Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #51

[LietKynes]

Why would LE ever tell a family not to put up missing flyers? I can see possibly, maybe, sometimes a high dollar reward being discouraged as it can result in a lot of time and resource-wasting crazy tips but IIRC there was a reward offered fairly quickly. IMO it was “too soon” in BM’s opinion only.

Ita.
I'd have to add that from the very first day --May 10th -- BM has not worked with LE but rather, 'threw shade' at them !
IF LE told him not to post flyers or put forth the effort to find his wife-- that'd be a first in virtually every true crime case I've followed here and in msm.
MOO

 

[TIGER0822]

I would like to know how the parcel with those trees even came to anyone's attention, to the point they even put dogs on the property. I understand the dogs weren't part of the official LE investigation but rather something done unofficially during AM's visit? I think? But that parcel, IIRC, was not previously on anyone's radar in terms of this case. So how/why did it become so, and what if any followup happened with regard to those trees?

MOO

Perhaps the phone or bike helmet or other important items are hidden there.

 

[Error505]

Wishing all you members of WS a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday! Praying 2021 is far better to all of us than 2020 was.

<modsnip>

And for you, BM, if reading statements here, just these words: Those with nothing to hide, hide NOTHING! I hope you are haunted 24/7.

Of course, MOO, IMHO.

BLESSINGS TO EVERYONE!

 

[Error505]

View attachment 276490
This is a fire mitigation program run by the Chafee county Fire District.

Warning Gruesome thought!!

I wonder if Chaffee County owns any kind of incinerators for disposing of dead animals, i.e maybe a dead moose hit by vehicle? Most towns do own some kind of incinerators for disposing of roadkill, dogs & cats from the pound, etc. Just a thought I’ve had.

Not a pleasant thought, but seldom any posts regarding a missing (presumed dead) person are pleasant.
All just MOO.

 

[BeckyF]

This is just speculation on my part, but I suspect he may have discussed with LE putting out flyers, reward notices, etc. and that he was discouraged from doing so. That could explain his earlier comment that it was "too soon."

He did put up flyers early in the investigation. But I can’t think of any reason LE would discourage such activity. His ‘too soon’ comment was not a result of anything LE suggested. Jmo

 

[Dalgliesh]

I’m just wondering why LE would discourage that? Sometimes they request that the public not conduct searches for different reasons i.e. preservation of evidence, dangerous conditions, etc. But it would be rare for LE to ask someone not to put up flyers on a missing person, offer a reward, or not join them in a press conference early on.
MOO

I don't know myself, but here's a quote about families posting rewards, from a website supporting families of missing children, that makes sense to me even in an adult context:

"Be prepared to meet resistance from law enforcement. Some law enforcement agencies disapprove of reward offers because they can result in a of false leads."

 

[Dalgliesh]

He was in opposition to the Sheriff day one, why would he listen to them if they told him such a ridiculous thing?

MOO the puma thing is a crazy "Canned" Hunter spook story for the tentmates.
"The cat got her... and her body was never found..."

MOO It's him or an abduction. Abduction means flyers and publicity to try and get a clue. Any sighting of any oddness.

Crimes are solved with information, forensic and from people.

He turned over no stones for his wife.

MOO, BM quickly came to understand that he was the focus of the CCSD's investigation and he became critical of the way they handled it and how the focus on him diverted resources from the investigation of other possibilities. He and his friends began their own search as best they could, and he issued his amateurish reward video as part of that.

Depending, of course, if you believe anything he says.

ITA with your last sentence.

 

[Dalgliesh]

Why would he not just work with LE, and utilize their experience to get the message out in the best possible way?

It's really, really hard to work with people you don't trust, whom you believe are wrongly investigating you instead of pursuing other lines of inquiry, and whose actions have triggered events that are ruining your life. Doing it yourself becomes the only option, even if you're an a fairly feckless amateur.

 

[LietKynes]

MOO, BM quickly came to understand that he was the focus of the CCSD's investigation and he became critical of the way they handled it and how the focus on him diverted resources from the investigation of other possibilities. He and his friends began their own search as best they could, and he issued his amateurish reward video as part of that.

Depending, of course, if you believe anything he says.

ITA with your last sentence.

bbm
Lavender bolded : I highly doubt that.
(I'm doubting BM, not your post. )
Even though BM did say he searched 200 + square miles or whatever distance it was, no one saw them doing this.
Although it's possible they did this under cover of darkness, and no one noticed ?

Green bolded : Well about that ...

MOO

 

[susiQ]

It's really, really hard to work with people you don't trust, whom you believe are wrongly investigating you instead of pursuing other lines of inquiry, and whose actions have triggered events that are ruining your life. Doing it yourself becomes the only option, even if you're an a fairly feckless amateur.

RBBM
BM did not hesitate to publicly throw shade on LE for “ruining his life,” but I fail to see how what LE did has affected him at all. I’m not seeing that it ruined his life in the least. Maybe the “image” he likes to portray. Great guy, wonderful husband, do-gooder by giving jobs to the “ex-cons and meth heads” he hires, out of the goodness of his heart, naturally . Then he immediately throws them both under the bus when they speak to the press. Fires an employee he had counted on to get a crew together mere days before. Trust me, it wasn’t because she deserved to be fired. He fired her because she did the right thing and handed over her phone. She told everyone that she did everything LE asked of her EXCEPT take a LDT. Barry on the other hand tells everyone he took a LDT when he did not.

Within weeks of SM going “missing” he secured the guardianship to sell the IN home and anything else he chose, then moved forward to purchase the Longhorn property. Heck, he didn’t miss a beat! Accusing LE of “blaming” him gave him his excuse for not doing a whole lot of anything in regard to searching for SM except perhaps digging through a trash bin at the Poncha Market and scribbling baby blue bike helmet and bike clothing on a scrap of paper. Okay, maybe he handed out some flyers. Oh, and maybe he kept up that charade while all the well-meaning relatives and friends came from IN initially to help in the search. I wonder how much BM actually spent on that? Likely not what they took in with their “fundraiser”. Now, what AM did, THAT was a search effort and what does the wonderful, considerate and thankful BM do? He calls it a publicity stunt.” How utterly insulting!

LE never ruined his life. What was ruined was his ability to convince people of his innocence and he did that to himself. But otherwise, life has moved on for BM. SM’s inheritance is his alone now, and he appears to be enjoying having control over that. And his life moves on.........for now.

JMHO

 

[dmac55]

It's really, really hard to work with people you don't trust, whom you believe are wrongly investigating you instead of pursuing other lines of inquiry, and whose actions have triggered events that are ruining your life. Doing it yourself becomes the only option, even if you're an a fairly feckless amateur.

That's ok.

BM is under no obligation to work with or trust LE
That's a personal choice/decision

My view

 

[CemeteryHunter12]

I wanted to give the group something new to ponder. Growing up on a farm taught me a few things about holes in the ground. In most cases the dirt being dug is compacted. When you dig a hole, with hand tools or by machine, you loosen it up. That's why all the dirt does not fit back in the hole, even if you don't put anything in the hole when you fill it in. Now consider that you put a body in the hole (in my case, sheep, cows and pigs). First of all it has to be really deep, otherwise the whole area really stinks after a day or two. As you fill the hole in you have to compact the dirt frequently (like tamping it down with the backhoe bucket) until you are level with the surface. Now you have a lot of excess dirt. In a graveyard they mound the dirt on the grave for a while and let the spot settle, then take off the excess. On the farm, we would spread it out or scoop it up and use it elsewhere. Over time as the remains decompose and the dirt compacts with rain and settling, you end up with the classic 4 x 8 depression in the ground that is like a big red arrow with "body here" on it. So which sites allow the actor the time to bury the body and not have the risk of decomp gasses and settling becoming obvious over a few weeks, or months? One thing stands out to me, it is probably not a shovel and pickaxe job, it needed to be deep and compacted well, and it needed to be disguised so as not to draw attention. Even if the remains are in a container, the decomp gasses find their way out. One of the few exceptions to this would be a hole with the remains encased in concrete with a heavy layer over top. Someplace remote where heavy equipment can be used and the area can be checked for settling and filled as needed without anyone noticing. Of course all other options are in play, from a wood chipper to 55 gallon drum set among other like drums to be moved at a later date, or in a storage locker or junk yard. Keep firmly in mind the time the actor had available, the distance that could be traveled in that time and the time needed for the depositing of the remains. It's not a half hour job, even with a bobcat. A pre dug hole on a jobsite, unless it was for footers or something similar, would be remembered by others given the media coverage and LE activity. Lots to think about. Now get to it and do what you all do best...dig.

I love to ponder!! When I was growing up, my Dad took care of a farm and cows owned by a man who lived out of state. If a cow died, Dad would move it as soon as possible from the pasture lands and haul the body with the tractor up to the edge of the woods, ride back to the barn and get equipment to dig the hole with. He would put lime in the hole, then put the cow in and then more lime on top of the cow, fill in the hole and then sprinkle more lime on the top of the fresh dirt to keep the coyotes, bobcats, and neighborhood dogs from digging up the body. This entire process took hours to do and he would have to go back and check the burial site every day for awhile to see if it needed more dirt filled in, especially after rains. So thinking about your "pondering" questions, are we talking about bags of fast acting Quickrete and a big construction size water cooler to add to the mix?

 

[Megnut]

I love to ponder!! When I was growing up, my Dad took care of a farm and cows owned by a man who lived out of state. If a cow died, Dad would move it as soon as possible from the pasture lands and haul the body with the tractor up to the edge of the woods, ride back to the barn and get equipment to dig the hole with. He would put lime in the hole, then put the cow in and then more lime on top of the cow, fill in the hole and then sprinkle more lime on the top of the fresh dirt to keep the coyotes, bobcats, and neighborhood dogs from digging up the body. This entire process took hours to do and he would have to go back and check the burial site every day for awhile to see if it needed more dirt filled in, especially after rains. So thinking about your "pondering" questions, are we talking about bags of fast acting Quickrete and a big construction size water cooler to add to the mix?

That process, combined with an elk, seems like it'd sure make a mess of a cooler. Imagine a cooler like that tipping over in the bed of a truck. You'd have a mess of tools and whatnot you'd need to clean. You'd probably want to stop off somewhat and take care of that.

JMO

 

[susiQ]

That process, combined with an elk, seems like it'd sure make a mess of a cooler. Imagine a cooler like that tipping over in the bed of a truck. You'd have a mess of tools and whatnot you'd need to clean. You'd probably want to stop off somewhat and take care of that.

JMO

And, pick up a couple gallons of bleach while you’re at it! MOO

 

[BeckyF]

Deleted, duplicate

 

[nyvictoria]

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope your holidays are happy and healthy!

 

[10ofRods]

It's really, really hard to work with people you don't trust, whom you believe are wrongly investigating you instead of pursuing other lines of inquiry, and whose actions have triggered events that are ruining your life. Doing it yourself becomes the only option, even if you're an a fairly feckless amateur.

Well, BM needs to join the club with every other spouse of a missing person. 70% of women who are murdered are killed by an intimate partner.

It's just part of life. If your partner goes missing, you will be a suspect (whether you are man or woman).

You will be investigated. A lot.

To not use the immense services also provided by LE (all the way up to the Federal level) because you're miffed about the reality that you, as a spouse, will be investigated is not even a service to you, the spouse. You have to expect it, because if you get all shifty and do what BM did, you just make yourself look..suspicious. To a lot of people, not just LE.

Lots of things in life are really, really hard. If your spouse goes missing, you will have to work with LE, even if you don't trust them.

"Doing it yourself" is always an option - but not one that I see any evidence that BM has taken.

A "feckless amateur" who 'hires' themselves to search for their suddenly missing wife, gone on Mothers' Day is rather like the person who hires themselves as their own lawyer.

 

[jondaba]

RBBM I agree that LE knows the answer to this. I’ve had a couple of different theories about the Bobcat, the Salida site and Broomfield. They are kind of disjointed and each has some holes in it. Throwing them out for discussion:

Did he lie? Did he get caught in that lie? Is that why BM made the statement that he made a mistake about the time he was doing a “mechanical thing” with his Bobcat?
Did he bring the Bobcat from the Salida work site to Broomfield to dispose of SM along the way? He never thought LE would suspect him; he thought they would buy the bike ride story. No questions asked. If he was asked why he didn’t leave it for his workers to work on the wall, he could say he had to leave Broomfield because his wife was missing and he didn’t know how long it would be before he could go back to retrieve it. However, we also know he threw all those (useless) tools in the hotel cart before he left to go home. He might have said he used the trailer to haul the tools, not the Bobcat, and point out that his Bobcat was home in his yard. I think he could have left the trailer at the burial site while he went to Broomfield and then picked it up on the way back. This, of course would have been extremely risky, but so is murdering your wife and disposing of her body. He made mention of the fact that he didn’t do anything wrong in Broomfield and that there were all kinds of cameras around the hotel.
I’m thinking BM arrived back at Puma Path on the night of 5/10 with either an empty trailer or no trailer. He would have to drive by all of the LE searching the area for SM to get to his home. We know from overhead news footage that when parts of the yard were cordoned off with police tape that BM’s Bobcat was used for one of the stabilizing points for the tape line, but the trailer was not. That means it could have been parked afterwards. See attached photo. The problem with this is, if BM took the Bobcat from the Salida property to bury SM instead of using his own, he would also have to return it without being seen

Or did he use the Salida work site Bobcat sometime during the wee hours of 5/9 to do a dirty deed. He didn’t want to use his own Bobcat in case they did any forensic testing on it. The whole beach area, middle of the night noise, MG saying he worked at the beach Friday night, MG raking it out on Saturday morning, Saturday BM morning jitters, hiring JP on Saturday afternoon....... I’m still not sure SM wasn’t killed Friday night and all the running around Sat/Sun was disposal of evidence and alibi building. MB’s, (the neighbor), memory was a little clouded as to what night she actually heard that machinery. Remember, no one knew SM was missing at the time, and BM was not connected to the site publicly until several weeks later.
Or Maybe he took it off site Friday night while he was working there and returned it Saturday night and that’s when the neighbor heard him?
MOO

Respectfully: Bobcat-Shmobcat!

Today’s disposal of choice for unwanted women is chopping the body into pieces and throwing them out like trash. Preferably into a dumpster or the like which is regularly emptied into a garbage dump at a distant location.
This is and will remain a “no body” case. The pursuit of physical evidence is a blind alley.
If BM did it, the case can only be solved by a meticulous (and brilliant) (and lucky) analysis of his alibi/timeline.
Poor SM’s remains will never be found.

 

[jondaba]

True, BM is a little wacky. He published her love letters to him, thinking to prove he loved her!

If he claims she was killed by a mountain lion, what good does it do to pass out leaflets in a shopping center?

 

[jondaba]

Wait a minute! Perhaps in BM’s thinking:

Mountain lion = Bobcat!