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

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Rosiebones said:
Monarch Pass bike roide - Bing video
Watching this video brings home the question of whether she was out on the highway riding a 10 speed or did she ride these trails on a dirt bike. So much we don't know.
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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.
 
MISSING: Colorado woman who went for a bike ride more than a week ago, FBI involved in the search
updated last night - nothing new so far today

snipped
By Lindsey Grewe/Tony Keith |

Posted: Mon 7:32 PM, May 18, 2020 |
Updated: Mon 7:38 PM, May 18, 2020

CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) - Search efforts continue for a 49-year-old cyclist in Chaffee County, who has now been missing over a week.

Suzanne Morphew went for a bike ride on May 10 west of Maysville in the area of Chaffee County Road 225 and West Highway 50. Her neighbors called the county sheriff's office when she didn't come home. Morphew's family has said her husband, a volunteer firefighter, was out of town at the time of her disappearance.

Authorities are asking residents in the area to preserve any and all video footage from devices such as Ring doorbells, security cameras, game cameras etc., from May 8 through May 12. As of Monday afternoon, the sheriff's office was requesting the surveillance to only be preserved. As search areas are identified, investigators will contact residents in those locations to collect any camera footage.

"One of the most helpful ways the community can aid in the search of Suzanne Morphew is by preserving these recordings. We are aware that some systems override video after several days, and we want to ensure video remains available if needed," Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze said


Morphew was reportedly an avid cyclist.

Morphew's husband released a video Sunday pleading for his wife's safe return, which can be viewed just below this article. If reading this article on our app, click "Additional Content Available."

Morphew's bike was reportedly recovered the night she vanished. The Chafee County Sheriff's Office confirmed Friday that a “personal item” belonging to Morphew was found just west of CR 225 and Highway 50. The sheriff's office would not comment on what the item was.
 
Geez Louise, I am so darn invested in this case! It’s a missing persons case that has not been handled as a missing persons case from the get-go. I hope beyond hope each time that I log on here that I will see that she has been found. From watching just about every dateline, see no evil, 48 hours, etc. I know LE will make sure all of their y’all are crossed & I’s are dotted before making an arrest or naming POI’s - especially if it’s someone she knew. I, for one, am glad the daughters are staying out of the media frenzy that would surely hound them relentlessly. It seems as if most of the family are being told by someone not to make a big wave with the media & I hope sooner rather than later, we will all find out why. The endless optimist (albeit cynical at times) part of me hopes she is found alive.

One more thing, IF she is being held by someone and they are demanding a ransom, police aren’t going to share that with the public. It’s too risky to upset the abductor/s. Perhaps that is why everything has been so hush hush. I dunno, just me thinking out loud.

obviously, everything I included here is MOO.
 
Dave F. said:
If you have eleven minutes, you might want to watch the video at the link. The first portion is part of the preliminary preparation and ascent to the beginning of Fooses Lake Trail. At 2:08 begins the actual ride. The first mishap is a few seconds into the ride. The ride ends with a portion of the Fooses Lake Trail that merges into County Highway 226. The ending is at the Fooses Lake Trail Head, the site which has been pointed out as being 2000 feet from SM's house.
Monarch Pass bike roide - Bing video
Click to expand...

Wow, that is quite amazing. Thank you for sharing this video. Would someone commonly do a ride like this on their own? Seems so dangerous. Also, gives a good visual of Fooses Lake.
 
Dave F. said:
If you have eleven minutes, you might want to watch the video at the link. The first portion is part of the preliminary preparation and ascent to the beginning of Fooses Lake Trail. At 2:08 begins the actual ride. The first mishap is a few seconds into the ride. The ride ends with a portion of the Fooses Lake Trail that merges into County Highway 226. The ending is at the Fooses Lake Trail Head, the site which has been pointed out as being 2000 feet from SM's house.
Monarch Pass bike roide - Bing video
Click to expand...

Now I feel like you're deliberately trying to make me have a heart attack, Dave! :D That was great - and the location spotting - excellent. Since it's so close, it might make sense that this is where she was headed. Adventurous lady, if so.

Agree with posters above who said they do notify people to be on the lookout for them if they're not back from forays like this. I do that all the time if I'm doing some much less dangerous walking or hiking, so I do think it makes a lot of sense for a lone cyclist. It's dangerous here just road cycling, nevermind Dave's video. It makes complete sense that hypothetically that's what led someone to report her missing, IMO.
 
Rosiebones said:
In addition, I wonder how they picked that particularly out of the way place. Had they visited the area before and loved it? Did they know someone there who recommended it? I think of my living here in Connecticut and how would I pick a place in Colorado to live? Did they visit several times and look around? Suzanne seems to be the one who embraced the cycling/hiking trails aspect. It doesn't seem to be an area, without a commute, that lends itself to any career/job path for either one of them. How they ended up so isolated seems strange to me.
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The Niche Guide rates Salida, CO #10 in the best place to retire in Colorado, and an overall Niche grade of A-:

Salida is a town in Colorado with a population of 5,642. Salida is in Chaffee County and is one of the best places to live in Colorado. Living in Salida offers residents a sparse suburban feel and most residents own their homes. Many retirees live in Salida and residents tend to lean conservative. The public schools in Salida are above average

https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/search/best-places-to-live/c/chaffee-county-co/
 
Seattle1 said:
The Niche Guide rates Salida, CO #10 in the best place to retire in Colorado, and an overall Niche grade of A-:

Salida is a town in Colorado with a population of 5,642. Salida is in Chaffee County and is one of the best places to live in Colorado. Living in Salida offers residents a sparse suburban feel and most residents own their homes. Many retirees live in Salida and residents tend to lean conservative. The public schools in Salida are above average

https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/search/best-places-to-live/c/chaffee-county-co/
Click to expand...
Well then, that's how to go about it from a distance !! Thank you. Sounds like a special place.
 
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?
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IMO, the evidence indicates that a terrain-related accident is not the case. By "evidence" in this sentence, I mean the way it is being handled, not actual crime scene evidence, though that may also direct LE away from this idea, for all I know. I am of the opinion that if LE/family thought she had a terrain-related accident, they would have been asking for anyone who saw her to contact LE.

So, IMO, his only hope is that someone has taken her and is keeping her alive for some reason.

Edited for clarity, I hope.
 
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?
Click to expand...

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
 
Dave F. said:
If you have eleven minutes, you might want to watch the video at the link. The first portion is part of the preliminary preparation and ascent to the beginning of Fooses Lake Trail. At 2:08 begins the actual ride. The first mishap is a few seconds into the ride. The ride ends with a portion of the Fooses Lake Trail that merges into County Highway 226. The ending is at the Fooses Lake Trail Head, the site which has been pointed out as being 2000 feet from SM's house.
Monarch Pass bike roide - Bing video
Click to expand...

Whoa! Thank you so much @Dave F. That was exhilarating just to watch. What a beautiful area. No wonder SM liked riding out there. I've never done anything like that but that makes me wanna try it sometime.
 
j_in_c said:
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
Click to expand...

Great post. Thank you.
 
Backstroke10 said:
We don’t know if his landscaping business was all that successful. Where I live, landscaping businesses are a dime a dozen. MOO
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I live in the same county in Indiana where BM's business was located. It was actually quite successful. It wasn't some small mom-n-pop business where he landscaped homes and mowed yards in the summer, although they did that work. They also landscaped large construction projects for builders. He had a great business.
 
SeattleStew said:
Whoa! Thank you so much @Dave F. That was exhilarating just to watch. What a beautiful area. No wonder SM liked riding out there. I've never done anything like that but that makes me wanna try it sometime.
Click to expand...
Agree, that was excellent information for us! Thank you @Dave F.

WRT the bolded-by-me part, my response was exactly the opposite! :D 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. :oops:
 
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