EXCLUSIVE: FBI and CSI teams are seen preparing to dig up plot of land owned by Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew's husband where dogs detected the smell of human remains
The FBI has begun investigating the plot of land where searchers looking for missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew detected the smell of human remains, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show FBI and CSI investigators working at the spot where the scent was detected twice by cadaver dogs – once on Sunday and again on Monday morning.
Roads around the site have been blocked off by officers from the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Department, which yesterday claimed that no search was taking place.
The dig is taking place on a plot of land in Salida’s Longhorn Ranch district – a vacant site with several lots, one of which is owned by Suzanne’s husband Barry Morphew, 52.
Cadaver dogs were brought to the spot by a team working with Suzanne’s brother Andrew Moorman who raised $18,000 to fund a five-day search for his sister.
He is due to return to his home in Alexandria, Indiana, today – leaving the FBI and Chaffee County police to take over.
The FBI has begun investigating the plot of land where searchers looking for missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew detected the smell of human remains, DailyMail.com can reveal. The plot of land is owned by her husband Barry
Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show FBI and CSI investigators working at the spot where the scent was detected twice by cadaver dogs – once on Sunday and again on Monday morning
The dig is taking place on a plot of land in Salida’s Longhorn Ranch district – a vacant site with several lots, one of which is owned by Suzanne’s husband Barry Morphew, 52
Roads around the site have been blocked off by officers from the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Department, which yesterday claimed that no search was taking place
Cadaver dogs were brought to the spot by a team working with Suzanne’s brother Andrew Moorman who raised $18,000 to fund a five-day search for his sister. He is due to return to his home in Alexandria, Indiana, today – leaving the FBI and Chaffee County police to take over
Morphew, a landscaper, has not taken part in the search but did allow the grounds of his home in Maysville, Colorado, to be searched on Sunday.
Suzanne, 49, was reported missing on Mother’s Day after her two daughters Mallory and Macy were unable to contact her.
A neighbor, Jeanne Ritter, 70, called the police after the two girls alerted her to their mother’s disappearance.
Morphew was at a hotel in Broomfield, Colorado, on the day his wife vanished – last month, DailyMail.com revealed that he had left his room reeking of chlorine and littered with wet towels.
The initial police investigation saw teams of officers drafted in from all over Colorado to search the area around the Morphew home, while police divers were seen checking portions of the river nearby.
Three days after she went missing, CBI and FBI agents were photographed searching the three-bedroom house by DailyMail.com before the search moved to a riverside worksite in Salida where Barry had been doing a landscaping job.
Last week, DailyMail.com revealed that investigators have also taken security footage spanning the period from May 8 to May 10 from businesses around the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Broomfield – 150 miles from Salida – where Morphew was staying when his wife vanished.
Contractor Jeff Puckett, 49, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview earlier this month that the room stank of chlorine and was littered with wet towels when he took it over the same day.
Morphew, a landscaper, has not taken part in the search but did allow the grounds of his home in Maysville, Colorado, to be searched on Sunday. Pictured: Officials on the plot of land that dogs picked up the scent of human remains
Chaffee County Sheriff officers involved in the search for Suzanne Morphew, join FBI and CBI at the scene where a cadaver dog found the scent of human remains on Monday
A second search of the site took place on Monday using different cadaver dogs and the dogs' handler told DailyMail.com they got another hit. The handler explained the dogs only are trained to pick up human scents
Now the FBI will take over the search and dig up the remains that were found by the dogs
Moorman, of Alexandria, Indiana, has been in Colorado hunting for his sister since last Wednesday. He is being aided by the local police department and investigators from the CBI and the FBI, who were photographed close to the Morphew home on Sunday by DailyMail.com
He also discovered mail left behind that dealt with property insurance – DailyMail.com also revealed how Morphew has obtained guardianship of Suzanne in order to sell a mutual property in their native Indiana.
Speaking to DailyMail.com on Sunday, Moorman told how Suzanne’s home also stank of chlorine when searched by the FBI and described it as ‘odd’.
He said: ‘I think it’s really odd. I know we’re in Covid-19 but most people don’t clean with chlorine. I know the hotel did not.
‘That kind of bothers me to be honest. It seems like you’re trying to cover up something.’
Moorman says he organized the search to try and find out what happened to Suzanne and bring closure to his family.
He said: ‘They haven’t been able to figure out what happened to her. She was abducted in some way and the investigation… well it didn’t go dry, they didn’t quit working on it but they ran out of funds and time to ground search.
Moorman added: ‘I don’t think there is going to be a good outcome but what I would like is closure for the two girls first and foremost.
‘I pray that it clears Barry. I really do. I want that to happen. My father, my brother, my sister and myself want closure.’
Speaking to DailyMail.com on Sunday, Moorman told how Suzanne’s home also stank of chlorine when searched by the FBI and described it as ‘odd’. He said: ‘I think it’s really odd. I know we’re in Covid-19 but most people don’t clean with chlorine. I know the hotel did not. ‘That kind of bothers me to be honest. It seems like you’re trying to cover up something'
Moorman says he organized the search to try and find out what happened to Suzanne and bring closure to his family
Barry and Suzanne Morphew are pictured with daughters Mallory and Macy. Suzanne, 49, was reported missing on Mother's Day - May 10 - and has not been seen since
Moorman added that he is desperate to find some trace of his sister before the winter snows make finding anything impossible and says he would like to find something that would give the family closure – ideally while clearing Morphew of any involvement in Suzanne’s disappearance.
‘Out here, big snows happen in these mountains and the only way you’re going to find something is before the snow hits so I felt a sense of urgency to get out here and find her.’
Morphew said his team of 500 searchers covered more than 45,000 miles of ground, some of it by drone. They were also given permission to search the grounds of the Morphew home on Sunday where nothing was found.
He says along with the scent picked up by cadaver dogs at Morphew’s plot of land near Poncha Springs, they made another ‘hit’ at the riverfront worksite in Salida. CBI investigators have now taken over the site.
Moorman also revealed that CBI are processing three other finds: a tarp, a towel and a blanket found on the mountain trails near Suzanne’s home.
He said: ‘I met with CBI tonight and they’re pleased as punch with any evidence we turn up.’
Morphew said his team of 500 searchers covered more than 45,000 miles of ground, some of it by drone. They were also given permission to search the grounds of the Morphew home on Sunday where nothing was found
Moorman also revealed that CBI are processing three other finds: a tarp, a towel and a blanket found on the mountain trails near Suzanne’s home. He said: ‘I met with CBI tonight and they’re pleased as punch with any evidence we turn up'
Pictured: Sheriffs and FBI officers gather near the Morphew home in Maysville, Colorado on Sunday
Morphew has not taken part in the search beyond allowing a search of his garden and Moorman says he remains suspicious of his refusal to take a polygraph test.
He said: ‘I think he should have done a lie detector and voice analysis. I know that’s not admissible in court but it kind of clears you.
‘It says, look, I’m here and I’ll tell you everything you need to know. I’ll take several of them if you need me to. And that didn’t happen. That kind of made me suspicious as well.’
But what Moorman and his family want most is to get some answers about what really happened to Suzanne.
Moorman said:’ She’s hidden too well, which tells me she didn’t get robbed. There’s no blood evidence so I don’t know she was murdered for sure.
‘She’s been gone too long and I know she wouldn’t run off. There’s foul play here. I just haven’t figured out how.’