A Sad Ending

The West Valley Police Department is giving up.  Throwing in the towel.  Ending the active investigation into the disappearance of Susan Powell.  What a disappointment!  I feel so badly for her family, but when the suspects keep killing themselves off, what can you do?

This announcement came after LE spent two days searching a wooded area in Oregon.  This was the last in a long list of areas thoroughly searched, and this search was just as unsuccessful as the others.

IMO, the West Valley PD made a mistake very early on in the investigation, and that mistake cost them any chance they had of finding Susan's remains.  They took their eyes off Josh Powell for the first couple of days after Susan's disappearance.  I've followed a few murders.  I'm not trained.  I'm no expert...but even I could tell, from the interviews Josh gave in the hours and days following his wife's vanishing, that he had no idea what he was supposed to say.  That observation led to the inevitable conclusion that he was lying, and that raised suspicion that he knew more than he was telling.  Did the WVPD not know that there is always probable cause to investigate the husband in a case of possible foul play committed upon the wife?  Be that as it may, the man rented a car a couple of days afterwards and put over 800 miles on it in a 24 hour period.  I remember reading that he specifically asked for a car without GPS, so, by the time he returned from god-knows-where, the cops were kicking themselves around the block.  Nobody thought to put a tail on the prime suspect.

They also spent a lot of time and effort chasing down red herrings that were plentifully supplied by the helpful Powells.  I should have thought it would be obvious that she hadn't left of her own volition on foot, in the middle of a December night, in the snow, without her purse, phone, ID, money or credit cards.  A man went missing some time after Susan's disappearance, and as he had been in West Valley at some point in the time Josh and Susan lived there, the idea was put forth that the two of them had run off.  The PD sent people off on a jaunt to interview his family (just in case there might be those who would say that they focused on Josh alone) and spent time and resources on this wild goose chase, while all Susan's friends, coworkers and family  told LE endlessly how afraid she was of Josh, how he treated her, how she documented his abuse and how she left letters to the effect that, if she were to vanish, Josh should be considered a suspect.  Josh mostly didn't seem to care, and packed up the house and moved back to his family in Washington State, all the while maintaining that he wife would show up any day...

Oh...I almost forgot the website.  Josh and his father, Stephen put together this little gem.  In it, Susan was made out to be a likable flake with slutty leanings, the whole accompanied by a lot of unflattering photos of her and accusations against her family and friends.  I said long ago that I would not post a link to it, but now I don't suppose it matters.  We must not forget the custody battle between Josh and the parents of Susan for the two little boys.  Some of that played out on Josh's disgusting website, if you look for it.  There was more disparaging of Susan's character and attempts made to release her adolescent journals, which would prove, said the Powells, what a slut she was.  Kudos to the media approached by these sickos; no one would publish them.

Turned out that old Stephen had the hots for his daughter-in-law, while claiming she had an inappropriate interest in him.  He's currently in jail on a voyeurism charge.

The police have just released a lot of documents, so we may find out how they figure Josh's brother Michael to be involved in her "disappearance."  Most followers of this case have thought Josh must have had help hiding her body, but we suspected Stephen and not Michael.  I am looking forward to the document drop.

Josh killed himself and the boys over a year ago, now.  Michael also committed suicide within the past year.  So that pretty much narrows the field of possible witnesses and suspects, although I still suspect that Stephen knows more than he's telling.

It's a very sad ending to the case.  Many of Susan's friends have clung to the idea that she is alive and well, but these days, that's pretty much by rote.

I expect Susan's remains will be discovered by accident someday

Here is a link to parts of a video Susan made a year and a half before she vanished:  http://www.today.com/news/video-missing-mom-susan-powell-reveals-she-feared-her-life-6C10042727

Here is a link to the documents dumped by the WVPD:  http://www.ksl.com/?sid=25263938&nid=148