Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #14

[Itsapuzzle]

Spontaneous random thought .... if SM was abducted, can we really see the abductor heading off to place the bike by a tree, err, "just wait here while I stage my scene, back soon"? And how does an article of SM's get ahead of the bike, and not behind? Then again, if someone offered her a lift as she was walking back home after bike accident, wouldn't she say "can I just go get my bike, I left it over there", and load it on the car, or half in boot, not far to drive? End of spontaneous random thought.

PS: The comment of BM's that 10 people touched the bike and ruined the crime-scene .... total rubbish, hey, these are professional crime scene examiners; there would have been photos, accident investigation experts looking on, the whole kit and caboodle. What professional police member would destroy a crime scene as he said .... total nonsense.

 

[rainbowshummingbird]

No one has come forward to say anything negative about their marriage, either. So...yay!

Yes, my comment was related to another comment which said there was nothing negative mentioned in regard to the Morphew’s marriage. I said, there are also no positive comments on their marriage. Now you’ve said there are also no negative comments. So that pretty much takes us to a full circle of no comments made. Meta.

 

[RickshawFan]

I think y’all are mixing up two different found bodies. The one we’re awaiting ID on was found in Sumner county, not Wichita. No ID yet.

Update: KBI joins investigation of body pulled from river in Kansas6


SUMNER COUNTY — The Sumer County Sheriff's has requested the Kansas Bureau of Investigation's assistance to positively identity a person whose badly decomposed body was pulled from the Ninnescah River over the weekend.

It is a homicide investigation, according to Melissa Underwood with the KBI.

Sheriff’s deputies were called to an area in northeastern Sumner County, west of the Kansas Turnpike, around 1:30 p.m. Sunday after someone fishing in the river spotted the body.

Authorities said they were unable to say how the person died or whether the victim was a man or a woman because of the deteriorated condition of the remains. An autopsy has been scheduled at the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center in Wichita

It's actually 2 drowned bodies we were considering (one on the Arkansas in Wichita and one on the Ninnescah), but then I went and messed up the conversation by adding a third one (a male, the only one ID'd) from an irrelevant date.
Just be glad I didn't have a mix up with the (at least) 5 (I'm probably exaggerating, but I dunno) other bodies found in the Arkansas River in Wichita in the last few months. Evidently, it's quite the thing.

 

[RickshawFan]

We posted at the same time...I understand it is a remote possibility but it would be possible especially if driven and dumped there as opposed to drifting down the river there. I was just confused how they already knew it wasn’t the other woman already. I guess I’ll just let it go for now. If it turns out to be SM we will all know in due time!

I suppose if they knew it wasn't the other woman, though they thought it would be, they have at least determined the Ninnescah body is female.

 

[gitana1]

I'm not trying to interpret or dispute your legal opinion here, but have to state my general observation that the threshold LE must reach to obtain a search warrant in a Colorado missing person case is not high. I believe that a sworn statement from a neighbor that he or she saw BLM working at the site of the day that BLM said he was 200 miles away in Denver, along with the property owners consent, would fly over that threshold.
Further, I can speculate that BLM's close friend and companion during the other searches could have been working at that site on that Sunday, as his name is on one of the permits for the Sunday work. As has been pointed out by others in this thread, BLM and his friend drive similar trucks. If there is any merit to my guess that LE my have had a bona fide tip, then it could be just a case of horribly timed mistaken identity, in my opinion.
I don't count this as an "Oopsie". My general belief is that any investigation is going to have some wrong turns. If LE only followed the guaranteed ones, we would have considerably more backlog of cold cases in this country than we do. IMO, IANAL

I disagree that that would be enough probable cause for a search warrant.

 

[RickshawFan]

Isn't it odd that Sheriff John Spezze's said that MD is the day they think SM went missing? It sounds as if BM must have left the house before Mother's Day. MOO

AFAIK LE never verified she went missing on MD.

 

[gitana1]

Very interesting, thank you!

Honestly if photos online are true, I.e bear hunting....then that person for me is the furthest from what I would be attracted to. I also have a very negative reaction to animal trophies and the people who flaunt them. I really don't think the halo effect applies in my judgement of BM and if it does it would be negative.

I just don't get the vibe that has murdered his wife. I don't think he is lying in his statements. I think the whole way LE is presenting it to the public is strange and different to any case I have followed before.



MOO


BBM

Being biased isn't the same as gut feeling.
Also thank you for the advice as my brain must be shutting down

<modsnip: Please don't discuss other members>

I can make a gut feeling judgement in this case because there isn't much else to go on.

MOO

Hey, gut instinct can be a valuable thing. Clearly there are strong signs that LE is looking at the husband (and I'm certain they have obtained search warrants so I believe there's probable cause), but there's nothing wrong with your opinion. And you're right - we don't have a lot of info.

You never know how a case might turn out.

 

[gitana1]

A majority of no-body prosecutions result in convictions.
Thanks! I didn't know that. That is my happy little piece of information for the day.

Why don't they do a google search? I think because they have a tendency to take the easy way out IMO

Yeah it makes sense, right? If they believe the evidence is strong enough to take to a jury without a body, it's usually pretty strong.

 

[Truecolors]

Spontaneous random thought .... if SM was abducted, can we really see the abductor heading off to place the bike by a tree, err, "just wait here while I stage my scene, back soon"? And how does an article of SM's get ahead of the bike, and not behind? Then again, if someone offered her a lift as she was walking back home after bike accident, wouldn't she say "can I just go get my bike, I left it over there", and load it on the car, or half in boot, not far to drive? End of spontaneous random thought.

PS: The comment of BM's that 10 people touched the bike and ruined the crime-scene .... total rubbish, hey, these are professional crime scene examiners; there would have been photos, accident investigation experts looking on, the whole kit and caboodle. What professional police member would destroy a crime scene as he said .... total nonsense.

There were theories tossed around that maybe a passerby propped up the bike after finding it abandoned.

What do you mean about the article being ahead of her, and not behind? I understand that the article was found closer to her home than the bike. So either something that she dropped earlier in the ride, or the abductor took her back in the direction of the home and it got dropped somehow.

More likely to me, there was no bike ride that day.

MOO

 

[Lori Cooper]

Right, but as I said in my post, there would be evidence of this on the bicycle, i.e., the bicycle would have damage. But there is none of this, so this can't be what occurred.

Ahhh, but the problem is, we don't know what shape the bike was in.

 

[Nerissa]

LE not saying when SM went missing is a huge flag to me

They stated she was reported missing on mother's day

They've not once shared any information about when she was last seen, what wearing etc

LE doesn't feel the need to, that's why....

Someone told the story of a bike ride mother's day - LE has NOT corroborated that in any way, shape, form

JMO

It's a fact we have NO idea what day SM 'went missing' - only when reported missing - two different kettles, as they say

 

[Truecolors]

Yeah it makes sense, right? If they believe the evidence is strong enough to take to a jury without a body, it's usually pretty strong.

This makes sense to me.

I wonder, however, how many no body murders go unsolved, with no arrest. Playing the odds...are no body cases more or less likely to end in a conviction?

MOO

 

[gitana1]

This makes sense to me.

I wonder, however, how many no body murders go unsolved, with no arrest. Playing the odds...are no body cases more or less likely to end in a conviction?

MOO

I don't know. My guess is many go without an arrest. Like poor Kyron Horman.

 

[Lori Cooper]

KBI called in to assist with Ninnescah body investigation, case deemed a homicide | Sumner NewsCow

According to this they already determined the body found on Sunday in Sumner County in/near the box/gun safe was not the young woman from Wichita so if they can’t determine the sex how do they know that it’s not her? Maybe that phrasing makes more sense? Or not. Lol

We determined that the Ninnescah River flows into the Arkansas River, so it couldn't be SM.

 

[Cassady]

I get what you're saying and I'm not clear how they ruled out the missing young woman from Wichita. Dentals would be most likely, or perhaps mismatched tattoos or other distinguishing characteristic.

Theoretically they could have ruled SM out the same way, I suppose--though since finding out this UID was found upstream from the Arkansas River, I've decided it's nearly impossible.

Perhaps the height of the corpse does not match the height of the missing person from Wichita?

 

[J.M. Bee]

Ahhh, but the problem is, we don't know what shape the bike was in.

I disagree. And I've explained why I think we can infer that there was no visible damage to the bike several times. See comments #655, #663 and #697.

 

[Alethea]

Here’s the thing about not getting a warrant to destroy a third party’s property: why do you, LE, want to risk the ire of this third party when you do $40k worth of damage on their property? Why WOULDNT you get a warrant so you can hold it up no matter what happens and blame the judge?

Second, what if you start based on consent, the homeowner revokes consent, and when you go to get a warrant, the judge says no?

In real life LE is concerned with saving face and planning for contingencies. I represent a lot of witnesses and third parties in fraud cases and sometimes I think my clients are more difficult than the actual wrongdoers.

 

[happyday]

We determined that the Ninnescah River flows into the Arkansas River, so it couldn't be SM.

Well technically it could be if someone drove there and put her there. I doubt it though.

 

[FelicityLemon]

Yes, my comment was related to another comment which said there was nothing negative mentioned in regard to the Morphew’s marriage. I said, there are also no positive comments on their marriage. Now you’ve said there are also no negative comments. So that pretty much takes us to a full circle of no comments made. Meta.

LOL, okie dokie . Hard to follow these things sometimes.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

There were theories tossed around that maybe a passerby propped up the bike after finding it abandoned.

What do you mean about the article being ahead of her, and not behind? I understand that the article was found closer to her home than the bike. So either something that she dropped earlier in the ride, or the abductor took her back in the direction of the home and it got dropped somehow.

More likely to me, there was no bike ride that day.

MOO

I think if a passerby propped up the bike we would have heard by now, but yes, maybe LE are keeping that to themselves. I guess it depends on what side of the road the item was on, left or right, if she was coming or going, I just find it odd ..... but hey, I agree with you, there was no bike ride that day.
Hopefully through CCTV checks, dashcam, etc, every car that entered and left that area of County Road 225 from the 8th to 10th will be checked out by LE.