Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #7

[Madeleine74]

Actually that is a mountain bike, not a step thru, and not necessarily a ladies bike. Looks a lot like a Santa Cruz Bronson. Trust me on this one. Spent most of April comparing mountain bikes online and then upgraded.

Does look similar.

<Excuse me while I gasp at the prices of the Santa Cruz Bronson model. Wait...went to look at their ebike models and am now really gasping. I have a city-style ebike that was 1/4th the price though I purchased mine a few years ago>.

There are also hybrid models that can work on road and can be outfitted with stubby tires for mountainous terrain.

 

[Jackielee09]

I see she uses water bottle w straw. I wonder where/if that was found. At home or on “bike route” ?

 

[Bgky4]

oh WOW-- That really isn't too far from Delphi
Moved away from Indiana
"Firefighter"
Hmmmmm

Actually, they moved from Arcadia (IN), which is only about 60 miles from Delphi (IN). They grew up & went to HS in Alexandria (IN).

 

[Jackielee09]

I see she uses water bottle w straw. I wonder where/if that was found. At home or on “bike route” ?

 

[Madeleine74]

Would he pass an actual employment process to be a firefighter, with that disorderly conduct conviction? I wonder.

I'm not sure BM ever intended to be a full-time firefighter. He applied as a volunteer, and due to his age that would be what he could qualify for, other behaviors notwithstanding.

 

[mrstfs]

From Missing Suzanne FB page. Posted by family perhaps due to mentioning of reward. Also first I've seen of what to look for, what she might be wearing. I always wondered if personal item found was, therefore, her helmet.

ETA you can see the tubing of a water pack as well over her shoulder.

Interesting...”last seen in this helmet”. That sounds like an assumption on someone’s part, unless there’s evidence that she was actually seen in the helmet. MOO

 

[Steelslady]

Yeah that rubbed me up the wrong way from the start. I think it's a very odd thing to say.

Myself as well. Like he thought he was going to control this, too. Then again, I think he knew no money would be handed out, so in a way, he was in control that day he made the video.

 

[LietKynes]

Red herrings here, there, and everywhere ...

Absolutely.
Makes it harder for LE and I'm sure they're 'irked' at some people right now !

 

[zecats]

Interesting...”last seen in this helmet”. That sounds like an assumption on someone’s part, unless there’s evidence that she was actually seen in the helmet. MOO

I agree, because it seems to be a poster from the family. LE never mentioned the reward.

ETA As well as the "no questions asked"

 

[LietKynes]

Interesting...”last seen in this helmet”. That sounds like an assumption on someone’s part, unless there’s evidence that she was actually seen in the helmet. MOO

Again a possible red herring. ^^^

And it's important to know that LE did not say this, nor are they the producers of the 'missing' poster !
At this time and in the future, I'll only trust what LE have to say.
MOO

 

[Fireflize]

Was there violent behavior on the part of the husband in your friend's case? Because, frankly, I think a violent husband changes things a bit. IME (and not just my own but from years of working in and training for crisis hot lines), most wives think they know their husbands best and how to tiptoe around them to minimize risk. It's a tightrope. Even if the man has never been violent toward the wife in the past, the divorce period ups the rate of violence.

Where a man is known to have been violent with others, the risk is higher for the wife. BLM was charged in Indiana with assault, not too long before he left Indiana. He managed to plead out to a lesser charge but the person he attacked (who was running for mayor of Indianapolis) has told his story on an approved source for WS (Gray Hughes).

Was your friend's husband similarly violent? Because to me, a man who loses it in public, while at work, is a man who is not in control of himself. He probably needed anger management, but apparently instead the couple left Indiana and moved to Colorado, where he has apparently not filed paperwork to start a landscaping business, and works as a volunteer. Would he pass an actual employment process to be a firefighter, with that disorderly conduct conviction? I wonder.

Anyway, not all divorces are alike, and there are red flags in this one.

And we're not talking "losing it" in a merely verbal way. There was a verbal disagreement and BLM lost it and physically attacked someone - because he was mad that other contractors (plumbing and electrical IIRC) were still working/still had trucks in place when he arrived to do landscaping. That's just not reasonable, from my perspective. Not all divorces involve an unreasonable, violent man. That may be what we're looking at here.

^^^^^^ thanks 10ofRods! I neglected to check out the Gray Hughes interview. I was not aware of this.

 

[Trocroc9]

Gregory Nieto on Twitter

Award now up to $210k

 

[Knox]

Absolutely.
Makes it harder for LE and I'm sure they're 'irked' at some people right now !

Which may speak to the recent silence we've noticed from the family spokesperson.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Snipped. He would've been pretty unlikely to get an actual job as a firefighter in Colorado. Some departments have age limits and won't take new hires older than 35-40. A disorderly conduct conviction wouldn't necessarily disqualify someone, but a background investigation would reveal the circumstances that led to it. If it had been an older conviction with no violence involved, like he had done something dumb when he was 20, it probably wouldn't be a big deal. A relatively recent conviction for a physical attack would be a huge red flag, though, and would almost certainly DQ him.

Well, the conviction question is most certainly on the Chaffee County Volunteer Firefighter application:

"Have you ever been convicted of a crime (other than a minor traffic offense)? “Convicted” means a final judgment on a verdict or a finding of guilty, or a plea of no contest in any state or federal court of competent jurisdiction in a criminal case, regardless whether an appeal is pending or could be taken. Conviction DOES NOT include a final judgment that has been expunged by pardon, reversed, set aside or otherwise rendered invalid." https://www.chaffeecountyfire.org/sites/chaffeecountycofire/files/uploads/volunteer_application.pdf

I'm not seeing where a conviction of a crime actually disqualifies a volunteer application, however.

 

[Knox]

Gregory Nieto on Twitter
Award now up to $210k

Wonder if whoever made the banner is going to update the reward amount?

 

[TKG]

I'm sure if he had one they would have checked it.

There is a well located on the Puma Path property.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/19057-Puma-Path-Salida-CO-81201/96847591_zpid/

 

[Knox]

Gregory Nieto on Twitter
Award now up to $210k

EK@EllenKilloran
Replying to
@greg_nieto@channel2kwgnand 2 others
Thx. Is any of that 10K coming from the ?

 

[lucidtx]

Well, the conviction question is most certainly on the Chaffee County Volunteer Firefighter application:

"Have you ever been convicted of a crime (other than a minor traffic offense)? “Convicted” means a final judgment on a verdict or a finding of guilty, or a plea of no contest in any state or federal court of competent jurisdiction in a criminal case, regardless whether an appeal is pending or could be taken. Conviction DOES NOT include a final judgment that has been expunged by pardon, reversed, set aside or otherwise rendered invalid." https://www.chaffeecountyfire.org/sites/chaffeecountycofire/files/uploads/volunteer_application.pdf

I'm not seeing where a conviction of a crime actually disqualifies a volunteer application, however.

It's probably case-by-case. They also won't do as thorough of a background investigation as a career department would for hiring.

 

[Poedelini]

Gregory Nieto on Twitter

Award now up to $210k

I don't want to sound like a weirdo but is 10k really going to matter?

 

[MeAgnL8Agn]

So I tried to overlay specific points from a timeline that might shed some light, I think, on some of the words/actions/inactions that I've been puzzled by up until now:

May 11: Initial press release from CCSO. All indications are this is a missing person case. References a search that happened on the 11th. Missing Person - Chaffee County Sheriff

May 11: An email was circulated among SM/BM's former church in Indiana that references: The message notes that Morphew’s bike was found “crashed,” and mentions that a mountain lion had been seen in the area where the bike was discovered. ‘They can’t find her’: Message to church group shows desperate plea in early days of search for missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew [REPORT]

May 13: Follow up press release from CCSO. It does reference still a search for SM (including an inference that they did search on Sunday evening): Over the past 4 days over 100 search personnel from Chaffee County Search and Rescue, Department of Corrections, and the Chaffee County Combined Tac Team have scoured the area. Importantly, it also is the first mention, officially, that the Sheriff is opening a criminal investigation. In conjunction with the search the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation into the disappearance of Ms Morphew http://chaffeesheriff.org/2020/05/13/update-on-suzanne-morphew-search/

May 13: Sheriff tells MSM that he does not consider the odds of an animal attack "very high". Family: Suzanne Morphew's Husband Offers $100,000 Reward In Disappearance Investigation

May 13: BM offers $100,000 reward for "safe return" of SM. Family: Suzanne Morphew's Husband Offers $100,000 Reward In Disappearance Investigation

May 14: Press release from CCSO. CBI and FBI involvement noted. Search continues for Suzanne Morphew - Chaffee County Sheriff

May 14: Reward for "safe return" upped to $200,000 by matching contribution from unnamed family friend. Suzanne Morphew search: Reward for missing Colorado woman increased to $200,000

May 14: Article published where TN is interviewed (unclear if interviewed on 5/14 or prior to that), makes statement urging others to "ask Sheriff about the condition of the bike". References FB "Find SM" page and Gimme page. 'We Want Her Back': $200,000 Reward Offered In Search For Suzanne Morphew

May 15: 3 press releases re: the search in the area where a "personal item" was found

May 16: CCSO references that there were no broad-scale searches completed. It does reference "targeted" searches being done. Search continues for Suzanne Morphew - Chaffee County Sheriff

May 17: CCSO conducts water search and asks public to save video from 5/8 - 5/12. May 17 Search Press Release - Chaffee County Sheriff

May 17: BM releases video urging for "safe return" of SM. Missing Colorado woman's husband releases video pleading for her safe return - KRDO

Around May 17: It's not clear when TN stopped being the family spokesperson, but I can't find where he is quoted in MSM after 5/15, and the social media pages appear to not be updated after this date.

May 20: CCSO references the marital home search warrant. May 20, 2020 Press Release Suzanne Morphew missing person case - Chaffee County Sheriff

*****
So, I apologize if this is overly basic, but it clearly does seem to show a shifting narrative. The church communication, taken in conjunction with both TN urging release of information about the bike and the sheriff's office refusal to do so - and not even confirming the bike had been recovered - (but making a point to say the odds of an animal attack were very low) all point to someone close to the situation initially driving a story of animal attack (we don't know the source of that narrative, but the list of possibilities is pretty short). As that started to fall apart, it appears that the BM's narrative (per the reward offer and later video plea) is a kidnapping/ransom theory. It also appears that around the time that the animal attack narrative falls apart and the alternative kidnapping/ransom narrative emerges, TN stops being the family spokesperson. JMO, but a changing narrative raises red flags, especially if (and we have no way of knowing this, but TN might) the initial narrative was built on "facts" that have since been revealed as untrue. MOO.
********************************

It always helps to look back as we go forward in sleuthing a case.

This case is difficult for all of us since we do not have any facts concerning Suzanne's actual disappearance.

Thanks for your time in researching. I hope Suzanne is found soon.
MOO​