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

[swedeheart]

oooh. maybe ID is trying to get an interview with BM. now THAT i'd love to see.

 

[RumorMonger]

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.

Educate me please. Why would the FBI and CBI be necessary for a simple local homicide, especially if they had solid evidence very early on? Just because of a small police force?

 

[MassGuy]

It always comes down to asking the right question...IMO. Perhaps a reporter from that organization asked the right question?

I think that’s spectacularly unlikely. If you go through ID Discovery’s tweets and Facebook posts, they don’t do any of their own reporting.

They merely aggregate the reporting of others. In this case, they appear to have simply done that in the form of a video.

Incidentally, there are countless examples of this on their social media feeds.

 

[LietKynes]

oooh. maybe ID is trying to get an interview with BM. now THAT i'd love to see.

Agreed !

Would be interesting for BM to repeat "Let me tell you what happened..."

 

[EggSalad]

Even before there's a POI or an arrest?

So...in this case of Suzanne Morphew, if LE has 10 suspects or POI's, if the case were in Indiana, we'd all know who those people were? But not their addresses.

I've seen newspapers from California from 1960 and earlier where it is clear that police had "rounded up" a slew of suspects and then found minor charges to bring against each, so that they could be booked. Of course the Zoot Suit Trial is the most famous, but there are many others. We stopped doing that a long time ago in California and as @Dave F. says, it's been that way a long time in Colorado as well. I've also lived in several other states in the West (NM, West Texas, Utah) and have followed trials in the other Western states for years - it's been a long time (if ever) that LE released information about any persons prior to an arrest.

Now I will say that this gives a lot of latitude to LE and CO seems to be the most tight-lipped. I watched it start during the JonBenet case and all that has ensued since then. We wouldn't have the information we do have about that case had not some LE and prosecutors, after leaving their employment, wrote books. Lots of books and interviews.

What is unusual in this case, really, is the near total silence of everyone in Salida. Apparently, there's only one other permanent resident in Maysville who might know anything and she has said what she wants to say. Usually, in a small town, there's at least one town gossip who wants to speak to the press off-record. However, in today's journalism we have some unusual situations where many newspapers do not want "off-record" statements unless the person's identity is known both to the editor (who also talks to the person) and the journalist has good reason for protecting their identity (safety). This isn't done so much any more - so my issue is always with the press, not the courts.

For example, again in the Kenzie Lueck case, the neighbors did start to talk to reporters before LE released similar information. LE released a lot of information right upon arrest and did not attempt to conceal search sites while the searches were happening.

When a crime happens in the small town where I grew up, all I have to do is go to FB and read the gossip shared (usually with qualifications and provisos) by my former high school classmates. The local police are known for "leaks." I think they believe a certain number of leaks can make a suspect trip him/herself up. I also think they hope that letting someone know they're onto them makes that person more likely to confess and therefore avoid stricter sentencing (that's what they say). But it's the residents themselves who talk and share info. A woman recently barricaded herself into her house, was well-armed, and fired a few shots (at a neighbor's house), then set the living room on fire and fled out the back door. Even while it was happening, the neighbors were tweeting about the various issues and causes.

SO...it's interesting that Salida is so quiet. Is it because it's a resort town? Would an entire town obey LE if asked to stay quiet? Is everyone quiet for their own reasons? Is it just local culture? Is there a collective reason for quiet? All of these things can happen in any town, but Salida is an outdoor-adventure oriented town.

To me, the one thing that LE ruled out early that perplexes me is the involvement of a stranger. I wish I knew what the rumors are about that and how they think they ruled that out. So quickly.

And, it would seem, permanently.

My guess on the LE silence is that Sherriff Speeze isn't the average, long time small town Sherriff. He’s a highly accomplished LE official from Denver where he worked a long time in undercover crime units. So the man must know a thing or two about what info getting out can do to harm an investigation. Then you add the FBI and CBI showing up early on and I’d imagine that is enough to make the people under Speeze realize that leaks are not good.

As for the town people, I’ve been curious about that too. A couple plausible theories:

-Covid had everyone on lock down leading up to SM’s disappearance, so maybe many town people hadn't had contact with the Morphews in months.

-Maybe the towns people know a lot more than they are saying publicly but there is a fear of speaking out on what they know because the story is much more complicated and dangerous than we know. Or maybe the towns people have some things they like to keep secret (like black market weed grows) and they don’t want to draw any attention to themselves.

-Or maybe very few people knew anything about BM and SM.

 

[RumorMonger]

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.

Its curious to me that a local resident would make such a mistake when there is apparently such pervasive signage. If a camera is the answer, I suspect something more like a trail camera. IMO

 

[Cassady]

I think that’s spectacularly unlikely. If you go through ID Discovery’s tweets and Facebook posts, they don’t do any of their own reporting.

They merely aggregate the reporting of others. In this case, they appear to have simply done that in the form of a video.

Incidentally, there are countless examples of this on their social media feeds.

So they are not a legit MSM source?

 

[MassGuy]

Educate me please. Why would the FBI and CBI be necessary for a simple local homicide, especially if they had solid evidence very early on? Just because of a small police force?

Yes. This is the exact type of case that you would at a bare minimum, expect the CBI to be involved. A small police department that is likely inexperienced with cases like this, would also need a tremendous amount of resources to investigate this properly.

If they had a body, then perhaps the CBI and FBI wouldn’t have been necessary, but who knows?

I think it was a brilliant move bringing them in so early, as those early hours and days are so crucial.

 

[Poedelini]

Agreed !

Would be interesting for BM to repeat "Let me tell you what happened..."

Would be more interesting to hear him say 'let me tell you what you need to edit out'... Jmo

 

[Ontario Mom]

So they are not a legit MSM source?

I never considered them MSM to begin with, but as far as being an approved source for WS, I do believe they are. (flagging my own post so a mod can weigh in)
That being said, if all they're doing is aggregating news reports for a clip, then no, that's not reporting, in the traditional sense.
As well, the claim they make that BM is not suspect by LE as being involved, has never come from CCSO, publicly.
So, either he is cleared and they've declined to mention that to the public, or he's not, and ID took liberties there, for some odd reason.

jmo

 

[MassGuy]

So they are not a legit MSM source?

Well there’s no evidence they actually talked to anyone, or are doing their own reporting here.

It looks like they have compiled information from news reports. I don’t think they are breaking any news.

 

[Tate123]

I think that’s spectacularly unlikely. If you go through ID Discovery’s tweets and Facebook posts, they don’t do any of their own reporting.

They merely aggregate the reporting of others. In this case, they appear to have simply done that in the form of a video.

Incidentally, there are countless examples of this on their social media feeds.

I agree. It reads like a newsbot.... just compiling snippets with pics.

 

[EggSalad]

Yes. This is the exact type of case that you would at a bare minimum, expect the CBI to be involved. A small police department that is likely inexperienced with cases like this, would also need a tremendous amount of resources to investigate this properly.

If they had a body, then perhaps the CBI and FBI wouldn’t have been necessary, but who knows?

I think it was a brilliant move bringing them in so early, as those early hours and days are so crucial.

One could also assume that Sherriff Speeze had a pretty solid rolodex of CBI and FBI connections given his work in Denver and had built good working relationships with them over the years. So when he called for help, there wasn’t a delay or questioning of why help was needed.

 

[Cassady]

Yes. This is the exact type of case that you would at a bare minimum, expect the CBI to be involved. A small police department that is likely inexperienced with cases like this, would also need a tremendous amount of resources to investigate this properly.

If they had a body, then perhaps the CBI and FBI wouldn’t have been necessary, but who knows?

I think it was a brilliant move bringing them in so early, as those early hours and days are so crucial.

The point is that if this was only a local homicide involving a local suspect, only the CBI would come in to assist local LE...IMO.

The FBI usually only gets involved in investigating crimes that have some sort of federal/interstate nexus...IMO

 

[Cassady]

Well there’s no evidence they actually talked to anyone, or are doing their own reporting here.

It looks like they have compiled information from news reports. I don’t think they are breaking any news.

Do they have a production company?

A legal department?

Investigative journalists?

 

[Ontario Mom]

Yes. This is the exact type of case that you would at a bare minimum, expect the CBI to be involved. A small police department that is likely inexperienced with cases like this, would also need a tremendous amount of resources to investigate this properly.

If they had a body, then perhaps the CBI and FBI wouldn’t have been necessary, but who knows?

I think it was a brilliant move bringing them in so early, as those early hours and days are so crucial.

I read somewhere early on (not a clue where - edited below for the timing) the FBI ERT (evidence response team) was brought in at the CCSO request because of their specific expertise on handling evidence that the CCSO doesn't have on staff.
I can only assume the same for CBI.
It's the logical move to make, when you've got a case like this, and the county in charge has deputies that are literally juggling several different roles.
About Operations - Chaffee County Sheriff

ETA: It is interesting that as early as 05.13 the CBI and the FBI were already on board. Update on Suzanne Morphew search Tipline established - Chaffee County Sheriff

"In addition to efforts by the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office and assistance from local and regional partners, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have been requested to provide resources to aid in the effort." Search continues for Suzanne Morphew - Chaffee County Sheriff

 

[EggSalad]

The point is that if this was only a local homicide involving a local suspect, only the CBI would come in to assist local LE...IMO.

The FBI usually only gets involved in investigating crimes that have some sort of federal/interstate nexus...IMO

That’s a really good point. I remember trying to wrap my head around the FBI and CBI involvement early on in this case.

One speculation I had is that some aspect of the M’s lives (business, taxes etc...) was already on the FBI’s radar before anything happened to SM.

 

[GordianKnot]

Well there’s no evidence they actually talked to anyone, or are doing their own reporting here.

It looks like they have compiled information from news reports. I don’t think they are breaking any news.

BBM:

Ohhh, I'm not so sure about that...I think it probably came as a complete shock to Sheriff Spezze that LE doesn't believe BM is involved in SM's disappearance.

In fact, I imagine when he saw that he probably said to himself, "Huh! That's news to me!"

Then shook his head and laughed.

*ETA: I hope LS contacts the Sheriff to get confirmation of ID's claim. I'd love to hear his response.

JMO.

 

[Tate123]

The point is that if this was only a local homicide involving a local suspect, only the CBI would come in to assist local LE...IMO.

The FBI usually only gets involved in investigating crimes that have some sort of federal/interstate nexus...IMO

Local law enforcement agencies are not subordinate to the FBI but I suspect their expertise and sophisticated lab capabilities are invaluable to them in a case like this.

 

[RumorMonger]

So...........the question was:
Where's the dumpster?
I can't find it anywhere near their property.
Have you seen it anywhere?
IMO

FWIW, probably zero, I went back to the news station helicopter footage of the area which was taken in May and I can't see any Dumpster or likely place to locate one. Not saying it isn't there, just saying ... well, I guess I'm just saying that was a waste of 13 minutes. Younger eyes might have better luck, though. There is a nice wide angle at the 9 minute mark. IMO