Nov. 13, 2025

The Disappearance of Susan Cox Powell – Vanishing Point

The Disappearance of Susan Cox Powell – Vanishing Point
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
Goodpods podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon Goodpods podcast player icon Amazon Music podcast player icon Castro podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon
When 28-year-old Susan Cox Powell vanished from her West Valley City, Utah, home in December 2009, her purse, phone, and keys suspiciously remained—and her husband’s story didn’t add up. In part 1 we trace the chilling trail of red flags Susan left behind: a secret will, haunting journal entries, and an eerie home video “in case something happens.” From the Powells’ tangled family history in Puyallup, Washington, to the night of the so-called midnight “camping trip,” we uncover the control, manipulation, and obsession that built a pressure cooker inside their Utah home. Through interviews, court records, and Susan’s own words, we explore how a young mother’s intuition became her last line of defense—and how the search for truth stretched across the Pacific Northwest.

If you or someone you know feels unsafe in a relationship, reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or visit thehotline.org. Support is available 24/7 via phone, chat, or by texting START to 88788. For listeners in the Pacific Northwest, local help is also available through the Washington State Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-562-6025 or Oregon’s SafeLine at 1-888-235-5333.

Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! If you have any true crime, paranormal, or witchy stories you'd like to share with us & possibly have them read (out loud) on an episode, email us atpnwhauntsandhomicides@gmail.com or use this link. There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts.
WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:06.120
He said he'd taken the boys to Simpson Springs campground.

2
00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:10.199
When police checked, there were no tracks, no ashes, no

3
00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:15.240
proof anyone had been there. Even more unsettling were the

4
00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:19.000
words of little Charlie Powell, just four years old.

5
00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:19.320
At the time.

6
00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:24.399
When detectives asked about the family's strange midnight camping trip

7
00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:28.039
into Utah's frozen desert. He told them that his mother

8
00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:31.719
had gone with them that Sunday, but for some reason

9
00:00:32.039 --> 00:00:35.520
she stayed behind at the campsite and didn't come home.

10
00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:46.159
Hi Cassie, Hi Caitlin, Hi creepy people. Hello, This is

11
00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:50.600
PNW Hansen Homicides, where we chat about true crime, the

12
00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:56.399
paranormal and all things spooky in the Pacific Northwest.

13
00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:58.520
Or the p and W. If you're nasty.

14
00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:04.359
And we are, it's well established lore. I think definitely

15
00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:08.319
war at this point. Nasty and nasty lore. Oh my goodness.

16
00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:11.359
We also do a taro reading at the end of

17
00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:14.439
every episode for a little bit of deeper insight into

18
00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:19.879
our topic. The lore about the nasty is so well

19
00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:24.519
established now our friends are going on other podcasts and

20
00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:27.519
spreading the good word the gospel as.

21
00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:28.400
A nasty word.

22
00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:32.640
Wait what yeah, yeah, Shay and Jody from Rainy Day

23
00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:37.719
Rabbit Holes were just on Live Laugh Larseny and we

24
00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:41.799
found out that we are their gateway gals as it were.

25
00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:45.799
They heard about Live Laugh Larseny from a promo swap

26
00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:50.079
that we did with them, and that's how they kind

27
00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:51.640
of connected with them.

28
00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:53.799
So I know, I love it.

29
00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:55.959
I love it when our friends become friends.

30
00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:59.799
I love it when our nasty friends become nasty without

31
00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:03.400
us and do nasty things all over the place. I

32
00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:05.000
don't know if I said that right, but you guys

33
00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:07.319
get it. You get it. Well, should we do our

34
00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:10.759
little announcement we have, just like a tiny announcement, do it?

35
00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:14.000
We used to do a release on Tuesdays. You remember

36
00:02:14.039 --> 00:02:16.039
that thing we used to say at the end, see

37
00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:20.199
you next Tuesday. Yeah, that I conveniently cut out of

38
00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:25.840
the last episode because spoiler alert, we probably won't be

39
00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:31.080
seeing you Tuesdays anymore. Don't cry, It's okay. Well, we'll

40
00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:34.520
see you on the next tea day, which is Thursday.

41
00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:36.759
We had to keep the tea theme so we can

42
00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:40.919
still call you cunts, you know, you know, under the

43
00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:44.560
table at the end of every episode. But it'll just

44
00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:48.840
be see you next Thursday. Now, instead of Tuesday.

45
00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:49.879
With shaking things.

46
00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:53.280
Yeah, if you could tell, we were already kind of shaky.

47
00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:58.680
Shake a our schedules are getting shooken up, shake and

48
00:02:58.719 --> 00:02:59.639
shaken very hard.

49
00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:01.120
Shake us.

50
00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:04.199
We're just suggesting, But you guys are fine. Do you

51
00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:06.879
guys have any other wild announcements, like what's going on

52
00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:08.960
in the world? Does any tell me what's going on

53
00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:09.879
on there? God guys?

54
00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:11.439
No, I think probably.

55
00:03:11.639 --> 00:03:12.000
I don't know.

56
00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:14.919
No, I don't need to hear anything about what's going

57
00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:18.080
on out there in the world, although I will say

58
00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:21.439
when we were eating breakfast this morning, Chris and I

59
00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:26.639
watched an episode of South Park, and my god was

60
00:03:26.759 --> 00:03:32.960
one of the ones. Uh huh that was quite enjoyable.

61
00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:35.759
Which one did you watch? La boo boo? Uh?

62
00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:39.439
No? I, yeah, no, Chris just turned it on and

63
00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:41.800
he I don't know he. I think he probably just

64
00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:46.319
picked a random episode. Oh, should we get into it?

65
00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:48.960
Yeah? I think the people are some are some ready.

66
00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:51.439
I think the people are ready for some true crime.

67
00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:54.159
That is what I was trying to say, eloquent. They're

68
00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:58.199
sick of my uh man made of mouths stories and

69
00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:04.520
they're ready for some real, true, down and dirty business.

70
00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:05.400
Yeah.

71
00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:10.080
Uh hopefully you are correct. I'm ready got my heta

72
00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:13.199
blanket wrapped around me. The blinds are closed.

73
00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:18.879
Well, prepare for the chills regardless. Susan Marie Cox was

74
00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:24.639
born on October sixteenth, nineteen eighty one, in Alamagordo, New Mexico.

75
00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:30.800
She was raised in pew Yallop, Washington, where she graduated

76
00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:35.199
from Rogers High School. Before training to become a cosmetologist.

77
00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:38.639
She was active in the Church of Jesus Christ of

78
00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:42.879
Latter day Saints, or the LDS Church. In fact, that's

79
00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:47.199
how she would eventually meet her husband. She met Joshua

80
00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:51.600
or josh James Powell, a student at the University of

81
00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:55.560
Washington who was also an active member of the LDS

82
00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:59.759
Church in late two thousand. He was confident, a t

83
00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:03.920
and at least at first, charming in the way that

84
00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:07.160
draws you in before the warning bells register.

85
00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:09.759
The LDS thing wasn't wasn't a warning bell?

86
00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:14.160
Well, she was LDS as well, I know, I know, yeah, yeah,

87
00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:17.279
I mean, clearly we have some thoughts and feelings around that,

88
00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:21.199
but we're gonna we're gonna have to reserve judgment.

89
00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:24.079
Because there's just no judgment. Yeah.

90
00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:26.959
No, I mean also a little bit.

91
00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:31.079
But no judgment. Directly after I judge, it was like,

92
00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:33.720
like no offense, Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

93
00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:38.000
Josh also grew up in Pyolup, Washington, the son of

94
00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:42.439
Stephen Powell and Tarika Powell, but his family dynamics were

95
00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:47.839
the stuff of whispered cautionary tales. The Powells, Josh's parents

96
00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:51.399
had an extremely turbulent marriage that ended in divorce in

97
00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:56.360
the early nineties. His father, Stephen Powell, was a controlling,

98
00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:00.439
volatile man whose marriage to Tika she went by Terry,

99
00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:06.639
ended in acrimony. When Susan and Josh first married, they

100
00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:11.160
moved into Steve Powell's South Hill home. For Susan it

101
00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:15.959
meant free rent and family nearby. For Steve, it became

102
00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:21.920
an opportunity for obsession. He secretly filmed her, collected photos

103
00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:27.279
of her, even wrote songs about her. Susan, uncomfortable and alarmed,

104
00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:28.639
pushed for distance.

105
00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:33.040
I have a question. Yeah, who is this guy again?

106
00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:34.519
That's the father in law.

107
00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:38.279
The father in law. Okay, okay, okay, okay.

108
00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:41.839
It's just as creepy as it sounds.

109
00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:43.720
Yeah, okay, yeah, I know.

110
00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:45.959
I think your brain doesn't want to accept it. You're

111
00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:47.639
like wait, who are.

112
00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:50.639
We talking about? Just like a family friend.

113
00:06:50.839 --> 00:06:57.040
But yeah, either way, like secretly filming and collecting photos

114
00:06:57.040 --> 00:06:57.959
of someone.

115
00:06:57.759 --> 00:06:59.079
Is that is disgusting?

116
00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:01.519
But like when is your father in law? I feel

117
00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:04.240
like that it takes it kind of to a different

118
00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:07.040
layer that I don't care for.

119
00:07:07.319 --> 00:07:08.560
Okay, yep.

120
00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:13.279
The couple relocated to Utah in two thousand and four,

121
00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:18.000
settling in West Valley City. There, they purchased a home

122
00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:23.519
at West Sarah Circle. Susan shouldered much of their household

123
00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:27.439
financial burden, working full time as an investment broker at

124
00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:32.600
Wells Fargo Investments, while Josh cycled through jobs and risky

125
00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:33.800
real estate ventures.

126
00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:36.720
Ooh yeah.

127
00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:41.399
Close friends and co workers that Susan confided in said

128
00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:46.959
she seemed trapped between her faith's emphasis on family unity

129
00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:50.720
and her growing fear of Josh's temper.

130
00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:54.720
It will definitely trap you when their your church is

131
00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:57.839
telling you, right, yeah, like obey and stay with your

132
00:07:57.879 --> 00:08:01.319
husband no matter what, like you marry and you're together forever.

133
00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:06.439
Susan's journal entries would later reveal her growing discomfort with

134
00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:12.519
Josh's controlling, manipulative, and increasingly detached behavior, as well as

135
00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:14.680
the family strained finances.

136
00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:17.480
Man fucking Josh is Am I Right.

137
00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:23.600
I just feel like, also, it's really rough because in

138
00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:30.600
this kind of conservative religious, type of traditional family values

139
00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:36.960
sort of a situation, the woman wouldn't historically have to

140
00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:40.559
be the one that's like the primary provider. She shouldn't

141
00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:43.720
have to be dealing with the finances. Now. I mean

142
00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:47.080
that's obviously, that's like a very you know, it's a

143
00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:51.320
very specific type of you know, lifestyle choice. And if

144
00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:55.240
everybody's on board with that, that's one thing. But to

145
00:08:55.320 --> 00:08:59.559
be forced into sort of this you know, like I'm

146
00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:03.000
inser to the man, but she's the one who's like

147
00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:07.799
bringing home the bacon. Yeah, And I just feel like, okay,

148
00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:11.080
so you're following through on all of the parts that

149
00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:16.559
kind of seem satisfying to like the life from a

150
00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:20.200
man's perspective, but you're not really delivering on anything that

151
00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:23.080
would be beneficial to the woman in this case, you

152
00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:23.519
know what I mean?

153
00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:25.840
Right, Like she could just leave and like what then

154
00:09:25.879 --> 00:09:29.080
what would you do? Right where normally it's like they're

155
00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:33.000
kind of stuck because the man is providing for them, Like, yeah,

156
00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:36.519
I guess he's just really he has faith and that

157
00:09:36.759 --> 00:09:40.759
faith that she wants to stay in the family. Yeah.

158
00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:45.720
I think initially it's like the it's the religious faith,

159
00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:48.759
and it's you know, the teachings of like you said,

160
00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:51.600
it's like, well, you guys are married, you know, you

161
00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:56.120
stay together regardless. That is like sort of the initial

162
00:09:56.159 --> 00:10:00.639
thing that's keeping her there. And then eventually, you know,

163
00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.080
once you have kids. That's the other way that you know,

164
00:10:04.279 --> 00:10:07.279
down the line that they trap you. In two thousand

165
00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:11.240
and five, the couple had the first of their two sons, Charlie,

166
00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:14.120
born January nineteenth, two thousand and.

167
00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:16.279
Five, Charlie Charle.

168
00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:20.799
Two years later, on January second, two thousand and seven,

169
00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:26.600
another son was born, Brayden. Reportedly, later that same year,

170
00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:31.320
April two thousand and seven, Josh declared bankruptcy with debts

171
00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:34.720
exceeding two hundred thousand dollars.

172
00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:37.000
I want that much debt, soone, no one will give

173
00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:41.120
me that much money. You do not want that much debt,

174
00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:43.639
hey man, I want to die with a negative number.

175
00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:50.679
I'm just saying I want to take, not leave behind.

176
00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:55.320
By two thousand and six, Susan's journals and notes revealed

177
00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.639
that she was walking on eggshells as she documented the

178
00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:03.840
mounting tension in her marriage and Josh's violent temper. She

179
00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:07.480
managed the bills, cared for their sons, Charlie and Brayden,

180
00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:13.200
and tried to preserve a picture of domestic calm. Increasingly,

181
00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:17.440
her entries began to mention Josh's temper, his spending habits,

182
00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:21.559
and how he isolated her from her family. In two

183
00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:25.440
thousand and eight, she wrote, if I die, it may

184
00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:28.399
not be an accident, even if it looks like one.

185
00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:32.840
Jesus Fuck, have we heard this before? Do I just

186
00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:33.840
know this story?

187
00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:37.480
You might know the story, but it's not the first

188
00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:40.960
time we've heard a woman say, okay if I don't.

189
00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:44.480
Because I feel like we've said that on this podcast before.

190
00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:47.960
I'm almost certain that we have. Because there are so

191
00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:53.080
many instances of intimate partner violence against you know, women,

192
00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:56.519
and I feel like in this case, you know, I

193
00:11:56.559 --> 00:12:02.720
don't know how much physical abuse that there may or

194
00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:05.399
may not have been in their relationship. It doesn't seem

195
00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:09.919
like there's a real documented history of that. This seems

196
00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:13.639
more like there's you know, financial abuse, and then there's

197
00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:15.440
a lot of coercive control.

198
00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:20.519
I can definitely understand though, like, even though someone's not

199
00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:24.639
physically abusive towards you they can still make you feel

200
00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:26.159
like your life is threatened.

201
00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:30.879
Absolutely, and you have children with this man, so you're

202
00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:35.480
concerned about their safety and their well being obviously. She

203
00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:39.240
also recorded a video on July twenty ninth, two thousand

204
00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:43.759
and eight, at twelve thirty three pm, documenting her home,

205
00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:49.240
property damage and possessions in case something happens.

206
00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:53.600
She had a lot of foresight. It's kind of creepy,

207
00:12:54.200 --> 00:12:56.200
it is. I mean, I don't know what's going to

208
00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:58.240
happen to her, but I don't I don't feel like

209
00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:00.320
it's going to it's leading anywhere, right.

210
00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:03.799
Yeah. It definitely leaves you with a sense of dread,

211
00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:08.480
and I would say, knowing what I know, that is justified.

212
00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:13.600
In the footage, she referenced her husband's anger issues and

213
00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:16.639
noted that she had placed a will in other documents

214
00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:21.440
in a safe deposit box, explicitly stating that Josh should

215
00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:24.840
not access it. So what does that say when you're

216
00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:28.320
creating like a handwritten will and your husband is the

217
00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:31.240
one person that you're like, ah, he shouldn't be able

218
00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:32.879
to have access to this, But.

219
00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:37.039
Should I be the one person that you trust with everything? Right? Exactly?

220
00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:42.080
While the content of that video was certainly disturbing increasingly so,

221
00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:47.600
in hindsight, it was hardly surprising. She was doing well professionally,

222
00:13:47.720 --> 00:13:52.240
having earned securities licenses, and Susan's income was the primary

223
00:13:52.279 --> 00:13:56.720
financial support for the family. Colleagues described her as detail

224
00:13:56.840 --> 00:14:01.600
oriented and ambitious, traits cont with why she might take

225
00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:04.519
the time, even during a lunch break or half day,

226
00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:08.840
to document her home and assets for legal or financial reasons.

227
00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:12.480
Josh Powell was self employed at that time, running a

228
00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:18.200
small startup called and I shit you not Josh Powell

229
00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:24.559
Web Design. I mean it's straightforward, It's yeah, it's not creative,

230
00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:28.039
So he was running that business out of their home.

231
00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:32.960
He had a background in it web development, and some

232
00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:37.320
real estate and marketing ventures, but none were very stable.

233
00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:40.879
By two thousand and eight, he was reportedly struggling to

234
00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:44.679
maintain a steady income. After their April two thousand and

235
00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:48.960
seven bankruptcy filing you know the you know that time,

236
00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:52.080
they casually listed about two hundred thousand dollars in debt

237
00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:56.600
seen through that lens. Josh was home most of the time,

238
00:14:56.919 --> 00:14:59.559
so Susan may have used a short window while he

239
00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:02.279
was out of the house to make a private recording

240
00:15:03.320 --> 00:15:06.279
as a financial professional. She may have framed the video

241
00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:13.200
in practical, almost procedural terms, consistent with her personality and training,

242
00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:17.320
but later, when investigators viewed it in context, along with

243
00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:21.279
her handwritten will and the journal entries, it clearly carried

244
00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:25.200
a foreboding tone. She feared for her safety and wanted

245
00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:26.440
a record preserved.

246
00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:28.639
I think we all should just do this on a

247
00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:30.080
daily basis.

248
00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:36.559
Right, Just go around like record everything that always be recorded. Yeah,

249
00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:41.200
we're always saying that. Susan's salary kept the lights on,

250
00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:47.320
but friends noticed she was quieter at church, thinner, less certain.

251
00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:51.399
She'd once been the one bringing cast roles and laughter.

252
00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:57.279
Now she lingered after Relief Society meetings, talking about patience

253
00:15:57.480 --> 00:16:02.399
in trials. Susan's comfort extended to her father in law,

254
00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:06.279
Steve Powell, who openly admitted to being obsessed with her.

255
00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:11.480
His behavior, including secretly filming and stealing her personal items,

256
00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:16.279
was later used as evidence in his criminal conviction for voyeurism.

257
00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:20.399
Don't worry, we'll get to that. Why why is there

258
00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:27.720
so much happening? There's a lot happening, and I don't

259
00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:32.720
know how anybody is holding themselves together, holding down a job,

260
00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:39.360
like an important job in the financial sector while they

261
00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:43.759
have this much going on in their personal life. On

262
00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:47.799
December sixth, two thousand and nine, Susan attended church with

263
00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:51.080
her two sons. Later that day, the family ate a

264
00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:54.919
picnic dinner with a neighbor in attendance who left their

265
00:16:54.919 --> 00:16:59.879
home afterwards at around five PM, marking the last time

266
00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:05.960
that Susan was seen alive before she disappeared. This individual

267
00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:09.079
said that Josh had prepared the meal and Susan was

268
00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:13.880
tired after eating. Josh would state that after the meal,

269
00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:17.519
he took their young sons sledding at around five thirty,

270
00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:23.039
arriving home by about eight o'clock. The series of events

271
00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:27.920
he claims for the remainder of that evening are truly bizarre.

272
00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:32.079
According to Josh, he decided to take the boys on

273
00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:36.720
a spontaneous late night camping trip into Utah's West Desert

274
00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:43.759
around midnight. Susan, he claimed, stayed home asleep. Multiple neighbors

275
00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:46.839
reported hearing the car alarm of the Powell's vehicle at

276
00:17:46.839 --> 00:17:51.559
approximately eleven forty five pm, So, according to statements made

277
00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:54.680
by Josh, he and the boys left between midnight and

278
00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:58.240
twelve thirty am to camp out roughly two hours away

279
00:17:58.359 --> 00:18:03.799
in to Willa County when temperatures were below freezing and

280
00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:06.599
there was a snowstorm predicted in the forecast.

281
00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:09.480
That seems outrageous.

282
00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:15.279
Yeah, and it actually he told police he wanted to

283
00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:20.160
try out his new generator, which I guess you have

284
00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:24.160
to drive your two toddlers out into the middle of

285
00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:28.200
the Utah desert in a snowstorm after midnight to test

286
00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:28.920
a generator?

287
00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:33.759
Right, who wants to wake up? Okay? In who's what parents?

288
00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:37.440
Right fucking mind? Are they gonna wake up toddlers in

289
00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:39.920
the middle of the night, Like.

290
00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.160
I don't know, maybe he alone is maybe he was

291
00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:47.519
just you know, maybe he was just carrying sleeping toddlers

292
00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:52.839
to the car. Listen, all of this is so clearly ridiculous.

293
00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:56.119
That's kind of the point, is, like, I'd have to

294
00:18:56.200 --> 00:18:59.480
believe the first part of what you said for any

295
00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:03.000
of this excessive pieces to make any sense. And the

296
00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:06.799
problem is that I don't believe a goddamn thing. But

297
00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:12.359
let's pretend that we did. I'm not sure that seems

298
00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:14.799
smart with a two and four year old in tow.

299
00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:20.920
The investigators thought it seemed ill advised and frankly pretty suspicious.

300
00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:21.480
Mm hmm.

301
00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:29.359
Because it was in fact not their first rodeo. Officers

302
00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:33.200
listening to the explanation later called it the kind of

303
00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:35.599
lie that announces itself.

304
00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:37.839
That is exactly right.

305
00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:41.200
It's so accurate, but it just gives me the chills

306
00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:45.319
because it's like, I can't even imagine from their perspective

307
00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:51.359
just hearing this string of such obvious lies and being like, Okay, dude,

308
00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:52.599
that's the story.

309
00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:56.799
You're going with that, or you're like having a really

310
00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:00.400
manic episode, like was bipolar.

311
00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:05.680
Right, I mean, that's one other potential explanation. He said

312
00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:10.440
he'd taken the boys to Simpson Springs campground. When police checked,

313
00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:14.359
there were no tracks, no ashes, no proof anyone had

314
00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:19.480
been there. Even more unsettling were the words of little

315
00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:23.599
Charlie Powell, just four years old at the time. When

316
00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:27.839
detectives asked about the family strange midnight camping trip into

317
00:20:27.960 --> 00:20:31.640
Utah's frozen desert. He told them that his mother had

318
00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:35.240
gone with them that Sunday, but for some reason, she

319
00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:41.200
stayed behind at the campsite and didn't come home. I

320
00:20:41.319 --> 00:20:45.559
actually don't think I have this next part in my notes,

321
00:20:47.079 --> 00:20:49.720
and I wasn't sure that I was going to include it.

322
00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:54.000
It actually is more relevant to kind of the timeline

323
00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:59.119
for part two later, but the grandparents Susan's parents later

324
00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:02.519
questioned one of the little boys about a drawing that

325
00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:05.519
they did. It was like a drawing of the family,

326
00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:13.559
and he explained, that's us driving to go camping, and

327
00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:14.880
that's Mommy in the trunk.

328
00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:18.599
Oh my god, what the fuck.

329
00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:24.839
They were so little when this first happened, and I think,

330
00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:29.480
you know, as as time went on, they had more

331
00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:34.599
vocabulary and emotional awareness, and people like the other trusted

332
00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:37.559
adults in their life were able to talk to them

333
00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:41.319
and kind of help them to process what they might

334
00:21:41.319 --> 00:21:42.599
have seen or heard.

335
00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:44.000
Wow.

336
00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:48.440
According to a search warrant affidavit filed the day after

337
00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:53.640
Susan was reported missing, Charlie repeated the same heartbreaking version

338
00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:58.640
of events a week later, Mommy stayed there. So the

339
00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:00.920
thing is is that a child that young, it can

340
00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:05.000
be tough to know. They don't always understand the impact

341
00:22:05.079 --> 00:22:09.200
of their words or you know, their retelling of events.

342
00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:12.400
It can be fragile, it can be you know, sometimes skewed.

343
00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:17.559
But for him to say the exact same thing again later,

344
00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:22.799
it's pretty telling. I think the boy's daycare provider became

345
00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:26.400
concerned when Susan didn't show up with them the following morning.

346
00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:33.400
Josh's sister, Jennifer Graves, being the family's emergency contact, was contacted,

347
00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:36.279
raising alarm bells for her as well as Josh's mother.

348
00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:40.400
She went to the couple's house on Sarah Circle in

349
00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:44.000
West Valley City and kept knocking on the lock door

350
00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:47.440
of the house. Worried about the well being of her brother,

351
00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:52.079
his wife, and their kids, she informed the police. When

352
00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:55.000
the police arrived at the residence, they asked her if

353
00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:58.200
they should break in through a window, and she gave

354
00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.880
them the green light. When police entered the family home,

355
00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:07.559
they found Susan's purse, keys, wallet, and phone, all the

356
00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:12.359
things no one leaves behind willingly, all indicators that she

357
00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:17.960
had not left voluntarily. Detective stated there was nothing missing

358
00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:21.559
from the residence. There were no signs of forced entry,

359
00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:25.680
and it didn't appear there was a robbery, home invasion, burglary,

360
00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:30.000
or signs of a struggle. Now that last one, I

361
00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:34.319
might say, is debatable as our story continues, but I digress.

362
00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:37.200
Okay, it's going to be a little surprised.

363
00:23:37.079 --> 00:23:40.200
Yeah, I mean, no signs of a struggle. I would

364
00:23:40.279 --> 00:23:46.039
say is perhaps yes and no. Josh returned home later

365
00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:52.039
that afternoon, claiming ignorance of Susan's whereabouts. Investigators found her

366
00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:55.680
cell phone in his car with the SIM card removed,

367
00:23:56.519 --> 00:24:00.960
along with a generator, gas cans, and a shovel.

368
00:24:02.759 --> 00:24:05.519
Suspicious, like what other were you know?

369
00:24:05.720 --> 00:24:09.880
Yeah, I mean circumstantial obviously, right, but.

370
00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:14.079
The SIM card removed and you have gas cans and

371
00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:17.640
a shell, Like, come on, dude, where's the duct tape?

372
00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:19.960
Where's like, right, know, where's the rest of the kill kit?

373
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:21.240
Because that's what it seems like.

374
00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:25.640
Exactly one thousand percent. The search weren't served by the

375
00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:29.480
West Valley City Police. Revealed that Susan's blood was found

376
00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:33.240
in the home. Not that unusual of finding in and

377
00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:36.920
of itself for a resident of the home. If your

378
00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:41.920
blood's going to be anywhere your own house, that's predictable.

379
00:24:42.200 --> 00:24:44.440
My blood's all over this bitch, right.

380
00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:47.920
But some of the extraneous details surrounding the blood evidence

381
00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:54.400
they observed and collected was perhaps concerning. Susan's blood was

382
00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:57.000
found on the tiled living room floor that Josh had

383
00:24:57.000 --> 00:24:59.319
reportedly cleaned on the night in question.

384
00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:04.920
The night that he went camping. He was also cleaning

385
00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:07.480
the floor. Cleaning the floor. Hm, that seems like a

386
00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:09.599
lot of activity for the middle of the night.

387
00:25:10.119 --> 00:25:13.720
Yeah, yeah, it does. Like the more you talk about it, right,

388
00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:17.759
it sounds like, Okay, this dude seems like he's having

389
00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:18.920
like a manic episode.

390
00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:19.240
Yeah.

391
00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:22.799
I mean, and I had very much the same impression,

392
00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:25.799
And I think maybe that's what he was trying, Like,

393
00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:28.359
maybe he's thinking that's how he's going to pass it off.

394
00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:32.400
Also found in the living room was DNA belonging to

395
00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:36.799
an unknown male. Blood was also found on the carpet

396
00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:41.440
and sofa in the home. Two fans were running reportedly

397
00:25:42.279 --> 00:25:45.799
pointed at the couch and or carpet when police searched

398
00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:50.359
the home, So why would that be? A lot of

399
00:25:50.359 --> 00:25:53.359
the statements made by law enforcement indicated that it was

400
00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:57.119
like clearly there was a massive cleanup effort. They said

401
00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:02.920
it reeked of cleansing or Detectives later said the home

402
00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:07.319
looked frozen in the middle of an ordinary day. The

403
00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:10.440
boy's coats still hung by the door, a half made

404
00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:12.359
sandwich sat.

405
00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:12.680
On a plate.

406
00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:19.440
Wow, a missing comforter and sheet hinted that betting had

407
00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:22.359
been used potentially for cleanup.

408
00:26:22.680 --> 00:26:24.480
Right, Like, where would that be that would be either

409
00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:26.519
on the better in the laundry, right.

410
00:26:27.400 --> 00:26:34.920
Luminol testing suggested additional wipe downs, nothing singularly damning, everything

411
00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:38.960
collectively haunting, just.

412
00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:42.119
The huge cleanup thing too, Like, I guess you have

413
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:43.200
two kids.

414
00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:46.519
But right, but it doesn't sound like he was typically

415
00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:49.799
you know, mister super dad.

416
00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:52.160
This guy can't even keep a job. But he's like

417
00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:55.359
cleaning and like going on a road trip.

418
00:26:55.480 --> 00:27:02.039
And yeah, he's making a pancake dinner, cleaning their floors,

419
00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:06.599
taking the boys sledding, which I think, right, I think

420
00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:09.720
that part. I think the sledding, I think that part

421
00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:12.119
is true.

422
00:27:12.359 --> 00:27:16.000
We had to be seen doing one thing at least, right, right, Yeah,

423
00:27:16.119 --> 00:27:17.480
I don't know. I don't know.

424
00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:21.640
The part about him making the pancake dinner almost makes

425
00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:27.839
me think that perhaps he volunteered for that so that

426
00:27:27.880 --> 00:27:32.480
he could drug her. And there's no way for them

427
00:27:32.519 --> 00:27:33.079
to prove that.

428
00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:35.359
At this point. Spoiler.

429
00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:42.119
But sometimes what you don't find can be even more intriguing.

430
00:27:43.559 --> 00:27:46.279
You know, what they didn't find, other than obvious signs

431
00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:51.559
of forced entry, the supposed campsite Josh described showed no

432
00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:54.400
evidence of recent activity. I already kind of touched on them.

433
00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:56.680
Oh, right right. Yeah, you said, like no ashes, no

434
00:27:56.759 --> 00:27:57.920
tiring track, nothing.

435
00:27:58.200 --> 00:28:01.680
Yeah, almost like that story worry about an impromptu camping

436
00:28:01.720 --> 00:28:04.319
trip at midnight was bullshit or something weird.

437
00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:08.599
Weird, he just cleaned up his ashes entire talks because

438
00:28:08.599 --> 00:28:10.319
he's like really cleaning right now.

439
00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:15.279
Yeah, he's in his mannic cleaning era. By December ninth,

440
00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:19.519
the case was officially criminal. Then Salt Lake County District

441
00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:24.400
Attorney Laura Miller authorized a criminal investigation into the disappearance

442
00:28:24.440 --> 00:28:28.400
of Susan Powell. After a search warrant was served on

443
00:28:28.519 --> 00:28:31.519
Josh Powell's vehicle. He went to the Salt Lake City

444
00:28:31.559 --> 00:28:35.119
International Airport to rent a Ford Focus, which he put

445
00:28:35.640 --> 00:28:39.039
eight hundred and seven miles on before returning within thirty

446
00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:44.599
six hours, refusing to explain why. According to court documents,

447
00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:50.640
huh yeah, So they get a search warrant for his car,

448
00:28:50.839 --> 00:28:54.200
it ceased and he immediately goes to the airport, rents

449
00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:59.319
a rental car and puts over eight hundred miles on

450
00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:01.000
it in six hours.

451
00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:03.440
Like where did you go, dude? And why can't you

452
00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:04.880
tell us just like where you went?

453
00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:07.680
And he refused to tell anyone.

454
00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:10.000
He is like, I'm out of stories. At this point,

455
00:29:10.039 --> 00:29:12.680
I can't even pretend to like make something up right.

456
00:29:13.559 --> 00:29:18.799
Meanwhile, Susan's family held vigils and pleaded for information. Despite

457
00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:22.640
all of the findings from the investigation thus far, prosecutors

458
00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:28.759
faced a vexing challenge, no body, no confession, and somewhat

459
00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:34.119
limited physical evidence linking Josh directly to foul play. Following

460
00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:37.960
Susan Powell's disappearance on December sixth, two thousand and nine,

461
00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:41.960
law enforcement in West Valley City quickly became immersed in

462
00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:47.920
a case that blended domestic tension with national scrutiny. Forensic

463
00:29:47.960 --> 00:29:51.279
searches of the Powell home uncovered traces of Susan's blood,

464
00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:55.000
a handwritten will describing her fear of Josh, and life

465
00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:59.279
insurance policies totaling more than one point five million dollars

466
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.960
aiming Josh as the primary beneficiary, including policies taken out

467
00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:08.240
in June two thousand and nine for two hundred and

468
00:30:08.279 --> 00:30:12.640
fifty thousand dollars apiece for each of the boys. Jesus

469
00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:18.240
Christ but six months before Susan went missing, Why.

470
00:30:18.039 --> 00:30:22.200
Would you need to even like take out insurance policies

471
00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:24.319
on kids that are like that high like you're not

472
00:30:24.359 --> 00:30:26.880
depending on the cubits for like income or something, you know.

473
00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:29.759
One thousand percent. If you're taking out a policy and

474
00:30:29.880 --> 00:30:32.920
there are a lot of instances where parents have some

475
00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:36.359
type of coverage. It is like a death benefit. It

476
00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:42.440
is something to cover like a meaningful burial, you know,

477
00:30:43.079 --> 00:30:48.519
like something like in terms of a memorial, not replacing

478
00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:50.240
their lifetime income.

479
00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:52.759
Yeah, what the fuck?

480
00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:58.200
Utah investigators launched one of the most extensive missing person

481
00:30:58.279 --> 00:31:03.200
operations in state history, collaborating with the FBI and employing

482
00:31:03.319 --> 00:31:08.440
ground penetrating radar, aerial searches, and cadaver dogs in both

483
00:31:08.599 --> 00:31:12.880
Utah and rural Oregon. Friends describe the search effort as

484
00:31:12.920 --> 00:31:18.200
both frantic and surreal. Hundreds of volunteers combing the desert.

485
00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:24.119
The volunteer command post occupied a church gymnasium off forty

486
00:31:24.119 --> 00:31:29.759
one hundred South, rows of tables grown under croc pots,

487
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:33.920
walkie talkies, and printed maps of Tuila County.

488
00:31:35.160 --> 00:31:38.920
I do have one thing to say before we move on. Yeah,

489
00:31:39.079 --> 00:31:41.880
I know, like, obviously we have our thoughts and feelings

490
00:31:41.880 --> 00:31:46.279
about organized religion and things like that, especially maybe the like,

491
00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:50.839
well they're all kind of patriarch patriarchal right, but yeah, yeah,

492
00:31:51.319 --> 00:31:55.640
especially those ones. But it is very nice to have

493
00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:59.079
a community and like all these people getting together to

494
00:31:59.160 --> 00:31:59.920
help and support.

495
00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:03.319
Yeah, a thousand percent the way that the church community

496
00:32:03.400 --> 00:32:06.680
banded together and they were all helping with the search,

497
00:32:07.480 --> 00:32:09.920
and I'm going to talk about some other things that

498
00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:14.920
they tried to do to help, and I think that

499
00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:18.279
that's meaningful. And to me, that was like, you know,

500
00:32:18.759 --> 00:32:23.839
we may not necessarily agree on every line by line thing,

501
00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:28.880
but there's a lot of goodness in what the community,

502
00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:35.200
you know, tried to do. Hundreds of volunteers, LDS, ward members,

503
00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:40.720
co workers, complete strangers checked in daily. One woman said

504
00:32:40.759 --> 00:32:44.720
she'd driven from Idaho because you don't just lose a

505
00:32:44.839 --> 00:32:49.400
mother in the snow. I'm just picturing like this, like,

506
00:32:50.039 --> 00:32:53.599
you know, like middle aged lady driving over from Idaho

507
00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:57.720
with her crossmut because it's like just as simple as that,

508
00:32:58.039 --> 00:33:01.960
Like you that is bullshit. He's in his bullshit era.

509
00:33:02.440 --> 00:33:02.799
Yeah.

510
00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:07.839
Yeah, Well, and everybody, you know, like at a certain point,

511
00:33:07.880 --> 00:33:10.720
like early on enough, I think there was a lot

512
00:33:10.759 --> 00:33:14.119
of hope that you know, she might be found alive somewhere.

513
00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:21.720
I don't think that lasted very long for really anyone,

514
00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:27.039
like the community, for law enforcement, her family. I think

515
00:33:27.079 --> 00:33:31.519
everybody knew pretty pretty quickly. They saw the writing.

516
00:33:31.319 --> 00:33:34.720
On the wall. I mean in just like the weather conditions,

517
00:33:34.759 --> 00:33:36.920
like if she dight just get lost, like.

518
00:33:37.000 --> 00:33:42.880
If well, and that's that was hardly the leading story

519
00:33:43.079 --> 00:33:47.480
or theory, but we'll get to it. And of course

520
00:33:47.720 --> 00:33:51.640
the press descended. Satellite trucks lined the cul de Sac,

521
00:33:52.559 --> 00:33:57.240
camera flashes lit the Powell driveway. At dusk, Susan's parents,

522
00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:02.559
Chuck and Judy Cox, made tearful please on television publicly,

523
00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:07.400
Josh played the worried husband. Privately, he lawyered up and

524
00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:14.039
packed boxes. He drained Susan's retirement accounts, canceled her chiropractic appointments,

525
00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:17.320
and told the boy's daycare provider that the boys would

526
00:34:17.320 --> 00:34:22.320
not likely return to the facility. Just days after Susan's disappearance,

527
00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:29.239
Josh attended church, appearing oddly composed. Meanwhile, telltale cell tower

528
00:34:29.280 --> 00:34:36.039
pings contradicted his timeline, and he literally refused polygraphs.

529
00:34:36.519 --> 00:34:39.920
I wonder why, yuh huh.

530
00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:44.119
I know that, like they're like standing in the criminal

531
00:34:44.280 --> 00:34:46.280
justice system at this point, is.

532
00:34:47.159 --> 00:34:49.840
Yeah, I feel like their purpose is just to see

533
00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:51.559
if you turn it down or not right.

534
00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:54.480
Yeah, to rattle people, and then they can ask you

535
00:34:54.599 --> 00:34:58.480
questions that let them know, Okay, we know you're lying,

536
00:34:59.119 --> 00:35:01.039
but like when is the lie?

537
00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:01.519
Yeah?

538
00:35:01.800 --> 00:35:05.000
What what's the thing that spikes?

539
00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:08.440
You know? It's like a thing that could point just

540
00:35:08.440 --> 00:35:10.840
to give you, like a little more insight and information.

541
00:35:11.400 --> 00:35:15.239
They should do tarot with them, you guys, I think

542
00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:17.760
we should start doing tarot with the light detector test.

543
00:35:17.880 --> 00:35:19.079
What do you think you know?

544
00:35:19.199 --> 00:35:24.159
Couldn't hurt. His story seemed to shift almost daily. One day,

545
00:35:24.360 --> 00:35:27.960
Susan had gone to work early, the next she'd stepped

546
00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:31.199
out for a walk, or maybe she'd been depressed, you

547
00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:36.599
know that old chestnut. Before long, Josh twisted the narrative

548
00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:39.880
even further, implying that she'd run off with another man.

549
00:35:41.159 --> 00:35:44.000
How fucking dare you, sir?

550
00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:47.280
Like the fact that she was staying with someone abusive

551
00:35:47.320 --> 00:35:51.119
because she had so much respect for marriage? Yeah, and

552
00:35:51.159 --> 00:35:53.719
then yeah, oh that is so messed up? Okay.

553
00:35:54.480 --> 00:35:59.719
Detectives documented roughly forty inconsistencies in his statements within the

554
00:35:59.760 --> 00:36:06.960
first first week. While circumstantial evidence mounted, including witness testimony,

555
00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:13.079
about Josh's controlling behaviors, investigators struggled to meet the legal

556
00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:18.159
threshold for indictment. The case became Utah's version of a

557
00:36:18.199 --> 00:36:23.440
ghost story a woman who disappeared from inside her own home.

558
00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:29.440
Josh's sister, Jennifer Graves couldn't reconcile his calm detachment with

559
00:36:29.559 --> 00:36:33.039
the sister in law she knew. She volunteered to wear

560
00:36:33.079 --> 00:36:37.719
a wire for detectives meeting Josh at their father, Stephen

561
00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:43.920
Powell's home on January twenty second, twenty ten. Oh shit,

562
00:36:44.920 --> 00:36:47.800
her goal coax out a confession.

563
00:36:48.679 --> 00:36:51.840
Dude, it gives me freaking chills when that happens, Like

564
00:36:51.880 --> 00:36:55.599
that is so intense for somebody to do, Yeah, like

565
00:36:55.639 --> 00:36:59.920
a civilian to do. Yeah, Like I get like stress

566
00:37:00.119 --> 00:37:02.280
out for them so hard, Like I don't know if

567
00:37:02.280 --> 00:37:04.119
I could, I could ever do that.

568
00:37:04.679 --> 00:37:09.639
It is arguably like one of the kind of scariest

569
00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:14.679
aspects of this case in a way because Jennifer and

570
00:37:14.719 --> 00:37:18.360
we're gonna get into it in part two because spoiler

571
00:37:18.400 --> 00:37:23.199
there's two parts. Ah, she's gonna get a serious like

572
00:37:23.360 --> 00:37:29.400
hero bell. But it is really scary just knowing that,

573
00:37:29.559 --> 00:37:36.119
like as a family member she was so adamant about.

574
00:37:35.880 --> 00:37:38.719
I almost can't even like put it into words because

575
00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:41.639
who wants to believe that their loved one had something

576
00:37:41.679 --> 00:37:42.360
to do with this.

577
00:37:42.840 --> 00:37:48.079
Seriously, but it just is so it's so obvious though

578
00:37:48.239 --> 00:37:49.119
you see through it.

579
00:37:50.079 --> 00:37:52.559
If you are someone you know feels trapped in a

580
00:37:52.639 --> 00:37:57.320
relationship that doesn't feel safe, help is out there. You

581
00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:01.000
can call or text the National Domestic Violence Hotline at

582
00:38:01.079 --> 00:38:08.360
one eight hundred seven safe, or visit the hotline dot org.

583
00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:18.400
All right, so we are doing the tarot. I'm a

584
00:38:18.519 --> 00:38:25.280
spread out, spread them cats girl. Okay, where are we feeling?

585
00:38:27.039 --> 00:38:29.920
Like? Right side ish?

586
00:38:30.760 --> 00:38:32.159
Right side ish?

587
00:38:32.280 --> 00:38:32.639
Okay?

588
00:38:33.920 --> 00:38:36.480
Oh, I think this is a new one for us,

589
00:38:36.639 --> 00:38:38.400
especially with the PNW tarot.

590
00:38:38.760 --> 00:38:39.840
Okay it is.

591
00:38:40.679 --> 00:38:44.440
It's whales. Oh, it's the chariot, but we got it

592
00:38:44.519 --> 00:38:45.440
in the reverse.

593
00:38:45.920 --> 00:38:49.679
Oh okay, the chariot is the cancer card.

594
00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:51.840
That's right.

595
00:38:53.599 --> 00:38:56.960
Oh my word, cancer is in the zodiac side, not

596
00:38:57.119 --> 00:39:02.280
the yeah, deadly disease that can fuck itself.

597
00:39:02.960 --> 00:39:13.199
Okay. So these are gray whales progress, overcoming obstacles, will power, focus, ambition,

598
00:39:13.639 --> 00:39:20.079
and determination, achieving goals with ease. The gray whale sighed

599
00:39:20.280 --> 00:39:25.280
a low croak of pleasure and exhaustion as finally the

600
00:39:25.320 --> 00:39:29.239
current began to sweep her forward. The pod had been

601
00:39:29.280 --> 00:39:33.360
swimming for days, often fighting against the pushing of swells

602
00:39:33.480 --> 00:39:38.119
and pulling of tides. Now the ocean was working with them.

603
00:39:38.760 --> 00:39:42.639
As the current shepherded her along. She had only to

604
00:39:42.679 --> 00:39:47.280
make subtle shifts in direction, dipping a flipper or arking

605
00:39:47.320 --> 00:39:51.440
her fluke as she navigated parallel to the distant coast.

606
00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:55.280
She felt powerful with the strength of the ocean behind her.

607
00:39:56.159 --> 00:39:59.920
When she eventually turned out of the current, it was

608
00:40:00.280 --> 00:40:03.920
with less regret than she might have expected. She found

609
00:40:04.039 --> 00:40:08.320
she carried the ocean's strength within her. How she wondered,

610
00:40:08.679 --> 00:40:12.400
could I be the current that carries my pod along?

611
00:40:12.840 --> 00:40:16.719
Wow? Like I wasn't really seeing where that was going,

612
00:40:16.840 --> 00:40:21.199
Like how this was fitting in really until you said that, Yeah,

613
00:40:21.320 --> 00:40:23.760
Like it just reminded me of her, like trying to

614
00:40:23.960 --> 00:40:27.559
carry keep her family together and like be that person

615
00:40:27.760 --> 00:40:31.119
to keep her pod safe, which is what she was

616
00:40:31.159 --> 00:40:35.559
trying to do. Also too, when you said the chariot,

617
00:40:35.599 --> 00:40:38.320
like I was thinking of the car like the trip.

618
00:40:39.360 --> 00:40:43.440
So our keywords in the main Tarot book are controlling

619
00:40:43.599 --> 00:40:52.960
opposing forces, whoa willpower, resolving conflict, and travel, And as

620
00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:58.840
you so astutely pointed out, it says at a literal level,

621
00:40:59.079 --> 00:41:05.519
the chariot really to travel and transportation. The chariot reversed says,

622
00:41:05.679 --> 00:41:09.079
changes are happening so fast you feel out of control.

623
00:41:10.119 --> 00:41:13.079
It may seem like you're being pulled in two directions

624
00:41:13.079 --> 00:41:16.719
at once, and the stress is INTENSEO.

625
00:41:16.840 --> 00:41:19.840
That reminds me of like the two people who are

626
00:41:19.880 --> 00:41:21.199
like kind of obsessed with her.

627
00:41:22.079 --> 00:41:25.880
Yeah, you fear you won't be able to control the

628
00:41:26.000 --> 00:41:30.840
multiple factors of a given situation. You're at a crossroads.

629
00:41:31.400 --> 00:41:35.199
Choose your direction carefully. The more you can tune into

630
00:41:35.239 --> 00:41:39.400
your own inner guidance, the more control you can exert outwardly.

631
00:41:40.400 --> 00:41:43.679
Most likely, the solution to the problem at hand is

632
00:41:43.719 --> 00:41:47.480
to take the middle road between the conflicting issues.

633
00:41:47.719 --> 00:41:51.159
Wow, I love I was just casually like, oh, these

634
00:41:51.199 --> 00:41:54.679
two really hard things, just you know, go in between,

635
00:41:55.159 --> 00:41:56.280
just split the difference.

636
00:41:57.559 --> 00:42:01.440
In a reading about money, you could suffer setbacks or

637
00:42:01.559 --> 00:42:08.920
losses due to confusion, indecision, or inattentiveness. Lack of confidence

638
00:42:09.000 --> 00:42:12.800
or inexperience could result in a poor choice. Or you

639
00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:17.159
may rush into a financial matter unprepared and run headlong

640
00:42:17.320 --> 00:42:21.440
into a wall. Huh would you consider bankruptcy a wall?

641
00:42:21.800 --> 00:42:28.239
Yeah? Definitely, that definitely fits uh financially Yeah, yeah, yeah.

642
00:42:28.760 --> 00:42:32.320
If the reading is about your job. Competing factions may

643
00:42:32.400 --> 00:42:35.639
cause stress in your workplace and you feel incapable of

644
00:42:35.679 --> 00:42:40.159
controlling the situation, or things may be happening so fast

645
00:42:40.239 --> 00:42:42.840
your head is spinning and you can't get your bearings.

646
00:42:43.679 --> 00:42:46.840
Sometimes this card says you're being pulled in two different

647
00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:52.119
directions and can't decide which one to take. I feel

648
00:42:52.119 --> 00:42:54.400
like there's a number of ways that could really apply.

649
00:42:55.480 --> 00:42:58.480
To be honest, and they're talking about like in a

650
00:42:58.519 --> 00:43:02.559
professional application. I feel like they talked about, like, you know,

651
00:43:02.840 --> 00:43:06.400
he was an entrepreneur, he was inn it, he did

652
00:43:06.440 --> 00:43:08.679
some stuff in real estate, and I just feel like

653
00:43:08.719 --> 00:43:13.480
it speaks to sort of the indecision, you know, in

654
00:43:13.519 --> 00:43:18.719
a reading about love, conflicts or differences in opinion, lifestyle

655
00:43:18.880 --> 00:43:23.000
or values can cause tension in a relationship. You don't

656
00:43:23.000 --> 00:43:26.079
say yeah, or a change has thrown you off guard

657
00:43:26.119 --> 00:43:29.679
and you don't know how to handle the situation. Sometimes

658
00:43:29.719 --> 00:43:33.639
this card represents romantic involvement with two different people, or

659
00:43:33.719 --> 00:43:38.039
a conflict between two things you love. And I think

660
00:43:38.079 --> 00:43:42.039
that's really interesting because I feel like there's the duality

661
00:43:42.079 --> 00:43:46.800
of like, you know, there's like a spousal love, right,

662
00:43:46.880 --> 00:43:50.360
and then there's like the love of your family, your children.

663
00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:57.119
But there's also like the more complicated like interpretation of that,

664
00:43:57.280 --> 00:44:01.000
which is like there were two men that played such

665
00:44:01.000 --> 00:44:06.320
a prominent role in her life, and I think love

666
00:44:06.480 --> 00:44:09.679
is sort of a misnomer in that case, because it's

667
00:44:09.719 --> 00:44:12.360
like this was obsession, this was control.

668
00:44:12.559 --> 00:44:16.599
Yeah, but or like love of your religion.

669
00:44:18.280 --> 00:44:20.320
I think there's a lot of ways that this kind

670
00:44:20.320 --> 00:44:22.360
of you can interpret that.

671
00:44:22.920 --> 00:44:25.000
I feel like the chariot, just the whole thing with

672
00:44:25.199 --> 00:44:27.079
the car, like putting the kids in the car and

673
00:44:27.119 --> 00:44:29.599
then the kid saying like mommy was in the trunk,

674
00:44:29.679 --> 00:44:32.320
and then us getting a seriously chariot, Like I feel

675
00:44:32.320 --> 00:44:34.800
like that was just a sign like she probably was

676
00:44:34.840 --> 00:44:35.880
in the trunk. Yeah.

677
00:44:35.920 --> 00:44:38.800
And I just feel like, thinking about part one and

678
00:44:38.880 --> 00:44:42.559
part two, knowing what I know, especially for part one,

679
00:44:43.280 --> 00:44:45.599
I'd be hard pressed to come up with any sort

680
00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:50.920
of imagery that is stronger or more representative of Part

681
00:44:50.960 --> 00:44:54.880
one what we've talked about so far than like a

682
00:44:54.960 --> 00:44:56.119
chariot or a car.

683
00:44:56.320 --> 00:44:57.400
Yeah. I don't know.

684
00:44:57.440 --> 00:44:59.079
I don't know how else to put it other than

685
00:44:59.239 --> 00:45:01.440
it just kind of feels like dead on and like

686
00:45:01.480 --> 00:45:03.840
the imagery really makes sense in this one.

687
00:45:04.599 --> 00:45:06.480
I was thinking about it too, like in the terms

688
00:45:06.480 --> 00:45:09.320
of it being a cancer card and like the crab

689
00:45:10.079 --> 00:45:12.519
and if you're thinking about the crab, like having that

690
00:45:12.679 --> 00:45:15.960
strong she had to have this like strong outer sheltt

691
00:45:16.280 --> 00:45:19.920
like everything was okay, but like things at home were

692
00:45:19.960 --> 00:45:22.400
not okay. And she was even like you know, writing

693
00:45:22.440 --> 00:45:24.639
about it and stuff. So like obviously it was like

694
00:45:24.679 --> 00:45:25.639
pretty hidden and.

695
00:45:25.639 --> 00:45:29.239
Deep well, and it's like everything that she was doing

696
00:45:29.440 --> 00:45:32.440
was like such a protective action.

697
00:45:32.679 --> 00:45:35.119
I wish she would have just crab plot is a

698
00:45:35.119 --> 00:45:36.039
little dick off.

699
00:45:37.000 --> 00:45:45.920
Yeah, your lips to God's ears as they say, Ah, yesday, We'll.

700
00:45:45.719 --> 00:45:47.199
See you next Thursday.

701
00:45:47.480 --> 00:45:51.400
Thursday. Oh my god, we're gonna really.

702
00:45:51.239 --> 00:45:53.880
Mess that up. Yah, we're gonna be fine.

703
00:45:54.039 --> 00:45:56.760
I'm definitely gonna be saying Tuesday for a while.

704
00:45:59.360 --> 00:46:01.599
I'll just talk really loud over you so nobody knows

705
00:46:01.719 --> 00:46:03.119
this perfect.

706
00:46:04.400 --> 00:46:07.639
Oh, always covering my ass. What can I say?

707
00:46:08.880 --> 00:46:12.159
It's a nice ass. I gotta protect it. Oh, like

708
00:46:12.239 --> 00:46:12.679
a crab

709
00:46:13.039 --> 00:46:17.280
That booty pinch, pinch, pinch, peach