Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #13

[Truecolors]

Many here seem to have a lot of faith in LE’s ability to suss out the guilty party within hours of being notified of SM’s disappearance. And when an arrest comes quickly, it’s pretty clear they were right. But exactly how long do you expect to wait after searches of the family home and the husband’s worksite (which were conducted weeks ago) for an arrest to happen? Have you ever seen a missing persons case where absolutely no guidance was given to the public regarding description of person, vehicle or clothing AND it’s taken this long to make an arrest? I can’t ever remember one. That’s an awful lot of certainty on the part of LE and, a month later, absolutely nothing to show for that certainty.

Not a missing persons case, but our relatively low-crime town had a notable murder a few years ago. She was found dead in the home in December. Son was in the home at the time, and no signs of break in. There was silence from LE for 15 months. In March (15 months later, not 3), the son was arrested. He plead guilty.

The town released their own announcement of his arrest, and thanked the community for support as they did “due diligence”. They also referred to the outcome as “tragic”.

The son was still enrolled in the local high school at the time of his arrest. He was a high achiever, active in extracurricular activities. It was a shocker.

MOO—when the arrest will really traumatize the family further, I believe LE may be very tight lipped about the process. And it’s possible close family does know more about the evidence and LE’s direction, reasons they are not searching for a stranger abduction.

 

[Hoosierfan72]

Not a missing persons case, but our relatively low-crime town had a notable murder a few years ago. She was found dead in the home in December. Son was in the home at the time, and no signs of break in. There was silence from LE for 15 months. In March (15 months later, not 3), the son was arrested. He plead guilty.

The town released their own announcement of his arrest, and thanked the community for support as they did “due diligence”. They also referred to the outcome as “tragic”.

The son was still enrolled in the local high school at the time of his arrest. He was a high achiever, active in extracurricular activities. It was a shocker.

MOO—when the arrest will really traumatize the family further, I believe LE may be very tight lipped about the process. And it’s possible close family does know more about the evidence and LE’s direction, reasons they are not searching for a stranger abduction.

Interesting..... and tragic. Clearly LE deserves the benefit of the doubt in the absence of public information. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Dave F.]

For a dark scenario to occur that person had to have some knowledge about her movements. I thinking of somebody else than BM. Someone he worked with, or somebody she knew very well but he didn't.

I also got my eyes on the Monarch Spur RV Park and Campground, relatively closeby. People on their way through heading west or east can camp there. Or people who are there for a certain amount of time because they are hiking/biking the trail, or just visting the area to recreate.

That camping ground can hold people who have been there before, and thus have knowledge of the area.

Thank you! I thought I was the only person in the entire world who was asking "Why hasn't LE even driven through the RV park?"

 

[Fireflize]

I think that whatever it is that is pointing them at BM, it’s huge. Something that has forced them to look in only one direction.

No need to look anywhere else if the answer is staring you right in the face.

I just want to know what the hell it is.

MassGuy, do you think LE had this huge piece of the puzzle from the moment she was reported missing? What's your guess? Moo tia

 

[Murphy1950]

Many here seem to have a lot of faith in LE’s ability to suss out the guilty party within hours of being notified of SM’s disappearance. And when an arrest comes quickly, it’s pretty clear they were right. But exactly how long do you expect to wait after searches of the family home and the husband’s worksite (which were conducted weeks ago) for an arrest to happen? Have you ever seen a missing persons case where absolutely no guidance was given to the public regarding description of person, vehicle or clothing AND it’s taken this long to make an arrest? I can’t ever remember one. That’s an awful lot of certainty on the part of LE and, a month later, absolutely nothing to show for that certainty.

Fotis Dulos, the 52-year-old estranged husband of Jennifer Dulos, a New Canaan woman who has been missing for more than seven months, has been arrested and charged with murder, felony murder and kidnapping in connection with the disappearance of his wife.

 

[Fireflize]

That, plus...

Surveillance cams also "down" at key times.
Browser history, GPS trip logs, messenger/text conversations, emails... cleared or erased, also at key times.
His, and hers as well.
I think criminally minded people haven't really caught up with just how much of our day to day lives is constantly tracked.

Once all of that info is gone over (and deleted items recovered), it will tell quite a story.

jmo

Always enjoy your posts. You make a good point. You can stage a physical scene. But you can't go back I time and redo the electronic footprint.

 

[RickshawFan]

I am placing a bet on his phone being shut off in a suspicious pattern.

Arias got caught this way. She not only disabled the phone for the time needed to commit the murder, but she re-enabled it in a state she wasn't supposed to be in if her story was true. Boom!
I hadn't thought of SM maybe meeting foul play in another state. Hmmmm....

 

[Love Never Fails]

Thank you! I thought I was the only person in the entire world who was asking "Why hasn't LE even driven through the RV park?"

You aren’t the only person with that thought. A lot of people take the path of least resistance in their theories, believing LE has got this. I’m one of those. But yes, all the other scenarios keep going through my mind. I’m asking myself why LE didn’t do this, didn’t do that. I won’t be surprised either way. There are so many unanswered questions.

My greatest question is why LE keeps calling this a missing person case when they didn’t offer a description or mention the last place she was seen? Not normal. If they have the perfect answer to the question of why BM is their guy, then call this what it is: a criminal case.

 

[RickshawFan]

For a dark scenario to occur that person had to have some knowledge about her movements. I thinking of somebody else than BM. Someone he worked with, or somebody she knew very well but he didn't.

I also got my eyes on the Monarch Spur RV Park and Campground, relatively closeby. People on their way through heading west or east can camp there. Or people who are there for a certain amount of time because they are hiking/biking the trail, or just visting the area to recreate.

That camping ground can hold people who have been there before, and thus have knowledge of the area.

Are fires allowed at the campground? Often federal/state fire bans also apply to open fires (e.g. camp fires), but does this apply at that campground? A camp fire would be a handy way to destroy evidence.
If not in Colorado, I suppose a camp fire might be permitted in a neighboring state (now that y'all have me thinking this might be an "interstate" domestic crime)? Going via "Denver" would mean Kansas. However, I don't remember there being a whole lot of campgrounds on this route, and you'd probably see a fire for miles around.
You could also go via "Denver" to Nebraska or Wyoming, but this might be more of a stretch given the context of this case. I've had trouble finding convenient campgrounds on that route, too.

 

[IceIce9]

You aren’t the only person with that thought. A lot of people take the path of least resistance in their theories, believing LE has got this. I’m one of those. But yes, all the other scenarios keep going through my mind. I’m asking myself why LE didn’t do this, didn’t do that. I won’t be surprised either way. There are so many unanswered questions.

My greatest question is why LE keeps calling this a missing person case when they didn’t offer a description or mention the last place she was seen? Not normal. If they have the perfect answer to the question of why BM us their guy, then call this what it is: a criminal case.

BBM

Even if they suspect she is deceased, if her body has not been located she is still missing

 

[Love Never Fails]

Dbm

 

[Angleterre]

That, plus...

Surveillance cams also "down" at key times.
Browser history, GPS trip logs, messenger/text conversations, emails... cleared or erased, also at key times.
His, and hers as well.
I think criminally minded people haven't really caught up with just how much of our day to day lives is constantly tracked.

Once all of that info is gone over (and deleted items recovered), it will tell quite a story.

jmo

This is a very important point that you raise and if I may I would like to expand upon your post :
People do not realise just how much electronic tracking there is in our everyday lives and the footprint that we leave . Let’s take for example the obvious ones like public CCTV and residential / business CCTV and street CCTV , shop and bank and fuel CCTV, road surveillance CCTV to monitor traffic flow and speed camera CCTV etc The list is endless! Then there are tracking devices on the car if there is one , then there is the cell phone and text message/social media footprints alongside Pings
But - there are some footprints that we either don’t think about or are not aware of for example I own a luxury ( ish ) brand of car and I don’t have a key , I have a black plastic fob that I carry around which activates the car but without inserting it anywhere within my car console. Now when my car has a problem and I go to the dealership, this fob is inserted into their computer and it tell you every journey I have made and the status of the car throughout that journey, if the fuels low , if the seatbelt warning is activated, if any warning lights come on , if tyre pressure is low etc
I was gobsmacked just how much information that could be obtained and to be quite honest, I am a law abiding citizen but it scared even me , just how much we are being monitored. Then there is ANPR both mobile and static and lets not forget that it’s not only your cell phone that can be pinged and calls traced but LE can go to any mast and triangulate all mobile cell phones that ping off a particular mast at a given time and they can cross reference the data from this to any of the contacts in your phone and see if there are any patterns . So just from this you can start to see how many avenues are open for LE to look at. And then we have instagram and Facebook and WhatsApp and snapchat and Twitter and email and fit bits and apple watches and you start to get my drift .....
Edited to add: We have family Life 360 so that we can see where our children are and vice versa and my DH decided to turn his location permissions off
BUT although it does not now tell me his location in words, it does show him driving down the various roads and highways when he’s out and about. So another form of surveillance and if somebody was going to commit a heinous crime, they cannot possibly erase all their electronic footprints x

 

[Love Never Fails]

BBM

Even if they suspect she is deceased, if her body has not been located she is still missing

I realize she is missing but when LE finds evidence to believe she is no longer alive it becomes a criminal case. If they don’t have a suspect, they should still be looking and asking for help. They aren’t, and that’s why we can only surmise it’s a criminal case.

 

[Tate123]

I am placing a bet on his phone being shut off in a suspicious pattern.

Could be, but I'm leaning more towards something bigger that would have make LE suspicious immediately. The phone info would have taken days to discover. LE came out of the gate running on this. IMO

 

[Love Never Fails]

Arias got caught this way. She not only disabled the phone for the time needed to commit the murder, but she re-enabled it in a state she wasn't supposed to be in if her story was true. Boom!
I hadn't thought of SM maybe meeting foul play in another state. Hmmmm....

Arias...what an idiot...there were also the gas cans and the pictures on the camera, which she forgot about. But turning on that phone to make that call to Travis after murdering him while in another State, yeah, that was a doozy!

 

[Acorunadepor]

Are fires allowed at the campground? Often federal/state fire bans also apply to open fires (e.g. camp fires), but does this apply at that campground? A camp fire would be a handy way to destroy evidence.
If not in Colorado, I suppose a camp fire might be permitted in a neighboring state (now that y'all have me thinking this might be an "interstate" domestic crime)? Going via "Denver" would mean Wyoming or Nebraska.

According to the park policies: Build fires ONLY in fire pits. Firewood is for sale at the store.
Park Policies - Monarch Spur RV Park and Campground

But this is an out of date statement. Because there are fire restrictions in Chaffee County
Fire Restrictions in Chaffee County - Chaffee County Sheriff

 

[Madeleine74]

Many here seem to have a lot of faith in LE’s ability to suss out the guilty party within hours of being notified of SM’s disappearance. And when an arrest comes quickly, it’s pretty clear they were right. But exactly how long do you expect to wait after searches of the family home and the husband’s worksite (which were conducted weeks ago) for an arrest to happen?

{snipped by me for space}

From following various murder cases, my initial thought is: how long is a piece of string?

I've seen arrests happen within weeks and I've seen arrests happen 3 years out. Average is maybe 4 to 6 months. It all depends on if a body is found, what evidence exists, what that evidence can prove, and how comfortable a DA is in taking a case for indictment.

In my area a previous DA was very conservative and would not agree to prosecute a case until he was comfortable he could prove the charges and he would wait as long as it took, even if that took years, because if there's not enough evidence and a jury aquitts, that's it, no second chances.

In one famous and horrific case in my local area, Michelle Fisher Young was found murdered at home, the murder occurred in 2006 and the arrest for her murder didn't occur until 3 years and 1 month later. Her husband committed the murder and is in prison for life.

 

[Shiloh28]

I wonder if BM goes to the Salida Walmart often.

 

[Bridger]

Fotis Dulos, the 52-year-old estranged husband of Jennifer Dulos, a New Canaan woman who has been missing for more than seven months, has been arrested and charged with murder, felony murder and kidnapping in connection with the disappearance of his wife.

...and LE released no description of where Jennifer was last seen? What she was wearing? What her vehicle looked like?

 

[RickshawFan]

According to the park policies: Build fires ONLY in fire pits. Firewood is for sale at the store.
Park Policies - Monarch Spur RV Park and Campground

But this is an out of date statement. Because there are fire restrictions in Chaffee County
Fire Restrictions in Chaffee County - Chaffee County Sheriff

As I read the (contradictory) fine print in "Fire Restrictions in Chaffee County", a campfire would be permitted currently if it's in a pit no wider than 3ft in diameter.
The relevant line item seems to be this:
"7.4 Stage I Restrictions: Forbid building, maintaining or attending any Open Fire within Chaffee County. The following are exempt from Stage I fire restrictions and excluded from a Stage I ban:
• Campfires, warming fires and charcoal fires within a permanent constructed fire grate in a developed public campground or picnic ground or permanent constructed fire grate or fire ring in a commercial campground or on private property."

Later edit: But NO. The ordinance is for a Stage 2 ban beginning on May 8. Campfires seem only to be exempt during Stage 1.

The clauses of the ordinance are murky, however, so someone may need to correct me on this. Good luck!

There likely would be similar restrictions all over the state, but BM, volunteer firefighter, would know whether or not a specific area is affected. He likely was also familiar with fire restrictions related to construction.