Susan Powell -- Missing 12/7/09

oh.. thanks.. i thought that the body was found CLOSE to where he said they were camping..

thanks for clearing that up!

A couple months ago a concrete slab big enough to cover a body was found pretty close to where Powell said they had been camping, but detectives finally tipped it upside down in March and there was no body underneath.

Josh told a friend at a Christmas party in 2008 that a mine shaft was the best way to dispose of a body because it would be deep, go straight down, and be nearly impossible for someone to find a body. There's a small chance the body in Idaho Falls may be Susan, but I fear that she was disposed of in a mine shaft.

I hope the truth in this case comes out eventually. I wish we could get Dr. Lillian Glass to do an analysis of the following video from December.

Remains in Idaho likely not Susan Powell's
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=10546759

SALT LAKE CITY -- The remains of a woman found near Idaho Falls do not belong to Susan Powell. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, West Valley City police Capt. Tom McLachlan said Idaho detectives confirmed that on Monday.

The remains of a woman were found Friday just north of Ammon, Idaho. Since the city is less than a day's drive from West Valley City, detectives here contacted authorities in Idaho.

West Valley police say their Idaho counterparts believe the remains belong to an Idaho woman who disappeared in 2007. However, it could take weeks for confirmation from forensics tests.

Susan Powell was reported missing Dec. 7.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even though it's probably not Susan, it's still SOMEONE'S daughter...mother...sister, etc. How sad. I hope they identify her & get her back to her family.

Stockbroker vanished; husband left town with kids

By Rupa Mikkilineni, Nancy Grace Producer
May 3, 2010 12:00 p.m. EDT

New York (CNN) -- Tom McLachlan, a police captain in West Valley, Utah, felt a surge of adrenalin when he received a phone call two weeks ago from authorities some 200 miles away in Idaho.

A motorist looking for a better cell phone signal had found female skeletal remains on a hilltop near Idaho Falls. McLachlan had a case on his desk involving a 28-year-old stockbroker and mother of two who vanished in December under suspicious circumstances.

Could the body be Susan Powell's?

McLachlan says he now has doubts. The skeletal remains seemed to have been there much longer than Susan Powell has been missing.

"Susan has been missing for five months, so the body is likely not her," he told CNN. "We need to wait until DNA tests come back, which could take up to a few weeks."

Susan Powell's disappearance is the kind of case that gets under an investigator's skin. Right now, police have plenty of suspicion but scant evidence.

Powell simply vanished, leaving her purse, wallet and cell phone behind in her home.

Her husband, Josh Powell, told police she was asleep when he left after midnight, taking their children, ages 2 and 4, on a camping trip in below-freezing weather.

He told police he spent the early morning hours of December 7 with his children in the family van in Simpson Springs Campground, a 90-minute drive from the Powells' home.

Police entered the case that Monday afternoon. The children had not been dropped off at day care and neither Josh nor Susan Powell had shown up at work. No one had heard from them.

"We were concerned that the family was in the house and some accident, maybe a gas leak, had injured them," said McLachlan. "So we broke into the home when no one answered the door."

Police sources told CNN that officers found a large wet spot on the carpet in the home. It was being dried by two fans, they said, but would give no further details.

West Valley police say Josh Powell is the only person they are looking at, but they are not calling him a suspect in his wife's disappearance. They say they have no physical evidence of foul play.

CNN called several times seeking comment from Josh Powell and his attorney, Scott Williams. The phone calls were not returned.

Police say they have been unable to confirm Powell's story about the camping trip. They searched the campground, but any potential evidence had been covered by heavy snow.

Police characterize Josh Powell as being uncooperative, saying he would not lead them to the exact location of the camp site. In January, he packed up his belongings and moved with the children to his parents' home in Puyallup, Washington.

Susan Powell's father, Charles Cox, told CNN she is not the kind of person who would go off on her own without contacting her family.

"She would never leave those two children behind," Cox said.

Susan Powell's father says there was trouble in the marriage, with financial pressures being the primary issue between the couple. Josh had been unemployed until just before his wife disappeared.

In the months leading up to her disappearance, Susan Powell had talked about getting a divorce, family and friends told CNN. They asked that their names not be published because the investigation is ongoing.

Police are asking for the public's help in solving this case. Susan Powell stands 5-foot-3, is 130 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Susan Powell is asked to call the West Valley Police Department tip line at (801) 840-4000. An $11,000 reward is offered.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/03/grace.coldcase.powell/index.html?hpt=C2

Susan Powell back in spotlight 6 months after disappearance

June 1st, 2010 @ 5:55pm
By Sandra Yi

WEST VALLEY CITY -- It's been months since Susan Powell disappeared from her West Valley City home, and the case is still getting national attention.

Susan's disappearance is featured this week in a popular magazine. A website, which has some of Susan's friends shaking their heads, also highlights the six-month mark of the case.

While police say they are working hard to resolve this case. Susan's friends and family say it's getting more and more difficult to maintain hope when the reality that she may never be found is starting to sink in.

"It's really discouraging, and it's hard to keep up hope every day," says Susan's friend, Kiirsi Hellewell.

But that's all friends and family of Susan Cox Powell can do.

"There's just this sense of weariness; this just heavy to carry around. We're so worried and heartbroken," says Cox family spokeswoman Shelby Gifford.

Police say Susan's is still a missing person's case and the only person of interest remains her husband, Josh, who lives in Washington state.

"The biggest frustration of all is that her husband, who was the last person to see her, doesn't speak up, doesn't talk to police," Gifford says.

The family suspects the website SusanPowell.org was created by Josh, or someone close to him. A new page, titled "Six Months," says Susan's family is still trying to cope with her absence. It says everyone hopes she will walk back through the door soon -- something friends say won't happen, because Susan didn't leave on her own.

"It's like a slap in the face to everybody who knows and loves Susan," Hellewell says.

West Valley police won't say much about the investigation. They've received test results on some of the evidence but are tight-lipped about it.

"We still have eight detectives assigned. They're still working very hard on it. We're following up on leads," says Capt. Tom McLachlan, spokesman for the West Valley Police Department.

Last month, Susan's parents, Charles and Judy Cox, came to Utah to meet with investigators. They visited the Simpson Springs area, where Josh told investigators he went camping with his two kids the night Susan disappeared.

Hellewell says Josh was also recently back in Utah, just for a day, but it's unclear what he was doing here.

Susan's disappearance is featured in this week's issue of People magazine. Friends hope that will renew interest in a case they so desperately want solved.

"Obviously, I hope for them to either find Susan or arrest the person who took her," Hellewell says.

A private company is planning a new search for Susan in the West Desert at the end of June. Friends also plan to post fliers at sporting goods stores so people who spend time outdoors this summer will keep an eye out for any sign of Susan.

KSL News tried to contact Josh Powell's attorney Tuesday for comment, but our call was not returned.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=10998494

Sad to think that some people do get away with murder.

This case has stunk since day one. Who takes a 2 & 4 yr old camping in below freezing weather? I sure hope he doesn't get away with this. It's just heartbreaking.

Josh Powell's father: We're searching for Susan
Missing » He says his family is not attacking Mormonism on website SusanPowell.org.

By Nate Carlisle
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 06/09/2010 06:42:53 PM MDT

Susan Powell's husband and his family have worked with "six law-enforcement agencies" to find her, according to her father-in-law.

Steve Powell, Josh Powell's father, also said in an e-mail that recent Internet postings on SusanPowell.org about whether LDS Church resources were used to pressure his son were meant to criticize specific people and not the religion itself.

Josh Powell and his family have said little publicly since Susan Powell disappeared about six months ago.

"We know the general public has some legitimate questions, even if we don't always feel at liberty to respond to everything," Steve Powell wrote to The Salt Lake Tribune. "But we also feel that a lot of the questions coming from a core group of detractors are asked rhetorically and are designed to raise doubts about our family."

"When you read the blogs and articles," Steve Powell added, "you notice that those motivations revolve heavily around a religious disagreement."

Susan Powell disappeared Dec. 7 from her West Valley City home. Her husband, Josh Powell, has said he took his young sons on a late-night camping trip to Simpson Springs in Tooele County and when he returned his wife was gone.

Josh Powell gave some early interviews to West Valley City police but has not responded to requests to speak with detectives there again. West Valley City police have called him the only person of interest in his wife's disappearance.

In his e-mail to the newspaper, Steve Powell did not specify what law-enforcement agencies he and his son have been working with or how they have attempted to find Susan Powell.

"The agencies we are working with don't want or need the publicity," he wrote.

Later in the e-mail, he added: "We have worked with six law-enforcement agencies so far, who are involved in our efforts to find Susan."

West Valley City police Capt. Tom McLachlan on Wednesday said he is not aware of the agencies with which Josh Powell has reportedly worked.

"I guess you can say he's talked to us," McLachlan said, who added his department still has a standing invitation for Josh Powell to submit to another interview.

In February, SusanPowell.org was launched. It asks for help in locating the missing woman and refers to Josh Powell as a loving father and husband. Although the posts on the site are unsigned, Steve Powell confirmed the site "belongs to us, and a number of friends and family members have contributed."

A post dated Sunday says Susan Powell's father, Chuck Cox, has used the "Mormon Church phone directory" to call Josh Powell's friends and to "pressure" him. The post also accused people of being hostile to Josh Powell for moving in with his father, who is an former member of the church.

Steve Powell said: "I've taken a look at a few blog posts [Tuesday] and it looks like people feel like we are attacking their religious views. If you read the page carefully, you will notice that this is not the case. We have not mentioned one tenet of Mormonism, and there's no gratuitous negativity."

Shelby Gifford, a spokesman for the Cox family, on Monday said Chuck Cox has not used any church directory to pressure Josh Powell, though Chuck Cox has repeatedly asked his son-in-law to cooperate in the police investigation.

"If Josh is feeling this huge sense of pressure, the best way to relieve it is to sit down with police," Gifford said.

http://www.sltrib.com/D=g/ci_15263348

Powell billboard planned for Salt Lake area

June 14th, 2010 @ 8:38am



SALT LAKE CITY -- The family of missing West Valley City woman Susan Powell hopes a new billboard will help find her.

Powell's parents put up a billboard with her picture and a phone number along Washington's State Route 161 near their home in Puyallup.

They plan to put at least one more similar billboard in the Salt Lake City area next week. They say they want to remind the public that she's still missing.

Powell disappeared from West Valley City six months ago. Police say Susan's is still a missing person's case and the only person of interest remains her husband, Josh, who now lives in Washington state.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=11163244

Police: It will take time to ID body found in Red Butte Creek

June 21st, 2010 @ 3:25pm

SALT LAKE CITY -- Police say it could take some time, before remains found at the University of Utah are identified. Two Chevron workers cleaning up an oil spill found the remains in Red Butte Creek Sunday.

An autopsy was performed on the body Monday afternoon, and University of Utah police are now waiting for the results. They say because the body was so badly decomposed, it may have been in the creek for months.

Police know very little about the remains, including whether they are that of a man or woman. They say there's nothing to indicate foul play. There were some clothes on the body but no identification.

Police say, generally, when a body is such advanced stages of decomposition, the medical examiner will look at bone structure to determine its gender. They say the skeleton can also reveal height and weight. This can be a time-consuming process.

"It takes time to get dental records, if you have any dental records, but then you have to have an idea of who the person might be; and at this point in time, we don't have any idea of who this person might be," said Capt. Lynn Mitchell, with the University of Utah Police Department.

Over the weekend, Chevron increased the water flow in the creek in order to flush out the oil still remaining from the June 13 leak. Two workers were in the area north of the Williams Building, on the University of Utah campus, when they saw what appeared to be a foot sticking out of the water.

It's possible the body started out further upstream. The University of Utah Police Department has no missing persons cases, but it is working with other agencies who do have missing persons cases.

Police say they have already received calls from people with missing loved ones. When they know more about the remains, they may turn to the public for help identifying the person.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=11257579

Sadly, this body seems more like it might be Susans' than the others. I hope and pray that one day she will come home - i sadly doubt that she will come home alive, but at least for a proper burial and hopefully for some closure and justice at holding the perpetrator responsible.

Five fulltime detectives on Susan Powell case

By nate carlisle
The Salt Lake Tribune
August 26, 2010

Add all the hours West Valley City detectives have spent investigating Susan Powell’s disappearance and it would be more than three years’ worth of what most Americans put into their job.

Police Capt. Anita Schwemmer on Wednesday said detectives in her department have spent at least 6,850 man hours to date searching for Powell, at a cost of more than $150,000. And the meter is still running.

Five of the department’s 28 detectives are assigned full-time to investigating Powell’s disappearance.

“I don’t even have a guess as to how close we are to a resolution,” Schwemmer said. She declined to discuss evidence or leads in the case.

Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50167318-76/powell-case-police-west.html.csp

Susan Powell's loved ones frustrated 9 months after disappearance

September 7th, 2010 @ 3:28pm



WEST VALLEY CITY -- Nine months after the disappearance of Susan Powell, the emotions surrounding the mother of two are still very raw for those who were closest to her.

It was nine months ago Tuesday she was reported missing, and after thousands of hours of investigation there is still no sign of the West Valley City mother.

KSL spoke with the family of Josh Powell, Susan's husband -- he is the only person of interest in the case.

The family members say they are frustrated with what is happening with Susan's case. They say there is very little information being passed on about her disappearance from investigators to their family.

"We get no information, practically," said Jennifer Graves, Josh Powell's sister. "So we're not really sure if things are moving forward really, or if it's kind of at a stalemate, or who knows. We're just not sure."

Jennifer Graves and her husband Kirk Graves say Susan's disappearance is still very fresh on their minds, and the fact that no new information has been presented about her case is frustrating.

"Sadly, I don't think there has been anything new at all," Kirk Graves said.

Still, they realize there may be police work going on behind the scenes. They say their frustration is based on the fact that police still haven't taken the steps to bring Josh Powell in yet.

Read more: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=12323195

Vanished: Susan Powell's Husband Scrutinized by His Own Family

The Trail Grows Cold Eight Months After Mom Disappeared While Josh Powell Was on Mysterious Camping Trip

By ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, MAUREEN WHITE and SARAH NETTER
Sept. 7, 2010



The husband of missing Utah mother Susan Powell maintains his wife simply walked away from her family, even as his own sister said she's "quite convinced" he was involved in her disappearance.

"Has he kidnapped her, holding her somewhere? Has he killed her?" Josh Powell's sister, Jennifer Graves, asked. "Who knows?"

Eight months after Susan Powell disappeared from the couple's West Valley City home, her husband -- who provided a bizarre alibi about a winter midnight camping trip with his toddlers -- continues to fend off accusations from her family and his own.

Kirk Graves, Jennifer's husband and Josh Powell's brother-in-law, said his behavior after Susan Powell disappeared was telling.

"Josh's reaction was, don't talk to anybody, be of no help -- not even family. Just get out," he said.

Josh Powell has not been charged in the case and police have yet to make any arrests.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/vanished-susan-powells-husband-denies-involvement-wifes-disappearance/story?id=11573019

by Justice4all Today at 7:43 pm
~~~~~~~~
Hi, Justice4all:
Thank you for posting this update. Great video and great article!

I followed this case until about a month ago . . . no new pertinent info. This is a case where I believe Josh is guilty of Susan's murder!

Hi Ann. The news in this case has been slow. We went two months without a post in this thread between June and August. I agree that Josh is probably guilty of Susan's murder. The midnight camping in the snow story is too far fetched.

In the following video from March, one of Josh Powell's friends said Josh was obsessed with crime shows and at a 2008 Christmas party, Josh told him that a mine shaft would be the best way to dispose of a body.

Informative video, Justice! I don't know how I missed that video. Thanks for posting it.

The mine shafts. . . .interesting thought and that is a high probability.

Josh's own sister believes her brother is responsible.

Yeppers...I think he's guilty as sin too...I just hope he doesn't get away with it...Oh, sure Midnight Camping...What a crock...Those boys were probably asleep the whole time and Susan was probably in the trunk as he drove ...what a gruesome thought...

Yes, I agree with you Estee and Piper. No decent parent takes two small children camping in freezing temps and sets up a tent on snow covered ground at midnight! It is asinine and ludicrous for Josh to state what I feel is a BIG lie!

His own sister and brother-in-law knows Josh well, obviously, and I think the sister knows Josh killed Susan. JMO (Just my Opinion)