ESTER WESTENBARGER (CUE picture)
I spoke with Lt. Hargrove with Howard County Sheriff’s office in Indiana. He says Ester Westenbarger went missing on November 12, 2009 when she left the Miller’s tavern in town. Ester and her vehicle a Cadillac CTS are still missing. Lt. Hargrove told me Ester was pretty new to the area, she recently moved from Ohio when she lost her job with Chrysler. She accepted a buy out from her former company and came to Indiana to start over. Ester’s group of friends was limited because she was fairly new to town, however there were times she did frequent some bars in the area. The weekend after she was reported missing, Ester was supposed to show up to a family gathering, and her family members knew Ester wouldn’t miss that. Investigators have interviewed a multitude of people in this case, but so far, nothing has led them to this missing mom.
The CUE Center for Missing Persons is highlighting this case, and doing what they can to help accept leads. Please call their 24 hour tip line at (910) 232-1687
Missing from: Kokomo, Indiana
Family and friends of Susan Powell are launching a 72 hour media blitz and purple ribbon campaign starting today. The goal is to get as much attention and coverage for Susan who went missing on December 7, 2009. This effort will use facebook, twitter, and youtube to get the word out about this missing mom, and the goal is to drum up new leads for investigators. Since her disappearance, Susan’s husband, Josh Powell has been named a person of interest.
Investigators are trying to piece together more on Susan Powell’s disappearance, and they have conducted a second search of the Powell residence. Cops are looking to collect more physical evidence, and to process what they gather through the crime lab. Assistant Chief Black says Josh Powell is considered a person of interest, and earlier this week, with his attorney, Josh did submit to a DNA sample. Assistant Chief Black told me Josh answered a few general questions about his wife, but he would not answer any detailed questions about Susan (i.e. any enemies she may have had, answers about their personal relationship, etc). Josh’s position to the media is that he wants to find his wife, and investigators working the case want to find her too, but Assistant Chief Black says without answers to many questions they have for Josh, and having a working partnership with him, “it really hinders finding her in a timely manner.” 
