Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #25

[MsBetsy]

I wonder how quickly the friend of Suzanne reported her abruptly ended text conversation to the sheriff?

According to PE, it just suddenly stopped and/or changed at some point. I would think that would have caused her enough alarm to tell them early on. Just a guess, though. That's what I would have done if it were my closest friend.

 

[Fireflize]

I wonder how quickly the friend of Suzanne reported her abruptly ended text conversation to the sheriff?

Me too. I'm thinking that she contacted LE about 30 seconds after she heard that Suzanne was missing. Moo

 

[Boxer]

Absolutely. Especially when there are major life changes in play. A major illness, financial problems, children leaving home, major move. Moo

Their move really bothers me. From hyper social Indiana - to an isolated mountain house.
MOO to me it appears to be a move to make BM feel better, not "captured" or weakened by modern life.
The "Wild man" thing was a Christian church theme a few years ago, about the time they moved.
But Indiana is known for for its social connectedness, and would be a much greater change for Suzanne than BM who reportedly was stand offish already.

 

[Fireflize]

Nice post, I agree.

If he were to bury something, wouldn't he have had to have done it several days prior to the pour? Not sure he would have been able to get his compaction passed if he spent 30 minutes during the night burying something? If it was buried deep then in my eyes that would be much more difficult (& noticeable) with a pour a day or two later, possibly if back filled with aggregate.

In my opinion; I have this thought the dig was a witch hunt. There are a lot of things that could have had last minute excavation on. The late night equipment use could have been something as simple as he needed that equipment in Denver and knew he had to use it quickly at that job. Being a small time operator he could have just needed to wrap up something and get the equipment loaded for the next job, because that was the only piece of equipment he had.

In my day, I would make sure family time was had then I had a few late night job site checks, but mostly after everyone was snoring, I was in the office catching up.

This was a slab pour, as you know there is a lot of activity on that grade right before pouring, IMO it would have been pretty tough to bury something a couple of days prior and not have it noticed, fresh gravel would red flag an inspector, or at least have him inspect/ask. There are guys double checking everything(plumbing/electrical/drainage/forms/etc.) and walking all around up until the pour. Especially if its a Monday or Tuesday pour with signs of a fresh gravel area /compaction(excavation) that appeared over the weekend without any prior notice.

I would not describe LE's excavation of the slab as a witch hunt. Nor would I describe any aspect of their investigation as a witch hunt. They have a duty to follow evidence, and I feel confident that they are on top of this case. Moo

 

[Hoss569]

I would not describe LE's excavation of the slab as a witch hunt. Nor would I describe any aspect of their investigation as a witch hunt. They have a duty to follow evidence, and I feel confident that they are on top of this case. Moo

Witch hunt was a poor choice of words. IMO I am VERY confident they are on top of this case, and they are following evidence, tips, etc.

 

[LietKynes]

Yes, I'm wondering if the purpose is to appeal to the suspect's conscience. Those particular pieces of jewelry must have been cherished by Suzanne. I wonder if the necklace was an anniversary gift.

bbm
Yep.
Wouldn't that be sad.
LE is sending a message.

 

[LietKynes]

I wonder how quickly the friend of Suzanne reported her abruptly ended text conversation to the sheriff?

Good question. ^^^
Someone may have hit her violently or strangled her... so that the phone text "changed" and did not 'end' as in shut down.

 

[happyday]

The handful of countries still welcoming US tourists

Anyone concerned about someone fleeing the country, there's only a small handful of countries letting Americans in so shouldn’t be too hard for LE to keep an eye on that. Serbia, Tunisia, North Macedonia?

 

[Knox]

They should have been doing this from day 1 instead they put all their eggs into Barry.

To be clear, you're suggesting the CCSO, CBI & FBI are in collusion and out to get Barry Morphew? I'll have to mull that over ...

 

[MsBetsy]

Good question. ^^^
Someone may have hit her violently or strangled her... so that the phone text "changed" and did not 'end' as in shut down.

It was hard to understand exactly what they were saying about the sudden end to the conversation and the "change." I don't know if it changed before it ended abruptly or after that when she was trying to reach her. They said something about her messages not being reciprocated so I had the impression there was no response after it suddenly stopped.

So I wonder if it changed because Suzanne was distracted during the end of the conversation. Maybe she and Barry had started arguing about something and she was texting in between. The communication lasted from mid-afternoon until mid-evening so I'm thinking it wasn't constant. Maybe BM was getting impatient and angry because she wasn't giving him her full attention.

I'm thinking there was a heated argument that escalated rather than a sudden attack that caught her off guard.

Imo

 

[lamlawindy]

Their move really bothers me. From hyper social Indiana - to an isolated mountain house.
MOO to me it appears to be a move to make BM feel better, not "captured" or weakened by modern life.
The "Wild man" thing was a Christian church theme a few years ago, about the time they moved.
But Indiana is known for for its social connectedness, and would be a much greater change for Suzanne than BM who reportedly was stand offish already.

The move initially struck me as odd as well. The Moorman family is big and seems to be close. Additionally, Barry had an established business. The Morphews were active in their church. Colorado housing is also much more expensive than here in Indiana. All these facts would militate against moving.

That being said, their college-age daughter moved to Colorado for school; given how close the immediate Morphew family seems to be, this could explain their move to Colorado. For a family that appears to enjoy outdoor activities -- per the photos that have been shown in the media -- there's also the climate factor: Today here in central Indiana the humidity is 75%, in Salida, it's 24%. It's a lot more fun outdoors when the humidity is lower (when we visited Colorado last summer, I noticed that many people were biking, hiking, running even when it was 85-degrees or more, something that normally doesn't happen during an Indiana summer).

In sum, I can't say the move was out-of-the-blue for the Morphews. It wouldn't be what I'd do, but it also doesn't appear out of left field.

 

[Knox]

Chris addressed the close friend at around 5:00 of the highlight video. He was very careful how he worded it, but he said said 'she has been con....(he broke off this word) diligently trying to find her girlfriend and has been communicating, but is not getting reciprocating type of responses. We believe that LE is aware of this.'

I caught that too, so was Chris implying she was trying to communicate with BM and is getting no response?

 

[Fireflize]

The move initially struck me as odd as well. The Moorman family is big and seems to be close. Additionally, Barry had an established business. The Morphews were active in their church. Colorado housing is also much more expensive than here in Indiana. All these facts would militate against moving.

That being said, their college-age daughter moved to Colorado for school; given how close the immediate Morphew family seems to be, this could explain their move to Colorado. For a family that appears to enjoy outdoor activities -- per the photos that have been shown in the media -- there's also the climate factor: Today here in central Indiana the humidity is 75%, in Salida, it's 24%. It's a lot more fun outdoors when the humidity is lower (when we visited Colorado last summer, I noticed that many people were biking, hiking, running even when it was 85-degrees or more, something that normally doesn't happen during an Indiana summer).

In sum, I can't say the move was out-of-the-blue for the Morphews. It wouldn't be what I'd do, but it also doesn't appear out of left field.

PE indicated that the move was due to business "stressors." We can't sleuth his business. But I feel that things were not going well for BM professionally, he was losing respect, and he didn't see a way forward in Indiana. Moo of course.

 

[oviedo]

PE indicated that the move was due to business "stressors." We can't sleuth his business. But I feel that things were not going well for BM professionally, he was losing respect, and he didn't see a way forward in Indiana. Moo of course.

ITA
JMO

 

[MsBetsy]

I caught that too, so was Chris implying she was trying to communicate with BM and is getting no response?

Either that or he's talking about the friend continuing to try to get a response from Suzanne throughout the rest of the evening and the next day. At some point she must have reached out to BM, though. I'm not sure if the "reciprocating response" refers to Suzanne, Barry or both. They probably were vague because they did not want to reveal what his responses were if she did reach out to him during that time.

 

[Lilypad13]

Sure. I just want to clearly understand what type of reprisal is being conjectured.

My point is that an unwillingness to challenge the guardianship petition is tantamount to agreeing to the guardianship. A caveat was mentioned: unwillingness to challenge the guardianship due to fear of reprisal, potentially a valid concern. I just want to know what form that reprisal supposedly will take so that I can determine if it's realistic enough to deter the Moormans from challenging the guardianship.

Could the feared reprisal to avoid be in the form of not drawing attention to something else r/t family dynamics concerning land/property? If that makes sense?

 

[GordianKnot]

Honestly I'm a little pissed off with LE giving out these missing persons flyers today. They either can't get Barry or they've been on a witch hunt for 3 months.

They should have been doing this from day 1 instead they put all their eggs into Barry.

BBM:

<modsnip: Removed rude and personalizing comment>

This isn't the first time they've passed out fliers, either.
It's simply the most recent instance of their having done so.
I can't imagine why anyone would take issue with their continuing to reach out to the community this way.

In point of fact, there are any number of reasons why LE might have distributed those particular fliers yesterday.
Personally, I think the intention of those fliers is more about sending a message to the perp than they are about trying to solicit information from the public.

It was a brilliant strategic move, regardless of whether or not those most recent fliers generate any new tips.

JMO.

 

[Warwick7]

What if she called LE and they’ve known since the beginning about May 9? It could explain their early reaction - IMO

This has crossed my mind many many times.

I want to see the data and see if her friend tried to reach BM that night.
Bam!

 

[Tate123]

You disregard the fact, she wanted 20 more years!

Let's hope someone gets more than 20 years.

 

[Pak31]

They should have been doing this from day 1 instead they put all their eggs into Barry.

I don’t think they need to put this flyer out. IMO this is just to send a message to whomever they feel is involved in her disappearance. They are communicating with him or her without saying a word.