Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #22

[Boxer]

Agree. I know some people from trailer parks.

Usually, two groups of people live in trailer parks:

a) people like you and me, but not having enough money to afford the cost of property in our neighborhoods, who want their kids to have better lives and attend good schools

b) people who have substance abuse issues. They are at a higher risk for property crime, so robbing the house while SM was away, yes. Abducting SM - why? Even human trafficking usually includes women (and men) with the same issues. Young kids are a different group, but abducting well-off woman close to 50 is a problem and nothing else.
Maybe a SK, but a low chance.

ETA: the chance of the perpetrator being from the RV camper site is statistically the same as any of SM’s neighbors. MOO

The mental problems of someone so bold and driven to attack someone else in broad daylight usually show up as other thinking problems as well, producing mistakes in any attempt to cover up.
Usually, but sometimes the perp lucks out.

 

[skyvoyager]

Most now are either aluminum alloy (low end) or carbon fiber (mid to high end). Titanium ALLOY (not pure titanium, but with aluminum added) were common among non-racers 30 years ago. Titanium alloy is not easy to weld for the joints whereas carbon fiber with an epoxy is not as difficult or costly to put in a mold and create. Almost all bike manufacturers either provide aluminum alloy or carbon fiber. A few companies still make titanium alloy - Litespeed and Lynsky (custom) - and a few like Italian companies Colnago and DeRosa still offer steel frame brakes, but it is mostly aluminum alloy or carbon fiber.

I know bigger riders ( ie over 200 lbs) that prefer titanium.... i have seen carbon bike frames crack.
Lynsky makes a great bike.... but very expensive.

 

[skyvoyager]

Most now are either aluminum alloy (low end) or carbon fiber (mid to high end). Titanium ALLOY (not pure titanium, but with aluminum added) were common among non-racers 30 years ago. Titanium alloy is not easy to weld for the joints whereas carbon fiber with an epoxy is not as difficult or costly to put in a mold and create. Almost all bike manufacturers either provide aluminum alloy or carbon fiber. A few companies still make titanium alloy - Litespeed and Lynsky (custom) - and a few like Italian companies Colnago and DeRosa still offer steel frame brakes, but it is mostly aluminum alloy or carbon fiber.

I know bigger riders ( ie over 200 lbs) that prefer titanium.... i have seen carbon bike frames crack.
Lynsky makes a great bike.... but very expensive.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

I think we are talking about 2 different parks. An RV park has set-ups for big motor homes. You pull in and stay a few days with water and electric. A trailer park has permanent trailers that don't move around. I believe there to be a significant difference between the 2 but I could be wrong.

In my tiny town they are combined. One RV park, co-located with our laundromat, contains both some mobile homes and a few small/old RVs, where people who can't afford regular rents live permanently, and also sometimes big fancy RVs that come just for a few days or weeks.

Which prompts the thought -- are there laundry facilities at the Monarch Spur RV park? Are there folks who live there long term, or only tourist-type visitors?

 

[JnRyan]

I know bigger riders ( ie over 200 lbs) that prefer titanium.... i have seen carbon bike frames crack.
Lynsky makes a great bike.... but very expensive.

True. My brother, who is heavier than my 195-200#, has two titanium bikes - a road and a cross - and one is a Lynsky. He prefers it over anything else. (Of course, he's also a Campy snob, too.)

 

[skyvoyager]

I wonder if the cameras were working on May 7th when Scott allegedly came over to repair her bike?

everything i read said she took the bike to the shop.....now he allegedly came over to repair her bike.....smh

 

[Boxer]

The RV park and talk conjures up memories of Danielle Van Dam, abducted and murdered by David Westerfield. Westerfield was no drifter. He was a well-off professional, an engineer with no criminal record. He was a neighbor. He also had a luxury motor home, which he used in his murder of beautiful little Danielle.

The RV Park is a concern for me in the case of missing SM. It doesn’t matter how nice of a place it is. Some very nice people witnessed Westerfield at the campground

What I’m not seeing is indication from LE that they are looking for a random abductor. I’d expect to at least have LE release a best known “last seen” time and date. If they are looking into the possibility of an abduction based from the RV Park, I’d have to assume they have a POI. And it would be very difficult to understand the second SW for the house.

MOO

It is most infuriating, MOO really the heart of this case. A woman goes missing and no one seems to know when she was last seen.

 

[10ofRods]

LE conducted three consecutive days of searches near the Morphew home. They also closed the highway and conducted searches of various places (10+).

Unless we believe that LE is completely incompetent, of course they talked to the neighbors (whether in campgrounds/RV parks or whatever). They've also asked for people to give tips and hundreds have done so. Then they focused their canvassing on Salida, not on the campground area.

 

[Madeleine74]

It is most infuriating, MOO really the heart of this case. A woman goes missing and no one seems to know when she was last seen.

Her husband and LE probably know. They're not telling us, though.

 

[Truecolors]

Her husband and LE probably know. They're not telling us, though.

I’m certain LE has a “last seen” time, because they’ve referenced it through Lauren Scharf. We know they’ve adjusted it based on new information.

But they aren’t releasing it, which, IMO, points away from random abduction theories.

MOO

 

[OldCop]

It's interesting how we all see things so differently based on our experiences (or in my case lack thereof). I've never been to an RV Park or camping so I would have thought them to be extremely safe, filled with retirees finally getting to see the country.

You read my thoughts here, @Tate123. There is often a very derogatory impression of trailer parks and the people who live in them. Have crimes, drugs, and other problems been associated with some trailer parks? Yes, but a great deal depends on the management of the park and how willing they are to have strict rules and to enforce them. There is also usually a difference between trailer parks and RV parks. Trailer parks are usually for more permanent or long term residents who don’t move their trailers or they rent the trailers from the park management. RV parks are usually set up for people who are traveling or for longer term seasonal guests although there are some that have permanent spots set aside. <modsnip> I can say I have been in some scary, ill run parks, but have also been in beautiful resort-like ones. I don’t know anything about the one in Salida, but we should not make assumptions about it’s inhabitants until we know more.

 

[DizzyB]

Lauren also hinted about security cameras-that there are so many around. Maybe LE knew a whole lot because they reviewed footage in the first hours, and everything after that is just making their case.

 

[10ofRods]

Double-check what you wrote. The adversarial criminal justice system (as opposed to an inquisitorial system that exists in other nations) is premised on the fact that the interplay between the state and defendant will produce something approximating the "truth." That cannot occur if the government has knowledge superior to that of the defense.

I was speaking of the US system, sorry if that wasn't clear. That's because this case is in the US.

Do you practice outside the US? It's sounding like it. To be clear, there is no difference between what the prosecution and defense know and use as evidence at trial.

Nothing I wrote implied or said that the defense isn't allowed equal access to evidence.

My point is to underscore that at the current time there is no defense attorney because no one has been charged.

This point is getting really belabored, but MassGuy has summarized it repeatedly. WHEN an arrest warrant is issued, there will be a defendant and everything will change - including access to information.

BEFORE that point, it's simply not a good idea to put all the evidence before the public and I do not believe any of the 50 states in the US allow that.

 

[rainbowshummingbird]

Lauren also hinted about security cameras-that there are so many around. Maybe LE knew a whole lot because they reviewed footage in the first hours, and everything after that is just making their case.

It was interesting to hear Lauren describe the signs indicating that there are cameras nearby the placement of Suzanne’s bike. If this is true, and if Barry placed Suzanne’s bike there; it would be surprising that Barry wouldn’t have heeded the security cameras. Surely, living nearby he would’ve noticed the cameras. How can this be explained?

 

[MassGuy]

Lauren also hinted about security cameras-that there are so many around. Maybe LE knew a whole lot because they reviewed footage in the first hours, and everything after that is just making their case.

That’s the type of thing that has always made the most sense to me. I think a camera or a witness blew BM’s narrative apart, and did so fairly early on.

The FBI was there too fast, and this whole thing seemed focused on BM within days.

So I think they knew then who was responsible, but it’s still a matter of proving what this person is responsible for.

 

[lamlawindy]

I was speaking of the US system, sorry if that wasn't clear. That's because this case is in the US.

Do you practice outside the US? It's sounding like it. To be clear, there is no difference between what the prosecution and defense know and use as evidence at trial.

Nothing I wrote implied or said that the defense isn't allowed equal access to evidence.

My point is to underscore that at the current time there is no defense attorney because no one has been charged.

This point is getting really belabored, but MassGuy has summarized it repeatedly. WHEN an arrest warrant is issued, there will be a defendant and everything will change - including access to information.

BEFORE that point, it's simply not a good idea to put all the evidence before the public and I do not believe any of the 50 states in the US allow that.

I practice in Indiana, and our courts' warrants and PCAs -- including when nothing is found -- are public records open to public inspection. I
Of course, there are exceptions, but the presumption is that the warrants and PCAs are public. I just happen to think that it is a good idea for the public to know what decisions judicial officers are making.

 

[rainbowshummingbird]

That’s the type of thing that has always made the most sense to me. I think a camera or a witness blew BM’s narrative apart, and did so fairly early on.

The FBI was there too fast, and this whole thing seemed focused on BM within days.

So I think they knew then who was responsible, but it’s still a matter of proving what this person is responsible for.

Do you think Barry missed the cameras because it was dark and he didn’t see them? Do you think he simply forgot about there being cameras located in the area? To go through all of this in effort to conceal a crime, why didn’t he simply drop the bike elsewhere?

IMO

 

[lamlawindy]

If someone other than BM is involved, maybe even mainly, and that would become public knowledge (and should not under all circumstances), is that a reason, to seal the SW for longer than common?

If, for example, there's a credible fear of flight from the jurisdiction, then that would be grounds for maintaining a seal. For example, the late Jeffrey Epstein had the means and wealth to flee the US; sealing would be appropriate to prevent flight.

 

[10ofRods]

I practice in Indiana, and our courts' warrants and PCAs -- including when nothing is found -- are public records open to public inspection. I
Of course, there are exceptions, but the presumption is that the warrants and PCAs are public. I just happen to think that it is a good idea for the public to know what decisions judicial officers are making.

Of course it is a good idea. And it's very frustrating that there's so much less information than what one sees in the newspapers of, say, the 1930's and 1940's.

But surely Indiana doesn't release such information as a rape victim's medical records or details of their injuries or their addresses and so forth to the public? They do redact, right?

<modsnip: off topic>

 

[kay74]

If an abductor stayed in an RV/Camping park, the one closest to SM's house appears to be Monarch Spur RV Park & Campground off of Hwy 50. $35 to $40 per night to hookup an RV or $20/night for a tent for 1 person. Think LE talked to the people at the area RV and camping parks? (I believe they did as part of their investigation).

Would a random drifter have a vehicle? How would this abductor manage to get SM and there's no sign of anything, no struggle, she didn't appear to fall off her bike and skin herself (remember K9s allegedly picked up no scent). Did the drifter think to wipe off SM's bike of all fingerprints (allegedly no fingerprints were found on the bike). Yes, I know about the Mickey Shunick case from many years ago. This isn't that case.

To me it doesn't seem a plausible scenario in this particular case, especially with SM's bike found so close to her home.

IMO

NO fingerprints on the bike! Then why did BM testily say at least 10 people touched it? He was not happy about that and I would not have been either.