Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #35

[Blue Amethyst]

I'm so tired of bobcats -
The Bobcat fire has had me in evacuation warning for the past 9 days with my go bag. I have been wfh.
It has been practically in my backyard.
Today things are looking better.

This thread has kept me sane and given me focus through this stressful time. Thank you all for being here.
Justice for Suzanne.

Lions and liars and bobcats..oh my.
Be safe from the Bobcat fire. I sure hope it doesn’t get any closer to you.

My niece had to evacuate a fire a few years ago. She was so stressed that she grabbed a large watermelon off the cupboard and took it and forgot necessary items.

It must run in the family because her father had a bag full of socks and no undies.

Have your bag packed with all essentials and chocolate for snacking.

 

[Warwick7]

The Weld County District Attorney released 2,000+ pages of discovery in the Watts murder case, and there are some good examples of what information LE was able to obtain from extracted phone data. Also, I noticed that the investigator noted he would obtain a follow-up search warrant to search the hidden browser and dummy apps CW used to hide images on his phone.

Kelsey's case had good info on tracking phones and cell tower triangulation but not near the volume of discovery as Watts case.

Yes, and if I'm not mistaken in the Heather Elvis murder, just turning off and on their phones was partly used for nailing them. Also LE knew the exact moment they took the chip out of their truck for GPS tracking. It is amazing what can be found.

 

[Blue Amethyst]

.

 

[Warwick7]

The Weld County District Attorney released 2,000+ pages of discovery in the Watts murder case, and there are some good examples of what information LE was able to obtain from extracted phone data. Also, I noticed that the investigator noted he would obtain a follow-up search warrant to search the hidden browser and dummy apps CW used to hide images on his phone.

Kelsey's case had good info on tracking phones and cell tower triangulation but not near the volume of discovery as Watts case.

Yes, and if I'm not mistaken in the Heather Elvis murder, just turning off and on their phones was partly used for nailing them. Also LE knew the exact moment they took the chip out of their truck for GPS tracking. It is amazing what can be found.

Iv'e never actually pondered this before but do any cell phone service providers store contents of text messages? I would not be surprised if there was some kind of privacy law preventing them doing so but i really have no idea. I know they record all the times messages and calls are made and received but not sure about the content of the messages.

In the Kelsey Berreth LE had them ALL.

 

[Lilypad13]

Good morning ya’ll! We survived Hurricane Sally with minimal property damage. Our town looks like a bomb went off with trees down and debris everywhere but no flooding so we are very fortunate. The beautiful beaches have so much destruction and flooding with boats and piers strewn about. We just got our power back so wanted to check in and see what’s going on. It doesn’t sound like I missed anything major. No arrest unfortunately. We’ve got family staying here that still doesn’t have power but I’ll try and come back later and join in the discussion. Sending love and gratitude from Alabama to my WS friends for your kind posts and thank you to those who messaged me and kept me company Monday night! No need to reply as I don’t want to derail the thread but just letting you know I’m ok.

 

[Dave F.]

Iv'e never actually pondered this before but do any cell phone service providers store contents of text messages? I would not be surprised if there was some kind of privacy law preventing them doing so but i really have no idea. I know they record all the times messages and calls are made and received but not sure about the content of the messages.

The other person's phone would contain both sides of a text conversation. I think Verizon (which has the tower that services Puma Path) can retrieve text messages within seven days of sending, without possession either phone.
In the Kelsey Berreth case, password information that KK requested was texted to the victim's phone, which was never recovered. It appeared verbatim in the Arrest Affidavit as a message retrieved by search warrant from Verizon. IMO

 

[branmuffin]

I'm not quite following why you believe the abrupt ending to SMs convo with her friend points away from premeditation? If that's the moment something happened to her (which I think is a reasonable assumption at this point), that doesn't seem to indicate an argument that "got out of control", IMO. That seems to indicate an ambush. But do you have another take on that?

Also, why do you think he went to Broomfield more than once? IMO, Broomfield was supposed to be his alibi for SM's "bike ride" - but do you think there was a different reason for that trip?

I don't feel premeditation because it would seem the most inopportune time to murder someone would be when the victim was texting their friend. Especially considering at that moment the perp wouldn't really know what they had been conversing about. I think it more likely that an argument ensued while SM was texting her friend and she just paused the convo but never got back to her. That suggests SM may have decided to go out by herself to avoid the argument and that's when BM really got mad.

So whether she went for a bike ride or even said, I'm taking a shower or whatever means she used to avoid confrontation, that's when BM became physically violent.

As for the two trips to Broomfield. I don't think BM is a master criminal by any means but I do think he is familiar with rocks and dirt, heavy equipment and cars. I'm sure he was aware of all the bells and whistles on his truck and on the newer RR. So however SM met her demise he needed to get rid of evidence so the first trip to Broomfield would have been in a vehicle without tracking to avoid leaving a trail for LE to pick up. I don't know whether the evidence would be a body or items related to a murder but if he took his phone with him maybe that's why there is some issue between cell tower pinging but no evidence on his vehicle. The second trip would have been in his truck with his phone and tools which he may have needed to clean in the hotel room. Someone mentioned upthread that they felt the towels were used to protect the tools from damaging a bath or shower stall while they were being cleaned, hence being sopping wet not just damp from toweling off. MOO

ETA The only caveat to my theory regarding the two trips is that you need to provide vehicle info for check in but that would be easy for LE to check.

 

[Dave F.]

In one of the earlier threads someone local commented that there were trails that led up to the Morphew property or at least close to it. I wonder how easy it would have been to get from the home to the place the bike was found through the woods surrounding the property. Maybe the bike was actually thrown up the hill instead of down the hill. Imo

This Google Earth Aerial shot, which I posted earlier in this thread, clearly shows where the bike was found in relationship to the house. There is no direct path. Carrying the bike directly from the house to the spot it was found would entail:
1. crossing the S. Arkansas River, which was running high and fast, while carrying a bicycle. (nearly impossible to do without mishap),
2. walking directly past the neighbor's house in close proximity,
3. crossing the S. Arkansas river again,
4. walking very dense brushy bottomland forest while carrying a bike.
IMO

Google Earth aerial view, produced entirely in Google Earth Pro with no external editing.

 

[TexieLouWho21]

Very good description!

My point was:
"He could have transported his Bobcat on that trailer with a backhoe attachment installed, but it would have been impossible to carry the Bobcat and the backhoe attachment separately, on the same trailer."
I was referring to the size and structure of the trailer being inadequate to carry the bobcat and separate attachments at the same time, not the adaptability of the Bobcat.

I also am well aware that the larger piece of equipment at the jobsite is designed to dig a wider and deeper hole. It may be the piece of equipment that the neighbor lady heard in the middle of the night, since it was stored on site. My theory is that larger piece of equipment was used to remove and replace the septic leach field by another contractor, during the demo phase in March and April. The original trunk line from it's entry point under the double-wide mobile home that was previously on that site to the old leach field itself, is the location of the LE cut and dig. That refilled trenching could have created a backfill anomaly on the ground penetrating radar in the spot where LE removed a portion of the concrete slab, and dug. The drone photography of the slab search site shows the "beach" worksite. LE made no major disturbance to it during the entire search, and to the best of my observation and study, LE completely ignored the onsite equipment in the search.
There are many, many details that would have had to happen in a very limited time frame for BM's Bobcat to be used to create a quick hole in the ground and fill it back in, anywhere.
IMO

The graphic was produced entirely in Google Earth Pro with no external editing. The "Polygon" feature of GE was used to drop a red outline in the approximate position of the portion of the slab that was removed by LE. The leach field itself, a forklike network of slotted sewer piping, would was located in the non-open area between the U-shaped driveway and the highway (as far from the flowing river as was practical). The site of "the beach" work is seen in this aerial shot as a dark section of riverfront, quite a distance directly behind the area of LE's cut.

Great observation of the old septic lines. We will have to respectfully agree to disagree on the trailer not being able to carry the machine and an extra attachment. I think it could be done,but there may not have been enough time. The attachments aren't that large, but some attachments are awkward.He would have had to load the extra attachment, then secure it down. Then load and secure the Bobcat. Besides there is no conformation that it was actually BM at the work site that night.
MOO

 

[Hoosierfan72]

I don't feel premeditation because it would seem the most inopportune time to murder someone would be when the victim was texting their friend. Especially considering at that moment the perp wouldn't really know what they had been conversing about. I think it more likely that an argument ensued while SM was texting her friend and she just paused the convo but never got back to her. That suggests SM may have decided to go out by herself to avoid the argument and that's when BM really got mad.

So whether she went for a bike ride or even said, I'm taking a shower or whatever means she used to avoid confrontation, that's when BM became physically violent.

As for the two trips to Broomfield. I don't think BM is a master criminal by any means but I do think he is familiar with rocks and dirt, heavy equipment and cars. I'm sure he was aware of all the bells and whistles on his truck and on the newer RR. So however SM met her demise he needed to get rid of evidence so the first trip to Broomfield would have been in a vehicle without tracking to avoid leaving a trail for LE to pick up. I don't know whether the evidence would be a body or items related to a murder but if he took his phone with him maybe that's why there is some issue between cell tower pinging but no evidence on his vehicle. The second trip would have been in his truck with his phone and tools which he may have needed to clean in the hotel room. Someone mentioned upthread that they felt the towels were used to protect the tools from damaging a bath or shower stall while they were being cleaned, hence being sopping wet not just damp from toweling off. MOO

ETA The only caveat to my theory regarding the two trips is that you need to provide vehicle info for check in but that would be easy for LE to check.

Interesting theory - thanks for the clarification.

Of course we don't know the exact exchange between SM and her friend, but I've always assumed that she just went silent mid-convo, which is why I think it was an ambush. IMO, even if an argument was arising simultaneously, most people would at least send their friend a quick "hey - something came up, gotta go" or at least a "gotta run - will get back to you asap" - something of the sorts..... But I guess we don't know for sure that wasn't the case - and even if not, it's possible it went down as you described. I also wonder if the internet connection wasn't cut (router unplugged) - either as part of an ambush, or as a "I want your full attention and I want it now" sort of moment.... JMO

JMO, but I'm not tracking with two trips to Broomfield. I don't see how BM has the time or the need to take two trips there..... I think the destruction of evidence and hiding of the body was done close to home, and Broomfield was the alibi (though, admittedly, I'm still a bit puzzled by the bleach smell there - tool cleanup makes the most sense to me, but not sure where those tools are - maybe cleaned and then discarded in Broomfield somewhere?). I appreciate the diversity of thought on here - I think it's helpful to explore different theories. There are enough holes in the timeline that we have to speculate to fill in the gaps. MOO.

 

[Knox]

Inside garage at Puma Path.
Photo #30.

19057 Puma Path, Salida, CO 81201 | Zillow

Isn't this photo from a reality site when the home was being sold? I would say the previous owner took the barrels when they moved out. Do we know BM had them also?

 

[Skigh]

Good morning ya’ll! We survived Hurricane Sally with minimal property damage. Our town looks like a bomb went off with trees down and debris everywhere but no flooding so we are very fortunate. The beautiful beaches have so much destruction and flooding with boats and piers strewn about. We just got our power back so wanted to check in and see what’s going on. It doesn’t sound like I missed anything major. No arrest unfortunately. We’ve got family staying here that still doesn’t have power but I’ll try and come back later and join in the discussion. Sending love and gratitude from Alabama to my WS friends for your kind posts and thank you to those who messaged me and kept me company Monday night! No need to reply as I don’t want to derail the thread but just letting you know I’m ok.

Just a quick reply to say so glad you are o.k and have not suffered much damage. I watched the U.K news showing the floods and damage and my thoughts went out to all the people affected by it.Hope all other Websleuthers in the storm's path are safe and well.

 

[PaulaDC]

Very good description!

My point was:
"He could have transported his Bobcat on that trailer with a backhoe attachment installed, but it would have been impossible to carry the Bobcat and the backhoe attachment separately, on the same trailer."
I was referring to the size and structure of the trailer being inadequate to carry the bobcat and separate attachments at the same time, not the adaptability of the Bobcat.

I also am well aware that the larger piece of equipment at the jobsite is designed to dig a wider and deeper hole. It may be the piece of equipment that the neighbor lady heard in the middle of the night, since it was stored on site. My theory is that larger piece of equipment was used to remove and replace the septic leach field by another contractor, during the demo phase in March and April. The original trunk line from it's entry point under the double-wide mobile home that was previously on that site to the old leach field itself, is the location of the LE cut and dig. That refilled trenching could have created a backfill anomaly on the ground penetrating radar in the spot where LE removed a portion of the concrete slab, and dug. The drone photography of the slab search site shows the "beach" worksite. LE made no major disturbance to it during the entire search, and to the best of my observation and study, LE completely ignored the onsite equipment in the search.
There are many, many details that would have had to happen in a very limited time frame for BM's Bobcat to be used to create a quick hole in the ground and fill it back in, anywhere.
IMO

The graphic was produced entirely in Google Earth Pro with no external editing. The "Polygon" feature of GE was used to drop a red outline in the approximate position of the portion of the slab that was removed by LE. The leach field itself, a forklike network of slotted sewer piping, would was located in the non-open area between the U-shaped driveway and the highway (as far from the flowing river as was practical). The site of "the beach" work is seen in this aerial shot as a dark section of riverfront, quite a distance directly behind the area of LE's cut.

I was looking at that untouched beach site last night. I don't think there's even a footprint in that "beach sand" .

 

[Hatfield]

Isn't this photo from a reality site when the home was being sold? I would say the previous owner took the barrels when they moved out. Do we know BM had them also?

I dont think we know one way or the other.

To me, those 2 large barrel looking things looked like the kind of trash cans that are supplied by the waist management company that would come by to pick up trash on a weekly or bi weekly basis.

Our area has a Waist Management company that supplies trash cans to each home in the area. They own it and each home owner basically just uses it. So if they were what Im thinking they were then he could have taken one for his own use and then would probably have to end up telling the trash company he needs a new one because it cracked and he threw it away or something along those lines.

The reason i wanted to mention this is if he did use one to transport remains and got rid of it, and its like Im thinking, then maybe the trash company will have records of how many cans they assigned to his home and if only one remains then LE may have some real evidence from that research.
JMO

ETA-We also have two of them and we pay a little extra each month for them to pick up a 2nd can of trash each week. Some weeks we only put out one of the cans but we always have the two they gave us and we pay a fee each month for each of them.

 

[al66pine]

Barrels in Puma Path Garage? And a Window?

Inside garage at Puma Path.
Photo #30.
19057 Puma Path, Salida, CO 81201 | Zillow

@osu Thx for link w pic.
Yes, barrels shown are in a pic taken for the former owner's listing of home for sale, not after M. fam moved in. But sometimes when vacating, a seller leaves misc items . (I remember a homeseller who was moving a thousand miles away asked if we wanted the firewood to be left at house. No thank you. I had a vision of the Mayflower dudes throwing a cord of loose firewood into back of the moving van. As it turns out seller let a family across the street take it.)
As someone (sorry, forgot who) mentioned, could be rock salt to apply to driveway. Did BM's business offer snow-plowing services? Would rock salt or other snow-melt chemicals or even cinders be used? Perhaps just on own driveway?

Possible that full or empty barrels are still in garage. Or maybe one of them is now elsewhere, holding other contents.

Also re window shown in pic, hard to tell if neighbor or anyone could peek in and verify that a specified bike is or is not in garage. It would depend on bike's location in garage. jm2cts

 

[Knox]

I dont think we know one way or the other.

To me, those 2 large barrel looking things looked like the kind of trash cans that are supplied by the waist management company that would come by to pick up trash on a weekly or bi weekly basis.

Our area has a Waist Management company that supplies trash cans to each home in the area. They own it and each home owner basically just uses it. So if they were what Im thinking they were then he could have taken one for his own use and then would probably have to end up telling the trash company he needs a new one because it cracked and he threw it away or something along those lines.

The reason i wanted to mention this is if he did use one and its like Im thinking then maybe the trash company will have records of how many cans they assigned to his home and if only 1 remains then LE may have some real evidence from that research.
JMO

ETA-We also have two of them and we pay a little extra each month for them to pick up a 2nd can of trash each week. Some weeks we only put out one of the cans but we always have the two they gave us and we pay a fee each month for each of them.

Gotcha on all the above. IMO, the barrels/drums look like containers which might hold oil, antifreeze or even fuel. Years ago before trash service in many areas became mandatory, people even used them to burn trash (burn barrels). Most garbage companies are using automated carts & trucks now.

My point in mentioning the fluids, BM doesn't seem to have a commercial shop where he stores his equipment. If he had barrels/drums in his garage, it would make sense they contain fluids for his bobcat. Just a thought.

Does anyone remember hearing about a communal trash bin located somewhere on CR 225 in the Morphew neighborhood? Everyone put their trash in a single bin? Very common in rural areas, the bin is emptied by a front loader with forks.

 

[Ontario Mom]

I don't have an iphone. But, once I found out my friend was missing I would screenshot my whole conversation with her. And take them to LE.
(Especially since AM stated Divorce was in the scenario).

Maybe I'm missing something (quite possible, I'm a tech bozo) but why would you need to take screen shots of a conversation when you have the actual conversation in the app (FB messenger, etc.) itself?

 

[Ontario Mom]

Good morning ya’ll! We survived Hurricane Sally with minimal property damage. Our town looks like a bomb went off with trees down and debris everywhere but no flooding so we are very fortunate. The beautiful beaches have so much destruction and flooding with boats and piers strewn about. We just got our power back so wanted to check in and see what’s going on. It doesn’t sound like I missed anything major. No arrest unfortunately. We’ve got family staying here that still doesn’t have power but I’ll try and come back later and join in the discussion. Sending love and gratitude from Alabama to my WS friends for your kind posts and thank you to those who messaged me and kept me company Monday night! No need to reply as I don’t want to derail the thread but just letting you know I’m ok.

Thanks for the update, we're all glad you're safe & okay

 

[branmuffin]

Interesting theory - thanks for the clarification.

Of course we don't know the exact exchange between SM and her friend, but I've always assumed that she just went silent mid-convo, which is why I think it was an ambush. IMO, even if an argument was arising simultaneously, most people would at least send their friend a quick "hey - something came up, gotta go" or at least a "gotta run - will get back to you asap" - something of the sorts..... But I guess we don't know for sure that wasn't the case - and even if not, it's possible it went down as you described. I also wonder if the internet connection wasn't cut (router unplugged) - either as part of an ambush, or as a "I want your full attention and I want it now" sort of moment.... JMO

JMO, but I'm not tracking with two trips to Broomfield. I don't see how BM has the time or the need to take two trips there..... I think the destruction of evidence and hiding of the body was done close to home, and Broomfield was the alibi (though, admittedly, I'm still a bit puzzled by the bleach smell there - tool cleanup makes the most sense to me, but not sure where those tools are - maybe cleaned and then discarded in Broomfield somewhere?). I appreciate the diversity of thought on here - I think it's helpful to explore different theories. There are enough holes in the timeline that we have to speculate to fill in the gaps. MOO.

I think he had plenty of time, from early evening Saturday to anytime up to when he left to go back to Salida. His comings and going in and out of the hotel wouldn't put up any red flags since I believe he booked the room on Saturday and probably let hotel staff know he was working on a project. MOO.

It is fascinating reading all the different theories. Like a lottery there's a good possibility one of them will come up as the most accurate.

 

[branmuffin]

Gotcha on all the above. IMO, the barrels/drums look like containers which might hold oil, antifreeze or even fuel. Years ago before trash service in many areas became mandatory, people even used them to burn trash (burn barrels). Most garbage companies are using automated carts & trucks now.

My point in mentioning the fluids, BM doesn't seem to have a commercial shop where he stores his equipment. If he had barrels/drums in his garage, it would make sense they contain fluids for his bobcat. Just a thought.

Does anyone remember hearing about a communal trash bin located somewhere on CR 225 in the Morphew neighborhood? Everyone put their trash in a single bin? Very common in rural areas, the bin is emptied by a front loader with forks.

Isn't the bin where the M's met a cleaner who was cleaning one of the AirBnB properties while out for a walk?