Fox News Flash top headlines for May 6
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.
The grown daughters of missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew are speaking out in support of their father just weeks after charges against him were dismissed and as the women approach two years since their mother disappeared.
Barry Morphew sat flanked by his daughters, Mallory and Macy Morphew, as he spoke to ABC News for the trio’s first interview together since murder charges against him were dismissed.
"We’ve decided we finally want to break the silence," Mallory said in the interview, which aired Friday.
Tuesday marks two years since Suzanne Morphew was reported missing on May 10, 2020. Less than a month earlier, a Colorado judge granted prosecutors’ motion to dismiss the charges against Barry in connection with her disappearance.
Morphew was charged in May 2021 with murder, tampering with a deceased human body and tampering with physical evidence, among others, in connection with the May 2020 disappearance and presumed death of his wife.
Prosecutors with Colorado’s Eleventh Judicial District asked a judge on April 19 to dismiss the charges against Morphew without prejudice, meaning they could still re-submit charges if new information presented itself, according to a recently released court filing. They argued that they felt they were close to finding Suzanne Morphew's remains and, if they did, a forensic exam could clear or exculpate her husband, according to the filing.
MISSING MOM SUZANNE MORPHEW: COLORADO JUDGE DISMISSES CASE AGAINST HUSBAND WEEKS BEFORE TRIAL
"It’s been an emotional rollercoaster, but we feel like we can finally take our first steps in healing, which is a blessing," Macy Morphew said, according to the report. "We just know our dad better than anyone else, and we know he was not involved in our mom’s disappearance."
The dismissal was announced just weeks before Morphew’s case was supposed to go to trial.
"In typical homicide cases, the fact of the victim’s death is rarely at issue, but in a case such as this, the most influential fact of consequence is whether or not Ms. Morphew is deceased. If the body proves to be there, further forensic examination could potentially inculpate or exculpate the Defendant," prosecutors’ filing states. "Given the need to conduct further investigation to resolve these issues, this is a good faith basis to dismiss the current indictment."
READ PROSECUTORS' MOTION TO DISMISS HERE:
They wrote that investigators had hoped to recover Morphew's remains in a remote area near the couple's mountainous home before the trial, but weather stymied their efforts.
BARRY MORPHEW 'HUNTED AND CONTROLLED' WIFE SUZANNE LIKE AN ANIMAL, INVESTIGATORS SAY
"I just love my girls, and I love my wife," he said during the interview. "I just want her to be found."
Suzanne Morphew was reported missing on Mother’s Day, May 10, 2020. Officials said the family told them she had left for a bike ride and never returned.
The sheriff's office said it worked with law enforcement partners to execute more than 135 search warrants statewide in connection with the case and interviewed more than 400 people in multiple states. The law enforcement teams looked into more than 1,400 tips.
In a 131-page affidavit released after Morphew's arrest, investigators described how Morphew realized he couldn’t control his wife and her decision to leave him, so instead "he resorted to something he has done his entire life — hunt and control Suzanne like he had hunted and controlled animals."
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
But Morphew’s defense attorney told ABC her team will be taking action against the district attorney on the case, and will be calling for a probe into prosecutors’ mishandling of the investigation.
"If you want to honor Suzanne and you want to honor the daughters, go find Suzanne," defense attorney Iris Eytan said. "Prosecutors need to be held responsible and they need to pay for the damage they caused to Barry, which is frankly nearly irreparable. Because it's hard for anybody to believe that Barry is not who they claim he was."
