Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #18

[Pak31]

bbm
Yeah I very much doubt he was there for a calendar photo shoot....

 

[al66pine]

FF Calendar Phot Shoot? No (AFAIK).

...the theory....Someone even mentioned that there was a photo shoot for a calendar going on as well ....This is my personal belief as to how that rumor got started. If BM did tell police he was there for training, we don’t know....

@Pak31 bbm sbm Yes, I recall reading in mid-May, online about a FF calendar (tryout?) photo shoot the weekend of May (10?) in Denver area and thinking ok, he may have been there, then realized no, that was May (10?) 2019, so not appliable. Cannot find it now, will not search any further as it does not matter.

Granted, if there was a FF calendar shoot May 2020/MoDay weekend, likely it was cancelled, but LE knows one way or the other--- that is, if BM told LE or anyone he was in Denver for that or any other FF training. just my 2 cts.

 

[MsBetsy]

It originated with Rick Salinger of CBS4 News Denver on May 22, 2020. That information has been removed since it original editing. Now the only reference to the property owner is:

"The property owner has told others that investigators have been using an x-ray type device to try to see through the concrete."

X-ray type device?

Finding Suzanne Morphew: Investigators Search Husband's Job Site Near Salida

They are probably referring to Ground Penetrating Radar and didn't know the name for it. Jmo

 

[GordianKnot]

I find the move odd for all the reasons you’ve mentioned. Something tells me BM burned a few too many bridges back in IN and HE needed/wanted a new start. His family likely never witnessed the other side of him. I hate to think he pre-planned that far in advance but maybe once in CO other things began to happen that affected the marriage and SM wanted out. MOO

BBM:

I've really wondered about this, too.
The timing of the move to CO is extremely odd to me.
The reasons for the move are something of a mystery in and of themselves.
Neither of them had a job transfer.
A lot of her family and friends appear to be back in Indiana.

Whatever the reasons for that move, I think it's entirely possible that SM became homesick.
We haven't heard of her having made new friends there in Salida.
If she was coming off of a serious illness, it would be hard to be in a remote, isolated town with no natural supports outside of BM and the minor daughter.

It's well within the realm of possibility that SM decided she wanted to move back to Indiana.
And that someone else didn't.

JMO.

 

[Dave F.]

They are probably referring to Ground Penetrating Radar and didn't know the name for it. Jmo

............or maybe Clark Kent was one of the reporters and he took off his glasses, triggering his X-ray vision. Just sayin'.

 

[10ofRods]

The only possible use for her phone on the ride that she was going to take would be to catch Spotify or some other channel on her direct satellite internet connection (if they had it at their house) and receive it via her own wi-fi unit. If she had an extremely good unit, she might get good reception for a thousand foot radius of her house, and spotty coverage as long as she was in "line-of-sight" of her house.
However, she would be a fool to do it, because the phone would quickly wear down it's battery trying to find a cell tower to "ping". If she ascended clear to the top, she might find pockets of good cellular connection with the A,T&T tower along the Monarch Crest Trail; but we know that she wasn't planning on getting to the top, as it was deep in snow on May 10th.........ideal for fat-tire bikers but not passable for her on a conventional mountain bike.
I'm going to stick with my assumption that she most likely did not have her phone with her. As I stated before, if her phone is missing with her, that alone might be a telltale clue. IMO

No, once again, you are wrong about what the phone can do. I have YouTube Premium, I download all kinds of things to the phone. Therefore, when I am hiking, I can listen to Tricia on Websleuths or my favorite TV critic. Mostly I listen to audiobooks (I have 10-11 of them just on my phone). I do not need any sort of connection to do this. Just bluetooth for the headphones.

Why wouldn't I do this? It's an important thing to me. While I no longer bike much, I have plenty of friends (and students) who do. Who are women. I do not know where your data on women and phones are coming from, but I'm telling you I know lots of women and many are in Suzanne's age group. Some are in Colorado. We all take our phones on hikes and bikes - for the reasons I just mentioned.

Our batteries do NOT go dead

ALL of these use their phones to broadcast to their airpods (I use Beats).

They don't do it every single time, but on any given day, I see dozens of people on the track doing laps with their airpods and their phones. We constantly discuss which shorts are best for women (men's usually have a pocket - women's don't, so we figure out which brands do have pockets suitable for phones and gift each other with them).

It's a huge use of the phone. PLUS many people are also FB/Instagram uploaders who constantly take pictures on their bike rides and runs

My phone can go 12 hours in the Sierra with no cell service and still be working at the end of the day. Mine is not the latest model. My daughters both have phone cases that provide additional battery at very little weight (and no one I know cares about the added few ounces of the phone or its supplement battery). I know men who do this too.

You do not need wifi to play podcasts or audible or youtube on your phone. It does not wear down the battery or my phone would be dead frequently. I even checked yesterday - after several hours of streaming, it went on its charger last night with 60% still available. You do not need cellular to listen either.

There's absolutely no reason to believe Suzanne intended to go "to the top" of anything. Unless you want to claim that a seasoned Instagrammer/Pinterest/FB user doesn't know how their phone works, Suzanne would also have known to turn cellular off (mine is off most of the time - I don't need it). My watch reminds me to turn it back on when I get in the car. Otherwise, it knows what to do (connect to wifi) when I get home

It's easy peasy. Now, if Suzanne is the type who prefers absolute silence while biking, that's another matter. But the presence of airpods and Apple watch in her life tell me that she very likely listened to *something.* I have downloaded music, too - and sometimes I do that, it's just as easy as listening to Websleuths Radio.

 

[lamlawindy]

I find the move odd for all the reasons you’ve mentioned. Something tells me BM burned a few too many bridges back in IN and HE needed/wanted a new start. His family likely never witnessed the other side of him. I hate to think he pre-planned that far in advance but maybe once in CO other things began to happen that affected the marriage and SM wanted out. MOO

That's possible, but nobody here in Indiana from Hamilton or Madison County have come forward to state that they were swindled by Barry Morphew or that they have some sort of problem with him. If there were bridges burned, somebody would've talked by now.

 

[Minordetails]

Purely hypothetical question regarding the original FF training in Denver. Could it be as simplistic as BM said he was in Denver for FF training and then had to pivot when LE told him it had been cancelled?

If that’s the case, he’ll be arrested within the next 6 months. It also means he probably made other mistakes.
MOO

 

[al66pine]

bbm
Yeah I very much doubt he was there for a calendar photo shoot....

@LietKynes If you're saying BM was not calendar-worthy, there's always Photoshop.
just my 2 cts.

 

[IronOreBetty]

The only possible use for her phone on the ride that she was going to take would be to catch Spotify or some other channel on her direct satellite internet connection (if they had it at their house) and receive it via her own wi-fi unit. If she had an extremely good unit, she might get good reception for a thousand foot radius of her house, and spotty coverage as long as she was in "line-of-sight" of her house.
However, she would be a fool to do it, because the phone would quickly wear down it's battery trying to find a cell tower to "ping". If she ascended clear to the top, she might find pockets of good cellular connection with the A,T&T tower along the Monarch Crest Trail; but we know that she wasn't planning on getting to the top, as it was deep in snow on May 10th.........ideal for fat-tire bikers but not passable for her on a conventional mountain bike.
I'm going to stick with my assumption that she most likely did not have her phone with her. As I stated before, if her phone is missing with her, that alone might be a telltale clue. IMO

Not necessarily. I download music, ebooks & podcasts into my phone so when I ride out of cellular range these things are not impacted. I have a self charging case and I carry a charging stick if it's a long ride.

 

[DizzyB]

I have two daughters slightly older than the M children. I can only speak for myself, but unless my girls are in my house, I have my phone with me at all times. They have been far away, out of reception, yet I still kept it on the off chance that a text or a call was able to get through. I have used it to post private messages to their SM site in case that got through, when they were out of range. I guess some people aren’t as nervous as me, but when my girls are away, I need them to be able to reach me. Even with the reception issues near the M home, I’d still keep my phone with me. Two reasons for that-my kids and in case I needed help.

 

[MassGuy]

<modsnip: quoted post was removed>

Although another Indiana resident has spoken to various media outlets and YouTube channels claiming to have witnessed Barry Morphew’s purportedly violent temper at a construction site there, the source who spoke to CrimeOnline on Friday said they never saw any red flags in Barry’s demeanor.

Missing Suzanne Morphew may have had ‘angst’ about move to Colorado, family friend says [EXCLUSIVE]

 

[Fireflize]

I find the move odd for all the reasons you’ve mentioned. Something tells me BM burned a few too many bridges back in IN and HE needed/wanted a new start. His family likely never witnessed the other side of him. I hate to think he pre-planned that far in advance but maybe once in CO other things began to happen that affected the marriage and SM wanted out. MOO

The move bothers me as well. As Madeline pointed out, my mind tries to fill in the blanks in this baffling story, and it may not be accurate. That said, the picture I see is two fold.
One, I see BMs behavior, as described by the man who gave the Gary Hughes interview, as volatile. It painted him as being agitated to the point of making a fool of himself, unable to tolerate things not going his way. Furious with being inconvenienced. In any profession, word gets around, there are click that help you prosper. He could indeed have been burning bridges, losing respect from other areas as well. I don't rule out a drinking problem or even a mental injury/disorder at play here. Traumatic brain injury? Might be a good defense strategy if true.
Second, I see Suzanne retaining her circle of friends, perhaps small. I expect that she had a lot of sincere support through her cancer treatments, perhaps rides to appointments, emotional support. The supportive relationships with friends, and her cancer diagnosis, may have brought about a change of attitude. If her husband indeed had control issues when it came to her, this would have really gotten under his skin.
I can totally envision the move as an answer to the need for a fresh start, with business associates, as well as to get control of his wife again. But it may have been too late. She may not have been enthusiastic about all his business plans or her marriage. I think simply she may have wanted out, and he didn't want just 50%. He wanted 100%. All my opinion only of course.

 

[Tate123]

I have two daughters slightly older than the M children. I can only speak for myself, but unless my girls are in my house, I have my phone with me at all times. They have been far away, out of reception, yet I still kept it on the off chance that a text or a call was able to get through. I have used it to post private messages to their SM site in case that got through, when they were out of range. I guess some people aren’t as nervous as me, but when my girls are away, I need them to be able to reach me. Even with the reception issues near the M home, I’d still keep my phone with me. Two reasons for that-my kids and in case I needed help.

I agree. I keep mine on and with me at all times in case any of my daughters need me. All the moms I know do the same.

 

[IronOreBetty]

IMO:

I read that no prints at all were found on SM's bike. IF that's true (and I'm not saying it is), that is suspicious because every bike owner handles their bike even when they're not riding, and they don't only ever touch their bike with gloves on. Just wheeling the bike out, putting the bike on a rack, in a car, taking the bike for service or repair. At some point a human who owns a bike touches their bike and not only at the stem or back of the seat.

/IMO

I don't think it would be suspicious if BM's prints were on or even all over the bike. My husband maintains our bikes (oil, air in tires, etc) and whether we are riding together or I am going alone, he often gets the bike out of the garage for me. When people live together, you have to expect that prints and DNA of all occupants and frequent visitors to the home will be everywhere.

 

[al66pine]

Fire Chief Stmt re FF Training?

The fact that BM's boss, the fire chief, went on public record to say that BM could not have been at organised fire training as nothing had been scheduled during the pandemic, suggests that this was more than rumours in the ether....

@Dr.StClements sbm Well, yes, but the fire chief said ^ about training, but IIRC he qualified it w a phrase to this effect -- no training sponsored by us.
Does 'us' refer to the local FD, or a state-wide affiliated FF group? Does anyone here know about Vol-FF continuing-ed or certfication-update practices common or standard in FF in CO or other states? Probably hair-splitting (by me) about fire chief's comments, as seems likely no FF training occurred that weekend. just my 2 cts.

 

[IronOreBetty]

<modsnip: quoted post was removed> ... if BM is in his early 50s, that means he has been working for about 35 years. We know he lived and worked in the same area for over 30 of his adult years. If only one person has come forward to say they had a difficult time with him on a job site, that hardly implies that he is combative, difficult, a thief, a bully or even a jerk. The fact that nobody else that knows him either personally or professionally has anything bad to say, or has any desire to kick him when he's down tells me he was probably a pretty good guy with a solid reputation, both in Indiana and in Colorado.

<mod snip>

 

[Deleted member 718]

Hmm, I don't use my iphone at the gym. I use my ipod touch.

 

[GordianKnot]

bbm
Yeah I very much doubt he was there for a calendar photo shoot....

To be fair, I've seen lots of calendars featuring snakes, sharks, and all kinds of other predatory animals.

I mean, he's not my idea of a centerfold, but I don't see why he couldn't be featured in May's calendar photo.

JMO.

 

[10ofRods]

bbm
Agreed.
LE have diligently examined all angles of this case !
Imo sheriff Spezze had reason to call in outside assistance after the first day or two.
I'm certain he has his reasons and he possibly has more inside information about the Morphews than the rest of us.

Re. the bolded : I think it's safe to say now that Suzanne was not abducted, nor a suicide or an animal attack.
The only scenario in which I can imagine an abduction would be a kidnapping orchestrated by someone else.
Imo.

Heck, I have more information about the Morphews than what we can speak about here - so I'm *certain* Spezze does. In fact, I think it is probably an overwhelming amount and given the slowness of the courts right now, LE is probably in the "puzzle fitting stage."

Which pieces don't fit? Which angles are weak?

Suzanne did not get far from home on this alleged bike ride. She apparently left few clues/no scent that led to an abrupt end where a car could have picked her up - or to her body - or to a lion's den. I trust the many searchers to know the signs of a big cat attack. I also trust them to know whether Suzanne actually dismounted from her bike (injured or not) and who else had touched her bike recently (if anyone). While fingerprints can be wiped, trace DNA will still be there. Sure, it's normal for BM's DNA to be on something of Suzanne's. But if fingerprints were wiped from the bike...that's quite alarming. If only SM and BM's DNA is on the bike, well, that tells a bit of a story, at least to me.

If there's stranger DNA on the bike, they would not have known that on Day 3 (IMO, I could be wrong). But they would have known about fingerprints. If the bike had fingerprint traces various places but the handlebars were empty of prints, that would have been a Huge Red Flag right there.

If no scent, wiped fingerprints...most people would conclude something was deeply amiss.

Where is Suzanne? No where near her bike was found. So where is she?

I can think of tons of other stuff that LE knows such as every ping from any phone on any cell tower up and down that road; every call/text/location on BM's phone(s). All financial transactions from their accounts for who knows how long before SM disappeared - and very likely continuing up until now.

LE has also spoken to many people. They know quite a bit about the Morphews by now. It's interesting to me that there have been no recent returns to search any bodies of water (that we know about). I have a hunch that interesting information from some persons in Salida may be helping this case along.

LE wants a body. I believe that when they closed the highway to search places as yet undisclosed to us, they may have found really interesting forensic evidence.