Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #17

[gitana1]

This is a good aerial view of it all. See where the cars are parked up top, that's where TD was walking and stopped to look at the car number plate, then
he starts walking down the start of CR225 off Hwy 50. In about the middle of that road to the left is where the bike apparently was. See the number 225 in the photo, at the edge of the 5 you can see the creek and the bridge. There is water down the bottom where the bike was found. And the road that leads off the 225 to the left takes you to the Morphew home. MOO, but I think that's where it all occurred. Fellow sleuths, free to correct me if I've got it wrong, no worries

.View attachment 252616

I wish someone could label that with markers! My brain can’t figure it out.

 

[gitana1]

The Amy Harding Permann investigation was never anything but a missing person case. She was missing in the river, until she was found. Wild speculative accusation was rampant on social media, and there was some "reading between the lines" in this forum, but in the end she was found in the river, where LE had been looking for her the whole time.
There was significant local gossip, but Montanans are not prone to gossip in public. If you don't have a back fence in Montana to lean on, you are probably not in the loop and aren't going to get the memo.
Colorado was never like that, in my opinion, and may never be. I once sneaked into Colorado Springs for the private baptism of a family member. Within days, a more distant family member said he heard gossip that I was seen in that church. I said: "God is the only witness to that, and obviously is the source of that rumor. I can't deny it." (Actually is .was the bishop who performed the ceremony that ratted on me). As we saw in the original CBS Denver broadcasts from the neighborhood of the concrete dig, news people might just as well have stood in the middle of the street holding out a microphone and persons with first person comments will get in line and drive by (kind of like firemen with a boot, people like to give). The fact that they have nothing specific to reveal does tend to give me an overall picture that no one has an inside track on what happened. IMO

Did they also excavate someone close to her’s worksite and hold her home for days with a sealed search warrant in that case?

 

[OldCop]

No BOLO = No Danger to Public?
@LietKynes sbm Respectfully, I disagree. Just my 2 cts which is not worth a wooden nickel. LOL

ETA: Assuming, for sake of discussion, LE has a PoI in mind, ready to make arrest.
1. A local dude who has lived in area for many yrs. Should LE warn or not warn the 'public?'
2. A (hypothetical) spouse of a MisPErs woman? Warn or not?
3. A (hypothetical) spouse, living 10 mi away from MisPers woman? Warn or not?
4. A (hypothetical) ex-spouse, divorced 10 yrs ago, living 100 mi away from MisPers woman? Warn or not?
5. A person who stayed the past month at RV park/campground a few hundred yds (?) from MisPers house? Warn or not?

Is the identity of PoI/almost detainee, or the relationship to the MisPers woman relevant to LE's 'duty' to warn the public?

It is always a conundrum as to what information to put out. Public safety comes first, but you don’t have to give away all your evidence.
Usually, if LE has ascertained that the suspect has some kind of “relationship” be it sexual, family member, coworker, grievance, etc, they will often use the phrase that there is “no known danger to the general public at this time”. That almost always signifies that the murder was personal between suspect and victim.
On the other hand, if they have no idea who the perp is, they will hold press conferences, post on social media, put out the flyers that request information such as “if you were in the vicinity of xxxxx on date......, did you observe anything unusual”, or have you seen this person?”
If it is a missing person, it makes it difficult. LE does not want to panic the public unnecessarily but they want them to be aware. If the person was an adult, what if they just walked away?
It is common when you have a missing child in your area, that parents begin to keep their children closer, they drive or walk them to school, they have to stay in the yard etc. The police have not announced that there is a child abductor in the area, but they have well-publicized the case. It puts out the information which makes people aware.
Once you have two or more incidents of the same type and you can develop a pattern, you may have a serialist. You now have much more info to provide the public.
The discussion of how much alarm and warning is needed to provide public safety without causing panic can be a fine line. It kind of reminds me of signs I saw when entering a hiking trail in Yellowstone: This is bear country. Hike in groups, be aware of your surroundings, etc. They do not describe one particular bear, just that there may be bears in the area. They are telling you it is possible that you may encounter a bear and you might have a problem, but you can still go out and enjoy the trail. Or you can decide to skip the trail and hike somewhere else.

 

[Dave F.]

I really was waiting for the side chick. Purely my opinion, no evidence whatsoever.

I was going to offer to meet @LietKynes halfway. Without the sidechick and the two boys and the brother; the tooth was just a little white piece of rock that got destroyed in testing. IMO

 

[Lilypad13]

Covid 19 is getting very bad now where I live here in the southern states and I’m worried and scared. I’ve been reading a newly released book r/t politics that we cannot and should not discuss here but it is also very depressing and I’m scared for our country and the MSM news is depressing and I’m in need of some good news! Just trying to count my blessings and keep my mind busy so I’m getting caught up here always hoping for a break but realizing now that this may be a very long journey. I am losing hope SM will be found anytime soon and thinking she must be well hidden and possibly not ever found which is just horrific for her daughters. I still believe there might be the possibility of a confession due to guilt and continued questioning by LE. There could be a deal offered by LE that leads to SM’s remains being found and “brought home” to be given a proper funeral and allow closure for her loved ones. I wish we knew if LE has called BM in for further interrogation and if BM took a lie detector and if so passed or failed it. So many unanswered questions but I can’t seem to let this case go so I’ll be here for the long haul. And following my first true crime case from beginning to end will teach me to have more patience and understanding for the next case. I may be posting less often but I like to check in at least once a day to read what everyone is thinking. There are so many intelligent and entertaining people on WS! I also started getting sucked into the LV/CD case and going back and reading WS posts on that one. Wow talk about crazy!

I’ve come to feel like even though we don’t know much about her and she seems like a mystery - she has also become “our S” because WE care about her and we want her to be found so badly and we want her killer to be punished!!

Speculation & MOO: IF BM did it I’m still going back & forth with thoughts on premeditated v. crime of passion:

Premeditated
-life insurance/financial motive
-other woman (or SM met other man?)
-want freedom to be with another or alone
-jealousy/my woman
-fell out of love due to growing apart/stress of cancer/move/combination many factors
-debt/financial pressures/hiding debt/secret loan/secret credit cards usage
-potential alcohol or drug dependence altering thinking
-plenty of time to plan and wait for right opportunity
-move to Co to isolate as part of plan
-could have happened 1-2 days before MD
-plenty of time to travel away from area to hide body
-possibility of hired hit and solid alibi
-possibility of help/involvement of another person

Crime of Passion:
-bad temper/anger/control issues
-affair or financial misdeed discovered
-SM asked for divorce/planning to leave him
-an argument turns physical and violent
-lack of thorough planning
-luck of daughters out of town and Covid 19 -making less people around
-little time to think/must act quickly
-adrenaline & emotions running high
-immediate need of alibi and disposal
-quick and desperate decision made to stage bike ride/abduction
-no sleep/haggard/up all night/feelings of guilt and shock/ hiding body
-staging bike quickly w/o being seen/throw bike out of truck down hill
-daughters running late
-daughters can’t reach mom/call neighbor
-early LE involvement
-little time to clean up crime scene
-unusually high reward offered
-using things related by others such as ml sighting to create other theories

Of course I still hope & pray SM will be found alive and would like nothing more than to be proven wrong! I am keeping an open mind to other theories & potential scenarios presented here but so far IMOO based on silence by LE/family/friends, home & work site searches, BM’s strange behavior/plea/high reward and the lack of reaching out to MSM, I am leaning towards BM killing SM either accidentally or on purpose. I hope we will eventually learn exactly what happened and everything will finally make sense! I hope ya’ll have a good afternoon and stay safe!

 

[enelram]

I really was waiting for the side chick. Purely my opinion, no evidence whatsoever.

We find that in many of these cases, the spouse has moved on emotionally to another female and they detach whatever once positive feeling
they had for the current mate.
For dependent, narcissistic men, they need to have an adoring female in their life. And once the gig is up with the current spouse, they go searching for the replacement. When they find the replacement, they're more likely to leave
current mate when things get sticky. They may leave through divorce, separation or murder.
For some, murder becomes the least objectionable form of ending the relationship, especially if money is a consideration.
And these type men generally think they're too smart to get caught. moo

 

[OldCop]

Do we know how far away the house is from that location? I had the impression it was not far, so she was either just starting out or just returning from her ride, if she did go on a bike ride.
Very early on a local said they thought there were trails that could be accessed through the property, or that someone might have access to the property other than the driveway, or something like that. I'm not sure if it's true or if a map would show that, though.

Also for you, @gitana1
Here is an overhead with a little wider view and which includes the Morphew home.
These were done by me back when we were discussing possible bike routes SM may take from her home.

 

[Nerissa]

Family of missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew still holding out hope for her safe return | Daily Mail Online

Finally the family makes an update - apparently the nephew.

 

[chaz]

Family of missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew still holding out hope for her safe return | Daily Mail Online

Finally the family makes an update - apparently the nephew.

I think this article speaks about the g*m page wich was updated last week. But at least there is still some interest in this case.

 

[Dave F.]

Did they also excavate someone close to her’s worksite and hold her home for days with a sealed search warrant in that case?

@gitana1 - Is that a leading question? I don't recall saying anything about search warrants or searches in my post. Did they search the street near the slab search, where the reporters were? If so, I missed it. Sorry. IMO

 

[CuriousBystander]

This has been my concern all along. That perhaps she accompanied him on the trip or more likely, he returned and coaxed or forced her to come with him and she was abandoned in some form along the way. It's not hard to believe that, if someone has an ulterior motive, that they could get someone into the car with them through trust and then commit a crime against the person along the ride and dispose of the person and/or the evidence. We've seen this form of evil before time and time again. That's assuming there even was a trip.

 

[gitana1]

FBI profiling is used to collect information about the personality of an unknown suspect.

The first step is to gather all case information, including photographs of the crime scene, positioning of the victim, etc. They assess the crime scene to look for signs of a sexual offender, an organized killer or a disorganized killer, and compare it to other victims they may have.

They then use this information to develop a profile to get an idea of the kind of suspect they are looking for.

The disorganized/ organized classification is the centerpiece of FBI profiling. The idea of classifying serial homicide crime scenes is credited to Roy Hazelwood.

So again, if LE suspects intimate partner homicide yet they do not have a body or other victims to compare the crime to, why the need for an FBI profile? All they need to do is investigate a known suspect and they can gather information that way. Once they have a body and can find out more details of how the crime was carried out, they can then establish whether he is an organized or disorganized killer.

But at that point it won't really matter if they have enough evidence to connect him to the crime, because they won't be looking for another suspect.

Imo

They also “profile” the victim. And that can lead to a perp. I think early on they could’ve profiled her to see what may have happened.

“Forensic victimology is the scientific study of victims for the purpose of addressing investigative and forensic issues. It has been especially useful to criminal profilers in analyzing crimes scenes for the purpose of identifying the offender profile characteristics. (Turvey, 2008) The victim (S) may possess a trait, characteristic, locality, or even social accessibility that allows conclusions to be added to the criminal profile.”
The Relevance of Victimology to Criminal Profiling

 

[swedeheart]

Family of missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew still holding out hope for her safe return | Daily Mail Online

Finally the family makes an update - apparently the nephew.

"Suzanne's husband, Barry Morphew, has been keeping a low profile after announcing a $100,000 reward for his wife's safe return a short time after she disappeared. That figure was later doubled by a family friend. The $200,000 reward still remains on offer. "

now why on earth would you need to "keep a low profile" if your wife disappeared? i can think of only one reason.

 

[gitana1]

Yes, I saw that someone said she had some angst over the move, but that doesn't necessarily mean she didn't want to move.

Moving can be very stressful. In fact I've had more than "angst" whenever I've had to pack up and prepare to move from one place to the next. I don't truly relax until I'm unpacked and most of the work is done. In some cases moving can be a refreshing change and for all we know Suzanne may have welcomed it.


But I can also see why both would find Colorado a great place to live.

We don't know what their marriage was like, but from what little we have heard they seemed to be happy.

I'm sure that there was a lot more to their marriage than the people around them saw. That's usually the case with every marriage. But we know even less.

We don't know for a fact that Suzanne was submissive, but some women are and many men are controlling.

It might be a clue as to what their marriage was like, but it doesn't mean that she didn't want to move or that he was unfaithful or that she was not happy.

Imo

Colorado over Indiana seems like a no brainer to me! What a beautiful place.

Of course being apart from long-term friends and family is a major consideration. That is what keeps me where I am.

 

[CuriousBystander]

Perhaps answered previously - I'm sure they have looked but has anyone mentioned any abandoned wells, mines, or other locations ideal for the disposal of a body or remains? I mean, she didn't disappear, alive or dead, she is somewhere and apparently not in an obvious location. It's a big area I'm sure (not really familiar with Colorado topography, etc.) but she should eventually turn up somewhere. I don't believe she has left of her own will so someone knows or has seen something out of the ordinary in that area. If I owned property there, I'd be looking all along the most obvious routes away from the home and the bike.

 

[MrsWatson]

Perhaps answered previously - I'm sure they have looked but has anyone mentioned any abandoned wells, mines, or other locations ideal for the disposal of a body or remains? I mean, she didn't disappear, alive or dead, she is somewhere and apparently not in an obvious location. It's a big area I'm sure (not really familiar with Colorado topography, etc.) but she should eventually turn up somewhere. I don't believe she has left of her own will so someone knows or has seen something out of the ordinary in that area. If I owned property there, I'd be looking all along the most obvious routes away from the home and the bike.

I think it was noted somewhere earlier in this thread that there are indeed abandoned mines in the area. (I'm too lazy to find it, so I'll say IMO for that.)

If someone was hunting, how likely would they would be to run across these abandoned mines? How obvious are they? Only there if you know where to look? Stick out like a sore thumb? Is there some sort of topographical map that shows them? Would that be something you could research online?

 

[Truecolors]

"Suzanne's husband, Barry Morphew, has been keeping a low profile after announcing a $100,000 reward for his wife's safe return a short time after she disappeared. That figure was later doubled by a family friend. The $200,000 reward still remains on offer. "

now why on earth would you need to "keep a low profile" if your wife disappeared? i can think of only one reason.

BBM

A legit reason I can think of is to protect the daughters from further trauma. Everything he does publicly invites public scrutiny and speculation. Maybe the family is trying to tune out the media as much as possible, trusting the multiple LE agencies to do their job.

Whether BM is innocent or involved, this could be his stated reason for keeping a low profile.

MOO

 

[rainbowshummingbird]

Family of missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew still holding out hope for her safe return | Daily Mail Online

Finally the family makes an update - apparently the nephew.

I was surprised by this DM quote, “So far, detectives have been unable to find any information to help the solve a mystery that has attracted national attention. ” AND this quote, “On the day Suzanne vanished, Barry was reportedly in Denver at a training course for his job as a volunteer firefighter.”

How would DM know if detectives had any information? Also, I thought the firefighter training wasn’t real and that Barry said he was at a Denver job site preparing for a landscaping job.

 

[Goldenseal]

I think it was noted somewhere earlier in this thread that there are indeed abandoned mines in the area. (I'm too lazy to find it, so I'll say IMO for that.)

If someone was hunting, how likely would they would be to run across these abandoned mines? How obvious are they? Only there if you know where to look? Stick out like a sore thumb? Is there some sort of topographical map that shows them? Would that be something you could research online?

For geographical info, topo maps, old mine sites, etc., the Colorado School of Mines would be a good source. I'm sure LE has contacted them and gotten any info that LE wants or needs. Colorado is laced with old mine shafts, ghost towns, odd geo features. But does LE have the money or time to look everywhere SM might be? Probably not.

 

[Goldenseal]

I was surprised by this DM quote, “So far, detectives have been unable to find any information to help the solve a mystery that has attracted national attention. ” AND this quote, “On the day Suzanne vanished, Barry was reportedly in Denver at a training course for his job as a volunteer firefighter.”

How would DM know if detectives had any information? Also, I thought the firefighter training wasn’t real and that Barry said he was at a Denver job site preparing for a landscaping job.

They do seem to be running a lot of old info and inserting a couple of new sentences. Not much to see there.