Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #15

[gitana1]

It appears in this photo that she wears an Apple Watch which I’ve been assuming that she did ... Most people I know wear something to track their exercise.
It’s difficult for me to believe that she wasn’t wearing it.
I wear mine when I go walking on our property, it shows my route as well as distance, heart rate etc ...
I got mine right after I slipped and fell while walking one day... so I could be found if something happened to me, plus I could call 911 if I needed.
Photo at this link:
1 month since Suzanne Morphew vanished: Investigators canvassing Chaffee County community Wednesday

Have any descriptions stated she was wearing it? Have any descriptions been given at all?

 

[Puzzles8]

Often, when the cell phones can't make a connection, you can still text. It's been this way for so many years. In fact, we just had this problem two days ago with the phones. TMobile was absolutely not connecting outgoing or incoming calls. We have Verizon, a relative has TMobile. No phone connection either way, but we were able to text for hours. *shrugs* I can't speak to what works in the CO mountains though, maybe someone else can let us know.

From experience, can confirm this.

FYI - this is very good information to know if you are ever stuck in an elevator.
No phone, but text still works. You can all thank me later....

 

[Goldenseal]

It appears in this photo that she wears an Apple Watch which I’ve been assuming that she did ... Most people I know wear something to track their exercise.
It’s difficult for me to believe that she wasn’t wearing it.
I wear mine when I go walking on our property, it shows my route as well as distance, heart rate etc ...
I got mine right after I slipped and fell while walking one day... so I could be found if something happened to me, plus I could call 911 if I needed.
Photo at this link:
1 month since Suzanne Morphew vanished: Investigators canvassing Chaffee County community Wednesday

Now, that's interesting. An Apple watch. I'm sure the daughters would be able to tell LE if she always took the watch and/or her phone with her on her rides. It would make sense for any woman to do that. You simply don't know what can happen, from fairly benign things like banging your leg up in a bike accident to horrifying things like attacks by strange people. The Salida area has plenty of tourists from all over the place (although COVID may have impacted that somewhat) so you can never be sure there isn't some killer cruising the area. On a bike you are often very alone and in remote areas.

Are both her watch and phone missing? Were they both left home? Or are they gone, but have gone dead, showing their last location as the house? All of those scenarios are highly suspicious, obviously. One thing about all these tracking devices -- if a missing person always wears her watch, or always carries a phone, or never leaves on a bike ride without telling someone where they are going/leaves a note, well. Huge red flags if, on this day, she never did those things.

There's another good reason why she would have taken her phone anywhere she went that Mother's Day -- her two girls were on the road. She wouldn't want to miss a call from them in case they were delayed/hurt/in trouble.

 

[LietKynes]

<modsnip>

First of all explain to us fellow sleuthers what is so manipulating about BM. Because besides the videos, we don't know nothing about him personally. Literally.

A husband is always a POI. But I am still reading the same two words as in previous threads: liar and manipulator. In this way we are getting nowhere in this thread.

And what if he said, lets not call the police and wait a couple of hours. One could say he was buying time before it got dark. (The sunset was at 20.03, call was made at 17.46.)

<modsnip: quoted post was modsnipped>

As far as the husband in this case, LE do not appear to think there was ever an abductor, nor was there an animal attack.
The possibilities left are very few, it would seem.

Hoping for a break soon in the form of a hugely egregious mistake, or a tip from someone that a family member may have confided in ?
Because that's where I believe this case will be solved.
Hoping.
Imo.

 

[Acorunadepor]

Now, that's interesting. An Apple watch. I'm sure the daughters would be able to tell LE if she always took the watch and/or her phone with her on her rides. It would make sense for any woman to do that. You simply don't know what can happen, from fairly benign things like banging your leg up in a bike accident to horrifying things like attacks by strange people. The Salida area has plenty of tourists from all over the place (although COVID may have impacted that somewhat) so you can never be sure there isn't some killer cruising the area. On a bike you are often very alone and in remote areas.

Are both her watch and phone missing? Were they both left home? Or are they gone, but have gone dead, showing their last location as the house? All of those scenarios are highly suspicious, obviously. One thing about all these tracking devices -- if a missing person always wears her watch, or always carries a phone, or never leaves on a bike ride without telling someone where they are going/leaves a note, well. Huge red flags if, on this day, she never did those things.

There's another good reason why she would have taken her phone anywhere she went that Mother's Day -- her two girls were on the road. She wouldn't want to miss a call from them in case they were delayed/hurt/in trouble.

Could that Apple watch be the personal item they found?

 

[pocketaccent]

Yes, something about that story is hinky to me. Hope I’m using that word correctly.

We have kids in this age range. Typically, they will text with one of us—“leaving now. ETA ___” sort of thing if they are driving far. If I don’t hear from them, I ask my H if he’s gotten a text. And vice versa.

What is curious to me here is that there seemed to be no successful communication between parents the girls before 5 pm while the girls are on a road trip. If I’m dad, and I know my girls are driving 7 hours, and I didn’t get any updates from them...I’d text mom and see if she’s heard from them. One way or another, I think there are enough reasons (mother’s Day, kids on the road) that most families would exchange some communication before 5 pm. Something is weird to me.

MOO

Another possibility is that the girls are coming home by a chartered bus, not driving by themselves. If the bus drops campers off at certain location, then they may need a ride to get home and they would be calling parents or friends to pick them up. In this case, SM was not answering the calls from the girls.........

(Hypothetical)

 

[Goldenseal]

Could that Apple watch be the personal item they found?

Sure, it could be. But we won't know until the trial, if there ever is a trial. The LE are, correctly, being very tight-lipped about everything.

 

[GordianKnot]

I’ve been pondering that very thing ... would it have mattered if girls came home first and discovered her missing? If so, why?
and ... Why would the narrative change if bike wasn’t found until the next day or even in the dark that night? I may be just tired or having a blonde moment... more details please. TIA.

BBM:

Timing of discovery that she was missing would be important in this scenario because BM was able to place himself hours away from the scene at the time she purportedly went missing.

The girls were expected back from their camping trip that day, apparently.

IF the bike was staged, then the only plausible reason to stage that scene was to make it appear as if SM had left the house, gone for a bike ride, and then vanished.

I think the initial plan WAS for her daughters to come home to discover both her and her bike missing.

While it has not been disclosed by either LE or BM, I would not be at all surprised to discover that prior to the girls asking the neighbor to check on SM, there had been multiple texts/calls initiated by BM asking them whether they were on their way back and/or what their ETA home was.

IF BM is responsible for SM's disappearance, he would not want to put himself back in the frame by arriving back in town before she was discovered missing.

As soon as he heard they were running late, he would have needed to come up with an alternate plan.

Hypothetically, let's call it "Plan B: Call The Neighbor."

I think BM is the one who encouraged the girls to call the neighbor.

Just a guess.

JMO.

 

[Acorunadepor]

<modsnip: quoted post was modsnipped>

As far as the husband in this case, LE do not appear to think there was ever an abductor, nor was there an animal attack.
The possibilities left are very few, it would seem.

Hoping for a break soon in the form of a hugely egregious mistake, or a tip from someone that a family member may have confided in ?
Because that's where I believe this case will be solved.
Hoping.
Imo.

LE asked residents to save their Ring doorbell footage (8-12 may), but not yet turn it over.
(I mean that footage could be crucial, especially if BM is their main POI.)
After nearly a month they start a community canvas, which I thought they did before. But other sleuthers pointed out that this was not the case. Although some media stated a re-canvass.

So I am still on the fence about LE being sure. This is not because I doubt their competence by the way.

 

[rainbowshummingbird]

The reason the bike needs to be found (in theory) is that if someone happened by that bike-used dirt road and saw the bike, they might steal it. Then, there'd be no proof to the story that Suzanne went on a bike ride.

If it is true that the girls or anyone else believed that Suzanne 'always' went for her ride on Sunday mornings then "attended church" (which was online at the time), that would mean she'd been missing since about 9 am or earlier on Sunday morning. If the original "abduction theory" posited in the youtube video by BM had gotten traction with LE or anyone else, then the abductor had a big lead time and would...be far away?

Something like that. But if the bike hadn't been found, then Suzanne could have been in a much larger area, the search couldn't have started and concluded within X miles from the bike, police would have had far more searching to do. Perhaps that's not what the stager wanted, especially given that financial arrangements needed to be undertaken soon. A nation-wide BOLO for Suzanne is, perhaps, not what the perp wanted.

Finding the bike is an absolute necessity in order to advance the narrative. Calling 911 to report SM missing and the discovery of the bike - Phase 1. After the bike is found, only then can the possible scenarios associated with a woman’s disappearance from a bike ride (hit and run, bike accident, stranger abduction while riding bike, mountain lion attack on biker, accident followed by disorientation where SM ends up in the river, etc) be offered up to LE and the public - Phase 2. Deflection and absolution of BM’s responsibility in regard to SM’s disappearance - Phase 3. JMO

 

[Moonchime]

We have always had a neighbor as a contact -- they had our phone #s and, if we felt they were trustworthy, a key. That said, I sure wish we knew, through phone tracing, where BM and the others were while they were making calls . . . I'm sure LE knows, but I'm dying to know.

We also have done the same through the years. A trusted neighbor would have a key to our home.

The way that the Morphew's garage is situated, I believe the neighbor must have had a key to get inside in order to access the garage.

She must have been asked to see if the car was there and when she confirmed it was, someone had to have asked her if a bike was missing.

 

[Cassady]

Oh, THOSE clusters. I’m going to file them in my last hope file, not ruling it out, just at the bottom of my lists.

Paulides 411 case clusters include those that go missing and are found alive (often children), those that go missing and are found deceased, and those that dissapeared and are never found. All under unusual circumstances, but he filters cases out that are criminal in nature, even if no charges are filed. The cases he reports on also tend to stump LE and SAR. He is former LE himself, so I generally trust his research.

Whether this case ends up in a future book, movie or TV show of his, who knows at this point?

 

[MassGuy]

We also have done the same through the years. A trusted neighbor would have a key to our home.

The way that the Morphew's garage is situated, I believe the neighbor must have had a key to get inside in order to access the garage.

She must have been asked to see if the car was there and when she confirmed it was, someone had to have asked her if a bike was missing.

Something like: “Please check if her bike is there, my dad said she may have gone for a ride.”

 

[gitana1]

LE asked residents to save their Ring doorbell footage (8-12 may), but not yet turn it over.
(I mean that footage could be crucial, especially if BM is their main POI.)
After nearly a month they start a community canvas, which I thought they did before. But other sleuthers pointed out that this was not the case. Although some media stated a re-canvass.

So I am still on the fence about LE being sure. This is not because I doubt their competence by the way.

Understood. I still think the digging up of a job site is super telling. I can’t recall any case in the past where the search was that extensive of a suspect but the suspect was innocent. Even with the examples people have given me. I don’t see one that’s comparable.

But I’m still open. It will be interesting to see what comes out and happens next.

 

[Seattle1]

I posted the actual engineering cell maps for the eastern slope of Monarch Pass very early in this thread. There are only two cells which provide coverage. A Verizon cell is intended solely to provide coverage in the highway all of the way up the pass, and almost nothing else. In the engineering drawings, SM's house is covered, but her neighbor's is not. Actual reception varies q

^^sbbm

FYI - the river that parallels 50 near Maysville is the South Arkansas, which doesn't join the Arkansas until east of Salida. The S. Arkansas stays pretty small. It's the Arkansas that gets all the tourists, rafters, and pictures. That doesn't change your conclusion, though. It would be very unlikely to get far on the S. Arkansas, presuming you/something made it past the dam/s somehow. But once you or something were in the main Arkansas, you could go a very long way.

The Arkansas is next to both 285 to the north and 50 to the East, which covers both ways you'd get out of the mountains to go East.

INTERNET/CELL - Probably just satellite that far edit: WEST not east of Salida. High speed wired internet is not available all the way up the pass, I just can't remember where it ends - I think it ends around the eastern edge of Maysville a few miles from where the M's house is. The "big" part of Maysville. The wired internet carrier is CenturyLink. You can get cell phone service via your home wifi (e.g., Verizon over wifi) so if you are connected to the internet via wifi and someone calls or texts your cell, you get the message just as normal. But cell service away from your wifi is spotty. There are some places that just by experience you know where you can get it, and sometimes it's a surprise. Satellite internet is terrible for things like streaming and gaming, passable for things like YouTube, etc, and decent for just regular web browsing, email, etc.

I'm in the area a lot. No, I don't know the Ms, LE, or anything interesting, I'm just familiar with the geography and some logistics. The case just grabbed my interest because of location.

After spending many years in Alaska, I accept that the vast majority of users can rely on relatively stable cell/internet service, with infrequent outages, and where complaints are mostly limited to connection speed -- and contracts.

Brilliant posts -- thanks for attesting to your hands-on experience of the surrounding area and that the imperfections in service are what they are, period.

And if you wait long enough, a solution will evolve-- if ever so slow-- without the need to remove a canyon!

 

[GordianKnot]

What time did he arrive home?

According to him, he arrived back at 9 pm.

Source: TD's video.

 

[Goldenseal]

Understood. I still think the digging up of a job site is super telling. I can’t recall any case in the past where the search was that extensive of a suspect but the suspect was innocent. Even with the examples people have given me. I don’t see one that’s comparable.

But I’m still open. It will be interesting to see what comes out and happens next.

I wonder if LE was looking for small pieces of a smashed Apple watch and a smashed-to-smithereens phone? That would explain the LE using sifters.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Not sure if I've done this correctly, just bringing over a post by vaporlass, #829 Thread 8. What I found most interesting in this youtube clip was that the car filled the entire road and was thinking is this really where you'd choose to go for your bike ride every Sunday? H'mm. It looks like a good place to head off with the dog for a walk, or out for a walk, but not so sure about a bike ride, could be wrong though. So, was thinking maybe every Sunday Suzanne was in the habit of putting the bike on the back of the car and heading off to a trail and at the end of the ride parking at her favourite cafe and having a coffee or some breakfast, then driving home .... that's what a lot of bikers do as far as I can tell. Maybe even meeting up with some fellow riders there, then driving home. Just a thought. I realise there was social distancing at the time, so not sure if cafe's were offering takeaway coffee ..... but just wondering about the car with the bike ride really.
PS: Can anyone pinpoint exactly where BM is indicating where the bike was found, going by this video? Just curious as TD has updated one of his video's to say
the theory he put up about the bike and the bridge was debunked by BM, different location.

vaporlass, May 28, 2020
#829
"Did you watch that video by the two women who drove the roads/trails and even went by the house? There was a lot of traffic and a lot of people. It isn’t what I expected at all. April Isaacs MS RPT"

 

[tmar]

Now, that's interesting. An Apple watch. I'm sure the daughters would be able to tell LE if she always took the watch and/or her phone with her on her rides. It would make sense for any woman to do that. You simply don't know what can happen, from fairly benign things like banging your leg up in a bike accident to horrifying things like attacks by strange people. The Salida area has plenty of tourists from all over the place (although COVID may have impacted that somewhat) so you can never be sure there isn't some killer cruising the area. On a bike you are often very alone and in remote areas.

Are both her watch and phone missing? Were they both left home? Or are they gone, but have gone dead, showing their last location as the house? All of those scenarios are highly suspicious, obviously. One thing about all these tracking devices -- if a missing person always wears her watch, or always carries a phone, or never leaves on a bike ride without telling someone where they are going/leaves a note, well. Huge red flags if, on this day, she never did those things.

There's another good reason why she would have taken her phone anywhere she went that Mother's Day -- her two girls were on the road. She wouldn't want to miss a call from them in case they were delayed/hurt/in trouble.

BBM.
The phone/watch will most likely present a story.
Where are they?
If not with SM, probably planned to be left behind.
Who would do this?
MOO.

 

[Acorunadepor]

What time did he arrive home?

Denver Fire Training Center - 5280Fire
This is possibly the place he was at for the training he received that weekend, if he was there at the time the call was made and when he left for home I don't know.
(Training was suspended due to COVID, took this address for route purpose only.)

But I took the route from that training center:

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