Investigators in Washington say Susan Powell’s husband, Josh, and her two children, Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, were killed by their father on Sunday afternoon. Authorities say a case worker dropped the children off at the Powell home near Tacoma, Wash. on Sunday, when Josh pushed the worker out of the way and brought the children inside. In matter of moments, there was an explosion and a fire. Investigators confirm they took three bodies from the scene, two children and one adult. They also confirm that the explosion was intentional.
Reports indicate Josh sent an e-mail just minutes before the explosion to his attorney saying, “I’m sorry, goodbye.” Josh lost custody of his children five months ago when investigators executed a search warrant on his father’s home and found child pornography.
Susan Powell went missing on Dec. 6, 2009 and has not been found. Josh said he took Charlie and Braden camping, in the middle of a snowstorm, during the night. Josh claims when he returned, Susan was nowhere to be found. He was the only public person of interest named in this case.
One year has come and gone since Utah mom Susan Powell went missing. It’s hard to think 12 months have passed and there has not yet been a break in the investigation. Susan’s husband, Josh Powell, still remains a person of interest and he still resides in Washington State with his father, Steven Powell, in a community called Country Hallow. Josh moved to Puyallup with their two sons not long after Susan vanished.
Assistant Chief Black with the West Valley Police in Utah said there’s enough circumstantial evidence to indicate that it is uncharacteristic of Susan to just disappear, and they are exploring the possibility that foul play could be involved. Investigators 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.
Today is Susan Powell’s 29th birthday. Her friends and family will honor the day with a massive two state balloon release, one in Utah and the other in Washington. Everyone from the public is welcome to attend.
Winter is approaching quickly, summer has come and gone and Susan Powell has not been found. Over the last ten months since she went missing on December 7, 2009, many bodies have been found in the desert. When her family and close friends would get word, they simply held their breath and waited.
Over the summer a couple of searches took place in the area where Susan’s husband Josh Powell says he went camping the night she disappeared. Josh is still officially a “person of interest” in this case, but investigators have not moved forward with any official charges. When Susan went missing last December Josh told investigators he took his two small children out in the middle of the night in the West Desert. Since then many searches have been executed, but unfortunately nothing has been uncovered.
Summer has come and gone and Susan Powell has not been found. Over the last nine months since she went missing on December 7, 2009, many bodies have been found in the desert. When her family and close friends get word, they simply hold their breath and wait. That was the case earlier this week when a female body was found on a Wyoming ranch. Investigators confirm that the body is not Susan, and that the search for her continues.
Over the summer a couple of searches took place in the area where Susan’s husband Josh Powell says he went camping the night she disappeared. Josh is officially a “person of interest” in this case, but investigators have not moved forward with any official charges. When Susan went missing last December Josh told investigators he took his two small children out in the middle of the night in the West Desert. Since then many searches have been executed, but unfortunately nothing has been uncovered.
Over the weekend, dozens of searchers descended on the area where missing mom Susan Powell’s husband says he went camping the night she disappeared. Josh Powell is officially named a “person of interest” in this case, but investigators have not moved forward with any official charges. When Susan went missing on December 7, 2009, Josh told investigators he took his two small children out in the middle of the night in the West Desert. Since then many searches have been executed, but unfortunately nothing has been uncovered. Since the warm weather broke in the spring, many bodies have been discovered throughout the area where Susan went missing. None of the bodies have been Susan.
As for Susan’s family, they aren’t going to let the public forget their loved one. A billboard for the missing mom is now standing tall along route 161 in Washington State. Susan’s parents, Chuck and Judy Cox, want to put their daughter back in the hearts of everyone with hopes of drumming up new leads. This billboard is near the Cox’s home in Puyallup, Washington, the same place Josh Powell moved with their two small children not long after Susan went missing. The Cox family has plans to put another billboard up in the Salt Lake City area this week.
Susan Powell’s family isn’t going to let the public forget about their daughter’s case. A billboard for the missing mom is now standing tall along route 161 in Washington State. Susan’s parents, Chuck and Judy Cox, want to put their daughter back in the hearts of everyone. This billboard is near the Cox’s home in Puyallup, Washington, the same place her husband moved with their two small children not long after Susan went missing. The Cox family has plans to put another billboard up in the Salt Lake City area next week.
About two months 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 was last seen. It’s been more than six months since Susan vanished 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 at the time they were looking into the possibility that the remains could be Susan, but investigators in Idaho confirm that they are those of another woman who went missing three years ago.
Stacey Peterson and Lisa Stebic have a lot in common, although the women have never met. Both are mothers to young children, both live in Illinois, and both have been missing for more than a couple of years. It’s the same sad story with missing mom Susan Powell who vanished late last year in Utah, and Venus Stewart who was abducted outside her parents’ home in late April in Michigan. In both cases, their husbands are persons of interest in the disappearances, and in all of these cases the husbands claim they have no clue where their wives could be. Every time I hear about a new case, and a mother vanishes, I flash back to each one of these women. Every so often a new tip or search will bring one of their cases to the spotlight, and the public its on the edge of their seats to see if the lead will pan out. That was the case this past weekend. Investigators in Illinois were acting on information that Stacy Peterson’s body was buried in a muddy, thickly wooded, private farmland in Peoria, Illinois.
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.
UPDATE 12:02 p.m. - I just spoke to Kiirsi Hellwell, friend of Susan and Josh Powell, and one of the organizers helping to spread the word about Susan. She says starting next week, February 8 – 15, 2010, they will be getting the public to focus on a week of service in honor of Susan. Susan’s friends and family are asking everyone to lift a needle and donate handmade items to women’s and children’s charities in Susan’s name. This effort will launch across the country. To learn more about this, and what you can do in your own communities, please check out HEARTSKNITFOR SUSAN.
Family friend Kiirsi says that over the weekend, the popular Susan Powell friends and family Facebook page disappeared. But after repeatedly contacting Facebook, it finally reappeared Saturday night. She says a sick troll pretending to be Susan was posting pornographic pictures and sending harassing messages on the group page. Thankfully, the disturbing posts have died down over the last week or two, but it has been a rough month. Kiirsi says her husband picked Josh Powell up at the airport on Thursday night. Josh then came to their home to print out leases in preparation of renting out his house. As far as Kiirsi knows, Josh is still in Utah working on his home to prepare it for rent. When Josh arrived at his Utah home, he was greeted with purple ribbons all over his house in honor of his wife.
Today is moving day for Susan Powell’s husband Josh. Although his wife has been missing from their home for more than a month, he is packing up his house in Utah, and moving 800 miles away to Puyallup, Washington. Friends of the Powell family told me earlier this week that Josh was fired from his job, cannot get work, and is having trouble keeping up with the payments on his home. He feels it is best to pack up his children and move where he has more support… and most likely, more privacy. Josh reached out to friends of his church and neighbors to help him move out. Anyone who wants to help is asked to arrive at 1 p.m. EST
Investigators have served multiple search warrants on the Powell home, one for the family vehicle, and one to retrieve Josh Powell’s DNA. Police say they are still awaiting DNA results from the crime lab on evidence seized from the warrants. While the family van was being searched, investigators told me Josh rented a car, and drove for several hundred miles. They do not know where he went, and they are working to figure out where he went during that time.
Michelle Sigona is a crime fighting, victims advocate extraordinaire, but for Michelle -- the good fight doesn't stop there. In her spare time, she is a volunteer firefighter -- and now, she is tackling the issues and cases that mean the most to her....
