Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #8

[10ofRods]

How about the thought that the husband being keenly aware that this video was going to be picked apart, frame by frame, word for word, then he just came across as super awkward? Someone told him to get to the point, don’t blabber, then it’s a under 30 second video. Perhaps someone told him liars eyes look to the left, then he does a full on weird stare at the camera. I don’t know, I think it was a foolish move to release the video and don’t believe he wanted to.

Thank you for the detailed response. I kind of got lost in it. I’m just a girl that trains my dogs. lol

Some of the best clinical psychologists I know are also super duper dog trainers. Trying to read a dog's mind is probably really good training for human psychology. Or cats' minds. Humans can be like either.

And I do believe there are genes and biochemistry involved in predatory instincts - some dog breeds more than others, some humans more than others.

 

[MassGuy]

I'm trying to take it back to the beginning. For awhile now, I have personally felt that someone very close to SM was to blame. I have NOT ruled that out. But if LE does have something concrete on this person, it doesn't seem like it's been enough to arrest this person so far, and perhaps they don't have very much. We really have no idea. So I'm trying to not get laser-focused and think of other scenarios.

What if someone really did abduct her on this bike ride? If she went for a regular Sunday ride, this may be info shared on social media (it looks like her FB is private, so we really don't know what she has posted on there) and her friends/acquaintances may know this about her. People who attend her church that she would see on Sundays pre-COVID may know this about her. I have even thought about, perhaps someone in her life who either had a bone to pick with her OR had some feelings for her knew she'd be alone that day and showed up at her house that Sunday morning as she was getting ready to go for a ride. Let's say she was in her driveway, dressed for a ride, helmet getting put on, bike at the ready, and they came at her with some sort of anger or putting moves on her. That scenario would also allow for someone who doesn't live with her to stage the bike. OR she may try to get them to leave with a "I'm just heading out for a ride; I can't talk now" and they drive down the road and wait to accost her as she bikes by. Because we don't know for sure (I don't think) what exactly was searched early on, is it possible those personal items were there all along and just not discovered for a few days? Did LE find these personal items on a search of theirs or did a citizen find an item and bring that info to LE, leading them to close the road and search?

All JMO.

I don’t think the lack of an arrest necessarily means anything. As we saw in the Stauch case, they had mountains of evidence against Letecia. Despite that, it still took over a month to make an arrest.

I’ve followed countless cases where they have even had a body, but charges are a long time in coming.

It takes time to receive lab results, analyze phone and computer records, and explore countless other avenues. When Suzanne’s body is found, I expect an arrest to occur in short order.

I think this will take a while.

 

[payitforward3000]

This.

Why no description of what they think she was wearing? Why no request on the Find Suzanne page for people on nearby trails to think back if they saw her or something odd? Even better, why not offer up a specific time? If she normally biked Sunday mornings, then why no pleas to the public about any sightings of her that day?

I wonder who the admin of the page is.

The sad thing about those questions, is what if no one knows the answers?? She was possibly all alone until the unthinkable happened.

 

[Poedelini]

This leads me to ponder what kind of personality is involved, that someone would want to basically "show loyalty" in this manner.

Perhaps someone donated to the G * M and when that started to fall through, they switched their donation to the reward? That's the most benign reason I can think of. Everything else makes me feel suspicious.

Money seems to be the main subject in this whole matter. Suzanne missing on a bike and almost immediately a reward offered. Hinky bell ringing. Imo.

 

[Madeleine74]

But if LE does have something concrete on this person, it doesn't seem like it's been enough to arrest this person so far, and perhaps they don't have very much.

Keep in mind a few things:

• LE will not arrest someone until they've conferred with the DA and have determined there's enough evidence to prove the criminal charges--and what would those criminal charges be right now?
• In a criminal case the state only gets one bite of the apple, so they don't want to arrest and try someone if they don't have enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury. The DA works with LE on determining this.
• While case followers think 2 weeks is a long time, it's really not long at all.
• Forensics and other tests take time. Sometimes a lot more time, depending on what it is, how backed up the crime lab(s) are, and which experts are needed to do the testing.
• LE just released the home, they haven't even had time to sort through everything, there's urgency but it's not a rush.
• Without a body it can be more challenging to achieve a criminal conviction. It's optimal to find the body of the missing person, and LE has made it clear that finding SM is the priority.

 

[10ofRods]

The advantage of changing/increasing the reward is that it gets it back out to the public. The news station will report it thus continuing interest in the case.

Well, yes - but if the family is reading the comments in the news, or WS, or reddit or FB...they'd know that most people who want to help find Suzanne would like to know exactly when she was last seen.

Surely the family knows the answer. It would take more than a lawyer's advice to get me to suppress that information if my family member was missing and I thought they were still alive and being held somewhere.

Many criminal lawyers would find a way of preparing a statement that would aid in setting up parameters for finding the missing person, without compromising their client.

 

[Quiet Time]

Money seems to be the main subject in this whole matter. Suzanne missing on a bike and almost immediately a reward offered. Hinky bell ringing. Imo.

That seems to be IMO, how a lot of people do business,,,Money talks.
And just may be, that's how BM is used to doing business...

 

[CronesEye]

I have no idea how they do it. Some of these cases are just brutal and sick. That isn't something a normal person can become desensitized to.

Here is a compartment I have painfully searched for and found that works for me (I am just an advocate). I have a background in biology and chemistry; If you look at the human omnivore brain you can see for many eons we have been both prey and predator. Our civilizations (rules and regs) have changed over time and place but it seems our brains are a little slower with change.Upon observation of the human and other species, I see that there is a dominance behavior that is intermingled with a predatory behavior in certain species, why? Because it works. Predation for dominance works. In our complex society everything appears to work okay on the outside, but you go into homes or look up close anywhere, where rules and regs don't apply and that's where our primitive nature gets expressed if we value dominance, competition over cooperation and coexistence. We really do have a brain that can go there to that primitive place for survival purposes. However when a human is having issues with their perceived dominance at home or in society at large, the predator can come out. Our civilized brains are just really fragile and get broken and go to bad places really easy. I used to think we operated mostly from our frontal cortex, but I don't think that so much anymore, especially when stress abounds, we are very primitive and can make a habit of just being content with not thinking but reacting. So now after learning more Evolutionary Biology I see such predation to be the result of a work in progress. Glass half full I look to a time in the far future, where our genetics and our environment will help us to select more for cooperation instead of predatory competition. I look at history and other modern cultures, (even some aspects of modern American culture) and seen heinous rationalizations and denial, excuses. Know thyself. We are both predator and prey from times past, but can be so much more. I shall always hope for more. And with self awareness, hopefully work for more. And work for my sister's safety, because it is often the woman who is dominated and controlled when a man feels broken.

 

[RickshawFan]

If the staging was done to fake a kidnapping, then the 'stager' is the perpetrator, needless to say. In the case of a kidnapping scenario, a bike is involved.

Another option: a random passerby could have "staged" it. They could have seen a bike in the ditch and arranged it where someone coming along would notice it. This random person could have assumed it dropped off a car and someone would certainly come looking for it. And, voilà, there it is.

 

[Observer33]

Yes and in the mean time let's stay uber quiet!

People are talking about it. Look how many posts on here about it.

 

[MemPat]

I don't believe the money is actually being held anywhere. I think it's a "promise." I think it would given in the event SM is returned home unharmed.

Air money.

 

[Satchie]

In my opinion, he IS offering to pay ransom to her abductors. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing that. LE generally does not seem to encourage family to offer ransom, but they do encourage family to offer rewards. IMO

I totally agree, and it's not necessarily suspicious or weird. If you're hopeful your dear one has been abducted and is being kept alive, you offer a ransom to encourage the kidnapper to let her go. You don't want them to kill her and then offer a tip on her location, with the view of collecting the 'reward'. You don't want to reward someone so generously for accidentally discovering her body, they would call police anyway.

 

[Whiteorchids]

Does anyone have a photo of what her bike looks like?

 

[Seattle1]

Are we allowed to discuss their landscaping LLC?

Husband's business is no.
POI or suspect, yes.

 

[Satchie]

I really find it interesting, if the bike was staged, that someone (we don't know who) apparently relayed to BM/SMs church in Indiana that it was "crashed" and that a mountain lion was seen in the area (details not reported anywhere else that I'm aware of). If her personal items were also staged (I think that's the most likely scenario if, indeed, the bike was staged), it's odd to me that those were found 4-5 days later, not very far away, and seemingly very close to a major intersection (I'd love to know if that area had been searched prior to the date(s) they were found). Was the animal attack narrative an innocent assumption (combined with a misunderstanding of the facts) or was it part of a planned cover-up? I lean toward the latter, but we just don't know. JMO, MOO.

I don't know why a person trying to create a cover up would bother with talking to someone in a church not even in that state? Pretty unlikely any gossip coming from those people would be important to LE.

 

[LietKynes]

I don't believe the money is actually being held anywhere. I think it's a "promise." I think it would given in the event SM is returned home unharmed.

bbm
I know.
Imo, it's as if someone doesn't think she'll return unharmed which is frightening !
Anytime a large-ish sum is promised 'with contingencies' it just appears to be a ruse or a red herring.
As if there's fine print involved.

Hoping for a break soon and an update from LE.

 

[Satchie]

With respect to comments about the bike, anyone with a decent bike keeps a written description, serial number and photo handy in case it gets stolen.

 

[Whiteorchids]

Another option: a random passerby could have "staged" it. They could have seen a bike in the ditch and arranged it where someone coming along would notice it. This random person could have assumed it dropped off a car and someone would certainly come looking for it. And, voilà, there it is.

Its seems like if her bike was expensive someone would have stolen it if not locked to something like the tree. Even if brakes were jammed it could have been tossed in a truck. That leads me to believe the bike had not been there long. I think they were locked up before being placed there. I still think it was staged.

 

[Sillybilly]

Thread is closed for a bit for cleanup.

Shouldn't take too long, so check back in about 1/2 hour.

 

[Sillybilly]

Thread is open again.

ADMIN NOTE:

Off topic and miscellaneous posts have been removed.

As usual, if an individual has not been officially named a POI/suspect, do not sleuth out their background information and post about it on Websleuths.

Discussion of BM as a POI (NOT sleuthing) is allowed because it is publicly obvious LE is treating him as such. Do not insinuate, cast suspicions toward, or make accusations or derogatory comments against other innocent people not named as a POI/suspect by LE (i.e. nephew, fire chief, etc).

Do not discuss details of other cases that have no known connection to this one.

ETA: Updated to include the user IDs of Verified Experts/Professionals posting in this thread:

10ofRods is a Verified Anthropologist
otto is Verified (former Architectural Instructor, etc etc )
Angleterre is Verified LE (England)
riolove77 is a Verified Attorney (prosecutor)
Alethea is a Verified Attorney
chomsky is a Verified Attorney
angelainwi is a Certified Trauma Counselor