News of Susan Powell's disappearance may provide answers in the mysterious case. The Utah woman has been missing since December 7, 2009, when she went missing from her home.
The latest news in the case stems from the discovery of a mine in Utah's western desert, according to Fox 13 Now. Evidence was collected and sent to the Salt Lake City lab.
20/20 is revisiting matters with a special update tonight, February 18, 2022 at 9 p.m. on ABC. Eastern Time. The show first aired on November 13, 2020.
Here's what you need to know:
1. Powell's husband, Josh Powell, kills his 2 sons and himself in an explosion
Hoping these do turn out to belong to Susan Powell. It's incredible that potential remains for both her and Brandon Lawson have been found within a week of each other...https://t.co/jEE5AMYPuk
— The Trail Went Cold (@robin_warder) February 10, 2022
During a scheduled supervised visit between Josh Powell and his sons Charlie and Braden, Susan Powell's husband kills their children and himself. The boys were ages 2 and 4. When a social worker came in with the boys, she pulled the kids inside and slammed the door in the face, according to an appeal filed in the Washington State Circuit Court.
The social worker knocked on the door till the smell of gas came. Then the house exploded. Josh Powell and the boys died of carbon monoxide poisoning. A secondary cause of death of the children was "injuries to the injury". According to The News Tribune, police believe he attacked his sons with an ax before the fire.
During the 24-hour period Powell killed himself and his sons, he gave away his toys and books and made a series of goodbyes via phone calls and letters. According to The News Tribune, he also filled two five-gallon gas cans with gasoline.
One of his last phone calls was to his sister. He left a voicemail saying, "This is Josh. I am calling to say goodbye. I can't live without my sons, and I can't go on anymore. I'm sorry for everyone I've hurt. Bye."
2. The eldest son of the couple told the police that his mother had gone camping with them and did not come home
A new development in the chilling true-crime story of a mother who vanished. 20/20 reports the latest updates in the Susan Powell case - Friday at 9|8c on ABC. Stream on Hulu. https://t.co/K8Bj9tLdhy pic.twitter.com/aYgZ4JOH38
— 20/20 (@ABC2020) February 16, 2022
When police questioned Josh Powell about his wife's disappearance, he told them that he had seen his young sons camping the night before. Police immediately suspected the story because the night he said the temperature was below zero, he said he was camping with the boys.
According to The News Tribune, his eldest son later told the police that his mother also accompanied him on a camping trip.
She said "His mother was camping with them, although she had not returned home with them and did not know why."
3. Susan Powell wrote a letter to her family and friends in June 2008 that her husband threatened her and she feared for her life
Chuck Cox makes trip to West Desert to personally thank team searching for Susan Powell https://t.co/wreErVpZBl pic.twitter.com/0E3L86UYl9
— Heidi Hatch KUTV (@tvheidihatch) February 10, 2022
Susan Powell addressed a letter to family and friends in June 2008, stating that her husband had threatened her and that she feared for her life. The letter stated that Josh Powell threatened to "destroy her" if she divorced her, and warned that if she dies "it may not be an accident, even if it looks like one." She had kept the letter in a safe, which only she could access.
According to The Charlie Project, Susan Powell and Josh Powell filed for bankruptcy in 2007 with approximately $200,000 in debt.
A friend Susan went to Powell for lunch on December 6, 2009, the day before his disappearance. According to The Charlie Project, nothing seemed unusual.
"According to her friend, Susan was behaving normally at the time and she only said she was tired and wanted to take a nap before dinner," the Charlie Project reported.
4. Josh Powell's father, Steve Powell, was convicted of child pornography and had tapes containing images of Susan Powell
In 2011, police were searching for information on Susan Powell's disappearance when they found child pornography photos at the home of Josh Powell's father, Steve Powell. The children in the images were her former neighbors and the pictures were taken through the windows. Steve Powell was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, according to an appeal filed in his case.
"On August 25, Pierce County and Utah officials executed a search warrant at Powell's home. They confiscated computers, hard drives, discs, a camcorder, videos, and notebooks during the search. One was seized from Powell's bedroom. The disc contained many pictures and videos, carefully listed in folders. One such folder was titled 'Neighbours', which included 'Open Window in Back House', 'Taking Bath-1' and 'Taking Bath-2'. There were subfolders titled.
Powell was sentenced to 30 months in prison. He was later sentenced on an additional charge, and sentenced to 60 months in prison to run alongside his previous sentence.
Police found an entry in Powell's magazine that said, "I enjoy taking video shots of beautiful girls in shorts and skirts, beautiful women of all ages. I sometimes use those images for self-stimulation."
Also during the investigation into Susan Powell's disappearance, police found a magazine that belonged to Susan. She wrote that she believed her father-in-law was a pedophile.
According to The Charlie Project, when police collected thousands of images of child pornography depicting girls under the age of 8 at Steven Powell's home, they also found images of Susan.
"Interestingly, Steven had previously claimed that Susan was 'a very sexist person' and that she wanted to have a relationship with him, but Susan's family said the opposite was true and asked Susan and Josh to get away from her. Were gone to Utah. Unwanted sexual advances of father-in-law,” the Charlie Project reported. “One of Susan’s friends said he told her that Steven spied on her while she was dressing up and that when she moved to Utah, she was passionately Told her that she never wanted to let Steven inside her house. Josh admitted that he was aware of his father's fixation on Susan. In her journals, Susan wrote that she thought Steven was a pedophile and was a bad influence on Josh.
Read more about Steve Powell here.
5. Josh Powell was a suspect in the case but his death left Susan Powell's family and friends unanswered
Tune in to @ABC2020 tomorrow for our interview of what we've discovered in the search for Susan Powell pic.twitter.com/UgT9TPhpNV
— Taylor Sparks (@taylordsparks) February 18, 2022
Susan's best friend Keirsey Hallewell told Fox 13 Now in February 2022 that she was still waiting to find out what happened to her friend.
According to Fox 13 Now, evidence collected from the Utah mine in February 2022 includes bones, a pair of pants that may have been women's pants, and other clothing scraps and trash.
"It was a very emotional week last week," Susan's best friend Keirsey Hallewell told the news outlet. "Lots back and forth. Is that? Isn't it that? Have they found any clues about Susan's disappearance?"
She told the news outlet she's been waiting for closure for years, but she's trying not to be overly optimistic that the answers are close.
“I saw the pants myself, I touched them. I took a closer look at them and I think they were a pair of women's dress pants. Why would someone throw a pair of women's dress pants at me?" Hallewell told the news outlet. "I'm trying not to live up to my expectations. Because I've spent many hours crying over the past few weeks thinking, 'Is this him? We really found him.' And then the ration will come back and we'll say, 'Maybe it isn't. Don't get your hopes up. We've been here many times before."