Missing Colorado mother Suzanne Morphew's remains were found Wednesday in a "shallow grave," according to an attorney representing her husband, Barry Morphew, and their two daughters.
Authorities on Wednesday announced that Morphew's remains were located in the area of Moffat, Colorado, in Saguache County — about 45 miles south of her home in Maysville, Colorado, where she was reported missing.
"According to the authorities, Suzanne Morphew was NOT found anywhere in the vicinity of her home, the town nearby, or the county she lived in," attorney Iris Eytan said in a Thursday statement. "…[H]er remains were found in a shallow grave in a dry desert field of sagebrush and natural grasses. Contrary to prior accusations, her remains were not found in a rocky mountainous region near her home, not in a location that was a ‘difficult spot’ to get to.'"
Saguache County Officials came across Morphew's remains while searching for another woman named Edna Quintana, Eytan said. A coroner positively identified the remains as Morphew's.
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Prosecutors previously said they were close to finding Morphew's remains but needed more time to search because they were in a "difficult spot."
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Morphew's bike was discovered in a ravine along Highway 50 and County Road 225 in Chaffee County, near her family's Maysville home the same day she went missing in 2020. Barry said he was working in Broomfield, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, at the time.
Barry was initially accused of killing his wife when he was charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence in 2021 in connection with her disappearance and presumed death.
A year later, prosecutors dropped charges against Barry, saying they wanted more time to find his wife's body. A judge accused 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley of procedural violations just before Barry was set to stand trial.
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Barry's legal team filed a $15 million lawsuit against prosecutors and investigators, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights.
"The first and most important focus should be that the Morphew’s just learned that they lost their beautiful mother and wife after she disappeared 3 ½ years ago," Eytan said in her statement. "What appears to be the overriding focus is a finger pointing right back where it started 3 ½ years ago: a movement to blindly re-accuse Barry [Morphew] for Suzanne’s death."
Eytan added that "Barry was the most scrutinized, dissected, surveilled individual, minute by minute, hour by hour using law enforcement cameras posted by his home, phone taps and GPS devices placed on his car – all during the time frame of her disappearance and the years following."
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Neither the FBI, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Chaffee County Sheriff Office nor the 11th Judicial District Attorney's Office suggested over the past three years that Barry "was in any area south of his home, near Moffat or anywhere near Saguache County at any relevant time frame," Eytan said, adding that "[i]t would be ludicrous for anyone to now try to fit the now known facts to prior false assumptions and accusations."
No signs of human remains or blood were ever located near the Morphew home in Maysville or in their family vehicles, Eytan said.
DNA was found, however, on Suzanne Morphew’s glovebox. The partial profile investigators were able to obtain matched profiles developed in sexual assault cases out of Chicago, Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona, CBI agent Joseph Cahill said during a hearing in 2021, as The Denver Post reported. Barry's DNA did not match that sample, his lawyers told KUSA-TV at the time.
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"What needs to be done instead of pointing fingers at Barry Morphew, is asking the officials about the number of missing people and number of human remains that have been recovered in or from Saguache County in the recent past," Eytan continued.
Five people have disappeared or been found dead in that same area, she noted, including Morphew, Quintana, Kristal Reisinger, an unidentified man whose remains were found on July 26 and another unidentified person whose remains were located in Saguache County last weekend.
Text messages from Suzanne and Barry that were unsealed in June suggest they were both having affairs just before her disappearance.
Four days before her disappearance, Suzanne sent Barry a text saying she was "done." "I could care less what you’re up to and have been for years," she wrote, adding that they needed to figure things out "civilly."
No other arrests have been made in the case. The charges against Barry Morphew were dismissed without prejudice, so prosecutors can still decide to pursue charges against him.
"While this case has garnered attention from around the world, it has touched our community and the sheriff’s office deeply," Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze said in a Wednesday statement. "We have never stopped our investigation and will continue to follow all leads in pursuit of justice for Suzanne."
He added that "[a]lthough locating Suzanne’s remains is a critical component of this investigation, and for her family," investigators "are left with many more questions than answers."
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the case to contact (719) 312-7530.
