CLUES: how to find Susan

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fran said:
I thought I remembered this statement from Josh, much earlier in the case. I just found reference to it in a newer article.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/missing-mom-susan-powell-s-son-mommy-s-in-the-mine

according to a report on CNN's Nancy Grace Show, airing Oct. 7, Powell's husband, Josh, once told a friend that a mineshaft would be the best place to dispose of a body.



You add in the fact that there was 'rumor' of Josh purchasing a large quantity of plastic type drop clothes, he may have killed her in the home, wrapped her in the plastic to transport her, temporarily placed her somewhere the night of the camping trip and went back when he had the car rental, so that he could move her to a more (hidden) appropriate place for her not to be discovered.

Oh, and let's not forget he DID purchase, was it propane? He said it was for their camping heater.

After the house explosion, it leads me to believe that those red hands he had the days AFTER Susan disappeared, was more than likely injuries received during the body disposal. IMHO, he may have burned her body first, then placed her in a mind shaft. :(

So, if they're able to locate her, they may just feel it was a camp fire? Not realizing there was a body. Or if she's in a mind shaft, IF she was burned, could be ashes floated down.:(

I know it's not where to look, but from what I recall from the beginning, possibly what to look for, which may give a hint of more direction to search and what to search for.

JMHO
fran
Click to expand...

What else would cause red burns on hands?
What about chemicals or lye burns? Was he ever thoroughly inspected by police or a doctor?
 
Storage unit posts were moved here ---->[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162138"]Susan Powell case now being considered a murder investigation*SEARCH WARRANT* 7FEB12 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community[/ame]
 
If the children said desert, and given the weather that night, I would look south and west.

Given the cutting torch, I think it might have been a gated area, either a gate/grille on a mine opening, or a gate to a closed area. I still think - if they have not - they should check the mine that was "sealed" just a month prior when that spelunker got stuck in it and died. It was very high profile in Utah news, as was the news that they were going to seal it.

Do ward members or Scouts remember going on any trips to areas of southern Utah where you can hunt for crystals? I agree with others that this was probably something they had done with the kids in the past, which is why it was given to the kids as an explanation. If there is a place they went, I'd focus searches on a straight line along good roads between that place and their house.

If you think he planned it, as I do, he was not deterred by the snow. He had to know he could get there and get back. Is it possible that he even took items to the place beforehand? I'm not up on the timeline but could he have walked her there alive, having drugged her with something like a date rape drug, so she would appear mostly "normal" to the boys without having any ability to resist or break away - then rolled her up and stuck her in the mine with the equipment already in place, then re-welded a hatch shut, thus getting his hands burned by the torch?

Maybe the extra miles on the rental car had to do not with revisiting the crime but with handing over incriminating items to someone who helped him clean up.
 
I think wherever it was, it was probably close to a paved road. Wasn't there some snow around? A minivan isn't a 4 wheel drive and you wouldn't want to get stuck.

And I hate to say it...could the cutting torch be used to dispose of the body?


I only sorta followed the case so forgive me- did anyone spot his rental car anywhere? Pings on a cell phone?
 
Remember Josh's personality and SP's. They have to be in control. The only way they could be in control would be to be in possession somehow of the remains. So they would keep control.

There was a comment posted under one of the articles last fall that was mysterious. It said that Josh went back where she'd been hidden, burned everything he could and then buried the remains in his Dad's backyard.

I've never forgotten that. I really think that she's somewhere close to where he was.
 
21merc7 said:
IDK, I do know he put 1000 miles on the rental car, so he went 500 one way, and 500 back. That is a lot of territory. Unless he was just driving around town aimlessly, which would not amount to 1000 miles, maybe a few give or take for in town stuff, but somewhere around 500 each way.

The night Susan was reported missing, and he said they went camping (in the van) was a Sunday and iirc, he and the boys did not return until Tuesday. What did they do for 2 days and how far did they go?
Click to expand...

Where would that 500 miles one way put him? In a radius that is. I'm not at all familia with the area in question.
 
I tend to think he didn't burn her because of the time that would have been involved with the boys in the car, and because the boys would likely have seen smoke and have drawn or told that by now.

He may have gone back the next day and done it.
But you don't need a tarp if you're planning to burn the person's body.

So it seems likely that it was disposal first, and maybe burning later. Of her body or of evidence.
 
Also, if you watch the video above closely, when the interviewer asked Josh about the Moab Trails, Josh looks down and away, then licks his lips, I think that would be a VERY good area to go looking.
 
deca said:
I think wherever it was, it was probably close to a paved road. Wasn't there some snow around? A minivan isn't a 4 wheel drive and you wouldn't want to get stuck.

And I hate to say it...could the cutting torch be used to dispose of the body?


I only sorta followed the case so forgive me- did anyone spot his rental car anywhere? Pings on a cell phone?
Click to expand...

I used to live in PA and I wondered about the rental car being able to travel in snowy conditions too. He had to stay on roads that he could manuver and not get stuck. Something to keep in mind. Also are these mines marked or is there signs where they are?
 
mamamia54 said:
Actually, I think the first place that needs to be looked at is definately the basement of the house. With his mental deranged brain, he would want to keep her as close to him as he could, like right under his own nose.
Click to expand...

But then he moved from Utah. When he came back to "work on the basement," did he dig her up and bring her to his father's house?

ETA: Do houses in Utah usually have full basements, or just crawl spaces?
 
TechWriter797 said:
But then he moved from Utah. When he came back to "work on the basement," did he dig her up and bring her to his father's house?

ETA: Do houses in Utah usually have full basements, or just crawl spaces?
Click to expand...

He could have had her wrapped up in that tarp or whatever it was that he purchased, leave her to come back at a later time. Do you know the sequence of events? Timeline of when the car was rented to when he took the kids on the camping trip?
 
I just looked up the date that he had apparently purchased the cutting torch and also the shrink wrap, somewhere around Dec. 7th and it was the 8th that he rented the car.

Now I'm wondering if Mommy WAS actually in the back of the minivan, wrapped up inside the shrink wrap, taken somewhere close enough but far enough away for Josh to get there, bring her back with him to the home that burned.
 
A very horrible thought... ("He: means JP)

He purchased propane.
He had a cutting torch.
He purchased large amounts of plastic tarping/sheeting.
He had damage to the skin on his hands.
He left with Susan, and she didn't return.
It was freezing that night (or lower).
He had some mileage on the rental car (between 200 and 1000; I'm thinking it was around 250 or so, or LE would've released close to 300, iykwim).
SP has been arrested in WA.
SP is being considered a POI in Susan's murder.
He has a storage unit in WA.

Putting that together, it may be that:
JP murdered Susan, used a propane torch to dismember her, wrapped her dismembered body in separate plastic sheeting, gave the wrapped packages to SP at about 100 miles or so from the house in Utah, SP came back to WA and put the wrapped plastic into a storage unit which had been rented either under an alias, or under JP's name, but definitely not under SPs name.

This would account for all aspects in the first part of my post.

Susan may not be found in mines or in searches because *she's not there.* I've been thinking while these two were utterly and completely evil, they were also fairly canny, and were aware of jurisdictional issues and the inability to search privately held property (rental units, storage, home, PO boxes are considered privately held property as long as the bills are being paid). Because of jurisdictional issues, Utah LE is unable to search the WA storage unit; and WA LE can't search because there was no crime yet that was in the person's name that held the lease to the storage unit.

This whole thing sickens me...but it accounts for everything we know as of now. Doesn't it? Or am I missing something?

Best-
Herding Cats
 
x_files said:
What else would cause red burns on hands?
What about chemicals or lye burns? Was he ever thoroughly inspected by police or a doctor?
Click to expand...

I have not been following this case closely since the beginning...but I did have a fleeting thought of him putting her body in lye. This could have caused his red hands.
 
I just watched and listened to the first interview with JP (on previous page). He mentioned Pony Express. I googled a map of Pony Express National Historical Trail, and it goes through Utah. Could this lead to a narrowing down of specific campsites, mines, etc?
A shot in the dark, but thought I'd throw it out there.
 
IHAVENOCLUE said:
I have not been following this case closely since the beginning...but I did have a fleeting thought of him putting her body in lye. This could have caused his red hands.
Click to expand...

If he was poisoning her with something, it could be the side effects of handling the chemical, too.
 
I don't know if you would risk driving very far (500 mi in winter through hills or mtns) with a body. It is possible that he hid her or handed her off to dad closer to home but drove around ahead of time/afterwards to put smoke on his trail.

Would you say that JP was paranoid and thought the car could be tracked so he wanted to lay a long trail? Was he panicking and trying to find the right spot? Or did he really drive that long to point A and back- he would be aware that rental companies keep track of mileage. The whole rental car thing could be a total red herring.

I don't know the case well. I wonder what one of those criminal personality evaluations would say?
 
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