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

[Warwick7]

Sorry, I'm horrible at cutting and pasting. What did Uncle mean when he said, "He added for those pointing the finger at Barry, I think they can bury that kind of thought ." Bob went onto say, "tell that to the Chaffee county Sheriff".

Ok. Wha?!!!

Sometimes, family, friends and well meaning people should just shut the heck up!

Yup, I said WHOA!

 

[BeckyF]

We don't know if they stopped working.

Sorry. Thank you.

 

[clearskies1]

Woah!!! That dude says he saw a car that shouldn't have been there, very suspicious and he called the tip line!

I wanted the reporter to ask what the car looked like. Obvious question. Did they edit out a description of the car? Or maybe he just didn't want to describe it to the media.

 

[whitelilac]

But wouldn't it be a big fat coincidence if they did?

I mean... we've seen it before in other cases.
So much so, it's become sort of a predictable plot line in movies and tv.
Like the mysterious non-working phone used to be, because the line was cut outside.
And yet, those inclined to commit a crime, still do it.

All entirely speculation, just to be clear.

jmo

and here, could very well be the case too, right?
....For example, in the beginning the nephew said the bike was found. LE did not confirm that till much later. It was "rumor" for a few days.
Same goes for the locked brakes. Though with that, it was NG who said that in the podcast, but it could also turn out to be accurate.

 

[Backstroke10]

Could the uncle have meant all those who are jumping to conclusions on the Find Suzanne FB page, and elsewhere in comments under media reports? And "tell that to the Sheriff" was said in anger, frustration as in " let those rumors be known to the Sheriff Dept" type of thing?

Great observation and you could be right. I didn’t even think of that. It’s interesting how one statement can be interpreted so differently. Hhhmmmm now I wonder.

Woah. I’m in Colorado Springs and watched it on TV and NO, they did not play that part on air. It ended with him saying “tell them to bury that thought. “

Wow! That’s very interesting.

 

[Dave F.]

I think media has been on scene:

Courtney Fromm
@courtney_fromm

MONARCH PASS: the pass is back open. We are heading now to the Chaffee County Courthouse where Sheriff Spezze will be giving an update on Morphew. He is expected to talk at 5. You can watch it live here —-> https://fox21news.com/news/local/monarch-pass-closed-as-crews-search-for-missing-chaffee-county-woman/…
@FOX21News
#suzannemorphew #colorado

Courtney Fromm on Twitter

I respect Courtney Fromm, both as a reporter and as a person, but respectfully submit that her postings show that she called the Sheriff's office in Salida to see if the pass was open, and was told that it was then open, but that there was a news conference scheduled in Salida. Her next post, that you quoted, clearly shows that she was in Salida after driving from Colorado Springs. Her next post, after the live news conference, was back at the station in Colorado Springs. The search location is 13.9 miles from the press conference location, in the direction away from Colorado Springs. She was there, and got the story of the day; but she was not really "on the scene". The picture of Monarch Pass that she put up is a winter shot. Obviously a stock photo. JMO

 

[margarita25]

So, I wonder if someone was hanging around the entrance of the trailhead in their vehicle, waiting for a female.

From the NG podcast, Clyde says she would have taken a left out of her house towards town, then would be riding on the right side which is adjacent to the trail head, and he thinks this is where the item was found.

 

[Herat]

From my notes:

NG’s guest tonight Nicole Partin says, at 6:08 into the podcast that the neighbor SEES SM and knows she’s headed out on a bike ride – when she doesn’t return the neighbor gets concerned

7:05 NG asks ‘how does the neighbor know, at six o’clock that SM is not where she’s supposed to be – maybe they were supposed to have dinner together?’ The guest responds that the neighbor stated it was getting dark, getting late, and that she knew that SM should have been back by then. (and that she didn’t see her – and that’s hard to hear since NG is talking over her) She gives no indication as to how she knew SM should have been back by the 5:46pm phone call.

Sorry if I am an echo of many other posts, but:

It was certainly not getting dark at 5:46 mountain time ( local time). It would be getting dark about 3 hours later.

 

[Hatch]

yes...same article reads.... Her family is not being allowed to enter the house.
Sounds like they don't want any contamination while they wait for a warrant

I assume they have been in and out since she went missing?

 

[windrower]

Uncle Bob is upset and an older gentleman, we should give him a pass

Yes. He knows nothing that is evidential to this case. IMO

I disregard this type of family statement. In many murder cases, someone comes forward and tells how this person or these people are great and wonderful and caring and sincere and loving and ________ (fill in the blank).

Then, come to find out, things weren’t nearly so rosy, and someone is missing or dead.

And I’ll also say, not one of my uncles knows much about the deeper issues in my life. They know what’s on the surface, or just as much as I want them to know,

 

[MamaLizzyPI]

I don't think LE is unsure of the last reported site of SM. They haven't made any statements at all about when she was last seen or who saw her last. I think LE requesting residents preserve any video captured starting on May 8 is what is prompting our speculation that perhaps a crime or someone in the area planning for a crime started a few days before Mother's Day. But that doesn't necessarily mean LE is unsure when SM was last seen.

It's unclear to me from the Nancy Grace podcast whether the neighbor absolutely saw SM leave for a bike ride that day.

But Nancy's guest Nicole Partin, CrimeOnline reporter, does say the next door neighbor "Sees her and knows she's headed out on the bike ride. Late in the afternoon, when she doesn't return, the neighbor gets concerned and calls authorities."

Nancy asked, "Do you know why the neighbor realized something was amiss at 6pm?"

Nicole: "Only thing we know is she told authorities is that it was getting dark, it was getting late, and she knew she should have been back by now."

Uncle Bob is upset and an older gentleman, we should give him a pass

And from a small Indiana town. I'm also from a small Indiana town and that is exactly how anyone's uncle Bob would talk. IMO

 

[al66pine]

Volunteer Firefighters Training. Fire Only or SaR Too?

Wild land fire fighters work with a well-sharpened shovel, and axe and a Pulaski ( a tool unique to the trade that is half-pick axe, half sledge hoe) and sometimes a bucket. Their primary method is to create a "fire break" by eliminating the fuel in the direction that the fire is traveling so the fire burns out. It takes a lot a strength, skill and training, but I'm not sure those skills would qualify any wild land fire fighter as a searcher. JMO

@Dave F. bbm Thanks for your informative posts in this case, esp'ly those w maps & pix of area.
Re ^, a wildland firefighter w no further training beyond what you described does not seem to be a good candidate for SaR team undertaking an intensive search, like the one for SM. But some volunteer fire dept members and SaR organizations require their members to successfully meet certain standardized certifications, both initially and on a continuing basis. And fire and rescue members may overlap {{ETA: as they do in my area}}.
Chaffee County Sheriffs Office has two SaR teams, both of which are 100% volunteer per below.*

As to the certifications BM or other individuals on that local volunteer fire-rescue force** hold, IDK.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Chaffee County Sheriff Ofc. See: http://chaffeesheriff.org/operations/search-and-rescue/ and
https://www.chaffeesarsouth.org/about-us and About Us - Chaffee County Search & Rescue - North
** Chaffee County Fire Dept. See Volunteer Information Packet and Volunteer Application and Chaffee CountyFire.org

".... The bulk of mountain SAR operations in the U.S. are provided by 'volunteer professional' teams (are not career positions or paid but must meet minimum industry-accepted standards at or above their paid counterparts) ... many paid and volunteer professional mountain SAR teams are part of the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) and operate under the authority of the local sheriff's department... or state police or emergency management agency...."
^ Mountain rescue - Wikipedia

 

[whitelilac]

Woah!!! That dude says he saw a car on 225 that shouldn't have been there, very suspicious and he called the tip line! That was on Mother's Day, wish he would have said what time he saw the car!!

Surely he described the car to LE.
I wonder, the request for video surveillance from the 8th to the 12th......might they be looking for this particular vehicle? and to get its license # if the guy didn't catch it?

 

[clearskies1]

I respect Courtney Fromm, both as a reporter and as a person, but respectfully submit that her postings show that she called the Sheriff's office in Salida to see if the pass was open, and was told that it was then open, but that there was a news conference scheduled in Salida. Her next post, that you quoted, clearly shows that she was in Salida after driving from Colorado Springs. Her next post, after the live news conference, was back at the station in Colorado Springs. The search location is 13.9 miles from the press conference location, in the direction away from Colorado Springs. She was there, and got the story of the day; but she was not really "on the scene". The picture of Monarch Pass that she put up is a winter shot. Obviously a stock photo. JMO

Sorry, I was only trying to say that the reporter was on scene at the local press conference in Salida.

 

[Knox]

I wanted the reporter ask what the car looked like. Obvious question. Did they edit out a description of the car? Or maybe he just didn't want to describe it to the media.

I wish they would have asked too. It's the first clue we've heard from a live witness.

Have to admit, I kind of gave him the side eye and wondered if LE checked HIM out

 

[IceIce9]

Sorry if I am an echo of many other posts, but:

It was certainly not getting dark at 5:46 mountain time ( local time). It would be getting dark about 3 hours later.

And I can verify this because I was in Colorado and looking up sunset time every day that week because we were checking out different sunset viewing spots every night.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Sorry if I am an echo of many other posts, but:

It was certainly not getting dark at 5:46 mountain time ( local time). It would be getting dark about 3 hours later.

Just reporting what the neighbor told the journalist. It struck me as baloney, but this is what we're being told the neighbor said.

 

[scdiv]

So this seems to imply that it was solely the neighbor's decision to call 911, not that she was called or urged by family to do so. ?

It does seem to imply that. Although in the very next breath, Nancy mentions the "unconfirmed report" that a daughter unable to reach SM, calls the neighbor and asks her to call... "Jackie, are you saying she asked her to call the mom or asked her to call police?" Answer: "Call the police."

Then Nancy says, "So in any event, you're correct, that it is the neighbor. I was wondering what prompted the neighbor to realize that Suzanne was missing." And then tells Nicole to pick it up from there. Nicole says, "So authorities were alerted and..." So the whole thing about "wait was it the daughters who called the neighbor or did the neighbor notice on her own that she saw Suzanne leaving for a bike ride and never return home" clarification kind of got glossed over.

Did NG or Nicole Partin specifically state the neighbor’s sighting was a rumor? I’m too lazy to go back and listen to the podcast. The neighbor-sighting discussion starts around minute 5:30.

Nicole Partin talks about the neighbor seeing SM leave for the bike ride as if it's fact, but doesn't say how she knows that.

 

[whitelilac]

Sorry. Thank you.

@BeckyF ...No apology necessary.... it's very possible it will turn out to be true, like a couple of other "rumors" have.

 

[clearskies1]

I'm taking the whole NG podcast with a grain of salt.