Theories On What Happened To Susan Powell

What happened to her? Josh killed her, that's for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if his dad was in on it.

I have had a gut feeling from the very beginning that her body isn't all that far away from home, somewhere that he feels sure she'll never be found - like down an old mineshaft or abandoned well or something like that. He had access to all sorts of information on properties and vacant land from being in real estate and I think that ties in somehow.
 
I feel like everytime I leave the forums and come back later in the day or the next day, there is even more crazy information coming out.

Today I was shocked to read that Josh is planning on selling his UT home that he shared with Susan and the kids to relocate everyone permanently to WA State. Now that wouldn't be too weird, since he has small children/might need help with them/wants to be close to family....BUT ITS BEEN LESS THAN A MONTH since Susan vanished!!!!!!

Maybe down the road a few months etc., but my goodness...he is quickly looking to sever ties in his UT community and get out of dodge. I wonder what the extradition policies are in WA and UT...

Anyway, I found it interesting that on Kiirsi's blog (which I found linked to her twitter), she said that she believes Susan was taken against her will outside of UT somewhere. I find that very interesting...and more plausible than some other theories I've heard (Susan ran off with internet lover etc.)

It would certainly explain why no on in UT seems to remember seeing Josh driving the van around during the first days she was missing (since perhaps the LE are looking in the wrong state!). Did the family ever vacation anywhere in ID/CO/WY?

If she was taken out of state by someone (...named Josh IMO), I wonder if they have found any information via the family computer regarding mapquest directions or the like.

This case is baffling, sad and all over the place. I hope that LE and friends and family of Susan keep up their diligent work on spreading news about Susan and the investigation and that she returns home to her adorable children very soon!
 
1) She left of her own accord and is still in hiding somewhere.
2) She was abducted by person or persons unknown
3) She was killed by person or persons unknown
4) She was abducted by Josh, possibly with help from father?
5) She was killed by Josh, her body removed and dumped by Josh, possibly with help

I can see no other possible scenarios to explain her continued absense.

1) Extremely unlikely, she would not have left her two children, would not have left her friends in ignorance all this time, and would have had to take something from the house with her - keys, phone, purse, coat, money, which we have no suggestion from Josh or LE that she did.

2) Extremely unlikely. First we have to accept Josh's camping trip story, and then someone has to gain access to the house while he is out (no sign of a break in), either knowing it is occupied by a single female, or in the hopes of that.

3) same as 2, except that they kill her instead of abducting her.

4) Possible, and this is what her friends are hoping for, and that she will either escape or be released. If she has been abducted by Josh, it is most likely to brainwash her out of the LDS, and he must be holding her somewhere, most likely at his father's house, so the father must be in on the scheme. However I don't think Josh would have chosen late on a Sunday evening for such a plot, knowing it would be discovered as soon as their Monday routine was broken. If such a scheme was planned, it was triggered early.

5) Most likely. An argument occured late at night, around 11:30pm to 11:45pm. Josh kills Susan unintentionally, and then panics and decides to dump her body rather than own up. He wraps her in plastic or something to disguise her, puts the body in the van, possibly letting off the alarm in the process. He can't leave the children unattended, nor can he call a neighbour to babysit them while he dumps her body in the woods, so he takes them with him, and concocts the *advertiser censored*-and-bull story about a camping trip to cover his actions. He has mopped up the mess he made killing her, and leaves fans on to dry the wet patch where she died.
I suppose it is possible that he put her in the front passenger seat and strapped her in, so the kids thought she was coming on the trip, which might explain the 4yo's comment about his mother staying in the woods.
Returning to the house the next day, the scene has already been discovered by LE and he presents his *advertiser censored*-and-bull story, dreamed up while driving, possibly with manufactured evidence to back it up, though we have seen no sign of any such evidence. Nobody believes it, but nobody can disprove it if he refuses to take LE to the camping site, which he apparently does.

Forensic evidence is gathered from the house, which takes 4-8 weeks to fully analyse.
Until that analysis is complete the LE will not have a case to convict him, but they can keep him munder observation wherever he is.

4 weeks and 4 days have now passed.
 
Welcome!!! Bartleby!
great 1st post.........
ITA with #5
 
A theory...

Josh slipped Susan a drug when he made dinner that night. He did this to incapacitate her so it would be easier to drown her in the tub, making it look like she'd taken too much Benadryl or something on her own (think Drew Petersen's first wife, and he just about got away with it). Halfway through the drowning, he realizes what he is doing and has second thoughts. He pulls her out of the tub and takes her to the living room where there is space to lay her out (hence the wet spot on the floor). He tries to revive her but is unsuccessful. Instead of calling 911, he panics and decides, on the fly, to concoct this missing person story. In panic mode, he takes her body out to dump somewhere, but locks the house and doesn't take her purse like she would have if she left on her own. He's in a hurry...no time to fake a forced entry either. He dumps her in the back of the van where the kids won't see her, loads everyone up, and while the kids sleep in the car, he dumps her.
 
1) She left of her own accord and is still in hiding somewhere.
2) She was abducted by person or persons unknown
3) She was killed by person or persons unknown
4) She was abducted by Josh, possibly with help from father?
5) She was killed by Josh, her body removed and dumped by Josh, possibly with help

I can see no other possible scenarios to explain her continued absense.

1) Extremely unlikely, she would not have left her two children, would not have left her friends in ignorance all this time, and would have had to take something from the house with her - keys, phone, purse, coat, money, which we have no suggestion from Josh or LE that she did.

2) Extremely unlikely. First we have to accept Josh's camping trip story, and then someone has to gain access to the house while he is out (no sign of a break in), either knowing it is occupied by a single female, or in the hopes of that.

3) same as 2, except that they kill her instead of abducting her.

4) Possible, and this is what her friends are hoping for, and that she will either escape or be released. If she has been abducted by Josh, it is most likely to brainwash her out of the LDS, and he must be holding her somewhere, most likely at his father's house, so the father must be in on the scheme. However I don't think Josh would have chosen late on a Sunday evening for such a plot, knowing it would be discovered as soon as their Monday routine was broken. If such a scheme was planned, it was triggered early.

5) Most likely. An argument occured late at night, around 11:30pm to 11:45pm. Josh kills Susan unintentionally, and then panics and decides to dump her body rather than own up. He wraps her in plastic or something to disguise her, puts the body in the van, possibly letting off the alarm in the process. He can't leave the children unattended, nor can he call a neighbour to babysit them while he dumps her body in the woods, so he takes them with him, and concocts the *advertiser censored*-and-bull story about a camping trip to cover his actions. He has mopped up the mess he made killing her, and leaves fans on to dry the wet patch where she died.
I suppose it is possible that he put her in the front passenger seat and strapped her in, so the kids thought she was coming on the trip, which might explain the 4yo's comment about his mother staying in the woods.
Returning to the house the next day, the scene has already been discovered by LE and he presents his *advertiser censored*-and-bull story, dreamed up while driving, possibly with manufactured evidence to back it up, though we have seen no sign of any such evidence. Nobody believes it, but nobody can disprove it if he refuses to take LE to the camping site, which he apparently does.

Forensic evidence is gathered from the house, which takes 4-8 weeks to fully analyse.
Until that analysis is complete the LE will not have a case to convict him, but they can keep him munder observation wherever he is.

4 weeks and 4 days have now passed.

Excellent first post! Welcome!!

I'm curious what your take is on this? I guess it's not out of the realm of possibility that Josh is hiding Susan somewhere :waitasec: How frequently does this happen in LDS? If that's what Josh is doing, how will he (and his accomplices) explain when Susan is reunited with her family? Surely, no one would believe she was a willing participant.

I hate to type it but I think Susan was murdered. I'm just curious about the deprogramming aspect and why Josh (or anyone else) would go to such extremes?

TIA!!
 
1) She left of her own accord and is still in hiding somewhere.
2) She was abducted by person or persons unknown
3) She was killed by person or persons unknown
4) She was abducted by Josh, possibly with help from father?
5) She was killed by Josh, her body removed and dumped by Josh, possibly with help



5) Most likely. An argument occured late at night, around 11:30pm to 11:45pm. Josh kills Susan unintentionally, and then panics and decides to dump her body rather than own up. He wraps her in plastic or something to disguise her, puts the body in the van, possibly letting off the alarm in the process. He can't leave the children unattended, nor can he call a neighbour to babysit them while he dumps her body in the woods, so he takes them with him, and concocts the *advertiser censored*-and-bull story about a camping trip to cover his actions. He has mopped up the mess he made killing her, and leaves fans on to dry the wet patch where she died.
I suppose it is possible that he put her in the front passenger seat and strapped her in, so the kids thought she was coming on the trip, which might explain the 4yo's comment about his mother staying in the woods.
Returning to the house the next day, the scene has already been discovered by LE and he presents his *advertiser censored*-and-bull story, dreamed up while driving, possibly with manufactured evidence to back it up, though we have seen no sign of any such evidence. Nobody believes it, but nobody can disprove it if he refuses to take LE to the camping site, which he apparently does.

IMO, the only possible scenerio is #5.
 
IMO, the only possible scenerio is #5.


I agree with #5 too. He has a van and the boys would probably have been asleep when he put them into the van. The boys could have been sleeping in the back part on the bench seat if it has one and he could have put Susan on the floor in the middle. I just wonder how far he would have taken her to get rid of her? His hands were frost bitten so he must have buried her somewhere under some snow.

His moving back to Washington state so soon just really clinches it for me. What husband whose wife is missing and that he loves with all of his heart moves thousands of miles away when she has only been gone a few weeks? He hasn't done a thing to look for her or help LE find her. He is just moving on with his life like she never existed. He might as well take a big sign out saying "I MURDERED MY WIFE." I hope and pray LE has some evidence proving it.
 
I think #5 is the most plausible, as well. Reading the above comments and thinking about their vehicle, I wonder if they have the stow and go compartments. If they do, I wonder if he could have put her in the stow and go in case he was stopped along the drive. I have a 2005 T&C with the stow and go and I can fit a lot of stuff in those compartments (but have never tried to fit a person in one!) Didn't Scott Peterson fit Laci into a toolbox? It makes me shudder to think of the horrible things that he could have done to her. Why do these men commit such heinous acts instead of just getting a divorce? :furious:
 
I too will go with #5.
 
IMO this was planned, he stabbed her in the house. He placed her in the car and woke his children up. He wasn't anywhere near where he said he was "camping"..the ground was frozen from the temps. He dumped her at a marina. This is all JMO of course.
 
Mommy, to me he seems gutless, I don't think he could have stabbed her unless she was drugged first. and then theres the blood, so I'm thinking he killed her by some other method. Drowning or strangulation would be my guess. I don't really think Josh's father helped but once it was done, hes gonna try to protect and advise him.

To me, its out of the realm of possibility that she would have been taken to deprogram. There really is no program involved in being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Now, there are other churches like the FDLS, and I don't know much about them but they are not involved in this. And the fact that she was married in the temple tells me that she has met with something horrific to leave her children and home.
 
Well, Josh told someone, 'It's not like I stabbed her!'

So,....................I guess that means stabbing is out. :rolleyes:

I agree with #5.

I can't decide whether he strangled her (with a ligature) or hit her with something.

IMHO, he did the deed though. :mad:

JMHO
fran
 
Well, Josh told someone, 'It's not like I stabbed her!'

So,....................I guess that means stabbing is out. :rolleyes:

I agree with #5.

I can't decide whether he strangled her (with a ligature) or hit her with something.

IMHO, he did the deed though. :mad:

JMHO
fran

And we all know he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.:twocents:
 
I think the killer sometimes adds in a bit of truth to their web of lies, like Scott Peterson saying he was fishing.
He wasn't fishing but that is where he dumped her body :(

I think her husband killed her and dumped her in the woods somewhere, and quite possibly near somewhere where he is moving now. He needed a day or two to drive far, far away.
 
I think he drugged her with something to make her drowsy, she fell asleep on the couch in the living room, he dragged her to floor and smothered her with a pillow. Her bladder/bowels released, so he had to clean up the area, hence the giant wet spot and fans. He then put her in the car and dumped her somewhere, which is going to be very difficult to find unless more info comes out about his trip (ie if he used a credit card anywhere for gas/food etc, or if a witness saw him).
 
#5 without a doubt

Here's one of the many ways I see it:

Josh had come across some information over the weekend maybe that Susan had a separate bank account and she was planning to leave with the boys. He found something out and it could have been that Sunday when Susan and the boys walked to church. This set him on a course he had thought of before, and made vague threats about, but it was to him "the last straw".

Rageful, Josh used the loving husband act to deceive Susan. Great pancakes and eggs, Dear. He used some drug to make her sleepy. She was going to have to take a nap. Jovanna left, and Josh took the boys in the van someplace. Susan was actually still just sleeping when they returned and Josh had time to pack a few things in the van. (smores ingredients I guess, or a generator) Susan was out sound asleep. The boys had fallen asleep upon returning from that first "sledding" trip. Josh strangles Susan either in the BR or LR. He goes to carry her out to the van, but body fluids leak creating the wet spot. Then, in the garage, the darn car alarm goes off. Gets her in the van concealed. Goes back into house, cleans wet spot and sets up fans. Gets boys up and in van to go camping. There's a frozen lake he and his Dad used to go to, not that far away. The two boys are sound asleep for a few more hours in the van. He had a sled to pull the body on. The generator has some kind of important use, maybe to cut a hole in the ice, and maybe he met someone out there that helped him. Might have had to get the rental car so he could go check if the ice had covered over.

Well, now I'm really going to cry for Susan. Any story you can come up with will make you sick.
 
I do believe that Josh killed her but it was not done following a plan. There was to much of a mess (wet area on carpet) if he had planned it, he could have gotten her to an area where there was a hard surface where messes could have been cleaned better. if it's true how he is bothered by germs, he would not be wanting a dead body on his carpet! He could have lured her into the garage and done it there, then no need to carry a dead body through the house and she would be close to a vehicle, or he could have planned some kind of "accident" where her body was not a problem, he could have planned a trip to somewhere so was taking her picture close to a cliff and then push her, they have many pictures so I would not think this unusual! he could have her buried, cash in accidental death insurance policy, be the grieving widower and been on his merry way.
He needed to get out of the area so fast, I believe her body is close by and he can't stand being so close to it, he thinks putting distance between them will help him avoid being caught. He also can not deal with being in the house where he killed her.
One thing I'm curious about, the wet area on the carpet, is it close to stairs going to a second floor? Is it close to where a phone would be or where Susan might have been going to grab keys? I picture him having a great need to stop her from doing something, was she going to call 911 or a friend for help?
I think it galled Josh to be waiting on her earlier in the day (cooking supper, bringing blanket etc) then she went to lay down, leaving him to take care of the children. Did he take them out sledding in the dark cold as a way to punish her, knowing she would not approve? Then when they returned she was livid about it and thats what brought on a deadly fight? This might be why her purse was on the bed, she was getting things ready to get out of there!

After she was killed he was in panick mode I do not think he was thinking sharp enough to get rid of a body so it would never be found, he was looking for the fastes easiest way possible, she may have just been put into a dumpster, I would like to know what color trash bags they had at the house, did they have large leaf bags?
Why did he need a new comforter? My thinking is he used theirs to wrap her body in, why need new clothes? What caused the damage to his hands? Still many questions and one day hopefully they will all be answered.

VB
 
Fascinating! We all think similar thoughts. I think JP poisoned Susan's pancakes with something. Rat poison? Sweet foods are easier to cover that smell/taste and pancakes are made separately, easy to make sure you didn't opps and dose yourself. She felt ill and went to bed. So JP leaves to give the poison time to work. Comes home and finds she has drug herself out of bed trying to reach the bathroom but died there. He bundles her up, who knows how, laundry bag ala KC or plastic tote ala Drew Peterson or just plastic bags...hard to say. Loads her into the van, gathers up the kids and the camping gear and goes out into the desert to find a nice place to dump a body. Come home, clean spot in carpet and start looking for new pad in Washington! I hope they catch him. He looks like DP's brother to me....birds of a feather.
 

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