Investigators Find a ‘Personal Item’ in Search for Missing Colorado Woman

Suzanne Morphew, 49, of Maysville, Colorado, in a file photo. Chaffee County Sheriff's Office

The search for a missing Colorado woman who disappeared on Mother’s Day has turned up a “personal item,” according to authorities over the weekend.

Suzanne Morphew, 49, of Maysville, went to ride her bike on May 10 and has not been seen since, prompting a multi-agency search.

“Local, state, and federal investigators searched steep and rugged terrain in an effort to attempt to locate additional items of Ms. Morphew after investigators believed to have found a personal item of the missing woman on Thursday,” Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze said in a statement on May 15.

Spezze did not say what the personal item was or where it was found.

It came after 90 investigators searched a several-mile area near County Road 225 and Highway 50 in Chaffee County.

Investigators spoke with a neighbor who told them that Morphew went on a bike ride and never came back. Her family members said her husband was away at the time, CBS Denver reported.

“It’s, it’s the hardest thing,” her nephew, Trevor Noel, told the CBS affiliate. “She’s a beloved member of her family and the sweetest person that you’ve ever met.”

Noel added that Morphew’s bike was found. Spezze told the station that animals “probably [were] not” responsible for her disappearance.

Spezze said Morphew’s husband has been cooperative with the investigation.

“We’re certainly hopeful that she is [alive]. Obviously as time goes by that gives us concern, but we’re searching as though she’s alive and we do believe she could still be alive,” Spezze said.

There is a $200,000 reward for information on her whereabouts, including $100,000 from Morphew’s husband, the report said.

The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office urges any information about her whereabouts to call [phone].