that size the first time around.

The helmet may have been upside down. That area is also full of elevation changes and brush.

I find it a lot easier to believe that LE missed it, than BM holding onto it and planting it later. He had no access to the house, and it would be insanely risky to store it in his truck.

He was trying to sell a bike ride, so it makes sense that he would remove the helmet from the home at the same time as the bike.

 

[sunflowerchick]

In the real world, I'm a graphic designer. I cannot tell you how much it bothers me that screenshots can be/are considered evidence, when I could manufacture one in less than an hour, that looks 100% legit, but is 100% fake.
I think if the text/conversation in question could then be proven to have taken place via logs from the platform, then and only then should a screen shot be entered as evidence. But never without proof. They're way too easy to fake.

jmo

I took a graphic design class once and I am pretty technically skilled, but I probably couldn't pass a screenshot off as "real". In fact, probably about 98% of the population would be unable to. For this reason, I don't have a problem with screenshots being used as evidence of certain things. In this case, it wouldn't bother me.

 

[LietKynes]

The WiFi and cell service must definitely be poor on Puma path because of the mountain lion knew about the $200k reward he would have totally brought her back by now.

Ita.
Also, that elk head or horns w/some skin on....
Was someone trying to lure a mountain lion so that it could be sighted by someone ?
Just thinking out loud.

 

[DizzyB]

Great thoughts. The personal item is definitely something she took on her bike which narrows it down to helmet, water bottle, arm band, sunglasses , etc. I kinda am leaning toward he just overthought it.

Baby
Blue
Bike
Helmet

 

[Knox]

Am I correct in that LE has still not told anyone , including Andy, what the personal item was? What kind of a clue does this item hold? I have seen missing person cases where LE releases information about things that were found that belong to a missing person (ex: “her wallet and keys were found in X location) or something like that. So is the fact that it wasn’t found until Thursday alarming in terms of it may be that Barry planted it days after Monday/Tuesday when they were searching?

LE has not disclosed what the item is, IMO we won't know what it is until the PC affidavit is released or at trial.

That's why I went back and looked at the timeline again, did LE suspect BM of tampering with evidence? Who knows ... he'd have to be an absolute idiot to do that.
But old Barry hasn't proven to be the sharpest tool in the shed so far.

 

[LietKynes]

Great thoughts. The personal item is definitely something she took on her bike which narrows it down to helmet, water bottle, arm band, sunglasses , etc. I kinda am leaning toward he just overthought it.

Ita.
Of all of the items to plant I'm guessing the bike helmet would the most idiotic thing to toss .
We aren't discussing a Mensa member.
Whether it was an abductor, mountain lion, accident on the road while biking, 'got herself into the water', or whatever.
Her helmet would've been fastened securely.
Even if struck by a vehicle, her helmet would've been intact and no one hits a person, abducts them, and takes time to unfasten a helmet.
I'm assuming.

Maybe sunglasses or water bottle would be more likely ?
Imo.

 

[FlyerFan28]

I have an apple watch, ipad, MacBook and phone that all are connected to icloud. If I delete a text message string on my phone, it will still be viewable on the other devices until I manually delete them there. So if BM thought he was doing a solid by deleting the convo with her friend, the police or anyone would still see it on the other devices.

 

[DizzyB]

In the real world, I'm a graphic designer. I cannot tell you how much it bothers me that screenshots can be/are considered evidence, when I could manufacture one in less than an hour, that looks 100% legit, but is 100% fake.
I think if the text/conversation in question could then be proven to have taken place via logs from the platform, then and only then should a screen shot be entered as evidence. But never without proof. They're way too easy to fake.

jmo

I never think things are real anymore. Sunsets and oceans are color enhanced, regular folk are pretty darned good at Photoshop and retouching. I edit PDF documents all day long as part of my job. We match fonts and remove and alter text and you would never know it. Password protected? No problem. It takes a little longer, but there’s a way around almost everything.

 

[branmuffin]

But he may not have known she was texting. She could’ve been watching tv and now and then picking up her phone to respond.

That is very possible. You don't hold your phone all the time between texts. So it's possible she didn't sense anything was wrong until the last minute.

 

[Fireflize]

The helmet may have been upside down. That area is also full of elevation changes and brush.

I find it a lot easier to believe that LE missed it, than BM holding onto it and planting it later. He had no access to the house, and it would be insanely risky to store it in his truck.

He was trying to sell a bike ride, so it makes sense that he would remove the helmet from the home at the same time as the bike.

Agree with MassGuy. I think the bike, the helmet, and possibly an article of biking apparel were found by LE. All planted by BM. He thought those items would prove to the world that she was abducted.
He has to be fuming that LE won't say what they found.
If they did, he could argue his case to the public that the objects are absolute, positively, no doubt about it, proof that she was abducted. And that LE are too stupid to figure it out.
But as it is, he has to keep his mouth shut and hope he doesn't slip up.
Moo

 

[MsBetsy]

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