Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #50

[10ofRods]

I think we need to remember that LE added to that plea that if anyone is afraid to come forward, because they don’t want to get anyone in trouble, that there was an anonymous tip line they could access and once they knew the situation LE could take measures to address those concerns. (Long sentence, I know! )

LE know something and they would appreciate someone coming forward. Something else to stuff into the “envelope” before nailing that coward to the wall, and I have no doubt they’re getting there. Who knows, the new DA may look at this case come January and say, “Showtime!!” In the meantime, LE continues to investigate every possible lead they get or find. With the new DA not taking office until the New Year, it is not time to go forward, just yet, IMHO.

I can well understand that there are people who have not yet come forward, who may be able to contribute significantly to justice for Suzanne. I can think of a couple right off the top of my head, and a few more in Salida who may be very reluctant to tell what they know. I also think that some of these people could be issued a subpoena and testify at some point in future, but that LE would prefer them to volunteer what they know.

I think many states have a type of subpoena, frequently used in domestic violence cases, where the respondent has to show up in closed court to testify initially in front of a judge. I know I've had students over the years subpoenaed (reluctantly) into criminal cases both inside and outside their families, including murder cases.

 

[Teche]

This is totally just a thought process of a "maybe" so bear with me for a moment...

This part isn't relevant to SM but more to lead into my what if...
Back story: My "dad' passed away 4/02/19. For 3 yrs before he died, we didn't have any contact for reasons I can only speculate. He basically only called me when he wanted something. For example, he would call on Christmas morning to tell me the family was getting together that afternoon and he wanted me to be there. He couldn't be bothered to answer his phone or call me in the weeks leading up to Christmas to let me know his plans. He lived over an hour away so it's not like we could drop by for a minute. I have a small child so our time over the holidays are divided up between my family and my husband's family like most people I know. He did this EVERY HOLIDAY! I eventually gave up and started telling he we had plans and wouldn't be able to make it. (It literally broke my heart! I was a daddy's girl growing up.)

Anyways, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in Jan 2019. He decided that I didn't 'deserve" to know that he was sick because I hadn't talked to him in 3 years (not because I didn't try, he just never answered the phone). So, nobody told me! He made my sisters swear to secrecy. In March 2019, I ran into my cousin and she told me because she felt I needed to know. I didn't call him immediately to talk to him because I needed time to process it all. He died 2 weeks later. We never talked. (I'm at peace with it!) Turns out my dad was extremely good at playing the victim! BUT I would have let bygones be bygones and played family if that's what he would have wanted in his final moments.

Now, with that being said, AM said that SM didn't know about her dad being sick. Maybe she did know? Maybe a family member told her and she was taking a minute to figure out how she wanted to react? If she wasn't close to her family for whatever reason (BM) it could be possible she didn't call them immediately when she found out her dad was sick. Maybe she was mentally preparing to make arrangements to go back home to be with her dad but hadn't spoken to anybody about it yet. Or maybe she was messaging a close friend about it and BM saw her messages and realized that if she left she would stay gone once she was no longer under his influence on a daily basis? Maybe she told BM she wanted to move back to IN and if he didn't want to go then they could divorce and he could stay in CO?

Once again all of this is just a thought process and probably not relevant but it might lend reason to how/why SM could get out without flat out stating she wants a divorce IF in fact she wanted a divorce. Not stating any of this as fact. Just tossing around ideas since we don't have much of anything else. Feel free to "snip" anything inappropriate.

Sadly, Suzanne had no contact with her family. If BM was monitoring her every social media contact and phone calls, Suzanne was able to go out and about without her children and husband. I wish that she had purchased a go-phone to have private phone contact with her birth family. Numerous apps can be hidden on your phone. Those of us that followed Chris Watts thread, learned of an app that was disguised behind a calculator icon that he used to contact his mistress.

 

[rainbowshummingbird]

If BM killed his wife, the end, then why do they want to dig into her social media activity so much, make it a highlight of a press release, then plea for friends to come forward. These are presumed adult friends, who SM loved dearly and 6 + months later (SM is still missing and presumed dead by many) LE has to plea to you in a press release to spill your guts, this was your friend?!

From my birds eye view, I’m pretty angry about that. LE is traveling back to IN several times, is it to plea some more? Enough, start truth talking, like my Grandma use to say.

IMO

Sincerely, I am not understanding your complaint with LE. It appears that LE is investigating and seeking information about Suzanne’s online activities. I’m not sure how this is a negative, am I missing something?

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Years ago I had a job where only two of us worked at a branch office. The other employee was pretty mean and also did a poor job.

I wanted the boss at the home office to be aware of my coworker's poor behavior, but since there were only the two of us at the branch, if I informed the boss it would be obvious that I was the one who reported the coworker, since I was the only one who had seen the poor behavior.

I wonder if this is the kind of "afraid to come forward" situation happening in SM's case -- it's not a matter of whether someone with info gives their name or calls an anonymous tipline, it might be more a matter of them being the only one who would know the information, or there being only one way in which they could possibly have learned the information, so they are outing themselves (or their source) whether they report anonymously or not.

MOO

Barry's friends and relatives.

 

[K9Enzo]

Sincerely, I am not understanding your complaint with LE. It appears that LE is investigating and seeking information about Suzanne’s online activities. I’m not sure how this is a negative, am I missing something?

You have misunderstood. I have zero complaints with LE.

LE is seeking information from SM “devoted friends” according to CCSO last press release. These folks, IMO, need to get on with it and tell LE what they know. She’s been missing for 6 + months. Enough. IMO

ETA: Suzanne Morphew case remains a priority to the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office - Chaffee County Sheriff

 

[Error505]

If BM killed his wife, the end, then why do they want to dig into her social media activity so much, make it a highlight of a press release, then plea for friends to come forward. These are presumed adult friends, who SM loved dearly and 6 + months later (SM is still missing and presumed dead by many) LE has to plea to you in a press release to spill your guts, this was your friend?!

From my birds eye view, I’m pretty angry about that. LE is traveling back to IN several times, is it to plea some more? Enough, start truth talking, like my Grandma use to say.

IMO

MOO I think it could have been a plea to SM’s daughters, as well as “friends”. But I’m thinking LE was making a plea to the girls. I just got that feeling when I read the last PR.
Hope the extra pressure and latest PR keeps BM awake at night, at a minimum! Arrest can’t come soon enough. The new DA sounds like a dandy!

 

[K9Enzo]

MOO I think it could have been a plea to SM’s daughters, as well as “friends”. But I’m thinking LE was making a plea to the girls. I just got that feeling when I read the last PR.
Hope the extra pressure and latest PR keeps BM awake at night, at a minimum! Arrest can’t come soon enough. The new DA sounds like a dandy!

That’s an interesting angle I had not thought about. Hmmm...

 

[10ofRods]

Pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if the reach out re: social media has less to do with direct evidence (timeline, etc.) and more to do with motive. What if LE currently has one or two friends of SMs who are willing to testify she talked to them about DV? Maybe a defense team could erode some of that credibility - so maybe they are looking for one or two more friends she may have confided in? And, if they were somehow connected through a DV group, the fear would make a lot of sense.

I do hope that friends of SM aren't holding back info. I do worry that friends of BM are, though.

JMO, MOO.

This is what I think, too. I think with strong evidence of motive or ongoing DV, LE will have a better chance with probable cause in getting more information/evidence.

Suzanne and BM are likely not the only two people who knew about DV, which I firmly think existed. I think they're looking for very specific information and possibly not from friends of Suzanne, but from friends of other family members.

 

[10ofRods]

MOO I think it could have been a plea to SM’s daughters, as well as “friends”. But I’m thinking LE was making a plea to the girls. I just got that feeling when I read the last PR.
Hope the extra pressure and latest PR keeps BM awake at night, at a minimum! Arrest can’t come soon enough. The new DA sounds like a dandy!

Okay - there, you said it. Exactly what I'm thinking as well. A teacher, a friend, a parent of a friend...might come forward. I can imagine that these people might be very cautious, due to true concern about the girls. This could also include a boyfriend of either girl. I think LE thinks that some people know something very specific about the family situation, and that this information might even be the crux of the case at this point.

 

[hpruitt]

My condolence on the passing of your dad @ hpruitt.

GM was elderly and had other health problems when he was diagnosed with cancer.

My understanding from AM's comments was that GM's cancer diagnosis coincided with the timing of SM's disappearance and not that anybody was withholding information from SM.

Nonetheless, I agree that SM most likely wanted to spend more time with her dad just because of his advanced age and poor health.

Thank you! I'm very much at peace with the whole situation although I have not talked to any of my dad's family since the funeral except for an aunt.

I thought I read somewhere that GM was diagnosed 3 weeks before SM "went missing" and that any contact the Moorman family had with SM was done through BM. I guess where I was going with my thought process is that even though they hadn't had a chance to talk with SM about the diagnosis, maybe she found out somehow from a friend that she might have been talking to through 1 of the secret apps (Rumor mills and stuff?) and she hadn't had a chance to talk with her family about it yet since BM didn't allow her much contact with them? I'm guessing the last thing BM would want (allow) to happen is for SM to go home to be with her family in a place familiar to her with a large support system hundreds of miles away from his watchful eye. It could be plausible that she was making a plan for "just in case" before she discussed it with her family and BM.

If there was domestic abuse happening in that household, I wonder how things would have played out with her dad's diagnosis had SM not gone missing? Surely she would have wanted to go back to IN. I wonder what BM would have had to say about it then?

The whole secret app, talking to who knows who about who knows what is killing me. Secret app = secrets from BM because who else would she be keeping secrets from to have to use secret apps? Vicious circle of questions!
And if he's not guilty, wouldn't he be acting any/every other way than the way he's acting now? Ugh!

 

[Mimi in London]

MOO I think it could have been a plea to SM’s daughters, as well as “friends”. But I’m thinking LE was making a plea to the girls. I just got that feeling when I read the last PR.
Hope the extra pressure and latest PR keeps BM awake at night, at a minimum! Arrest can’t come soon enough. The new DA sounds like a dandy!

Those couple of phrases from the last PR had been niggling at me. I realised police were trying to say something very specific, probably to someONE very specific.

Now what you’re suggesting makes sense. Especially if BM and the girls were under the impression Suzanne had been persuaded to cut all contact with old friends (Dad didn’t like it). Now police are telling them, actually she DID stay in touch with people she loved, implying she trusted them enough to confide in them about the state of the marriage.

Maybe police are saying, ‘You won’t get BM into NEW trouble by telling us about his bullying. We know anyway, so you may as well talk to us.”

 

[Error505]

Sadly, Suzanne had no contact with her family. If BM was monitoring her every social media contact and phone calls, Suzanne was able to go out and about without her children and husband. I wish that she had purchased a go-phone to have private phone contact with her birth family. Numerous apps can be hidden on your phone. Those of us that followed Chris Watts thread, learned of an app that was disguised behind a calculator icon that he used to contact his mistress.

If I’m remembering correctly, AM called SM on her birthday just before she disappeared. AM has said he had trouble reaching SM, his thinking was maybe the bad cell service at PP home. That’s why he would call BM to check on SM, but BM seldom returned the calls. BM is the one putting out lies that SM never heard from her family bc they didn’t care about her. I’m crunched for time, but I’ll find the referenced link abt AM’s birthday call to SM, I want to say her BD was in March or April.
If I’m remembering incorrectly, please feel free to correct me. Having trouble keeping facts & speculation separated lately on this case, no help from the bad info BM puts out.
MOO, of course.

 

[kkdj]

Those couple of phrases from the last PR had been niggling at me. I realised police were trying to say something very specific, probably to someONE very specific.

Now what you’re suggesting makes sense. Especially if BM and the girls were under the impression Suzanne had been persuaded to cut all contact with old friends (Dad didn’t like it). Now police are telling them, actually she DID stay in touch with people she loved, implying she trusted them enough to confide in them about the state of the marriage.

Maybe police are saying, ‘You won’t get BM into NEW trouble by telling us about his bullying. We know anyway, so you may as well talk to us.”

Wow! That's a powerful post!

 

[Puzzles8]

I wonder if the recent "social media" press conference signals a change in LE approach to this case. LE never holds a press conferences unless they have to. LE is finally asking for the public's or her friends and family for help.

Sadly, I agree with many here and think this will be a no body case. Without a body, the prosecutor has to build a stronger backstory, and present a very strong case for DV.

JMO

 

[Puzzles8]

If BM killed his wife, the end, then why do they want to dig into her social media activity so much, make it a highlight of a press release, then plea for friends to come forward. These are presumed adult friends, who SM loved dearly and 6 + months later (SM is still missing and presumed dead by many) LE has to plea to you in a press release to spill your guts, this was your friend?!

From my birds eye view, I’m pretty angry about that. LE is traveling back to IN several times, is it to plea some more? Enough, start truth talking, like my Grandma use to say.

IMO

It's possible the friends she shared this with might be fearful themselves from their own abusers.

 

[Cindizzi]

If I’m remembering correctly, AM called SM on her birthday just before she disappeared. AM has said he had trouble reaching SM, his thinking was maybe the bad cell service at PP home. That’s why he would call BM to check on SM, but BM seldom returned the calls. BM is the one putting out lies that SM never heard from her family bc they didn’t care about her. I’m crunched for time, but I’ll find the referenced link abt AM’s birthday call to SM, I want to say her BD was in March or April.
If I’m remembering incorrectly, please feel free to correct me. Having trouble keeping facts & speculation separated lately on this case, no help from the bad info BM puts out.
MOO, of course.

Here is AM speaking about reaching out to his sister on her birthday April 30 of this year.

 

[Seattle1]

If I’m remembering correctly, AM called SM on her birthday just before she disappeared. AM has said he had trouble reaching SM, his thinking was maybe the bad cell service at PP home. That’s why he would call BM to check on SM, but BM seldom returned the calls. BM is the one putting out lies that SM never heard from her family bc they didn’t care about her. I’m crunched for time, but I’ll find the referenced link abt AM’s birthday call to SM, I want to say her BD was in March or April.
If I’m remembering incorrectly, please feel free to correct me. Having trouble keeping facts & speculation separated lately on this case, no help from the bad info BM puts out.
MOO, of course.

SM's birthday was April 30 and she vanished 10 days later.

 

[Teche]

If I’m remembering correctly, AM called SM on her birthday just before she disappeared. AM has said he had trouble reaching SM, his thinking was maybe the bad cell service at PP home. That’s why he would call BM to check on SM, but BM seldom returned the calls. BM is the one putting out lies that SM never heard from her family bc they didn’t care about her. I’m crunched for time, but I’ll find the referenced link abt AM’s birthday call to SM, I want to say her BD was in March or April.
If I’m remembering incorrectly, please feel free to correct me. Having trouble keeping facts & speculation separated lately on this case, no help from the bad info BM puts out.
MOO, of course.

Thank you for your response. I had forgotten this information.

 

[Subiechik21]

Thank you @Cindizzi & @Seattle1, you guys are always on top of things & keep us all straight!

ETA: I am surely missing others who do a good job as well, so Thank you to all who contribute to this thread & finding Justice for Suzanne!

 

[10ofRods]

I appreciate your post, thank you. That’s just it. I think LE has a good idea what the state of their marriage was at this point. I don’t think they need another person to tell them what SM might have shared about her husband & their relationship, etc. Got it, check.

I really don’t think this talk from LE about being in trouble for having certain information is about BM, this is about SM and her specific social media activity (not cell activity & pings).

Before anyone says it, I’m not a fan of BM (Im a fan of Bill Murray) a supporter, whatever. I don’t care about that dude at all. I view him as weak minded and he can pound salt for all I care.

I’ve never been all in over BM, I think he’s the likely suspect but there is just something nagging me about other possibilities here. I don’t think things are as they appear is all. IMO

You don't think that having direct testimony who either saw BM threaten Suzanne with violence or death, or heard him do so, would add to the case?

Maybe someone who had seen him attempt to physically harm her sometime in the past? And perhaps that person has told others about the incident - but is the sole direct witness?

I too can envision non-BM scenarios, but apparently LE has him squarely in their sights (and so does Suzanne's family). IMO.

At any rate, any witnesses to domestic violence in the Morphew home will likely be family members or close associates of family members. If that violence included verbal threats and, say, grabbing someone by the throat, then the D.A. knows she can find expert testimony that will truly bolster a no body case. If it happened at intervals and there's a timeline presented by various witnesses (be great if there were more than one) and if those who had observed the DV mentioned to others before Suzanne's disappearance, even better.

All kinds of other details are useful (like the person who heard BM say that "Suzanne's not going anywhere" while Suzanne was trying to plan a trip with girlfriends, IIRC) but someone who saw DV or heard specific threats would be much more useful.

A lot of us who survived DV and were in the process of trying to get out of the relationship do in fact confide in others ("If I ever disappear, you'll know who did it" kind of thing). If that were combined with someone who had directly witnessed BM threaten or attempt harm on Suzanne, that would be powerful at trial.