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

[JLouiseB]

I wrote that only half jokingly... You have to be pretty "motivated" to go and dig up someone's new house and in retrospect pretty reckless to do that and come out completely empty handed. What was so captivating to the judge, but also completely wrong?

I am not certain we would know even if they found something. They are not obligated to tell us if they did find anything if doing so could endanger their case.

 

[Tate123]

I often contribute to these hosted campaigns, anonymously. You have the option of whether or not to be identified.

edited #
There are 10 anonymous donations and all are nominal. I doubt you would seek anonymity when it comes to supporting a search for your family member. I'd think it would help to show your support. Unless of course you weren't too keen on who was handling those funds. IMO

 

[al66pine]

A Reward & a Funding A/c?

....LE will be going through his finances with a fine tooth comb. Even BM immediately offering a $200,000 reward but yet a GO F account? That’s a red flag too. JMO

@Whiteorchids Altho both a reward and a G- F Me a/c may seem paradoxical, I'm keeping in mind that two different ppl set them up: BM & BM's nephew.
Generally. A person who talks 'house-poor' may have all kinds of assets & investments besides an unmortgaged home. Or an area resident may erroneously conclude a fam w home costing two or three times what their own did must be cash-strapped. Maybe a friend or relative opens funding a/c because he thought it's a thoughtful or 'giving' thoughtful gesture to do this, w'out regard to 'need' or 'lack of need?' IDK.

In this case, IIRC (not saying I do), nephew opened the funding a/c before BM announced reward. Maybe BM's announcement gobsmacked nephew who then said to himself, Holy mackerel, if I had known BM could shell out like this, I never would have started this funding a/c. I'll just let it die on the vine. jmo. ^All maybes.^

 

[Seattle1]

There are 13 anonymous donations and all are nominal. I doubt you would seek anonymity when it comes to supporting a search for your family member. I'd think it would help to show your support. Unless of course you weren't too keen on who was handling those funds. IMO

But if you're family, why would you contribute funds that will be subject to fees reducing your contribution when you can contribute directly? Not to mention the social media and MSM scrutiny over your contribution being too much or too little (i.e., here we are talking about it)!!

 

[LietKynes]

Would it be normal for LE to spend so much time at the house even if they didn’t find anything? What about the evidence bags they carried out? Not being argumentative just asking because I have no idea. It just seemed to me they held their home for an extended amount of time. Wasn’t it ten days?!

Good questions !

I'm thinking they had reason to look closer re. the items removed from the house.
Something drew LE's attention there.

 

[charminglane]

If planned in advance, cleaning supplies may have been delivered - Covod19 style.

 

[Curiousobserver]

I am not certain we would know even if they found something. They are not obligated to tell us if they did find anything if doing so could endanger their case.

It's possible, except they let them fill it in, concrete over it, and build the house.

 

[Truecolors]

If planned in advance, cleaning supplies may have been delivered - Covod19 style.

I didn’t even think of how COVID19 could affect a clean up effort. My twisted sense of humor has me imagining a killer desperately searching for bleach and paper towels, store to store with no success. It’s hard times for bad people, too.

Two points: I wonder if these items were in as short of supply in a place with low population like Salida. And COVID19 shortages could explain an absence of these items in a home’s pantry.

MOO

 

[tmar]

I agree with you and think they have something pretty rock solid and same here I wish we had some idea if they're making headway!

Maybe SM told a friend or family member that if she ever goes missing, to look at BM.

BBM above.
We hear this phrase, so often, in Domestic Violence cases, OFTEN too late.

I wonder if this is another such case: previous ugly interactions, which SM confided to friends/friend.
Perhaps BM had planned this ahead of the event, and therefore evidence is difficult to obtain.
AGAIN, we wait and wait.....
MOO.

 

[tmar]

Maybe who did it did not expect them to find the personal item that was found.

OR it was staged, to hinder the investigation.

 

[MassGuy]

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

Perhaps not immediately, but it seems they knew something was up within the first full day.

It looks like this didn’t really hit the news until a day and a half after the initial report was filed, which gave LE time to conduct a preliminary investigation.

I think there were big issues.

 

[tmar]

I’m betting on her phone showing suspicious data, like inactivity that began well before Mother’s Day morning.

MOO

Maybe SM's phone activity, had continued, due to the Culprit having access, therefore the timeline is masked.

 

[Truecolors]

Maybe SM's phone activity, had continued, due to the Culprit having access, therefore the timeline is masked.

Yes. Culprits do try that.

I’m hoping that, if that’s the case, it’ll be obviously different activity. If anyone tried to copy my phone activity, they’d be in for a challenge. I’m hoping Suzanne left a good “digital portrait” that is uniquely hers and difficult to counterfeit.

 

[Madeleine74]

Thank you for this understanding. We only get one bite at the apple. Why jump the gun if we don't have to?

This can't be emphasized enough! I think some have a fantasy what an investigation should look like and real life is not that. It takes time, sometimes soooo much time for all the evidence to come in and be evaluated. I always advise folks new to following criminal cases to cool their heels and expect to hear nothing for maybe a few months or even longer.

There is no doubt TONS of evidence in this case to go through. I'm not sure why people think they need to either arrest him NOW or announce he's been cleared and they need help after all. It's likely neither of those things. Just because we don't know what they're doing does not mean they don't know what they're doing.

I call it the "pics or it didn't happen" belief. The belief is LE would be telling the public *if* they did have something, and if they're saying nothing it means they have nothing at all (and are probably incompetent on top of that).

Consider the intricacies of defendant rights once they've been charged. You (as a DA) do yourself no favors but jumping the gun, just to appease the public.

Yep clock starts ticking loudly plus the defendant is then entitled to see the state's evidence against them upon indictment. Assuaging the curious is not in the job description (though I wish sometimes it were).

 

[K9Enzo]

Would it be normal for LE to spend so much time at the house even if they didn’t find anything? What about the evidence bags they carried out? Not being argumentative just asking because I have no idea. It just seemed to me they held their home for an extended amount of time. Wasn’t it ten days?!

Valid questions and you're not being argumentative at all!

It certainly appears like evidence bags were taken out. LE also had to have credible & convincing information to get a search warrant signed, IMO. We don't know what was removed from the home or what they took pictures of (assuming they did). It could be objects that contained bodily fluid, Rx medication, paper documents, electronic devices, firearms, etc. They could have lifted finger prints. There are numerous possibilities, IMO.

I definitely believe this is a foul play case and the husband is in the hot seat. Not sure if he's the only one. I'm just not sure if she was actually harmed in her home. I think it's possible whatever event happened, was not at the home. This could also be a strangulation and not a gory crime scene to clean up.

IMO

 

[crhedBngr]

I'm sorry, my intention was to post about a bike shop in Salida that appears to serve women who love recreational mountain biking. Sorry if I screwed it up. IMO

You did not screw it up. I found the information at that site interesting.

JMVHO.

 

[MassGuy]

Maybe SM's phone activity, had continued, due to the Culprit having access, therefore the timeline is masked.

As you know, that happened in the Berreth case. It’s a major reason Patrick Frazee is spending the rest of his life behind bars.

 

[10ofRods]

Excellent post and I agree, it’s mind boggling but as law abiding citizens we have nothing to fear unless of course someone wants to use our footprint against us or manipulate it to use against us .... MOO

One of the things that always interests me about major crime...is the way that completely innocent people get their lives turned upside down when a crime goes down nearby. In this case, it's the elderly neighbor lady, just to name one person - and perhaps, eventually, the Fire Chief, and all the members of the fire department, as they were banned from searching for Suzanne and therefore, have to feel a little bit untrusted, under scrutiny.

It's not pleasant to be wrongly under scrutiny. The only thing I can think of that's negative about my digital footprint (and mine has to be extensively, I use google maps, I don't go anywhere without my phone, I have an apple watch, etc) is that I could end up inadvertently drawn into an investigation just because I was known to be in the area where a crime occurred. As a 60-something woman, it's not too worrying, but I do worry that hikers like my husband could be placed near the scene of a crime (one place he goes has had a couple of assaults and one alleged attempted kidnapping - he hasn't gone back, but it's a beautiful nearby area and of course he wants to). I've seen students questioned because their phones put them in a parking building where something bad occurred, it was so stressful.

When murders occur in one's neighborhood and everyone gets a visit from several forms of LE, it's stressful too - but the digital thing widens our exposure.

I am still in favor of the digital world we live in, because our current, relatively steady decrease in murders is due to DNA, to video surveillance - and digital tracking. IMO.

 

[Dave F.]

As you know, that happened in the Berreth case. It’s a major reason Patrick Frazee is spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Yeah, definitely the phone thing......and that little incident side incident involving paper towels........and the tearful confession from Idaho.......and lots of pictures........and the "my client is an idiot" speech. But definitely the phone thing. IMO

 

[Feistyomi]

BBM:

Not all, but I actually know several who do.

If asked, the ones I know who do would tell you that it's part of the reason they came to be able to afford million-dollar homes in the first place, i.e., looking for ways to save $$$ when/where possible.

JMO.

Excellent answer! Frugal, honest, shrewd, why do you change your lifestyle when you get to that point?