Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #3

[brooks]

Maybe someone wanted her back in Indiana.

 

[cluehunter]

And the staging would be for her daughters' benefit to not to know she harmed herself, to absolve them of any possible feelings of guilt?

But why wouldn't she want her body to be found? If she had gone to such lengths to stage something, wouldn't it be more likely she would want it to look like an accident? I just can't imagine that she would purposely disappear with no note or closure for her family. But who knows what goes on in people's head sometimes

 

[Backstroke10]

I think LE has a suspect in mind and they want camera footage from the 8th - 12th to establish a detailed timeline of what happened. MOO Camera footage is fantastic evidence in a case.

 

[Sillybilly]

Websleuths is fact based. Rumors are not allowed.

To clarify information about Suzanne's bike ...

It is in MSM that the nephew claims Suzanne's bike was found. The Sheriff's office has not confirmed either way but it can be discussed because the nephew's claim is sourced in MSM.

There is no MSM source to substantiate that her bike was found leaning against a tree OR that it was found with the brakes locked up.

Posts stating it was leaning against a tree and/or with brakes locked up are considered rumor and have been removed.

ETA: added info about brakes locked up being rumor

 

[Beth11311]

I think whatever happened likely occurred on the 8th or the 9th, and by Mother’s Day Suzanne was already gone. The bike (wherever/however it was found) was likely staged to throw off LE and give credence to the bike ride story.

And I think LE is well aware.

 

[Seattle1]

I realize I'm a couple pages behind because of work. But do we know for a fact that LE & FBI didn't ask for this. They hold so much close to the vest. We actually do not know what they are doing behind the scene.

To be clear, Sheriff didn't ask for anything turned in including video but simply requested footage for the period 5/8 - 5/12 preserved. Nothing more.

 

[BoatyMcboatface]

But why wouldn't she want her body to be found? If she had gone to such lengths to stage something, wouldn't it be more likely she would want it to look like an accident? I just can't imagine that she would purposely disappear with no note or closure for her family. But who knows what goes on in people's head sometimes

The sheriff didn’t seem to think it was suicide either. Where I’m from, the state police and FBI don’t get involved unless they think a crime occurred.

 

[Puzzles8]

It is interesting LE is asking for video back to 5/8.

I would assume she had talked to her daughters on Mother's Day Sunday 5/10.
If there was anything amiss, their daughters would have given someone a call and heads up.

Their neighbor appears to be the last one to have seen her alive. I wonder how the neighbor knew she had not come back from her bike ride. Maybe they had plans to have dinner together or she left her garage door open. Those houses seem to be on pretty big, wooded lots, well off the main road.

Video back to 5/8 suggests someone might have been stalking her.

Sorry if I am repeating any questions, I'm still trying to catch up.

 

[IntheSticks]

how on earth was the neighbour able to supposedly keep tabs on Suzanne.
other than sharing a dublex wall or something that would make you aware of your neighbour...
how would u really know???
that part doesn't add up.
it blew me away when we seen on google earth how isolated and dense the scrub is around the properties.
they don't even have the same access road.
bizarre

so there is no way independently the neighbour was keeping tabs on Suzanne imo.
a call/text had to be made to alert them.
which imo is also a little radical to check up on her.
or could it be setting the scene to get the show on the road???
had to start somewhere when everyone in that family was away.

its a curious red flag for me.

all my personal speculations, nothing to consolidate my thoughts.

Hi, all--newbie here. I grew up in this county and I go back all the time. Maysville is about 11 miles outside Salida, which in the last census was about 5200 full-time residents. Maysville isn't really a "town" per se -- it used to be but currently it's a "census-designated place" in Chaffee County and has about 135 residents, all spread out. Historically, Maysville had around 1000 residents in the 1880s; it has a mining history. But throughout the 20th century, population dwindled. It's now mostly residences like SM's house and a few historic buildings.

It's on the way up Monarch Pass, and it gets pretty mountainous pretty fast on Highway 50, which is mostly standard 2-lane. This is a rural area with a lot of trails for hiking and biking; standard protocol for those of us who grow up in areas like this is that if you're going on a trail ride/hike or you plan to go for a long road ride (or camping or river-running or whatever), you let somebody know that you're going to be doing that and what trail or road/part of the river you're planning to be on. Because SM's house is a remote location, it's true that her neighbors may not have a direct sight-line to her house, but chances are they pay attention to who's coming and going in the subdivision.

I agree that the neighbors may not have been keeping tabs on SM, but it's possible that they all have each other's phone numbers (in rural areas like this, you make sure you know who your neighbors are because you never know when somebody might need some help or if there's an emergency).

That said, there are so many weirdnesses to this awful situation, and my questions are similar to all of yours.

I don't find it completely strange that a neighbor would file a report, because in rural areas we do tend to notice things, but I need way more info.

• It seems to me that if you're going to tell anyone that you're headed out for a bike ride, it's going to be your family members, even if they're not currently at home. You'll text or call them, and when they don't hear from you for a while, they're the ones who will notify neighbors to check and notify authorities.
  
• OR it's possible that SM didn't think anything of a quick bike ride and didn't notify her family and just decided to do a quick ride around the area, something maybe she had done many times in the past, so she didn't notify her family, thinking "it's just a quick ride."
  
• Perhaps riding along toward the highway and the trailhead that's located near it she saw a neighbor out walking or riding or something and they stopped to chat. At that point, SM could have mentioned where she was headed.
• Or maybe she had plans with a neighbor later in the day and when she didn't show up, the neighbor got concerned. If so, that neighbor may have known about SM's ride because maybe they checked in beforehand to finalize plans for later.
• BUT if that neighbor had SM's phone number, why wouldn't they have her husband's, too? Why wouldn't they contact him with their concerns?

BUT again, all speculation on my part, thinking about what you do when you live in areas like this and you want to do your outdoor recreation. Regardless, my friends and I from the area have been talking about this for days, and we're all just waiting for any new information. So awful for her friends and family.

Thanks, everyone, for the discussions here.

 

[Best of What's Around]

I think LE has a suspect in mind and they want camera footage from the 8th - 12th to establish a detailed timeline of what happened. MOO Camera footage is fantastic evidence in a case.

I agree that they have had someone in mind and a scenario from early on - it is the only thing in my mind that explains the lack of detail given to the public to help find out what happened. I am not seeing the daily pleas for help from the public (often because they have so little to go on) - I do not sense that desperation nor sadly a rescue operation. MOO.

There has been no definitive detail given about the time she was out, the clothes she was wearing, the color and make/model of bike, etc. and with the request of earlier footage to include the 8th and 9th - I am seriously wondering if she went missing on that Sunday at all. To my knowledge even that has not been confirmed by LE. No other reason other than they have an unofficial suspect(s) in mind and a belief she is no longer with us seems to make sense to me. Again, JMO.

 

[Melrose]

But why wouldn't she want her body to be found? If she had gone to such lengths to stage something, wouldn't it be more likely she would want it to look like an accident? I just can't imagine that she would purposely disappear with no note or closure for her family. But who knows what goes on in people's head sometimes

You would think so, but there isn't always a note and it can take ages to find them. EG: Sally Allan from Ponteland and Ben Kilmer. Both had loving families.

 

[Warwick7]

Websleuths is fact based. Rumors are not allowed.

To clarify information about Suzanne's bike ...

It is in MSM that the nephew claims Suzanne's bike was found. The Sheriff's office has not confirmed either way but it can be discussed because the nephew's claim is sourced in MSM.

There is no MSM source to substantiate that her bike was found leaning against a tree OR that it was found with the brakes locked up.

Posts stating it was leaning against a tree and/or with brakes locked up are considered rumor and have been removed.

ETA: added info about brakes locked up being rumor

Thanks SillyBilly. I was wondering if the brakes were a rumor. I couldn't find it in MSM.

 

[Backstroke10]

To be clear, Sheriff didn't ask for anything turned in including video but simply requested footage for the period 5/8 - 5/12 preserved. Nothing more.

That’s correct. I don’t think they want hundreds of people sending in their Ring camera videos, etc. I think they have a suspect in mind. MOO I think when LE analyzes things like cell phone data, they will have a better idea of what and where things happened. Then I can see LE going to various locations asking to review video footage. MOO

 

[Puzzles8]

Hi, all--newbie here. I grew up in this county and I go back all the time. Maysville is about 11 miles outside Salida, which in the last census was about 5200 full-time residents. Maysville isn't really a "town" per se -- it used to be but currently it's a "census-designated place" in Chaffee County and has about 135 residents, all spread out. Historically, Maysville had around 1000 residents in the 1880s; it has a mining history. But throughout the 20th century, population dwindled. It's now mostly residences like SM's house and a few historic buildings.

It's on the way up Monarch Pass, and it gets pretty mountainous pretty fast on Highway 50, which is mostly standard 2-lane. This is a rural area with a lot of trails for hiking and biking; standard protocol for those of us who grow up in areas like this is that if you're going on a trail ride/hike or you plan to go for a long road ride (or camping or river-running or whatever), you let somebody know that you're going to be doing that and what trail or road/part of the river you're planning to be on. Because SM's house is a remote location, it's true that her neighbors may not have a direct sight-line to her house, but chances are they pay attention to who's coming and going in the subdivision.

I agree that the neighbors may not have been keeping tabs on SM, but it's possible that they all have each other's phone numbers (in rural areas like this, you make sure you know who your neighbors are because you never know when somebody might need some help or if there's an emergency).

That said, there are so many weirdnesses to this awful situation, and my questions are similar to all of yours.

I don't find it completely strange that a neighbor would file a report, because in rural areas we do tend to notice things, but I need way more info.

• It seems to me that if you're going to tell anyone that you're headed out for a bike ride, it's going to be your family members, even if they're not currently at home. You'll text or call them, and when they don't hear from you for a while, they're the ones who will notify neighbors to check and notify authorities.
  
• OR it's possible that SM didn't think anything of a quick bike ride and didn't notify her family and just decided to do a quick ride around the area, something maybe she had done many times in the past, so she didn't notify her family, thinking "it's just a quick ride."
  
• Perhaps riding along toward the highway and the trailhead that's located near it she saw a neighbor out walking or riding or something and they stopped to chat. At that point, SM could have mentioned where she was headed.
• Or maybe she had plans with a neighbor later in the day and when she didn't show up, the neighbor got concerned. If so, that neighbor may have known about SM's ride because maybe they checked in beforehand to finalize plans for later.
• BUT if that neighbor had SM's phone number, why wouldn't they have her husband's, too? Why wouldn't they contact him with their concerns?

BUT again, all speculation on my part, thinking about what you do when you live in areas like this and you want to do your outdoor recreation. Regardless, my friends and I from the area have been talking about this for days, and we're all just waiting for any new information. So awful for her friends and family.

Thanks, everyone, for the discussions here.

Thank you for providing your thoughts and insight into the area, this is very helpful for those of us that are not familiar with the area and terrain.

 

[Best of What's Around]

It is interesting LE is asking for video back to 5/8.

I would assume she had talked to her daughters on Mother's Day Sunday 5/10.
If there was anything amiss, their daughters would have given someone a call and heads up.

Their neighbor appears to be the last one to have seen her alive. I wonder how the neighbor knew she had not come back from her bike ride. Maybe they had plans to have dinner together or she left her garage door open. Those houses seem to be on pretty big, wooded lots, well off the main road.

Video back to 5/8 suggests someone might have been stalking her.

Sorry if I am repeating any questions, I'm still trying to catch up.

Maybe the daughters contacted the neighbor? Maybe they texted with no response or perhaps there was a text response about a bike ride? To me it is not clear that anyone saw her on Sunday as LE has not confirmed - just that a neighbor reported her missing. I am puzzled why LE would not release that info if they had an exact time and place she was last seen on Sunday - it would be vital info in getting the public to sharpen focus on what they may or may not have seen. MOO

I am trying to think why LE would not give such info and maybe it is to keep any potential unofficial suspects in the dark as to what they do know. Again, MOO.

 

[whitelilac]

But why wouldn't she want her body to be found? If she had gone to such lengths to stage something, wouldn't it be more likely she would want it to look like an accident? I just can't imagine that she would purposely disappear with no note or closure for her family. But who knows what goes on in people's head sometimes

I was responding to a poster who is leaning to suicide. It made me consider the possibility and I had questions about it.
I believe that Suzanne was abducted, or harmed in the home by whomever...intruder, worker, visitor, no idea at this point.
I think the focus on surveillance video of the neighborhood from the 8th is to investigate unusual traffic, whether vehicles or someone on foot. Folk or vehicles that seem out of place perhaps, maybe also to determine whether Suzanne was seen on her bike, or in her car before the 10th.
We don't know when Suzanne last spoke to or was seen by someone. It's possible that her family tried to reach her only on MD, and couldn't.
We also don't know whether her husband went out of town before the 10th. He may have been in Denver for a few days, don't know.

 

[IntheSticks]

Based on cases that I've followed through the years, LE agencies all have a different approach to missing persons cases. Some release information quickly and some don't based on the demographics. This one seems to be fairly tight lipped. Makes one wonder why? In my opinion a lot is happening behind the scenes and LE is putting the pieces together. In due time, and soon, I believe an arrest will be made. My thought's and prayers are with Suzanne and the ones that love her.

Hi--this is not atypical of LE in this county. I grew up in the county and have lived here off-and-on and still get back quite a bit and over the years, even through different LE officials, the tight-lipped approach like this is not uncommon. I hope there's more info soon and/or a resolution. This is a terrible situation.

 

[Backstroke10]

I agree that they have had someone in mind and a scenario from early on - it is the only thing in my mind that explains the lack of detail given to the public to help find out what happened. I am not seeing the daily pleas for help from the public (often because they have so little to go on) - I do not sense that desperation nor sadly a rescue operation. MOO.

There has been no definitive detail given about the time she was out, the clothes she was wearing, the color and make/model of bike, etc. and with the request of earlier footage to include the 8th and 9th - I am seriously wondering if she went missing on that Sunday at all. To my knowledge even that has not been confirmed by LE. No other reason other than they have an unofficial suspect(s) in mind and a belief she is no longer with us seems to make sense to me. Again, JMO.

I agree. I don’t think she went missing on Sunday either. The lack of details given is a huge indicator that they had a suspect in mind early on. MOO
Heck, we don’t even know if she had a mountain bike or street/road bike. We don’t know the color or brand of bike. We don’t know much of anything which is extremely unusual in a missing persons case. MOO

 

[clearskies1]

Maybe the daughters contacted the neighbor? Maybe they texted with no response or perhaps there was a text response about a bike ride? To me it is not clear that anyone saw her on Sunday as LE has not confirmed - just that a neighbor reported her missing. I am puzzled why LE would not release that info if they had an exact time and place she was last seen on Sunday - it would be vital info in getting the public to sharpen focus on what they may or may not have seen. MOO

Likely not released because LE does not have a time and place that she was last seen or orally spoken to on May 10 or in the immediate days before. JMO.

 

[IntheSticks]

Is today the first time LE is requesting that people preserve any video footage?

and notice, from May 8th...

I think it's the first request for footage, but not sure. And yeah, that date...whoa.