Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #23

[Kimmer]

Well, perhaps he had intended to stay the night (we don't know what "going early to prep for a job" might mean) and was out of his room (despite CoVId - wouldn't be the only one) and needed to go back to get his things? Needed to get gas?

Surely did not run into bad weather or traffic, IMO.

If he was talking on his phone the whole time (as would be the case in many families at this juncture), perhaps he drove a little slower than usual.

I can't judge someone else's emergency behaviors.

I was a speed demon and in this situation (if my spouse was missing!) I'd be a total lead foot and on the phone with the police to tell to get the highway patrol off my tail, if that was happening.

But we're all different. With CoVid and open highways, I might be 10 mph above the speed limit at all times...even if no spousal emergency.

I would be begging the state police to give me an escort.

 

[BobLive]

In nearly 20 years of legal practice, I've never heard of police barring entry to a homeowner for 10 days in order to secure a warrant. In fact, constitutional rights -- such as the 4th Amendment right against unreasonable seizures -- are even more important important in such situations because authorities tend to demand more conformance during times of danger.

It's a large house on seven acres. It may take days to completely search the basement, two floors, and an attic plus a barn or shed, not to mention all that forest land along a river. The amount of time a search takes depends on how big the search area is and what may have been found. IMO

 

[al66pine]

Can 'missing' person be 'incapacitated?' Grounds for guardianship?

Thank you @Seattle1 for this info! A transaction took place on the same date as the Order conveying the Indiana property to a BM entity according to the Hamilton County Recorder's Office. Was there some urgency in completing that transfer while SM is still missing or has she found and is incapacitated? IMO, that's strange.

@BobLive bbm The idea of a man petitioning court to be appt'ed as guardian for his wife missing only a couple weeks or months may seem strange to many of us but per IN Gdn'ship statute 'incapacitated' specifically includes a person who "cannot be located upon reasonable inquiry." *
I'm not saying the IN statute is good, bad, indifferent, or defending it. Just saying it is what it is ^^^.
What is 'reasonable inquiry?' The answer is fact-specific or case-specific. If the only evidence of being non-locatable is that petitioner/husband's affidavit or testimony was only that he was away from home for a day, phoned home # or her cell # two or ten times, got no answer, came home, looked in house, did not find her, that is not sufficient imo. I believe @lamlawindy posted about what else may have been offered to support SM'S absence.AFAIK, we/the gen public can not access to specific info/evd that BM/BM's atty offered to the court, at least not yet.
Altho some posters think seeking a gdnship in this situation is strange (and fwiw, I agree, to some extent), the IN statute allows it, if the ct finds sufficient evd is presented. As always, I welcome comment, clarification, correction, esp'ly from our legal & real est professionals.

...................................................................
* Indiana Statutes, Title 29 Probate, Article 3. Indiana Code 2019 - Indiana General Assembly, 2020 Session
GUARDIANSHIPS & PROTECTIVE PROCEEDINGS
"Sec. 7.5. "Incapacitated person" means an individual who:
(1) cannot be located upon reasonable inquiry;..."
^ Section continues about unable to care for self, manage property, because of mental/physical illness, etc.

 

[FelicityLemon]

I’m also struck by the LACK of close friends of Suzanne making any pleas in the media. The one woman they had on was a “friend” from the gym, who I would classify more as an acquaintance. I would wager this tells us more about the BM/SM relationship dynamic. Controlling/Abusive partners tend to isolate their partners from any close family and friends.
Could this be another reason for the move to CO?
JMO

While it's certainly possible that's their situation, the lack of her friends coming out isn't a slam dunk indicator of him controlling his wife's life. Some people are happy (and so relieved!) with their lives not being filled with "friends" and social activity. There's nothing sad about it and it doesn't warrant pity or suspicion - not necessarily anyway. I know there are lonely people out there who wish they had friends and social lives. I specifically mean that there are plenty of people that are content and delighted with our immediate family as our best friends and then peripherally, maybe a couple of not-so-close friends or acquaintances for an occasional outing or adventure. My DH is the social butterfly, I am very much the opposite. He'd be gutted to think anyone thought he was a controlling spouse. He'd be gutted, but I'd laugh and laugh.

The internet is a good thing for people like me because it's just about all that we can handle of human interaction most times.
I'm thankful for Websleuths, lol.

It's possible that BM is the controlling personality that people talk about, but it's also possible that SM felt her life was exactly as she wanted. Regardless of sex, there are many people who prefer their partner to be the take-charge type. In a perfect world, taking charge isn't the same thing as controlling. :/.

 

[BobLive]

Bob, there’s a Media Timeline on page 1 of every thread that has everything in chronological order. No discussion, but excellent way to catch up. I refer to it often.
CO - CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 , MEDIA,MAPS,TIMELINE *NO DISCUSSION*

Thank you, Cindi. It's excellent! I'm looking there but missing too much here! MOO

 

[BobLive]

Can 'missing' person be 'incapacitated?' Grounds for guardianship?
@BobLive bbm The idea of a man petitioning court to be appt'ed as guardian for his wife missing only a couple weeks or months may seem strange to many of us but per IN Gdn'ship statute 'incapacitated' specifically includes a person who "cannot be located upon reasonable inquiry." *
I'm not saying the IN statute is good, bad, indifferent, or defending it. Just saying it is what it is ^^^.
What is 'reasonable inquiry?' The answer is fact-specific or case-specific. If the only evidence of being non-locatable is that petitioner/husband's affidavit or testimony was only that he was away from home for a day, phoned home # or her cell # two or ten times, got no answer, came home, looked in house, did not find her, that is not sufficient imo. I believe @lamlawindy posted about what else may have been offered to support SM'S absence.AFAIK, we/the gen public can not access to specific info/evd that BM/BM's atty offered to the court, at least not yet.
Altho some posters think seeking a gdnship in this situation is strange (and fwiw, I agree, to some extent), the IN statute allows it, if the ct finds sufficient evd is presented. As always, I welcome comment, clarification, correction, esp'ly from our legal & real est professionals.

...................................................................
* Indiana Statutes, Title 29 Probate, Article 3. Indiana Code 2019 - Indiana General Assembly, 2020 Session
GUARDIANSHIPS & PROTECTIVE PROCEEDINGS
"Sec. 7.5. "Incapacitated person" means an individual who:
(1) cannot be located upon reasonable inquiry;..."
^ Section continues about unable to care for self, manage property, because of mental/physical illness, etc.

 

[Fireflize]

Chiming in for the heck of it with what I learned in early June. Trust me , I know nothing about hunting meat, other than the grocery store., aisle 5 But found this curious under the circumstances. We know Barry told TD about a possible Mountain Lion dragging Suzanne up hill.

Mountain Lions tend to drag their kills downhill, and it is common for them to end up in the bottom of a drainage or right next to a creek. Source is easily found on the internet BTW, Mountainlions.org forensics

According to Troy Skinner…Barry is the big hunter, that’s why Troy came to visit, to hunt with Barry.

Was the comment made to deliberately mislead ? After all we know he searched a 200 mile radius and his friend made 400 missions. Is this just Barry speak???
Did he try and share that little tidbit of erroneous knowledge with LE?

Any significance???

I call bs. I think BM sized up TD and figured he wouldn't know cougar from a coon and just ran off at the mouth thinking he was impressive, all the while expecting to be believed. He wanted to get his narrative out there, but couldn't answer when asked when he last saw Suzanne. Not impressed. Moo

 

[BobLive]

IMO, it is strange to spend time filing a petition for Guardianship when time is of the essence to look for a missing person, especially one's spouse, but that's just my opinion. Like I said previously, what was so urgent about the filing to be a missing person's Guardian and then immediately selling the out-of-state property that was jointly owned with one's spouse? IMO

 

[Kimmer]

Not to mention LE didnt let Chad Daybell sit in his house while they were searching his backyard Aka pet cemetary.

MO

 

[Goldenseal]

IMO, it is strange to spend time filing a petition for Guardianship when time is of the essence to look for a missing person, especially one's spouse, but that's just my opinion. Like I said previously, what was so urgent about the filing to be a missing person's Guardian and then immediately selling the out-of-state property that was jointly owned with one's spouse? IMO

IIRC, we all speculated that the sale had been in process before SM disappeared, and the buyers/realtors/others in on the transaction really needed the sale to go through on the designated date, or everyone would be in a pickle legally. (Imagine if you were the buyer, and had already sold your house in order to move into the M house? And the banks had already arranged the loans, etc., etc.?) I think the judge agreed to this one-time designation of SM as 'incapacitated' so this one transaction could be completed. The Sept. 1 hearing is to determine whether that designation should continue.

 

[BobLive]

I have also thought it to be weird that there have been no other couples that have spoken about being friends, doing cookouts, going fishing etc. I cant imagine not having any friends that you do things with. I know there were fairly new to Colorado but doesnt BM brother live in the area. surely if you have a family member in the area they would have people to introduce you to. or at the very least friends from church.

IDK about a brother, but his nephew was initially a spokesperson for the family and even set up a Go-Fund-Me account to be used to search for SM, the wife of his uncle. IMO

 

[Seattle1]

I’m also struck by the LACK of close friends of Suzanne making any pleas in the media.
The one woman they had on was a “friend” from the gym, who I would classify more as an acquaintance.
I would wager this tells us more about the BM/SM relationship dynamic.
Controlling/Abusive partners tend to isolate their partners from any close family and friends.
Could this be another reason for the move to CO?
JMO

I don't think isolating SM was the prime reason. I truly think the move to Colorado was explored earlier when the daughter elected to attend college in Colorado. From SM's social media, we know the family is well-traveled and maybe they frequented Colorado for winter sports. We don't know why the daughter chose Colorado of all places, maybe it was familiarity and something the family talked about.

I also believe BM was aware of the 2016-17 Chaffee County master plan development proposing housing that was just starting to go before the county commissioners given the shortage of affordable housing in the area (there are already plenty of $1.5M+ residences).

These plans take time for approval and here we are 4+ years later and recently learned from MSM that building lots in the $160k range are selling fast. I believe it's these types of development projects of raw land to construction-ready build sites that are very much up BM's line of lucrative work. I've also shared links earlier in the case where even the school districts of neighboring counties have plans to use property they purchased not to build new schools but to develop the property and build affordable housing for its teachers.

MOO

 

[BobLive]

I have also thought it to be weird that there have been no other couples that have spoken about being friends, doing cookouts, going fishing etc. I cant imagine not having any friends that you do things with. I know there were fairly new to Colorado but doesnt BM brother live in the area. surely if you have a family member in the area they would have people to introduce you to. or at the very least friends from church.

IDK about a brother, but his nephew was initially a spokesperson for the family and even set up a Go-Fund-Me account to be used to search for SM, the wife of his uncle. IMO

IIRC, we all speculated that the sale had been in process before SM disappeared, and the buyers/realtors/others in on the transaction really needed the sale to go through on the designated date, or everyone would be in a pickle legally. (Imagine if you were the buyer, and had already sold your house in order to move into the M house? And the banks had already arranged the loans, etc., etc.?) I think the judge agreed to this one-time designation of SM as 'incapacitated' so this one transaction could be completed. The Sept. 1 hearing is to determine whether that designation should continue.

I can’t help but think that SM may not have wanted to go ahead with the sale, but if she had gone along with and signed a POA, she may not have disappeared . . . IMO

 

[Seattle1]

Thank you so much! I did not know but that could be the ulterior motive in my opinion. MOO!

I knew nothing about the Uniform Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act ("UGPPA") adopted in several other states until this case, and BM filing for Guardianship when the ward (SM) would not be present threw me for weeks!!

 

[Minordetails]

yea and rain ruins the bike marks on the gravel but not mountain lion tracks. and I still cant get over the fact he actually said a mountain lion came walking around where LE was parked I see them all the time just walking down the road. Dont you?

I rewatched the TD ‘interview’ with BM again. A couple things don’t sit well with me.
1) BM says, “Let me show you what happened.”
When BM says this, he is not referring to SM and what happened to her, he wants to show/tell TD how LE ‘messed up’ the crime scene
IMO
2) BM tells TD, they initially thought it might be a cat. Then he goes on to mention the abduction theory, and how LE found an item of SMs.
My question is, after BM confirms the finding of a personal item, why does he again bring up the cat theory? Doesn’t the personal item found “west of here” cancel out the cat theory?

 

[BobLive]

I would be begging the state police to give me an escort.

Kim, that just might be overreacting a bit! If it were me, I would think it may be too soon to worry about a person going missing in the first few hours. I would be calling for an Amber Alert if my wife didn’t come back that night though. MOO!

 

[al66pine]

Terminology in IN Gdn'ship Statute. Hair-splitting?

According to this incapacitated can mean the person has
“ disappeared “.Indiana Code Title 29. Probate § 29-3-5-1 | FindLaw
(d) A person alleged to be an incapacitated person must be present at the hearing on the issues raised by the petition and any response to the petition unless the court determines by evidence that:
(1) it is impossible or impractical for the alleged incapacitated person to be present due to the alleged incapacitated person's disappearance, absence from the state, or similar circumstance;

@Cindizzi. bbm ibm Yes, ^ section of IN Gdnship procedure requires alleged Incap'ed Person's presence at hearing and sets forth exceptions.
But set forth below is 'I/P' definition:
"Sec. 7.5. "Incapacitated person" means an individual who:
(1) cannot be located upon reasonable inquiry;..." * bbm jmo

The two sections are phrased differently. As always, I welcome comment, clarification, correction, esp'ly from our legal professionals. (If this post is splitting hair, may I enter an Alford plea?)

 

[oviedo]

I knew nothing about the Uniform Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act ("UGPPA") adopted in several other states until this case, and BM filing for Guardianship when the ward (SM) would not be present threw me for weeks!!

Yes it’s shocking but not all states allow the missing to be determined as incapacitated- it’s dangerous IMO

 

[Seattle1]

Isn't the next step to find out if her bike is gone? Surely one of the household members gave LE permission to check for the bike - if in fact, the neighbor had not already been given access. Many garage doors can be opened with a pin code, perhaps the neighbor was given that code on this occasion - or already had it, if the family was so-inclined.

If the neighbor had opened the garage to see if the bike was there, then LE knew it wasn't there. If not, they'd surely ask permission to look in the garage? (From one of the household members? Who are frantic because mom is missing?)

^^sbm

The more I learned about the family and the CCSO since the date SM missing made the news, I believe that the neighbor, that actually lives some distance from the Morphew residence, was contacted by the daughters to see if SM was home since they could not reach her and/or SM had not been responding to their texts for several hours if not all day. I don't believe they (daughters) had her on a mission to locate SM's bike. I think that red-herring was all BM and not the focus of the daughters.

I think the neighbor went to the home and after she got no response from SM at the door, she notified BM that SM was not answering and he requested she contact 911 and report that SM was missing.

MSM reported that after dispatch received the 911 call, CCSO responded by traveling to Maysville and taking a report from the caller (i.e., neighbor).

I believe it more likely that CCSO were the ones that checked out the residence for SM's bike in the garage and/or around the property, accounted for SM's vehicle, etc,. and not the elderly neighbor.

Even if the neighbor or LE found SM's bike put away inside the garage, it would have meant nothing here because bike or no bike, SM was still missing. She still was out of contact with her family, she wasn't home, and she wasn't expected to be anywhere else-- except maybe a morning bike ride prior to church services that were temporarily suspended due to COVID (a story eagerly being promoted by BM as soon as he got back to town -- obviously forgetting about the suspension of in-person services).

I don't think the daughters had been able to reach SM since at least Saturday -- last in touch with her Friday. I also don't think they believed that SM had planned a bike ride on Sunday. At least not until after she talked to her girls on Mother's Day. I think this type of logic by the daughters was not lost on the investigators.

MOO

 

[lamlawindy]

Can 'missing' person be 'incapacitated?' Grounds for guardianship?
@BobLive bbm The idea of a man petitioning court to be appt'ed as guardian for his wife missing only a couple weeks or months may seem strange to many of us but per IN Gdn'ship statute 'incapacitated' specifically includes a person who "cannot be located upon reasonable inquiry." *
I'm not saying the IN statute is good, bad, indifferent, or defending it. Just saying it is what it is ^^^.
What is 'reasonable inquiry?' The answer is fact-specific or case-specific. If the only evidence of being non-locatable is that petitioner/husband's affidavit or testimony was only that he was away from home for a day, phoned home # or her cell # two or ten times, got no answer, came home, looked in house, did not find her, that is not sufficient imo. I believe @lamlawindy posted about what else may have been offered to support SM'S absence.AFAIK, we/the gen public can not access to specific info/evd that BM/BM's atty offered to the court, at least not yet.
Altho some posters think seeking a gdnship in this situation is strange (and fwiw, I agree, to some extent), the IN statute allows it, if the ct finds sufficient evd is presented. As always, I welcome comment, clarification, correction, esp'ly from our legal & real est professionals.

...................................................................
* Indiana Statutes, Title 29 Probate, Article 3. Indiana Code 2019 - Indiana General Assembly, 2020 Session
GUARDIANSHIPS & PROTECTIVE PROCEEDINGS
"Sec. 7.5. "Incapacitated person" means an individual who:
(1) cannot be located upon reasonable inquiry;..."
^ Section continues about unable to care for self, manage property, because of mental/physical illness, etc.

Well, remember that the Petition asked the court to take judicial notice of the MSM coverage of the search for Suzanne. In other words, there needn't be any independent "reasonable inquiry," IMHO. The court, no doubt, was able to see for itself that a diligent search was conducted by Chaffee County authorities.