When a child goes missing, often times it does not meet the official Amber Alert criteria.  This is why Pennsylvania is bridging the gap between official Amber Alerts and other missing person cases.  A new system launched called MEPAS, Missing Endangered Person Advisory System, will distribute information to Law Enforcement, broadcasters and the public when anyone goes missing.

MEPAS is completely separate from the Pennsylvania Amber Alert system, and will not be used if a child is abducted and in imminent danger, but will be activated if an elderly person or child wanders away.

According to a release on the Pennsylvania State Police website, MEPA will be issued when:

• The circumstances of the incident do not meet the criteria for an Amber Alert.
• The individual is missing under unexplained, involuntary or suspicious circumstances.
• The person is thought to be in danger because of age, health, mental or physical disability, environment or weather conditions, or is known to be in the company of a potentially dangerous person.
• The requesting police agency is conducting an active investigation and has entered the missing person into the National Crime Information Center database.
• Sufficient information is available to help the public identify the person.

Susan Powell (family photo)

A few days ago human remains were found off a beaten path in Idaho.  The location where the body was recovered is a little less than four hours away from where missing mom Susan Powell was last seen.  It’s been more than four months since Susan went missing from her home in Utah.  Although the case has faded fast from the spotlight, it is still personally close to my heart and mind.  I keep in touch with Capt. McLaughlin from the West Valley City Police Department, and he told me they are looking into the possibility that the remains could be Susan, but investigators in Idaho believe they could be the remains of a woman who went missing three years ago.  Capt. McLaughlin says, “They aren’t 100% sure, until they get positive ID through dental records.”  It could take a few weeks to make a positive ID. 

A couple weeks ago a large search for Susan took place in the west desert near the Pony Express Trail.  This is the area Josh Powell, Susan’s husband, claims he took their children camping in the freezing cold on the night she vanished.  Helicopters hovered close to the ground, while searchers combed on foot for any clues leading to Susan.  Unfortunately, no new clues were found.  Capt. McLaughlin says there’s nothing new on the Josh Powell front, and he’s still not cooperating with the investigation. 

Since Susan went missing, her husband has been named a person of interest. Josh abandoned their family home in Utah and moved their two small children to Washington State, and Capt. McLaughlin says he is still living there.  Susan’s friends and family have come together, and by using social networking tools like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, have kept this missing mom’s face in the public eye.  Susan’s family and friends honored their friend recently with a week of service.  They asked everyone across the country to lift a needle and donate handmade items to women’s and children’s shelters in honor of Susan.  You can find out more about this effort at HEARTSKNITFOR SUSAN. 

I keep in touch with family friend Kiirsi Hellwell, who is always helping to organize events for her friend.  A little more than a month ago she says a website was launched by Josh Powell that provides information about Susan.  Kiirsi says Josh started designing the site at her house about three weeks after his wife went missing, but didn’t do anything with it until a few days ago.  Kiirsi says the site launched not long after the Dr. Phil show did a segment on Susan, and when neighbors in Josh’s new neighborhood in Washington started posting fliers and purple ribbons throughout. Coleen Russell took the initiative to start knocking on doors, and really got the campaign moving forward through the town of Puyallup. Susan is known through the area as Susan Cox, but her photo is hopefully jogging people’s memories of who she was when she lived in the area.   Kiirsi says Josh’s family complained to the HOA asking to have the fliers removed, but the ribbons remained.

Josh officially moved to Washington with his sons Charlie, 5 and Braden, 3.  He is living in a home with his father, Steven Powell, in a community called Country Hallow in Puyallup.  Josh has only returned to Utah once.  Friends say he came back in early February to put his home up for rent, but he was met by an unexpected turn.  During his stay, police seized the family van Josh had been driving.  It is the same van he claims he drove the night his wife went missing. Police returned it to him three hours later after having it searched. Investigators are searching for more evidence in this case, and it appears that Josh may have more information than he is willing to share.  Josh Powell is still a person of interest in this case, and although investigators say they are looking at other persons of interest, they have not publicly named anyone.  Police told me that Josh is not cooperating with this investigation, and will not take the time to give details about his wife, his marriage, or where he went the night she turned up missing.

Early on, investigators served multiple search warrants on the Powell home, to include one for the family vehicle, and one to retrieve Josh Powell’s DNA. While the family van was searched initially, investigators told me Josh rented a car and drove for several hundred miles. At this point, they do not know where he went during that time.  However, they are diligently working to figure that out.

Since Susan’s disappearance, friends have come forward anonymously with copies of e-mails and information to help police learn more about the relationship between Susan and her husband. The first week of January 2010, Susan’s friends and family launched a 72 hour media blitz to help find the missing mom.  The goal of the blitz was to get as much attention and coverage as possible for Susan Powell, who went missing on December 7, 2009 from her home in Utah.  I spoke with investigators, and they feel that the push worked. They have received new leads, but can’t comment on the specifics. The effort targeted Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube to get the word out about this missing mom.  Right now, there are nearly 46,000 members for the “Friends and Family of Susan Powell” Facebook page. 

Friends of Susan told me that she loved to perform acts of kindness to help others.  Susan worked 4-10 hour days and had off Tuesdays and Wednesdays to spend with her children.  On those days, she would often visit a close friend, who is confined to a wheelchair, and give her a pedicure; she would often bake bread for others, or pick a pumpkin from her garden and make someone a pie.  She was always giving and doing for those around her.  Over the Christmas holiday, Susan’s friends asked the public to do acts of kindness for others, and many responded with the things they were inspired to do.  Some gave families a Christmas, other volunteered at homeless shelters, and in many cases, there were multiple days of kindness, not just one.

BACKGROUND:

Assistant Chief Black says there’s enough circumstantial evidence to indicate that this is uncharacteristic of Susan to just disappear, and they are exploring the possibility that foul play could be involved.  They don’t want to treat this case early on as though Susan just up and walked away; they want to take all accounts into consideration in case this ends up turning into a criminal investigation. “We wish he (Josh) would be more of a partner with us to help find his wife, and to have an extensive interview with us about a number of other questions,” says Assistant Chief Black.  It’s been nearly impossible to verify the husband’s alibi that he was camping with his children the night his wife went missing because the area where Josh says he went is vast desert and mountain terrain.  Unfortunately, several snowstorms have come and gone through the area since.

On Monday, December 14, 2009, I spoke to West Valley City Assistant Police Chief Black, and he went over the timeline surrounding Susan’s disappearance.  So far, this is the only information we have since Susan was last seen between the evening of December 6^th and the early morning hours of December 7, 2009.  Two bodies have been found near where Susan went missing.  In Elko County, Nevada, a Hispanic male was found wrapped in duct tape, and in Provo, Utah, the body of Amy Candland was found.  Her nephew Damien Candland was found a short time later and charged with murder and obstruction of justice.

If you have any information, please call police:  (801) 840-4000

Investigators say Bryce Daniel Tarter was last seen with friends on January 31, 2010.  Bryce is a student at the Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia.  Cops say Bryce and friends jumped into his truck and headed to a party at Georgia Southern University on the night of January 30, 2010.  The group left the party, and returned to their campus sometime after midnight.  Bryce said he was heading back to his house off-campus where he lives with his aunt and uncle.  Friends say he was last seen driving a white, 2000 Nissan Frontier, short bed with Maine license plates:  #9447QD.

The CUE Center for Missing Persons is assisting with this case.  If you have any information, please contact:  (910) 232-1687

Jayme Austin Missing Mom

Race:  White female

Height: 5 feet 6 inches tall

Weight: 135 – 150 pounds

If you have any information, please call: Coos County Sheriff’s Office at 541-396-3121, ext. 371, or Coos County dispatchers at 541-396-2106

Jayme Austin Missing

Race:  White female

Height: 5 feet 6 inches tall

Weight: 135 – 150 pounds

If you have any information, please call: Coos County Sheriff’s Office at 541-396-3121, ext. 371, or Coos County dispatchers at

541-396-2106