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

[Seattle1]

I don't think there has been any source that said she didn't take her phone out biking. I think random chatter about if there are cell phone signals in her area made some people speculate maybe she didn't even bother taking a phone. Imo that is a rumor that ran wild. I have not come across any source, even unconfirmed ones, who ever said she didn't bring a cell phone on bike rides. Imo, most people would, whether it's to use phone apps like mapmyride or snap a picture, or whatever. There are a gazillion easy ways to store a phone on your person or bike. Imo, not taking the phone biking originated from pure rumor. (If I'm wrong, I stand corrected, but that has not been confirmed anywhere.)

I listened to reporter Lauren Scharf's live fb update last night and one thing she made very clear is the very spotty cell service in the area -- even using Verizon (said to provide best coverage there). She talked about having to drive to hilltops for a signal.

The reporter's very recent account just confirmed what we've been told all along and for that I'm inclined to believe SM left her phone at home.

 

[Jackielee09]

Horrifying thought Well every scenario is horrifying. But what if a body was burned (like Tara Grinstead) and remains mixed in concrete and all they are looking for is any of her DNA. I would expect this has come about based on someone involved -after the fact- talking.
Im Trying to keep as generic as possible.

 

[Fireflize]

Wel

I am new to WS and find This group/page a refreshing and intelligent way of tracking a case that has me fascinated. Thank you to everyone that contributes and for the thoughtful and factual responses and posts.

My question related to the current FBI search. The specific area they have cut from the concrete. Why would they be so fastidious in sifting bucket by bucket of dirt to preserve possible evidence and then at the end of the day remove the tents and leave the site uncovered? What if it rained or myriad other possibilities, it could potentially disturb the site they seem to be so thoroughly investigating?

Welcome to websleuths. Good question. I wondered that too. Maybe the weather forecast was for clear skies and there was a guard there overnight as well. Just guessing. MOO

 

[Dave F.]

HA !! Burn bans mean nothing to some of the people where I live.
Even when it is posted over and over and over on county and township SM and our little town's FB page, some were still burning away.
However, given that BM is a firefighter, I would think he would adhere to the burning regulations. JMO

Colorado takes burning bans VERY SERIOUSLY. The last decade has destroyed thousands of acres of prime forested real estate and major neighborhoods of cities in the last decade. Colorado is also full of people. Whenever someone starts a fire during a ban, it is pretty well assured that there will be multiple reports.
I'm not saying that it couldn't happen, but it's really far down my list of possible scenarios. IMO

 

[Summit1964]

Colorado takes burning bans VERY SERIOUSLY. The last decade has destroyed thousands of acres of prime forested real estate and major neighborhoods of cities in the last decade. Colorado is also full of people. Whenever someone starts a fire during a ban, it is pretty well assured that there will be multiple reports.
I'm not saying that it couldn't happen, but it's really far down my list of possible scenarios. IMO

You are spot-on. I live near SM and wildfire is a real concern here...burn bans are enforced and scofflaws aren't tolerated.

 

[otto]

I'm not sure what kind of site that is, but it references CBS Denver when it says "As reported by CBS Denver, Suzanne Morphew’s bicycle was recovered from a bridge close to her home, along with an additional “personal item.”" but if you click that source, it actually does not say at all, where the bike was found. It doesn't mention a bridge at all.

Has the Sheriff's office ever actually confirmed where it was found?
(forgive me if they have, I can't seem to keep the rumor/gossip straight from the facts & what's been confirmed!)

Here's another link

"A bike owned by the mother-of-two was recovered from a bridge close to her home on May 10, according to local sources. Her husband said he was out of town at the time of her disappearance"​

Suzanne Morphew's husband was paid to lay dirt at the building site Colorado cops are searching | Daily Mail Online

 

[Ontario Mom]

I listened to reporter Lauren Scharf's live fb update last night and one thing she made very clear is the very spotty cell service in the area -- even using Verizon (said to provide best coverage there). She talked about having to drive to hilltops for a signal.

The reporter's very recent account just confirmed what we've been told all along and for that I'm inclined to believe SM left her phone at home.

For that reason, I suppose it wouldn't surprise me to learn she did, but until the Sheriff's office confirms it, we just really don't know.

 

[DBLG]

OK - Here are some thoughts....ALL MOO
1. I don't find it odd that the younger daughter was staying with boyfriend's family. With COVID, many people have been sheltering with others and if SM allegedly had health problems in the past or very recently, it totally makes sense that the kids were staying elsewhere.
2. IF SM allegedly had the health problem that everyone is talking about, we do not know the type of how severe. I recovered from a very serious Stage 3 Cancer and I had surgery and "treatments" at MD Anderson but it wasn't chemo and it wasn't radiation. We need to be careful not to assume she had chemo and that is why there are no recent pictures (as stated in some posts).
3. It is entirely possible that SM did not even live at the "marital home" (as it is referred to in MSM) anymore. Maybe they had separated and she (or he) was living somewhere else. Maybe that is why the younger child was staying with other family. We don't know.
4. LE has indicated they have not located a "body." Although, we do not know if they have collected fragments or other evidence at the dig site. How long would it take to run DNA on remains? Also noticed that earlier in the "dig" there was no tent over the big rectangle open concrete and then in later pics I saw a "blue" tent covering the open cement rectangle. I thought that was interesting.

Everything above is JMO

 

[RickshawFan]

I've been considering that a job site might be an option that a POI would choose for evidence disposal. A much publicized recent murder case in Colorado Springs brought to light that LE had been able to determine vehicle locations from the car's computer systems. It's not a stretch to imagine that BM would have heard about this or even known anyway. So if he had to worry that his vehicle could be tracked, then utilizing a site where he could explain his presence might make sense to a desperate person. Possible, looks like LE thinks so too.
And I continue to wait...MOO

I would be looking for a construction site in the Denver area. I wonder if some construction folks in a Denver suburb haven't magically ended up with a woodchipper in their stuff and can't figure out where it came from.
It would be so easy to "lose" a piece of construction equipment by leaving it at a random construction site.... there are so many different contractors involved in some of those jobs, no one would realize until maybe later that it didn't belong to any of them.

 

[Warwick7]

"Davis declined to comment when approached by DailyMail.com, saying he is too busy 'with stuff' to talk."
Why would he decline? All over the world, we’ve seen communities rallying together in times of need. News and news casters can spread missing persons information far and wide. Even news through social media is quick and helps to reach more people than ever before. So that begs the question what "stuff" is he doing that's more important than an opportunity to get information out about a missing person?

"A CSI photographer was also seen at the home, which has been taped off. Evidence bags were spotted being brought out and loaded into a van."
What happened in that house??

"Suzanne's husband Barry Morphew, 52, has said he was away on a training course for his job as a volunteer firefighter in Denver, Colorado, when she vanished.
He’s going out, driving up the road, and trying to remember any suspicious vehicles that he’s seen,' he added."
If he is 2.5 hours away at training course in Denver---how in the world can he remember any suspicious vehicles? He wasn't even there!

Husband of Suzanne Morphew is having a 'difficult time' as diggers continue construction site search | Daily Mail Online

 

[Ontario Mom]

Here's another link

"A bike owned by the mother-of-two was recovered from a bridge close to her home on May 10, according to local sources. Her husband said he was out of town at the time of her disappearance"​

Suzanne Morphew's husband was paid to lay dirt at the building site Colorado cops are searching | Daily Mail Online

Thank you for that.
After I posted I was sure I'd read that in MSM but then second guessed myself.
Goodness I hate how the gossip and rumors fly on social media, then find their way here.

jmo

 

[Murphy1950]

Horrifying thought Well every scenario is horrifying. But what if a body was burned (like Tara Grinstead) and remains mixed in concrete and all they are looking for is any of her DNA. I would expect this has come about based on someone involved -after the fact- talking.
Im Trying to keep as generic as possible.

I'd safely say it's 100% not possible that ashes were mixed with concrete. That mixing is done at the plant...not the site. Ashes spread under poly with concrete poured on top, a definite possibility.

 

[borndem]

I personally believe they are digging under the white tent that can be seen under the trees, the photos of them digging show a white tent with all that lumber behind them. looks like they are also digging under the square of concrete under the navy tent... so possibly two areas of interest?


Thank you to @Tricia and @sillybilly and other mods for all your hard work during this, you are appreciated!!!

Re the white tent -- We have all seen these white tents in cases where there is an ongoing search. As the search is being done, evidence is assembled on tables under the tent. If certain evidence is found, the sides of the tent are lowered so that whatever they found is hidden from the public and the press. So it looks like nothing much is happening here.

We still don't know where she is... only where she isn't.
Still hoping for good news.

 

[Cindizzi]

I'm not sure what kind of site that is, but it references CBS Denver when it says "As reported by CBS Denver, Suzanne Morphew’s bicycle was recovered from a bridge close to her home, along with an additional “personal item.”" but if you click that source, it actually does not say at all, where the bike was found. It doesn't mention a bridge at all.

Has the Sheriff's office ever actually confirmed where it was found?
(forgive me if they have, I can't seem to keep the rumor/gossip straight from the facts & what's been confirmed!)

No LE has never confirmed anything about a bike.
But here is where we are hearing “ravine” . Fire Chief Bertram says he heard it, so IMO it is second or third hand knowledge.


Other than that, Bertram said, he doesn’t know much about the investigation.

“The initial report that I got when they told me on Monday is that she is missing and they found her bike in a ravine,” he said. “That’s all the information I have gotten.”

Investigators search Salida property in connection with Suzanne Morphew disappearance, Fire Chief remains “hopeful”

 

[Summit1964]

I don't think there has been any source that said she didn't take her phone out biking. I think random chatter about if there are cell phone signals in her area made some people speculate maybe she didn't even bother taking a phone. Imo that is a rumor that ran wild. I have not come across any source, even unconfirmed ones, who ever said she didn't bring a cell phone on bike rides. Imo, most people would, whether it's to use phone apps like mapmyride or snap a picture, or whatever. There are a gazillion easy ways to store a phone on your person or bike. Imo, not taking the phone biking originated from pure rumor. (If I'm wrong, I stand corrected, but that has not been confirmed anywhere.)

I use MapMyRide, but even if I didn't, I would take my phone with me biking, especially if I was alone. If I had an accident or a flat that I couldn't fix, I would want to be able to call for help. The area where she was riding wasn't that remote. She was close enough to Hwy 50 that, in the event of a disabling accident, she could have walked to an area that had cell phone service.

 

[Dave F.]

Horrifying thought Well every scenario is horrifying. But what if a body was burned (like Tara Grinstead) and remains mixed in concrete and all they are looking for is any of her DNA. I would expect this has come about based on someone involved -after the fact- talking.
Im Trying to keep as generic as possible.

In a recent Colorado murder trial, the prosecution claimed that the body was burned and then covered with fresh dirt. There was no DNA of any kind, but officers claimed that an oily discoloration of the soil that was below the fire showed, in their experience, that a body had indeed been burned, and theorized that the DNA had been burnt away. It makes no sense to me, but I have absolutely zero experience to draw on. If they are correct, however, it would seem that encasement in concrete would preserve evidence, rather than destroy it. JMO

 

[Boxer]

I wonder if she was as pleased as she said she was to move to a lonely ,isolated house miles away from her family and friends and medical staff who knew her well.

MOO when driving by those new beautiful houses along the highways in the west I think many people have this kind if reaction.
"Gorgeous!
That house would be $xyz in our area.
My condo would pay for a smaller one.
Hmm. Kind of isolated though.
I wonder how often I could get friends and family to visit?
Well, I like my condo with its rec room.
Lets stop for lunch."

 

[10ofRods]

I'm still extremely concerned about a bicycle wreck of some type as the bicycle was found in a ravine.

Is this now established? I better go read back through the thread.

Wel

Welcome to websleuths. Good question. I wondered that too. Maybe the weather forecast was for clear skies and there was a guard there overnight as well. Just guessing. MOO

I'd keep a couple of cameras nearby and see what I caught.

However, rain is forecast. Unless it's a torrential downpour, all it will do is make mud. Archaeologists and paleontologists don't usually use tents at all and excavations do go on for years. However, there's usually a team geologist who plots where items may move/wash to if it's a big excavation.

I think they just wanted to keep drones from seeing what they were doing. If it does rain a lot, maybe they'll wait a day or two.

OTOH, since LE is absolutely not tipping their hand, for all we know, the search is somewhere else today OR they really are done there. If they found anything to take to the lab, LE won't say anything right away.

This whole thing is making me really nervous.

 

[Warwick7]

I'd safely say it's 100% not possible that ashes were mixed with concrete. That mixing is done at the plant...not the site. Ashes spread under poly with concrete poured on top, a definite possibility.

The area you are referring to is the "undisturbed soil" correct? The area that's colored in burnt orange?

 

[Spartygirl]

Barry Morphew is reportedly restless as the search for his missing wife Suzanne enters its third week, while police return for a third day of digging at a residential construction site in Colorado where he was paid to lay dirt.
'The last report I got from people is that [Barry] is having a difficult time sitting still, and pacing back and forth, constantly looking out the window, hoping he can see her,' Fire Chief Robert Bertram, 40, said to Fox21.
'He’s going out, driving up the road, and trying to remember any suspicious vehicles that he’s seen,' he added.


Husband of Suzanne Morphew is having a 'difficult time' as diggers continue construction site search | Daily Mail Online

I am sure he is 'RESTLESS" LOL
And I love the headline for the news article-- "Difficult time" as diggers continue construction site search---
Yes, I am sure it must be a very difficult, pacing back and forth, driving up and down the road time, as LE is searching for his wife.
A bit nervous of what they will find, maybe ???
Or just normally jittery like that ??
Hmmmmmm