Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #20

[Dave F.]

So if your wife was "threatened" by some creeper and you are worried enough to call the police....is your first instinct to send a defenseless woman in her 70s into that scenario to test the waters? If Suzanne had been threatened, I'd think that would be all the more reason to connect with LE yourself and explain first hand what is going on.

It's entirely possible that there could have been a more targeted threat than "some creeper".
Without knowing more than we do, I'm not comfortable judging anyone's response to the crisis.

When I think long and hard about it, the actions of ALL involved entities fit well into a pattern of response to a targeted threat to SM that she had described to those closest to her. She may have even attempted to act "normal" while informing the CCSO of the threat.

All just pure speculation from me, but certainly worth pondering IMO

 

[TxGidget]

Regarding the jump to call police on May 10th, I’ve suspected that the girls and BM were never too jazzed about these solo bike rides. They would really rather she didn’t go out alone. But Suzanne assures them that she is totally competent and confident about the safety of her outings. Perhaps she is not one to entertain worst-case scenarios, and she feels very at ease on these rides that she loves and has safely taken dozens of times. But the other three have have concerns and have never been entirely comfortable with it. And, even though they are accustomed to her rides, they are always relieved when she peddles back into the driveway.
Perhaps when BM left for Denver, SM too was heading out for her ride. So later in the day when the girls and BM put all the pieces together, worries and maybe panic surfaced and they called the police. Very plausible to me. MOO
P.S. Along these same lines, my DH and I have agreed NEVER to do the following alone: climb a ladder, go on a run/walk without a cellphone, go on a run/walk when the heat index is over 95 degrees, and even so much as stand in the pool. Each of these things was worrisome (or annoying) to one of us so we finally made a pact.

 

[sripey]

Do we know the timeline? When did the girls first call their mom on MD? When did they start to get worried? When was the neighbor asked to check on SM? Then how much time elapsed before 911 was called? At what point was BM looped into the calls?

Also, we know BM arrived around 9 pm. Do we know when the girls arrived home? If they had been planning to spend MD with their mom, surely even with a late start, you'd think they would have arrived before their dad.

I think this is a really important point if we want to continue down this line of sluething.

-What is the timeline of inquiries into Suzanne's whereabouts.

-Who was involved and to what extent in these inquiries.

-What/who is the source of OUR knowledge of these inquiries.

 

[Dave F.]

Regarding the jump to call police on May 10th, I’ve suspected that the girls and BM were never too jazzed about these solo bike rides. They would really rather she didn’t go out alone. But Suzanne assures them that she is totally competent and confident about the safety of her outings. Perhaps she is not one to entertain worst-case scenarios, and she feels very at ease on these rides that she loves and has safely taken dozens of times. But the other three have have concerns and have never been entirely comfortable with it. And, even though they are accustomed to her rides, they are always relieved when she peddles back into the driveway.
Perhaps when BM left for Denver, SM too was heading out for her ride. So later in the day when the girls and BM put all the pieces together, worries and maybe panic surfaced and they called the police. Very plausible to me. MOO
P.S. Along these same lines, my DH and I have agreed NEVER to do the following alone: climb a ladder, go on a run/walk without a cellphone, go on a run/walk when the heat index is over 95 degrees, and even so much as stand in the pool. Each of these things was worrisome (or annoying) to one of us so we finally made a pact.

Well stated!
SM certainly could have instructed her family: "If I don't come back from a bike ride when I should, don't hesitate. Just call 911."
After all, nobody knew SM or the risks she was taking better than SM herself. IMO

 

[Feistyomi]

Ironically, I started from putting myself precisely in BM’s shoes. Only it was too scary to post. You see, it is beyond scary to imagine - how your beloved one vanishes. I can’t express how I sympathize for all poor families of victims. All who had to go this way. And then I started unwrapping it further - what one says to the police, how one communicates with the police. How often does one call them, even? Not to make them upset, but push for the case? I asked myself, if it is important to make a statement, and if yes, what should be in this statement, it is for the public. (Description! Identifying traits! Details! How the person looks like, just in case someone saw them).

I know I would be too scared to even imagine how a mountain lion could.... I would be thinking about people, what kind of a person could harm my beloved one?

I think we all need hope and consolation. In situations like this, our behavior becomes irrational. I am not a frequent churchgoer - I think this would change. I don’t believe in psychics - I wouldn’t put it past myself to visit one. I think I would be hysterical, panicky.

But that’s me. BM might be different, introverted, even. I don’t judge him, but I see too many gaps in the narrative. Starting with, I don’t know if they were a happy family. I truly don’t know.

I agree that we should not zoom on BM only, as other options, undoubtedly, exist.

Thank you! It isn’t as easy as we think, to really try to get into another person’s mindset. You brought up a very valid point, too.
Different personality types handle things differently.
Life experiences mold our reactions.

If not BM, then who?
I think everyone assumes I am just defending BM. My real purpose is to move beyond BM and find the real guy.
We have some pretty good leads, but finding him is tough. We can’t sleuth here, but we can research other possibilities.
Research shows a very real possibility that BM is innocent, and does take us in different directions. JMHO

 

[Feistyomi]

And how long did it take for the neighbor to get to the Morphew home, (not sure if neighbor walked or drove) look around, call out for her, maybe walked around the house, etc., and determine bike was missing? If SM had a medical emergency such as a stroke, heart attack, fall, head injury, or something else very serious, talk about wasted time!

IMO, I am a civilian, I would not want to activate an emergency response, unless I knew it was warranted. I’m sure first responders would tell you to call, regardless, but I suspect they would rather respond to true emergencies.

 

[Murphy1950]

Do we know the timeline? When did the girls first call their mom on MD? When did they start to get worried? When was the neighbor asked to check on SM? Then how much time elapsed before 911 was called? At what point was BM looped into the calls?

Also, we know BM arrived around 9 pm. Do we know when the girls arrived home? If they had been planning to spend MD with their mom, surely even with a late start, you'd think they would have arrived before their dad.

I think this is a really important point if we want to continue down this line of sluething.

-What is the timeline of inquiries into Suzanne's whereabouts.

-Who was involved and to what extent in these inquiries.

-What/who is the source of OUR knowledge of these inquiries.

These are the very questions/subjects we have been discussing and beating to death for 20 some threads now. There is no MSM source for either Suzanne or any family members timeline during those days. Heck we don't even know when she was last seen and LE won't address the subject. They have been asked directly.

 

[darring21]

This is what I teach my children, and other people, too, lol. “Confrontation is useless - you are daily fighting for power and control by replaying the same chess game, so, you are getting the same results. Try negotiating, it might work”. (As to children - can’t recommend anything more than books by Haim Ginott).

About BM - I think what is not on his side is mere statistic, in 53% of such cases, the partner is involved. However, in 17% it might be a “stranger on the bike”, so we should not discount this, almost 1/5 of cases. And the rest? The rest are people known to the victim. And there were many, as the Ms moved from one state to another.

I hope this case will be solved, simply because I have seen very good work of Colorado LE in other cases.

I understand we can not sleuth anyone close to SM, and it is the right approach. But the collateral is, we don’t know much about her life, so the discussion veers back to known facts.

BTW, I personally was not comparing BM to PF. That case is an outlier of outliers, and goes down in history as the life lesson from KL’s story (just don’t get involved! If this is the guy you hope to marry one day - he won’t get any better after the marriage! Look at him now, this is exactly what you are getting. A partner’s murderer). My belief is, we can’t prevent single murders of such a type, but potential dyads are breakable before they form. MOO.

I wish everyone posted as thoughtfully as you. I think there are troubling gaps in BM's story but it is possible he is an innocent person. I don't understand when others spew all the hate to a person they don't know and may be innocent. What is gained?

 

[Hatfield]

These are the very questions/subjects we have been discussing and beating to death for 20 some threads now. There is no MSM source for either Suzanne or any family members timeline during those days. Heck we don't even know when she was last seen and LE won't address the subject. They have been asked directly.

JMO
I agree that we dont know who from SM's family was the first to start to get concerned. I dont think there is a MSM link that tells us.

In my speculation only, I think it went down like this. I think the girls started to text the Mom to wish her a Happy Mothers Day and when they got no reply, I dont think they had any reason to be concerned at that point. What I think happened is later on either they called/texted the Dad or he called/texted them to make sure they wished their Mom a Happy Mothers day and when they told him she was not replying, then I believe it was him that contacted the neighbor and it progressed from there.

I do believe someone from SM's side told the neighbor to go check to see if her bike was there and I dont think the girls would have been the one to tell her that which is why I think it must have been him that talked to the neighbor to give her instructions. JMO of course.

 

[oviedo]

These are the very questions/subjects we have been discussing and beating to death for 20 some threads now. There is no MSM source for either Suzanne or any family members timeline during those days. Heck we don't even know when she was last seen and LE won't address the subject. They have been asked directly.

I think there was one article where the stepmom of a friend of the Ds says the called and couldn’t get a hold of SM and the called the neighbor to go check on her - so we could perhaps infer a timeline from that since the 911 call was placed Sunday at 5.46pm - as I posted up thread, the only information we can count on IMO is what's posted on the chaffee sheriff website via their press releases. Otherwise we just spin our wheels
JMO
Snipped
“The neighbors up there are spread pretty far apart but the only reason they found out [she was missing] is because the girls called the neighbors and said, ‘we never heard from Mom – can you go check on her?'” the friend’s stepmother said
‘Nobody actually saw her on her bicycle’: Questions persist amid changing reports on the investigation into Suzanne Morphew’s Mother’s Day disappearance
—-

 

[JnRyan]

<modsnip: quoted post was removed>

I wonder if Suzanne made a point to inform the family of when and where she going. (Although many times I go out and after 1-2 miles I alter my route depending on how I'm feeling through that segment.) However, if BM and daughters were out of town, the help wouldn't be the same as a family member going to look for them. I know more than a few ladies who won't hesitate to go out for a 20-50 mile ride alone. I've never asked any of them what precautions they take and they've never volunteered. (I would think that would be part of the safety issue ...

<modsnip>

 

[JnRyan]

These are the very questions/subjects we have been discussing and beating to death for 20 some threads now. There is no MSM source for either Suzanne or any family members timeline during those days. Heck we don't even know when she was last seen and LE won't address the subject. They have been asked directly.

I think there was one article where the stepmom of a friend of the Ds says the called and couldn’t get a hold of SM and the called the neighbor to go check on her - so we could perhaps infer a timeline from that since the 911 call was placed Sunday at 5.46pm - as I posted up thread, the only information we can count on IMO is what's posted on the chaffee sheriff website via their press releases. Otherwise we just spin our wheels
JMO
Snipped
“The neighbors up there are spread pretty far apart but the only reason they found out [she was missing] is because the girls called the neighbors and said, ‘we never heard from Mom – can you go check on her?'” the friend’s stepmother said
‘Nobody actually saw her on her bicycle’: Questions persist amid changing reports on the investigation into Suzanne Morphew’s Mother’s Day disappearance
—-

When I try to stand back and look at this case we really are a little thin on the facts.

 

[AbigailHobbs]

Yeah, I'd make sure that my wife wasn't ALONE on Mother's Day! And if I were SM, I wouldn't go out on a bike ride without a buddy. So, like you, I think the stalker theory doesn't seem to hold water.

Especially bc the sheriff asked people to hold on to surveillance camera footage, but not to turn it in. If you had reason to believe she had a stalker, you would get footage asap to see any lurkers around

 

[MrsWatson]

I find the stalker scenario so very unlikely. If there was someone that SM had a concern about, why would her husband leave her alone in such a remote house, with a security system that may or may not have been working, possibly spotty cell phone coverage, while he traveled two hours away, and she's out bike riding? That makes zero sense. Did he say, see you honey,be careful on your bike ride and watch for that stalker?

moo

ETA: When I first heard about this case, a stalker was one of my thoughts, since she is a very attractive woman. Didn't take long to realize that was not a likely scenario.

 

[sripey]

These are the very questions/subjects we have been discussing and beating to death for 20 some threads now. There is no MSM source for either Suzanne or any family members timeline during those days. Heck we don't even know when she was last seen and LE won't address the subject. They have been asked directly.

All I can find is that a) Suzanne's daughters contacted the neighbor about their concerns and b) the neighbor called LE.

I apologize in advance if I missed this, but I could not find any msm reports that state that BM contacted the neighbor.

 

[Kittybunny]

Of all the suspicious things I think BM has done in the disappearance of his beloved wife, not calling 911 himself is not one of them, if it were the only hinky thing that he had done.

Nonetheless, because I was wondering this myself, I looked up whether a dispatch center in one city can transfer you to another in another city. Here is an article that discusses all that and a few snippets:

"If you're in California and you're chatting with your aunt in Colorado when she suddenly complains of chest pain, can you call 911 for her?
Yes, but as with almost anything having to do with 911 emergency response, it's a bit more complicated than it sounds.

When you call 911 for someone who is not physically with you, the same "local" PSAP is going to answer the phone. These centers are not guaranteed to find a center for you in another part of the country, but that doesn't mean they won't try. Unfortunately, it's probably not going to be quick, or at least not feel like it's happening very quickly."

How to Get 911 Right Now for Your Friend in Another State

So, if I were in one place and a person having an emergency in another, I would also probably try to find someone local to call 911. I would definitely call my mom's neighbor to call 911 or check on her since I live about an hour away. That said, I probably also wouldn't have conveniently arranged to be out of town when my mom went on an imaginary solo bike ride that she was about to get eaten by a mountain lion or abducted by a stranger or hit by a car and tossed into a creek on. And I definitely would not have waited a week to speak to the media and then recorded my own 26-second Facebook Live video in which I provide no details about what she was wearing, exactly where she was last seen, and offer a reward only for her safe return, no questions asked. Yeah, definitely not.

 

[FelicityLemon]

Agree with variations 100%, good point, and that happens all the time, but where I vary I guess, is what's considered generally accepted norms? Here we are talking a TRAINED first responder, whose own beloved is missing, not heard from all day, and he’s 3 hours away.
I don’t expect a teacher to constantly misspell words in a note. I don’t expect a pilot to take the train because he feels it’s safer. I don’t expect a husband (volunteer first responder no less) to lay making that emergency call regarding his missing wife, on a 70-year-old neighbor.
I’d love to help with CPR sir, but I’m new… (that’s another variation I couldn’t deal with)
I couldn’t imagine being on the other side of that call. Would you prefer to talk to a spouse who knew her, her habits, the house, the door combo if one existed, the color of the bike, when she was last heard from, her usual morning habits, her recent medical issues, meds she may be on, Or an older neighbor of about two years who knew little if any of that info? Who could only share the family “thinks" she may have gone on a bike ride and yeah, she recently had some sort of cancer.
Going full circle here, in every thread including this one, someone writes words to the effect “If he was in Denver, he could not call 911 and talk to the 911 for his home. He would have gotten Denver's 911 center.” THAT’S AN EXCUSE. IMO Barry is a trained first responder, he knows how to make the call. He didn't want to.

.
I know what you're saying, we just disagree - neither view on the 911 call is “the right thing to do”, those are our opinions only.

We don't know that he didn't call 911 at some point after the neighbor called 911. He may have, he probably didn't, but we don't know. I do assume he spoke with LE during his drive home. If he didn't, that would be a problem for me and I'd put that more in the Suspicious column. Spreadsheets are fun – visually seeing lists of pros and cons and +/-.

I don't have a problem with the idea that he didn't call 911 because he knew he'd be recorded and analyzed, If I was guilty, I'd avoid being recorded at all times for any reason. (I wouldn't buy souvenirs at Walmart) I also recognize the things that might or do point to the possibility/probability? of his being guilty. I do have a problem with some people's attitudes (not yours) in the manner of their dismissals of other ideas.

I try to separate what we extrapolate into a meaning from the simple fact itself. Example: the search warrant for the client property being dug up: that's all we know other than nothing was found that connected to SM at that time. Anything beyond that we're assuming and guessing including the reason for digging. Some of those are based on statistics, but statistics aren't a finite.

We all could go around and around about what we think should have happened with the 911 call, but it's useless because it's only our opinions as non-LE until we hear something from actual LE. Maybe any of the LE/legal peeps here could weigh in, but even those are opinions, but opinions I'd give more weight because they're the ones receiving and needing the information.

I love good discussion and even a fair debate - it's how many of us learn new ideas and learn how to see beyond our own natural, but preconceived opinions. I especially love it when it's based on mutual regard for people with different ideas and theories. Those of us who look for every possibility deserve as much consideration as those who assume he's guilty without knowing all the facts or really any facts at this point from LE.

I stayed away from the social media this time, so I don't have that extra flavor of input that might sway me to his definite guilt. It's hard for me to forget something written by "an insider" or "someone who knows so-and-so" that may or may not be true.

The facts are few now and I'm fine with looking at both his guilt and his innocence until we know more facts..

 

[Hatfield]

Of all the suspicious things I think BM has done in the disappearance of his beloved wife, not calling 911 himself is not one of them, if it were the only hinky thing that he had done.

Nonetheless, because I was wondering this myself, I looked up whether a dispatch center in one city can transfer you to another in another city. Here is an article that discusses all that and a few snippets:

"If you're in California and you're chatting with your aunt in Colorado when she suddenly complains of chest pain, can you call 911 for her?
Yes, but as with almost anything having to do with 911 emergency response, it's a bit more complicated than it sounds.

When you call 911 for someone who is not physically with you, the same "local" PSAP is going to answer the phone. These centers are not guaranteed to find a center for you in another part of the country, but that doesn't mean they won't try. Unfortunately, it's probably not going to be quick, or at least not feel like it's happening very quickly."

How to Get 911 Right Now for Your Friend in Another State

So, if I were in one place and a person having an emergency in another, I would also probably try to find someone local to call 911. I would definitely call my mom's neighbor to call 911 or check on her since I live about an hour away. That said, I probably also wouldn't have conveniently arranged to be out of town when my mom went on an imaginary solo bike ride that she was about to get eaten by a mountain lion or abducted by a stranger or hit by a car and tossed into a creek on. And I definitely would not have waited a week to speak to the media and then recorded my own 26-second Facebook Live video in which I provide no details about what she was wearing, exactly where she was last seen, and offer a reward only for her safe return, no questions asked. Yeah, definitely not.

JMO
Good points.

Here is the thing too. Someone had to have told the neighbor to check to see if the bicycle was there when she went over to check to see if SM was home. Because somehow the searching focused and found her bicycle off the side of the road.

So the big question to me is who told the neighbor to check for the bicycle too. The girls were on a camping trip and I dont think they knew their Mom's exact plans for that day. On the other hand the husband said he asked SM if it was ok if he left on Mothers Day to be away from the home. So I suspect he was the one driving the bicycle ride theory.

Other reasons I suspect that is when the other person who was first involved in the Giveme fund made a public statement, it focused on the condition of the bicycle. Well he was pretty adamant about it and so who got him all worked up about the bicycle. I dont think it was the girls.

And with BMs interview by the random youtuber , we again hear about the bicycle ride and a potential stranger abduction. So again the narrative is coming from BM.

For all these reasons, I suspect he was the one pushing the bicycle theory on others and it started with communication with the neighbor.

We have heard nothing from the girls so I dont see how they were the one pushing any theories whereas we have him in some known situations where the bicycle came up from his own mouth at least in the case of the youtuber discussion.

Putting two and two together to make an assumption that it was him who gave instructions to the neighbor.

btw
I feel terrible for the poor neighbor who was dragged into this case. She was probably glad to try to help but now that the case looks like it will end badly, she has been traumatically impacted and it will take an emotional toll on her.

So many other secondary victims that a perp does not even think about.

 

[Sillybilly]

Do NOT respond to a broken quote.

Report it and let us fix it before it gets out of hand.

The more they are requoted, the more difficult they are for us to repair.

If members can't take the time to preview their posts to make sure they are correct, they run the risk of their post and ALL responses to it being removed. We don't have the staff or the time to be fixing member mistakes.

 

[LietKynes]

Especially bc the sheriff asked people to hold on to surveillance camera footage, but not to turn it in. If you had reason to believe she had a stalker, you would get footage asap to see any lurkers around

Exactly. ^^^

LE are looking for a person/people, or vehicle movement....someone known to them and not a random, bushy haired stranger.
Imo.