Disappearance of Susan Powell

Joshua Powell was born on January 20, 1976, to Steven and Terrica Powell in Puyallup, Washington.

The Powell household was deeply dysfunctional due to Steven's violent abuse of his family and his disaffection with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Susan Marie Powell (née Cox; born October 16, 1981) is an American missing person from West Valley City, Utah, whose disappearance and presumed murder in December 2009, as well as the subsequent investigation and events, garnered national media attention.

Susan's husband Joshua was named a person of interest in her disappearance but was never charged.

By the late 1990s, Joshua was living in Tacoma as a student at the University of Washington.

It was here that he began a relationship with a woman named Catherine Terry Everett, whom he met at a local LDS Church congregation.

After the two moved into an apartment together, Joshua exhibited possessive behavior towards Everett.

She later recalled he refused to allow her to visit her family by herself and added: "He would have restrictions and limitations on what I could and couldn't do when it came to my family."

When Everett visited a friend in Utah without Joshua, she decided not to return to Washington and broke up with him over the phone.

According to divorce filings by Terrica in 1992, Steven shared pornography with Joshua and his two brothers and refused to teach or enforce limits on certain behaviors.

As a teenager, Joshua allegedly killed gerbils belonging to one of his sisters and threatened his mother with a butcher knife.

He also attempted suicide on at least one occasion.

Joshua met Susan Cox, a classmate at his LDS Church Institute of Religion course, during a dinner party at his Tacoma apartment in November 2000.

The two began a relationship and married in the Portland Oregon Temple in April 2001.

Joshua had a bachelor's degree in business and worked for a number of different companies over the years.

Susan, a trained cosmetologist, took up a job with Wells Fargo Investments after the family relocated to West Valley City, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City.

In 2003, Steven confessed his amorous feelings to a stunned Susan, who rejected him; the encounter was inadvertently captured by Steven's camcorder microphone.

The Powells moved out-of-state soon after, partly so Susan could distance herself from Steven.

Susan's journal entries and email correspondence indicated the presence of marital discord.

There was tension with Joshua over his refusal to attend church services with his family and over his continued contact with Steven despite his father's ongoing advances toward Susan.

Susan's friends also pointed to Joshua's "extremely controlling" behavior towards his wife and his extravagant spending habits.

The Powells had two sons: Charles, born in 2005, and Braden, born in 2007.

For a brief period following their wedding, Joshua and Susan lived with Steven, her father-in-law, in South Hill, Washington.

Steven developed an obsessive infatuation with Susan and followed her around the house with a camcorder, used a small mirror to spy on her while she used the bathroom, stole her underwear from her laundry, read her journals and posted love songs online under a pseudonym.

Joshua filed for bankruptcy in 2007, declaring over $200,000 in debts.

Susan recorded a video in July 2008 surveying property damage she attributed to Joshua, and wrote a secret will that included the statements, "I want it documented that there is extreme turmoil in our marriage" and, "If I die, it may not be an accident, even if it looks like one."

On the morning of December 6, 2009, Susan, Charles and Braden attended church services.

A neighbor visited them at home that afternoon, leaving at about 5:00 p.m. This was the last time Susan was seen by someone from outside the Powell household.

At first, relatives reported the entire Powell family missing on December 7.

Joshua's mother, Terrica, and his estranged sister, Jennifer Graves, went looking for them at their house shortly after being informed that the children had not been dropped off at daycare that morning.

They called the police after failing to make contact with Joshua or Susan.

The police broke into the house, fearing that the family members were victims of carbon monoxide poisoning.

They found no one inside, but noticed two box fans blowing at a wet spot on the couch.

Susan did not show up at her job on December 7; her purse, wallet, and identification were all found inside the house.

Her cell phone was later found in the family's only vehicle, a Chrysler Town & Country minivan, that Joshua had been using.

Later that day, at about 5:00 p.m., Joshua returned home with the two boys and was taken to the police station for questioning.

On February 5, 2012, Joshua killed himself and the couple's two young sons, Charles Joshua Powell (January 19, 2005 – February 5, 2012) and Braden Timothy Powell (January 2, 2007 – February 5, 2012), in a murder–suicide after custody of the boys had been awarded to Susan's parents, Judy and Charles Cox.

On May 21, 2013, West Valley City police closed their active investigation into Susan's disappearance, stating their belief that she was a victim of murder by Joshua and that his brother, Michael, aided him in concealing her body.

Michael had killed himself in February 2013.

Since then, there have been repeated attempts to have Susan legally declared dead.