Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #15

[marylamby]

Yes, you're correct and the reporting call time is established by LE, but I'm wondering about the order of phone calls between the girls, their Dad and the neighbor - the back and forth. Also, it could be that the neighbor and BM were speaking on the phone together while she was checking around the home and he had her call LE? It makes sense to me for him to be guiding her telling her where to look and what to look for.

I still don't think it's odd that a neighbor called LE instead of BM or the girls because she was actually, physically there and LE wants to know exactly what's going on at that moment to lead her to call and make a report. Otherwise, it's a near fruitless, frustrating game of telephone speaking to someone who isn't there, who hasn't been walking around the property or peering in the garage or house windows, who called whom and what led the neighbor to be there to check in the first place.

Someone upstream posted that it's possible/probable that the neighbor is a person of contact? Neighbors do this, especially when living in sparsely populated area like theirs. They're not completely out in the boonies, but close enough that if you screamed, your neighbors may or may not hear. Wherever we lived, we've always found a neighbor to trust with a key and contact information "just in case" and we live in suburbia.

I still think he's the one who should've called. He could've easily given the sheriff's dept the neighbor's number.
To me, everything has a reason and when it doesn't make sense, well....

 

[marylamby]

You mean you think he was already in the vicinity and not traveling from Denver? Like that guy in Survivor who hid in a palm tree listening to the castaways plotting their strategy?

I have no idea where he was and I don't like multiple choice answers when it comes to a missing persons case.

 

[branmuffin]

I have no idea where he was and I don't like multiple choice answers when it comes to a missing persons case.

That was a stab at levity and I guess it failed. In the show Survivor, one of the contestants used to climb a palm tree over the water well and listen to the others plotting. He did it in two separate shows and no one figured it out. He won both times.

 

[marylamby]

That was a stab at levity and I guess it failed. In the show Survivor, one of the contestants used to climb a palm tree over the water well and listen to the others plotting. He did it in two separate shows and no one figured it out. He won both times.

No, not at all! I wasn't referring to your comment, I was referring to the fact that we don't know when or where he was. He's the one who's been deliberately unclear of the time line and how the events unfolded.
Please don't take my comment the wrong way. I've never even seen Survivor but I think I get the gist of what you said.
Not up a tree but in waiting. I believe someone wanted the bike found in a timely manner.

 

[Feistyomi]

Anyone can mimic texts, though. I'm sure there were many that someone would be able to reference.
And yes, children of that age do text more often than call.

DBM

 

[oviedo]

We cannot sleuth the children or where they were - my comment was related to contact between a parent and child and In my experience -it is frequent - and we have no idea when SM last had any contact with friends or family other than what’s been reported in MSM - which has not been disclosed IIRC
JMO

 

[helenann2k]

I don't think there is anything questionable about the neighbor calling 911. I had an experience where I needed to contact a family member who lived with me, and she didn't answer her phone all day. I started to worry that she fell or something, so I called my neighbor, who is closest to the house, to go over and knock on the door and look around, in case my family member was asleep. So if the girls wanted to reach mom to give an update as to when hey would arrive, and weren't able to reach her, they probably just asked the neighbor to go check on her. When the neighbor couldn't locate her, perhaps they asked her to check if her bike was visible (pure speculation) and then asked her to call 911 because they were too far from home, the neighbor was there to meet the police, answer questions, etc. ALL IMO.

 

[10ofRods]

Nevermind that we're talking about one of the community's emergency responders (volunteer firefighter) that could not ask another firefighter or LE officer to do a welfare check on his wife?!!

In the age of technology, even I from states away can call or text Salida 911 and request a welfare check on somebody I'm concerned about.

Also, from previous accounts that BM's continues driving his big truck still adorning his IN tags (for more than two years), I'm pretty sure that he's recognized as a firefighter -- all knowing that many foreign plates in town belong to firefighters that are exempt from securing Colorado tags for their vehicles.

I'm pretty sure he's never been employed at any fire department. He would need a paycheck to qualify for the exemption and he would have had to move to CO to take that job in the fire department.

 

[10ofRods]

I don't think there is anything questionable about the neighbor calling 911. I had an experience where I needed to contact a family member who lived with me, and she didn't answer her phone all day. I started to worry that she fell or something, so I called my neighbor, who is closest to the house, to go over and knock on the door and look around, in case my family member was asleep. So if the girls wanted to reach mom to give an update as to when hey would arrive, and weren't able to reach her, they probably just asked the neighbor to go check on her. When the neighbor couldn't locate her, perhaps they asked her to check if her bike was visible (pure speculation) and then asked her to call 911 because they were too far from home, the neighbor was there to meet the police, answer questions, etc. ALL IMO.

I grew up in a semi-rural area (more houses in our little area than in the Puma Path area, but many houses secluded from other houses. So it was really common for neighbors to check on neighbors. The elderly liked to offer to do this and still do it, and the young people keep an eye on the elderly and notice any change of happens/signs of distress.

It's just a very small town thing to do.

 

[marylamby]

We cannot sleuth the children or where they were - my comment was related to contact between a parent and child and In my experience -it is frequent - and we have no idea when SM last had any contact with friends or family other than what’s been reported in MSM - which has not been disclosed IIRC
JMO

Yes but we can go off of our own experience that late teen/early 20's kids tend to text, almost exclusively, with exceptions of birthdays and special holidays. I didn't see any sleuthing of the kids. I may have missed it but I don't think so.

 

[marylamby]

I grew up in a semi-rural area (more houses in our little area than in the Puma Path area, but many houses secluded from other houses. So it was really common for neighbors to check on neighbors. The elderly liked to offer to do this and still do it, and the young people keep an eye on the elderly and notice any change of happens/signs of distress.

It's just a very small town thing to do.

Surely what you say is true. What doesn't make sense is asking that caring neighbor to call police instead of doing it himself.

 

[Knox]

That was a stab at levity and I guess it failed. In the show Survivor, one of the contestants used to climb a palm tree over the water well and listen to the others plotting. He did it in two separate shows and no one figured it out. He won both times.

That strategy seems familiar. Someone in this case did not climb a palm tree to over hear a conversation, but surely did manipulate others to do his bidding from afar.
Clean hands marylamby, degree of separation ...

 

[marylamby]

That strategy seems familiar. Someone in this case did not climb a palm tree to over hear a conversation, but surely did manipulate others to do his bidding from afar.
Clean hands marylamby, degree of separation ...

I'm with you, Knox. But, that's only one degree of separation, if that's the case, and only one person who could blow it all up.
However, we can't be sure where BM was, unless LE confirms his alibi, and I'm certainly not taking his word for it.

 

[Boxer]

I'm pretty sure he's never been employed at any fire department. He would need a paycheck to qualify for the exemption and he would have had to move to CO to take that job in the fire department.

He was a volunteer fireman. All the departments are run on volunteers recruited by paid chiefs with a few paid position.

 

[FelicityLemon]

I don't know if it's a requirement, but I've seen many vehicles in my decades of living with variations of "Volunteer Fireman" and "Volunteer Firefighter" decals. Mentioning it because it would be something to help identify a vehicle.

I also don't know if all locations have the same requirements to be a volunteer firefighter, but where I live, you have to graduate from an accredited fire academy, pass a background investigation, have a state EMT or Paramedic card and keep up annual training among other requirements. Takes a dedicated and talented individual to be a volunteer.

 

[Dave F.]

Verizon offers the only cell covering the actual residence. We have no idea of the overall dependability or reachability of 911 service, but there were recent issues IMO

"Chaffee County Sheriff's Office
May 7 ·

The Chaffee County dispatch center received information, that Verizon is having an issue that may affect 9-1-1 service. If you try to call 9-1-1 and cannot get thru, you can call 719-539-2596 to reach the dispatch center. This appears to be a statewide issue. We have tested 9-1-1 with a Verizon phone and were able to get thru, so the issue may be periodic. If you do try calling 9-1-1 and can't get thru, please advise the dispatcher when you call the non-emergency line. We will update as soon as they advise the issue has been fixed."
Chaffee County Sheriff's Office

 

[pocketaccent]

Surely what you say is true. What doesn't make sense is asking that caring neighbor to call police instead of doing it himself.

1. It looks like BM staged a bike abduction scenario.
2. The bike had to disappear together with SM. At the same time. This is a must.
3. BM could not be in the vicinity of his home when both disappeared. He needed to be seen as though he had nothing to do with the disappearance of SM or the bike.
4. He needed an alibi. He was in Denver when both disappeared. The poor neighbor became his alibi.

(speculation and MOO)

 

[PaulaDC]

1. It looks like BM staged a bike abduction scenario.
2. The bike had to disappear together with SM. At the same time. This is a must.
3. BM could not be in the vicinity of his home when both disappeared. He needed to be seen as though he had nothing to do with the disappearance of SM or the bike.
4. He needed an alibi. He was in Denver when both disappeared. The poor neighbor became his alibi.

(speculation and MOO)

Personally I think the bike could have been tossed very late in the game. Someone could have stolen it thinking it was just abandoned if it was left too much earlier than when it was found. That would have changed the entire scenario. moo

 

[LClapper]

I wonder. My sister lives in a small town about the size of Maysville and in a county with a population similar to that of Chaffee County. She's taught school in her area for over 30 years. She knows every teacher, minister, store owner, police officer and public official for several towns over. Heck, she's had half of 'em in her classroom. If she had to call 911, she'd likely be talking to someone she knew. Don't know if the Morphew neighbor was a transplant, but could she been super comfortable calling 911 because she knew the dispatch operator?

I'd think as a volunteer firefighter, he was likely familiar with dispatch as well.

 

[gitana1]

I still have Almost daily contact with all my adult children and sisters - either a text, a quick call or a picture of a flower, kid, my garden, the dogs -car- Their choice so I have no idea how long it was between the last contact with family just like I have no idea of when she was last seen by anyone jmo

I’m similar.