Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #2

[Steelslady]

I find it shocking that LE won't allow the public to search now. How may days do they need before letting the people who want to help go look? The only thing I can think of is that they know something different. Seriously, 6 days later and still not able to get groups of people to go look. IMO

In my opinion, they don't need the help. They know the who, where, and how. They're gathering evidence and trying to find Suzanne- to which I am sure they don't want public searchers coming upon her and possibly tainting evidence.

 

[ab01]

Oh I am sure that those security cameras weren't working the day she went missing. That seems to be the first thing a suspect makes sure of before they commit their premeditated murder.

JMO

Unless they are a moron like PF.....but yup I'm sure they weren't working in this case

 

[Herat]

Yikes, his face and look....what a prince!

Clearly needs to be checked out.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Oh I am sure that those security cameras weren't working the day she went missing. That seems to be the first thing a suspect makes sure of before they commit their premeditated murder.

JMO

^^this^^

 

[windrower]

<modsnip: quoted post removed; there is no MSM re training session>

Interesting.

Nancy stated a personal item (not the bike) was found 2,000 feet from her home. Yet the latest search was miles away at Monarch Pass?

I didn't think the search was at Monarch Pass, just that they had to close the road that far away so drivers on the Pass end of the road closure could turn around there, or take a different road down the mountain. The end points of the closure were where Hwy 50 intersected with other major roadways.

I posted a retraction of my comments:

I was looking at the house on Mountain Spur road

I’m sorry for the confusion

PS A HOA fee of $27 a month isn't gonna cover snow removal in that climate. It won't even pay to have the snow removed from the mailbox alone. Trust me, living at nearly 700o ft elevation in the mountains I know.

Herat, I had to chuckle at my post. Yea, $27 a month isn't much. [face palm] I didn't go back to change that part of my post after I found how many lots were in the subdivision. $2,900 a year from the nine lots doesn't pay for much road work. The homeowners probably have to maintain and plow their own driveways, but I haven't read the subdivision bylaws or HOA to know how Puma Path gets maintained.

As I mentioned, we pay $1200 a year ($100 a month) to our subdivision road board, and have 30 (?) lots, from four acres up to 15 acre lots, in a mountainous area that gets a lot of snow. So we put about $36,000 into our road fund every year. We each maintain our driveways, and the road board monies take care of the main road through the subdivision.

 

[Steelslady]

I wonder where the search efforts by the family-related search team are taking place. I've seen no media reports about that and haven't heard the nephew say where. JMO.

Agree, yet he has set up a Go fund me account to pay for these searchers food, lodging, etc.

 

[Steelslady]

Still intrigued as to why we haven’t had any confirmation as to the LE searching today. Also, no press conference has been announced. I wonder where they are turning their focus to?

The sheriff did say that he is not doing daily press conferences. I expect that they are investigating elsewhere, quietly I would imagine. I doubt that they stopped investigating today.

 

[10ofRods]

I am still getting caught up on the thread today and am only on page 10, but reading about the RV park not far from the house, it brought up a couple other questions for me:

-Have they had any workers to their house recently and/or regularly? Landscapers, lawn care, plumber, etc? All of those professions (at least here in IL) are still allowed to operate during the stay at home order.

-Do they live in the delivery zone of any local restaurant and may have had food delivered recently?

I just wonder if someone was at their home for a legitimate purpose, saw Suzanne and became infatuated, and started stalking her, maybe even seeing she biked solo regularly and waited for the right opportunity. MOO

This line of thought has been on social media, as well. I keep thinking the same thing. I start with the fact that they were a relative new, and relatively rich family in the area, with huge windows in the stunning house that face the river and the mountains where, sometimes, bad guys lurk. This is tradition that bad guys head for the hills/mountains. And the stories about the crazy bicycle/motorbike sabotage people are worrying.

<modsnip: Removed random blog. Link to Tim Watkin's WS thread is here>

^Slightly less than 2 hours away from Maysville; with the Morphew home facing Pikes Peak, and the above crime happened on the opposite slope area. But it's clear that the murderer in the above story is not alone in his distaste for bikers/desire to act out his rage. The story about the sabotage on bike trails on the last thread made me think of this.

So...regular (local) stalker? Anti-biker vigilante? Impulsive cross-country kidnapper?

 

[ab01]

The sheriff did say that he is not doing daily press conferences. I expect that they are investigating elsewhere, quietly I would imagine. I doubt that they stopped investigating today.

And he did seem to put some emphasis on "investigating"....JMO

 

[Knox]

Putting this here, hopefully we will be using it soon Colorado Judicial Branch - Chaffee County - Dockets

 

[Puzzles8]

What mortgages?

In the previous thread we concluded that the Puma Path Salida CO property must have been a cash buy. No mortgages are recorded against the property - and by law they have to be in CO. They purchased the 7 acre property for $1,575,000 and the only recorded instruments were the Warranty Deed and Water Conservation District Rights for the property, there are no mortgage securities.

There was no sale of their 13 acre Arcadia IN property prior to or at any time after the new Salida purchase that might have been used in part to fund the new property and, according to property records looked at by Heavy.com, they still own the old Arcadia one, with a value of around $796,000 now. No mortgage is registered on that property either from what we can find and it’s no longer listed for sale.

Hattips for the prior sleuthing to @Seattle1 @Knox @oviedo

It is little wonder therefore that the finances and possible sources of wealth here are of interest, and this could be extremely pertinent to this case insofar as motive is concerned.

I don't want to get ahead of myself because I am not even close to being caught up here but I find their finances interesting. Just a few thoughts.

They own a lot of valuable property. It appears they hold clear titles, no outstanding mortgages. She is a teacher, he owns a landscaping company. It is also possible either one has inherited money/property.

Outside of that, I wonder where and how they acquired that amount of money.

Sometimes crimes come down to - Follow the Money. I'd not be surprised if it might be a factor here.

IMO, JMO

 

[Herat]

Herat, I had to chuckle at my post. Yea, $27 a month isn't much. [face palm] I didn't go back to change that part of my post after I found how many lots were in the subdivision. $2,900 a year from the nine lots doesn't pay for much road work. The homeowners probably have to maintain and plow their own driveways, but I haven't read the subdivision bylaws or HOA to know how Puma Path gets maintained.

As I mentioned, we pay $1200 a year ($100 a month) to our subdivision road board, and have 30 (?) lots, from four acres up to 15 acre lots, in a mountainous area that gets a lot of snow. So we put about $36,000 into our road fund every year. We each maintain our driveways, and the road board monies take care of the main road through the subdivision.

Just looking at that area by Zillow is interesting. Their home was built in 2008 as was a similarly large place just east of the Foose's Lake. I assume the area was subdivided and the HOA established at that time. 12 years ago. Likely the owner of the property built either one of these two places. The next place built was 4 years later and is a 4 br 2 bath house that looks quite a bit smaller on the map. But it sold for ~$1,1 million. There's another much smaller place not listed on Zillow. Several lots much closer to the highway sold last year. There are also multi-acre sites selling on either side of the South Arkansas River just to the east of their house, so someone has money to put down up to $800,000 for property there. I wonder if they have bought some of the surrounding property, too and word got out. Yipes.

I do wonder how they ended up there from Indiana. Any local connections at all?

 

[GoJacks]

CHAFFEE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Salida, Colorado
PRESS RELEASE

May 16, 2020
Members of the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) continue the search for Suzanne Morphew.
Ms. Morphew is a Chaffee County woman reported missing on May 10, 2020.

While Saturday’s efforts didn’t involve a large-scale search similar to the one that took place on US Highway 50 on May 15, investigators continued to follow-up on tips and conduct targeted searches in the area based on information provided to those working the case.

To date, there have been more than 100 tips reported to the dedicated phone line as part of Ms. Morphew’s Missing Person case. The Chaffee County Sheriff's Office asks the public to continue to report any information about this case by calling (719) 312-7530.

*****Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze*****

 

[10ofRods]

Yikes, his face and look....what a prince!

The stuff of nightmares.

Looks like an extra on a popular show that may feature zombie battles.

 

[clearskies1]

Putting this here, hopefully we will be using it soon Colorado Judicial Branch - Chaffee County - Dockets

Very useful -- thanks. Earlier today I searched various websites, trying to see if any search warrants have been issued -- I get the feeling they're not publicly available in Colorado, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Ontario Mom]

The stuff of nightmares.

Looks like an extra on a popular show that may feature zombie battles.

He actually looks like a good ole boy that would easily blend in, in numerous different scenarios I can think of.

 

[Quiet Time]

The nephew is probably referring to BM as 'the husband', because that's how he's hearing the LE refer to him. jmo

I don't think there's anything odd about it...

 

[Puzzles8]

Agree, yet he has set up a Go fund me account to pay for these searchers food, lodging, etc.

Actually paying for the searcher's food and lodging would be a certain out of pocket cash expense.

On the other hand, offering a large reward (that you know will never need to be paid out) is another..

 

[Steelslady]

Could it be the Sheriff knows nothing more than we do. They found one of her items, 2000 feet from her house, ok, whippee fizz. Where is she?!

As my late father used to say "wouldn't it be nice if all crimes were solved in a half of an hours time like Charlie's Angels."

She's been gone six days, they've called in several agencies to help and have worked hard and searched openly and no doubt quietly, areas we are not aware of.

Some cases take months before they find a damn thing- already they have found her bike and at least one more personal item, 2000 feet from her home.

I am trying to understand why your comment seems hostile toward LE, as if they aren't trying to help find Suzanne?

Good grief, how many times have we had family members and friends on here in previous cases, begging for help from LE and searchers, and they're shrugged off for various reasons? Remember how hard Cheryl Berreth and her son worked to get the attention of LE that something bad happened to Kelsey? They missed blood in her bathroom and other areas of her home, bleach residue on surfaces that you normally wouldn't bleach- they had to point it out to LE, after LE searched Kelsey's condo! By then, poor Kelsey's body was ashes placed God knows where and precious time was wasted. At least this LE is on the ball more.

 

[Backstroke10]

No, it's not "normal" to be away - it's simply another option. During CoVid, it's far more likely. In fact, probably a really good idea for young people, who want to be social, to stay away from a possibly medically compromised parent whose age is creeping into the lower end of serious CoVid.

It's also not "normal" for LE to fail to mention the last known contact anyone had with Suzanne. Did no one call her on Mother's Day? Let's assume that someone in the family did the "normal" thing and called Suzanne that morning. That would give a window for her bike ride. Perhaps she checked in with the neighbor and not family. That would be "normal" if the family was sheltering in different places.

If Suzanne was at all immune-compromised, perhaps the family were in fact sheltering in different places (and with the husband, in different parts of the house).

Anyway, I think it can be said that it's not unusual for a mom to be alone on Mother's Day, if that's what she wants or circumstances dictate. But the normal thing is for people to contact mom, at least post on FB. However, in this case, it does not seem like FB was their family method of communication - lots of people use What's App or something else for that. FB was, for SM, a place to share pictures of happy moments with distant family and friends (IMO).

I sure hope no one is bashing the girls. They are victims too. There are tons of reasons why the girls would not be there, but I sure would like to know when they last talked to their mom or if their failure to get through to her on Mother's Day resulted in a call to the neighbor.

Because right now, it seems her bike ride was fairly short. We do not even know when she left the house. If she left for an early morning ride and then no one could get through to her by phone all day...it would give a window for passersby on the fairly well-traveled Highway 50 to search their memories.

Passersby would need a time frame - no point in people calling LE if she left at 2 pm and they were on the road at 8 am. The fact that LE has not done this makes me think they do not suspect abduction. There are many other clues pointing away from abduction, which is why most of us are mystified.

I love this post! I understand adult children that have moved away, wouldn’t be there for Mother’s Day but the girls are in HS and College right there in CO. She appeared to be very close to her daughters and loved them very much. I seriously doubt she wanted to be alone, especially knowing her husband was going to be out of town. MOO
Why can’t the Nephew or someone say if the girls or husband talked to her on Sunday, FaceTimed her, Zoom call, etc. MOO