Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #6

[Ontario Mom]

I'm inclined to think that investigators are following the evidence with a goal to rule out some people. When they cannot rule someone out, no matter how hard they try, that person becomes a person of interest.

I would have to agree with you.
A proper, impartial investigation must be evidence lead for it to be worth anything.
When that evidence paints an obvious picture, they have to then follow those leads as well.

jmo

 

[CronesEye]

"...unless she was carrying a weapon"

I don't recall anything being posted on this and it would be interesting to know if she was. People post inquiries about cell phones and PLBs but not about weapons. With a husband who is a hunter and her going alone on bike rides in the mountains where there are bears, lions and wolves possibly I would hope she went out with a weapon.

 

[otto]

BBM: Why is that, because they were focused on the husband, even before they searched the house, etc. I am in the camp that she was grabbed by someone and I have no idea if this is even being looked at. If the husband is innocent and it was someone else, a lot of wasted time has gone by.

<modsnip>

May 15, 2020

"Nearly 90 investigators searched a 2.5-mile area near County Road 225 and Highway 50 in search of clues into the disappearance of Suzanne Morphew (age 49) of Chaffee County, who went missing on May 10, 2020.

Local, state and federal investigators searched steep and rugged terrain in an effort to attempt to locate additional items of Ms. Morphew after investigators believed to have found a personal item of the missing woman on Thursday.

Agencies assisting in Friday’s Search Include:

• Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office
• Chaffee County Search and Rescue North and South
• Chaffee County Combined TAC Team
• Department of Corrections Search Team
• Department of Corrections East Canon Search Team
• Colorado Department of Transportation
• Colorado State Patrol
• K9 Assistance
• FBI (Evidence Recovery Team)
• CBI"

May 15 update on search for Suzanne Morphew - Chaffee County Sheriff

 

[Bridger]

Really interesting viewpoint. Thanks for taking the time to explain it.
What if... instead of the sheriff having a feeling, coming first, it was the evidence came in and pointed the investigation in the direction it did, from almost the very beginning?

Thank you. The reason I don’t think he has that evidence is that it took so long to get the search warrant for the house. She is a critical, endangered, missing person. If evidence so obviously pointed toward the husband, wouldn’t the sheriff want to get in that house ASAP? Don’t tell me he didn’t apply for a search warrant within the first week—any competent LE officer would have raced to the courthouse for it. But it took him until nine days in to get a judge to sign off. Maybe he shopped it to several different judges before one agreed there was probable cause. If there was really so much evidence that the husband is responsible, Barney Fife could have convinced a judge sooner.

 

[Stormy415]

So the wait goes on.

 

[RickshawFan]

In my opinion, they have a suspect and they have some idea of what happened. A case is much stronger with a body. They may already have other physical evidence that links them to their suspect, but they will continue to build the case until they are sure they have enough to convict. Then there will be an arrest.

As I read that, it occurred to me that they might actually have some aspect of a body. There's no rule that says LE would have to announce it. And they might not have been looking for human remains at the 3-day search site.

 

[bramasole]

Well, there was a search warrant which one of our resident websleuthers explained in an earlier thread...which is sought under specific circumstances, in this case after Home search

 

[scdiv]

Blair Miller on Twitter

The three-day search of a property east of Salida by local, state and federal officials in the ongoing quest for clues about Suzanne Morphew’s disappearance wrapped up Sunday with no conclusive connections, the sheriff’s office said.

Officials wrap investigation at Chaffee Co. property; no conclusions in search for missing woman

 

[Spartygirl]

I watched tonight an awesome who done it. Death in Paradise. In one scene the DI states it was the hubby that never promised he wanted information to locate and/or recover.
Par for the course the killer is revealed...it was the mate.

OOhh- is this a movie or something on one of the crime shows like Dateline or HLN or Lifetime ???
I am always looking for good crime "who-done-it" movies
TIA

 

[Ontario Mom]

BBM We can't assume there's no evidence. There might be a whole lot of evidence piled up at HQ. We just plain don't know.

Agreed 100%

Basing assumptions on information we don't have, and details we don't know is quite literally the opposite of an informed opinion.

And, makes zero rational sense.

jmo

 

[otto]

What part of this indicates that police did not search for Suzanne as a missing person?

May 15, 2020

"Nearly 90 investigators searched a 2.5-mile area near County Road 225 and Highway 50 in search of clues into the disappearance of Suzanne Morphew (age 49) of Chaffee County, who went missing on May 10, 2020.

Local, state and federal investigators searched steep and rugged terrain in an effort to attempt to locate additional items of Ms. Morphew after investigators believed to have found a personal item of the missing woman on Thursday.

Agencies assisting in Friday’s Search Include:

• Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office
• Chaffee County Search and Rescue North and South
• Chaffee County Combined TAC Team
• Department of Corrections Search Team
• Department of Corrections East Canon Search Team
• Colorado Department of Transportation
• Colorado State Patrol
• K9 Assistance
• FBI (Evidence Recovery Team)
• CBI"

May 15 update on search for Suzanne Morphew - Chaffee County Sheriff

 

[Knox]

But the sheriff’s office said that while details of the search re not available, after combing through several locations on the property, investigators “were unable to make any connection to Suzanne Morphew’s case at this time.”

The sheriff’s office said the property owner was fully cooperative with the investigators and not connected to Morphew’s disappearance.

“Someone has that key piece of information in this case that will help us locate Suzanne, and I’m asking our community members to continue to use the tip line to provide any information, no matter how inconsequential the tip may seem,” Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze said in a statement.
Officials wrap investigation at Chaffee Co. property; no conclusions in search for missing woman

 

[K9Enzo]

@kay74 The list @otto provided is well beyond a SAR effort. IMO

 

[TKG]

"...unless she was carrying a weapon"

I don't recall anything being posted on this and it would be interesting to know if she was. People post inquiries about cell phones and PLBs but not about weapons. With a husband who is a hunter and her going alone on bike rides in the mountains where there are bears, lions and wolves possibly I would hope she went out with a weapon.

We don’t even know that “she went out”. Literally, that’s how little we actually know.

 

[vaporlass]

Right? There’s a judge who signs a search warrant before something like this happens. A judge who has access to all of the evidence presented, who makes these types of decisions everyday. I don’t know why we think we know more than the judges and LEOs handling this case. Their job is to track down leads and when sufficient evidence arises, search physical spaces. Unless someone wants to tell them what happened they have to figure it out piece by piece as they go.

It’s like the person in the stands criticizing the athlete who missed the ball.... it isn’t as easy or simple as it appears.

 

[Trocroc9]

<modsnip>

May 15, 2020

"Nearly 90 investigators searched a 2.5-mile area near County Road 225 and Highway 50 in search of clues into the disappearance of Suzanne Morphew (age 49) of Chaffee County, who went missing on May 10, 2020.

Local, state and federal investigators searched steep and rugged terrain in an effort to attempt to locate additional items of Ms. Morphew after investigators believed to have found a personal item of the missing woman on Thursday.

Agencies assisting in Friday’s Search Include:

• Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office
• Chaffee County Search and Rescue North and South
• Chaffee County Combined TAC Team
• Department of Corrections Search Team
• Department of Corrections East Canon Search Team
• Colorado Department of Transportation
• Colorado State Patrol
• K9 Assistance
• FBI (Evidence Recovery Team)
• CBI"

May 15 update on search for Suzanne Morphew - Chaffee County Sheriff

90 investigators. That’s a fair amount for a less than 3 mile radius. That terrain looks challenging so LE has quite a difficult job imo. I do wonder if they will go back to that 3 mile radius. I have asked earlier is BM staying somewhere close to this 3 mile radius? Thanks in advance for any responses to this post.

 

[kay74]

@kay74 The list @otto provided is well beyond a SAR effort. IMO

For search and rescue. If someone took her, they would not find her this way!

 

[RickshawFan]

"...unless she was carrying a weapon"

I don't recall anything being posted on this and it would be interesting to know if she was. People post inquiries about cell phones and PLBs but not about weapons. With a husband who is a hunter and her going alone on bike rides in the mountains where there are bears, lions and wolves possibly I would hope she went out with a weapon.

IME folks who hike and bike backcountry are a crowd that tends not to be into guns. Also, guns are prohibited in a lot of areas, e.g. public trails.This crowd tends to take precautions, not guns. Often, people will carry bear spray, but that's a bit difficult to use if you're zooming along on a bicycle. People also wear bear bells. You can do stuff like this so you don't accidentally come across a creature which—like most backcountry creatures— doesn't want to be around humans. Overnight, you hang your food, carry a bear barrel, or otherwise put your food out of reach (e.g. in the trunk of the car).

 

[BrownRice]

I hate to bore people here by being repetitive but I’ve written several times about how this was never handled like a standard missing person case. No BOLOs with a description, no requests for anyone in X vicinity (where bike or “personal object” was found) to report anything they saw, not even any requests for people to review their residential cameras (just “keep the footage—but please don’t send it to us”). That works fine when there really is a lot of evidence implicating someone. Doesn’t work well at all when, as in this case, there apparently is not. I think the sheriff basically had a feeling, and he’s not finding evidence to support that feeling. No matter who (if anyone) is ultimately charged, the handling of the case is a defense attorney’s dream. An outsider points to the husband, who was always the chief suspect, and the husband screams “they never even considered anyone else.”

Well, there could be something we don’t know.....but if the sheriff just assumed it’s the spouse (because it usually is), and has no hard evidence, then ya, I agree.

 

[skyedaze]

CHAFFEE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Salida, Colorado
PRESS RELEASE
May 24, 2020

The three-day search conducted at a residence on County Road 105 on the east side of Salida has concluded. Investigators with the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, CBI and FBI went to the site to follow-up on leads developed during the course of the Suzanne Morphew missing person case.

Investigators searched several locations on the property; however, they were unable to make any connection to Suzanne Morphew’s case at this time. Details about the search are not available, as this is part of the active investigation.

The property owner was fully cooperative with law enforcement and not connected with the disappearance of Ms. Morphew.

“We will continue to follow-up on leads as they are identified and vetted by sheriff’s office investigators, the CBI and FBI,” said Chafee County Sheriff John Spezze.

Hundreds of tips related to Ms. Morphew’s case have been called to the designated tip line. The public is asked to continue to report any information about this case by calling (719) 312-7530.

“Someone has that key piece of information in this case that will help us locate Suzanne, and I’m asking our community members to continue to use the tip line to provide any information, no matter how inconsequential the tip may seem,” said Sheriff Spezze
There are no searches set for Monday. Additionally, there are no plans for a media briefing on Monday.

BBM...do you think the key piece is..well that they know what it is or do you think they are asking for people to come forward with whatever they know hoping to come across that key bit that is the missing piece of the puzzle?
At first I thought it was a specific item they are referring to and part of what they were digging for. But now I'm not so sure.

Also, your opinions...do you think the extended family etc are no longer talking because they know now that she is gone and they think he did it? Or, do you think maybe BM's lawyer asked the family not to comment any further?

And do we know, does LE have her phone?