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

[Ravenesque]

Agree, that was excellent information for us! Thank you @Dave F.

WRT the bolded-by-me part, my response was exactly the opposite! But it did make me want to hike that trail. Retirement in CO is a pipe dream for me.

This is probably a dumb question... Are the biking trails separate from hiking trails? I would be freaked out if I were hiking on that trail and had to keep moving out of the way. Not that I wouldn't be happy to provide "right of way" to the fast-moving bikes, but because it seems they would be on top of you before you knew they were there.

Edited for grammar.

It depends. Many have both though a handful have signage restricting bikes from walking paths.

 

[K9Enzo]

Do you think perhaps her husband can’t bring himself to admit she may have had a terrain-related accident? And would rather hang on to the hope of a kidnapping?

I know of a missing hiker case (the one that brought me to WS) where it's clear to most the solo hiker, who was witnessed descending the mountain in the wrong direction, who was not as experienced as many thought, had a tragic accident or died of exposure in the summer of 2018. Many believe her remains are in a area that is very difficult to get to. She may never be recovered. (IMO) Her poor mom, to this day, believes there was foul play and toggles between blaming the boyfriend or sex trafficking.

Some people believe their outdoor adventurous loved ones are too smart, too strong, too skilled to ever have a tragic accident. Accidents happen to the best of them.

In this case, I do believe the husband feels someone has his wife . I think when families see extensive searches being done with the missing not being found they rule out an accident because they surely would have been found, right? Even though that's not always the case, at all. At the same time, I have also wondered if the husband has convinced himself he's responsible for something that put his wife at risk. He has probably poured over and over his interactions with people.

I don't know, it's hard to say what the mind does in these situations.

IMO, LE is not treating this as misadventure. The water searches are even more interesting when you consider that, at least to me.

 

[Inthedetails]

DBM. Not sure if I went beyond TOS bounds.

 

[NervousNellie]

It depends. Many have both though a handful have signage restricting bikes from walking paths.

Thanks. I have only hiked on "both" or "hiking only" trails but wondered if the trail Suzanne may have been on, or regularly biked was "biking only," since that would likely cut down on the potential traffic that would have seen her that day. (I know that we don't know what kind of biking she usually did - road or mountain, or both? - and I know that we don't know for sure that she actually biked May 10.)

 

[Poedelini]

Waiting on the tip of my seat for more information, i can't imagine what the family must feel.

 

[Herat]

We don't know, but as an almost 50yo from the flat land of Indiana being a dirt bike rider on rugged trails after 2 years of living in the area....I'm thinking not.

She is fit and athletic, but I think she was more tame with her solo bike rides.

My opinion.

I’m in the middle of relocating to Colorado. Last year my friend and her husband moved there after only one visit! I was with them on that visit and being that we are from a large city in the Midwest, the Colorado wilderness & vibe took our breaths away. It is so beautiful there and it’s hard not to fall in love right away. It offers something magical you can’t get in the midwest. Since that first visit a year and a half ago, I’ve visited about 10 times and picked out an area I could see myself living the rest of my life that is away from people and at least a 45 minute commute to a larger area for work. Sometimes we all need to shift and slow down - and if they both worked a lot to make those millions & their kids are out of the house now I could see a quiet, but physically active mountain life being attractive to them at this point.

my guess is they visited enough times to be able to pick out a spot to live but we all know that you don’t REALLY know an area until you’ve lived there for a longer period of time.

This is SO very true. They really chose an isolated, COLD spot to live there, at 8800 ft elevation. Maybe they had a false sense of security having been living on acreage in Indiana. Alarms and security cameras only work when conditions are right. Animals can get to be aggressive (bears break into Tahoe cabins all the time). If husband was off working, she would be very much alone for quite some time.

The best advice on relocating is to live around there for about a year to see what it’s really like. If not, visit during the worst months of the year to see what it’s like I’n bad weather, full of tourist crowds, full of mosquitoes/ticks/ snakes or other noxious critters.

In Tahoe we wait to see how newbies do through their first winter. It weeds out a large number of them

 

[Seattle1]

@Mimi in London said: ↑
Do you think perhaps her husband can’t bring himself to admit she may have had a terrain-related accident? And would rather hang on to the hope of a kidnapping?

I can't really see how? If you thought your loved one had stumbled off a trail and you have $200k to offer as a reward, you would be hiring helicopters with FLIR (heat detection) to be passing over the trail areas and offering to pay private, expert SAR teams. Also, if husband is involved in the first responder community, then many more expert SAR ppl tend to be at your disposal to assist a comrade. Nothing can really be ruled out, but both the family's and LE's responses are not consistent with what I would expect for a lost/injured in the wilderness scenario (MOO). All that said, I really can't make sense of this case

One page back is a news video that included live comments by two female longtime residents -- one walking her dog and the other in her vehicle. I found it interesting that one expressed how she could easily be swallowed in the terrain if she had a biking accident and the other clearly believes SM the victim of foul play.
I agree that the investigation team is not looking for a biking accident victim here.

If this is a situation where the couple were living separate lives, maybe the husband believes SM was not keeping good company and suspects she was abducted by a false friend. I think if LE believes SM was abducted, they must also think SM was the target and not a random act since there have been no warnings issued to the public to beware. I really hope SM is located today. MOO

 

[susiQ]

Could his landscaping have been **** down during Covid 19?

Is it possible that he retired from his business when the family moved to CO? He is referred to as a “volunteer” firefighter which seems like something he would become involved in once retired given where they lived, in a remote area. He may still own a business on paper but not actively working in that field anymore. MOO

 

[Quiet Time]

Well to have two very expensive homes, one over a mill. I would say he was successful. Probably did landscaping on a big scale for commercial properties, builders, etc.! That is big money, not your average home landscapers.

This is so true. We have a gent here in town who does Commercial landscaping.
You can see his trucks out all over town, super nice guy.
Anyway, he and his wife have a million dollar home up in the mountains near town...so they do quite well. Good people.

 

[lucidtx]

I can't really see how? If you thought your loved one had stumbled off a trail and you have $200k to offer as a reward, you would be hiring helicopters with FLIR (heat detection) to be passing over the trail areas and offering to pay private, expert SAR teams. Also, if husband is involved in the first responder community, then many more expert SAR ppl tend to be at your disposal to assist a comrade. Nothing can really be ruled out, but both the family's and LE's responses are not consistent with what I would expect for a lost/injured in the wilderness scenario (MOO). All that said, I really can't make sense of this case

There's usually a bad outcome when someone Suzanne's age goes missing this long in the backcountry. Sometimes families cling to theories about abduction or voluntary disappearance despite evidence their loved one likely had an accident or succumbed to the elements, because in their minds those scenarios are more likely to result in the MP coming home alive. I think there's also something deeply unsettling about someone vanishing or dying due to indifferent forces of nature, and having something/someone more tangible to blame may be a bit of a coping mechanism.

I still think foul play is a very strong possibility here and family could be involved, but I don't think the husband's response itself is suspicious because I've seen similar from other families who had nothing to do with their loved one's disappearance.

 

[Ravenesque]

Agree, that was excellent information for us! Thank you @Dave F.

WRT the bolded-by-me part, my response was exactly the opposite! But it did make me want to hike that trail. Retirement in CO is a pipe dream for me.

This is probably a dumb question... Are the biking trails separate from hiking trails? I would be freaked out if I were hiking on that trail and had to keep moving out of the way. Not that I wouldn't be happy to provide "right of way" to the fast-moving bikes, but because it seems they would be on top of you before you knew they were there.

Edited for grammar. [/dbm

 

[NervousNellie]

It depends. Many paths allow both pedestrians and cyclists. There are a few that have signage restricting cyclists.

But generally no trails that restrict hikers?

Edited to delete a half baked idea I thought I had deleted.

 

[Inthedetails]

This is so true. We have a gent here in town who does Commercial landscaping.
You can see his trucks out all over town.

Snipped and bolded by me

Interesting observation.

jmo

 

[osu]

Just an observation but there’s been no updates or article reposts on the family page since BM’s video on Sunday. Before then they were posting news articles every day.

Find Suzanne Morphew

 

[Ontario Mom]

I can't quite put my finger on what it is about hubby's FB video that seems off to me, so I watched it again, several times.
Some random observations:

- The first thing that strikes me is that he seems to be 100% convinced someone actually has SM.

"oh Suzanne if anyone is out there, that can hear this, that has you..." is the very first thing he says.

He continues with "no questions asked, however much they want, I will do whatever it takes to get you back".

If I came across this video and knew literally nothing else about this case, I would be convinced she was the victim of kidnapping.
I would naturally assume that it had been communicated to BM in some way, that his wife had been taken and that there was possibly a dollar amount of money discussed, for her safe recovery (since he adds "however much they want, whatever it takes").
Even without knowing anything about the money he's already pledged, he makes it pretty clear in the video it's about money, in some way.
Or at least that he thinks it's about money, or that a dollar amount will secure her safe return.

If I knew nothing else about this case, logic dictates, from BM's video, that he knows something he's not disclosing to the public.
His words and his reaction indicates he has more information.
Possibly something the person or persons who took his wife, have only shared with him.
Possibly a previous threat that specifically mentioned hurting his wife or daughters.
Possibly a contact after she went missing to indicate someone made good on the threat.

The video also makes it VERY clear he doesn't believe she left on her own, and doesn't believe she's the victim of any kind of accident.
His video indicates he believes either she or whoever took her, can or will actually see and hear his plea.

But then if I set all that aside and look at what the Sheriff's office is doing and what they've said, I can't really reconcile it.
While the Sheriff's office has not indicated in any way she might be the victim of an abduction or kidnapping, they haven't really said what they believe she may be the victim of, foul play, accident, disappeared on her own, etc.
They're also clearly not treating this like a standard missing person's case either, so with all that, plus hubby's video that sort of contradicts what LE is doing/has said, the hink on the meter is pretty high.

So I think why it feels "off" to me is because his reaction to her going missing and LE's reaction don't quite seem to be on the same page.

Just some observations and entirely jmo.

 

[10ofRods]

Do you think perhaps her husband can’t bring himself to admit she may have had a terrain-related accident? And would rather hang on to the hope of a kidnapping?

Well, the thing is that her bike was found the evening she was reported missing, apparently near the road. But she wasn't in the vicinity. So, it would be hard to accept that she had had an accident and...wandered off? That sounds like a head injury, if so.

Then, they found a personal item, which may indicate she was still on her feet, since they didn't find it near the bike the first night. It was somewhere else. They searched that area too. But it paints a picture of either a woman still able to walk - or of a darker scenario.

Bicyclists don't usually have personal items in their hands. So, she would have had the presence of mind, even after an accident, to reach into her fanny pack or other carrier and take out that personal object. IF it was a phone (I have no knowledge of what it was, of course), then we have a worried woman walking with a phone - or a darker scenario where an assailant tosses her phone.

BM must have a sense of this. She wouldn't just drop her phone. It's true that she could have had a bad concussion and been instantly in brain fog, etc. But BM doesn't believe that. He thinks she was taken. I find it hard to believe that she'd have such a serious concussion, but stranger things have happened.

Anyway, a scenario that allows Suzanne not to be dead of exposure is the one the family is likely clinging to.

Suzanne has been missing for at least days if she went missing on or before May 10.

What a nightmare for the family.

 

[K9Enzo]

I can't really see how? If you thought your loved one had stumbled off a trail and you have $200k to offer as a reward, you would be hiring helicopters with FLIR (heat detection) to be passing over the trail areas and offering to pay private, expert SAR teams. Also, if husband is involved in the first responder community, then many more expert SAR ppl tend to be at your disposal to assist a comrade. Nothing can really be ruled out, but both the family's and LE's responses are not consistent with what I would expect for a lost/injured in the wilderness scenario (MOO). All that said, I really can't make sense of this case

Sure, the family can get some folks together to search. However, the skilled SAR folks needed (IMO) will NOT risk their position with their organization for a private search, especially when there's still a active LE investigation and search underway.

It should also give someone pause if any organization will take your money for a search. I'm of course not speaking about private investigators but those that advertise themselves as SAR but have no relationship with any LE organization, because basically they are not trusted. But they sure have flashy uniforms and decals on their vehicles.

Regarding FLIR - are we talking about the ones, as an example, that are mounted on police helicopters, with very high resolution imaginary that's transmitted live to a command station and being viewed in real time? I estimate that costs around 100k, not including the helicopter. Then, you're kind of back to who is doing this for you without LE approval?

I believe this is why families feel so helpless and do things that are out there, like throw up 200k rewards. They are desperate and don't understand the red tape they encounter.

 

[kay74]

Could have been her water bottle that was found.

 

[mrsu]

I’m under the assumption that it was a mountain bike going off the fact that she said on Facebook her interests were “Fitness”, “Mountain Biking”, and “Hiking”. These are things you pick specifically for people see. For example, I haven’t added any interests for people to see. JMO

 

[happyday]

Just an observation but there’s been no updates or article reposts on the family page since BM’s video on Sunday. Before then they were posting news articles every day.

Find Suzanne Morphew

I noticed the lack of updates too, and commenters on her page are also noticing.