SUSAN POWELL - 28 yo (2009) - Stockton (SW of Salt Lake City) UT

http://www.kirotv.com/news/28979305/detail.html

e searched the South Hill home of Josh Powell, the husband of missing Utah mother Susan Cox Powell, and Steve Powell, Josh's father, Thursday afternoon.

KIRO 7's Kevin McCarty said Josh Powell was detained for a time outside his home while the West Valley City Police from Utah served a search warrant. Powell has since been released.

From our partners at The News Tribune:

"About 10 investigators and forensic specialists from each agency are focusing on the South Hill-area home where Powell's husband, 35-year-old Josh Powell, has been living since moving back to the area with the couple's two sons after his wife's disappearance. He has been living with his father.

"Josh Powell and his father, Steve Powell, are being detained while investigators executed a search warrant.

"Josh Powell has long been considered a person of interest in his wife's disappearance. However, he's never been arrested or charged."

SLIDESHOW: Police Search Josh Powell's Home

"When we arrived, everybody looked pretty surprised to see us," said Det. Ed Troyer with the Pierce County Sheriff's Office. "The little kids were here, so we did this as gently as we could. We didn't want to traumatize the little kids. It all went very smoothly. We were able to get everybody detained."

Neighbors gathered around as the search was conducted.

"This is surprising," said Julius Pernell, one of Powell's neighbors. "I think everybody's been waiting for something to happen, and it finally has."
snipped

Susan Powell Disappearance: Sources Say Arrest Imminent, Father In Law Is A Perv

Posted by Blink | Thursday 25 August 2011 11:15 pm

Puyallup, WA- This afternoon, search warrants were served on the home in Puyallup Josh Powell and his two young sons with Susan Cox Powell share with his Dad, Steven Powell.

Josh alleges Susan disappeared on December 9, 2009 when he took the couples children on an impromptu camping trip, 2 hours away, in a blizzard, with a generator, while forgetting to call his employer when he did not show up two days later.

He admitted that Susan stayed behind to clean a red stain on the carpet, which police witnessed two fans drying, three days later.

This is all the factual data I can write prior to breaking into the editorial portion of our program.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

This woman’s father in law, Steven Powell, is describing her sexuality?

He is stating they were very sexual with one another? With all due respect, if this dear woman was not already deceased, she is dying all over again at such a sadistic and malicious comment.

A friend of Susan’s tells the real story here.

He went on to say he was falling in love with her.

Air sickness bags located in the seat pocket in front of you. If you don’t use yours, save it.

In this case, you will need it before it is over.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a witness to Josh Powell’s whereabouts the early morning hours of December 9, 2009, has confirmed to www.blinkoncrime.com, that an arrest is imminent in this case.

Our source cannot confirm however, that an arrest is forthcoming in Susan’s actual disappearance.

Check back to www.blinkoncrime.com for updates.

http://blinkoncrime.com/2011/08/25/susan-powell-disappearance-sources-say-arrest-imminent-father-in-law-is-a-perv/

mom_in_il wrote:Susan Powell Disappearance: Sources Say Arrest Imminent, Father In Law Is A Perv

Posted by Blink | Thursday 25 August 2011 11:15 pm

Puyallup, WA- This afternoon, search warrants were served on the home in Puyallup Josh Powell and his two young sons with Susan Cox Powell share with his Dad, Steven Powell.

Josh alleges Susan disappeared on December 9, 2009 when he took the couples children on an impromptu camping trip, 2 hours away, in a blizzard, with a generator, while forgetting to call his employer when he did not show up two days later.

He admitted that Susan stayed behind to clean a red stain on the carpet, which police witnessed two fans drying, three days later.

This is all the factual data I can write prior to breaking into the editorial portion of our program.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

This woman’s father in law, Steven Powell, is describing her sexuality?

He is stating they were very sexual with one another? With all due respect, if this dear woman was not already deceased, she is dying all over again at such a sadistic and malicious comment.

A friend of Susan’s tells the real story here.

He went on to say he was falling in love with her.

Air sickness bags located in the seat pocket in front of you. If you don’t use yours, save it.

In this case, you will need it before it is over.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a witness to Josh Powell’s whereabouts the early morning hours of December 9, 2009, has confirmed to www.blinkoncrime.com, that an arrest is imminent in this case.

Our source cannot confirm however, that an arrest is forthcoming in Susan’s actual disappearance.

Check back to www.blinkoncrime.com for updates.

[url=http://blinkoncrime.com/2011/08/25/susan-powell-disappearance-sources-say-arrest-imminent-father-in-law-is-a-perv/

http://blinkoncrime.com/2011/08/25/susan-powell-disappearance-sources-say-arrest-imminent-father-in-law-is-a-perv/[/quote[/url]]



OMG this father in law is a sick, disgusting perv....I cannot believe the direction this case is going. So hope they find Susan and someone gets arrested and soon......what a father and son combo Josh and Steven are, sickos

TACOMA, Wash. - The husband and father-in-law of missing mom Susan Cox
Powell were ordered not to publish any entries from Susan's journal in a
court order issued Friday.

The temporary restraining order,
issued in Pierce County Superior Court, orders the husband, Josh Powell,
and his father, Steven Powell, to "immediately cease" publication of
entries from Susan's private journal.

It also orders the husband
and father-in-law to "immediately remove" Susan's journal entries from
their website, SusanPowell.org, and from any other public forum where
the entries are posted. They also are prohibited from giving copies of
the journal to the press.

The temporary restraining order was
requested by Susan's father and mother, Chuck and Judy Cox, through
their attorney, Anne M. Bremner, and was granted Friday.

"It's
really a major victory for the family because there's been so much out
there right now that's untrue that's been put forth by Steven and Josh
Powell," Bremner said in an interview with KOMO Radio.

The order
says that Chuck and Judy Cox will continue to suffer "severe mental
distress and anguish" as a result of the journal's publication. The
injuries "are irreparable and will only worsen" if the Powells continue
to publish the entries, the court order adds.

Susan's private
journal, which covers the period of her teen years, has been in the
possession of Josh and Steven Powell. The two have claimed in recent
interviews that the journal entries, which number about 2,000 pages,
show Susan was suicidal in her younger years.

But Bremner said the journals have absolutely no bearing on the missing person case.

"Susan
was a teenager with these journals. It doesn't show anything," she
said. "She was a good wife and a good mother who would have never left
her children."

She said Josh and Steven Powell have given copies of journal entries to the media, but they no longer can do that.

A copy was given to KOMO News, which made the decision not to publish or broadcast any material from Susan's private journals.

On
Thursday, police executed a search warrant and seized Susan's journal
from Josh Powell's home, according to Steven Powell. It is not known
whether Josh and Steven Powell have any other copies of Susan's journal.

The
latest developments come 20 months after Susan Powell's disappearance
on Dec. 6, 2009, from her home in West Valley City, Utah. She was
reported missing the next day after she failed to show up for her
stockbroker job.

Josh Powell said he last saw his 28-year-old
wife before he left with their two boys, ages 2 and 4, to go on a
midnight camping trip in freezing temperatures on the Pony Express
Trail, about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City.

Bremner also said
that Josh delayed reporting Susan as missing, and that police found a
wet spot on the carpet of the Powell family home with two fans drying it
after her disappearance.

Police have said that Josh Powell is a person of interest in the case, although he's never been arrested or charged.

Both
Susan and Josh Powell are natives of Puyallup, and Josh moved back
there with his young sons after Susan disappeared. Susan's father-in-law
and father also live in Puyallup.

In recent interviews, Josh
Powell has claimed that his wife was mentally "unstable" before she
vanished, and Steven Powell has claimed that she initiated a
flirtatious, "sexually charged" relationship with him.

Her father, Chuck Cox, has denied those claims - as did Bremner, who called them a "complete lie."

Bremner
said there can be only one possible motivation for publishing entries
from Susan's private teen journals - and that is to "smear" Susan.

"They
try to say that she took some aspirin and tried to kill herself. She
didn't," she says. "I mean, she was a kid. You say funny things when
you're a kid. She was an adult woman with two children aged 2 and 4 when
she disappeared, and to mock her memory or try and malign her is just
irresponsible."

The restraining order issued against Josh and
Steven Powell comes a few days after Josh obtained a no-contact order
against Chuck and Judy Cox, forbidding them coming within 500 feet of
him or his sons.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/128492198.html

Published August 27, 2011, 06:54 AM
Journals, computers seized in missing Utah mom case


The father-in-law of a Utah mother missing for nearly two years said
Friday authorities seized computers and journals during an extensive
hours-long search of his Washington state home.
SALT LAKE CITY — The father-in-law of a Utah mother missing for nearly
two years said Friday authorities seized computers and journals during
an extensive hours-long search of his Washington state home.

“They went through every room in the house, the garage, even the crawl
space,” Steve Powell told The Associated Press. “They just left piles of
things everywhere. They took a lot of stuff.”

The renewed effort over the past week in the search for Susan Cox Powell
came as the case spiraled into an emotional saga pitting one side of
her family against the other. The Powell family has throughout the
investigation claimed they believe Susan Powell ran off with another
man. Her family, however, has just been praying she’s still alive, and
has pleaded with her husband, Josh, to cooperate with authorities, who
say he’s been evasive.

Josh Powell is the only person of interest in his wife’s disappearance,
but he has not been charged or detained and denies killing his wife or
knowing anything about where she is.
His father, Steve Powell, claimed in a nationally televised interview
Thursday that he had a flirtatious relationship with his
daughter-in-law, that they were in love — something her parents
adamantly denied, saying Steve Powell initiated unwanted sexual advances
toward her.

On Thursday, authorities from Utah converged on the Powell’s home in
Puyallup, Wash., searching for journals from everyone, including Susan
Powell, Steve Powell and Josh Powell, Steve Powell said.

He said they seized every computer in the home.

“They took the whole computers. They didn’t just take hard drives,”
Steve Powell said. “They had a warrant, I guess, to pick up the journals
and any electronic media that may have had the journals on them.”

Powell said authorities also seized thumb drives, CDs and paper journals from the home.

Police have declined to comment on what they were seeking or what they found.

“We came here looking for specific things, and some of those things
we’ve been able to find,” West Valley City, Utah, police Lt. Bill
Merritt said Thursday night. He called the evidence collected “very,
very important” to the investigation.

The Powell family has been portraying Susan as promiscuous and
emotionally unstable and had been offering as proof several diary pages
from the missing woman’s teenage years. Her family says the entries were
written by a young girl and have no bearing on the 28-year-old’s
disappearance. A Washington state court on Friday granted a temporary
restraining order sought by her family, prohibiting the Powells from
disseminating the journal entries.
It’s the latest in a flurry of action in the case that had appeared to
stall until recently. On Tuesday, a court commissioner in Washington
state ordered Susan Powell’s father, Chuck Cox, and Josh Powell to keep
500 feet apart. That move came just days after authorities wrapped up a
search for evidence in a network of abandoned mines outside Ely, Nev.
They found nothing new.
Josh Powell said Friday he would not allow Susan Powell’s parents to
“stop the truth from getting out” by keeping him from disseminating her
journal entries.
“Susan is not ashamed of anything in her journals,” he told the AP.

Cox family attorney Anne Bremner said the Powells are making a terrible situation even worse.

“What they’re doing is adding such horrible angst to her parents that we
have to stop this,” Bremner said Friday. “It’s gone from just bizarre
to just unbearable for the family.”

Josh Powell continues to say he believes his wife is alive, and is frustrated that “people aren’t searching for Susan.”

“I’m still thinking she left,” Steve Powell added. “Hopefully they’ll be
able to find her at some point ... We don’t believe she’s dead.”

Police say Josh Powell has refused to answer questions about a supposed
midnight camping trip he said he took with the couple’s sons — then ages
4 and 2 — in the mountains west of Salt Lake City the night before
Susan Powell was reported missing. She was last seen by her husband Dec.
6, 2009, in her West Valley City home outside Salt Lake City. She was
reported missing the next day when she didn’t show up for work.

Chuck Cox, has never said he believes his son-in-law is responsible for
Susan’s disappearance, but wants him to be more forthcoming with police.
He said Susan Powell never had feelings for Steve Powell and “wanted as
far away from him as possible.”
He said his family remains hopeful, but they are preparing “for the worst.”

http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/142952/group/News/

Police Find Unidentified Remains in Search for Missing Utah Mom
Published September 14, 2011


AP/Hardman Photography

This undated picture made available by Hardman Photography shows Susan Powell. Powell, a 28-year-old mother of two young children, who was reported missing Dec. 7, 2009.

Authorities searching Utah's desert for the leads in the disappearance of a mother who enjoyed camping in the area with her husband have found unidentified human remains.

The father of Susan Cox Powell told Fox News that police said the remains were found in a shallow grave, but were uncertain how long they have been there. It was unclear if the remains belonged to a male or female.

"It's a game of patience at this point," West Valley City Sgt. Mike Powell said. "We need to slow down a little bit and identify what it is we found."

Powell was 28 when she was reported missing Dec. 7, 2009, after she failed to show up for her stockbroker job. She had been seen by friends at church and at dinner the previous day.

Her husband, Josh Powell, told police he left his wife at home about 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 7 to go winter camping in freezing temperatures with their young sons -- then ages 4 and 2 -- on the Pony Express Trail, about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. The 4-year-old confirmed the trip to police.

Josh Powell is the only person of interest in the case, although he's never been arrested or charged.

Authorities have been searching since Monday in the area near Topaz Mountain in Juab County. The site is about 135 miles southwest of the location where Susan Powell was last seen in West Valley City.

Last month, investigators searched mine shaft-dotted mountains near Ely, Nev. In addition, West Valley City police served a search warrant on the Puyallup, Wash., home Josh Powell shares with his father, seizing computers and journals thought to have belonged to Susan Powell.

This latest search is in an area popular for gem and rock hunters. Police have said Powell's husband liked to rock hunt in the area.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/14/police-find-unidentified-remains-in-search-missing-utah-mom/#ixzz1XyK57AjU

Remains found in Susan Powell search to be examined today
Published: 8:51 am
Updated: 8:54 am

DELTA, Utah (AP) — Authorities are resuming their investigation in Utah's central desert after finding human remains as they searched for clues in the disappearance of a mother.

The remains were set to be examined Thursday as investigators work to determine whether they belong to Susan Powell.

West Valley City Police Sgt. Mike Powell says they were found Wednesday by cadaver dogs in the rugged desert terrain around Topaz Mountain in Juab County. The site is about 135 miles southwest of Powell's West Valley City home, where she was last seen.

The area also is just about 30 miles south of where Powell's husband, Josh Powell, told police he took his two young children camping on the night his wife vanished.

Susan Powell was last seen in December 2009.

http://www.koinlocal6.com/news/local/story/Remains-found-in-Susan-Powell-search-to-be/zVXztc8viEqMy46x9BMstw.cspx

Human remains found in the search for missing Utah woman Susan Powell were determined to be recent and were found in what police told Powell's father amounted to a "shallow grave."

An anthropoligst examined the remains
today to ensure that they were not bones "of antiquity" that had been
buried in the desert for decades, said West Valley City Police Sgt. Mike
Powell, who is no relation to the family.

Powell's father, Chuck Cox, told ABC affiliate KOMO that police had said the remains were found in a shallow grave.

Powell disappeared in December 2009 while her husband allegedly took
their two children camping in middle of the night during a snow and rain
storm. The campsite where he told police he took them is about 30 miles
away from where the remains were discovered.

"This is something that's going to be interesting," Sgt. Powell said.
"We're not looking at some Indian burial ground or old cowboy from the
West. It's much more recent than that. It's definitely something."

Sgt. Powell said they could not yet identify the gender or other
identifying clues that would lead police to believe it was Susan Cox
Powell's body.

The sergeant would not call the remains "bones," and said that whatever
police found may not have been visible to the human eye. The remains
were found by cadaver dogs on Wednesday.

Continued at link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/susan-powell-search-human-remains-desert-recent-cops/story?id=14525301

On Wednesday the police reported that dogs had alerted on an area in
Topaz Mountain, and they had found human remains and then late Thursday
the police are reported that there are no human remains. What I believe
is going on is they are saying that there are no human remains....yet.
As they are still digging.

There is even more confusion as the Police Lt. said during an interview
that the Medical Examiner told him that the remains that were found were
something recent and not ancient.

You would think the ME would not say this unless they had actually saw
the remains, but the ME must have made this determination because of the
soil, and not because he actually saw remains.

On Thursday the police said they were bringing in two more dogs to go
over the same area. My assumption would be that the dogs alerted on the
site, the police could see loose dirt, the ME saw loose dirt and
concluded it was recent (meaning something in the last 10 years) and
then started digging and couldn't find anything, so they brought in the
second pair of dogs. Whether they alerted or not is not known at this
time.

There is also speculation that maybe there once was human remains there, but this is just an assumption.

Friday morning the police are still back at the search and are still
digging. So far, the excavation is down around two feet. Dogs can
alert to remains buried as deep as 12 feet, so there is still a
possibility that remains will be found.

West Valley City police Lt. Bill Merritt said that the dogs were still
smelling something, but they had not come across bones or clothing.
http://missingpersonsblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/susan-cox-powell-police-are-continuing.html

Authorities suspend search of shallow 'grave'
By JENNIFER DOBNER, Associated Press
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 2:45 p.m.

Excerpt:

DELTA, Utah — The excavation of what authorities have been calling a shallow grave in the central Utah desert stopped Friday afternoon as rain and wind combined with limited resources to hamper efforts to examine piles of dirt for human remains.

Authorities have been in the area since Monday searching for any clues in the disappearance of Susan Powell, a mother of two who vanished in 2009. On Thursday, investigators announced they had discovered human remains after cadaver dogs alerted them to the site. But authorities later acknowledged that nothing had yet been found.

New dogs brought to the area Friday hit on the same location, and authorities say they'll keep digging until the dogs stop signaling.

More: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/16/authorities-suspend-search-of-shallow-grave/

DELTA, Utah – More
police officers joined a search for clues Saturday in what authorities
described as a shallow grave in the rugged Utah desert as part of a
nearly two-year investigation into the disappearance of a missing mother.
Two previous days of digging have turned up
nothing at the site, where the soil inspection process has taken so long
that more searchers were enlisted along with a state anthropologist who
is an expert in identifying human remains.
Investigators remained confident but
acknowledged they still don't know whether the site is related to the disappearance of Susan Powell.
"We're all very hopeful," West Valley City Lt. Bill Merritt said. "I guess it's 50-50 at this point."
The search was halted abruptly Friday when a rainstorm swept through the area.
Cadaver dogs led police to the gravesite on
Wednesday just off a dirt road near the base of Topaz Mountain, a
popular rock-hounding spot in remote central Utah. The site is more than
130 miles from the location where Powell was last seen at her West
Valley City home on Dec. 7, 2009.
Authorities have been searching the area since Monday. On Wednesday, they said they found human remains but later
backtracked, clarifying that cadaver dogs had hit on the site but no remains had been found.
The area is about 30 miles south of a spot where Powell's husband, Josh Powell,
told police he took his two young children camping on the night his
wife vanished. He told police he and their young sons -- then 4 and 2 --
left his wife at home about 12:30 a.m. The 4-year-old confirmed the trip to police.
Josh Powell is the only person of interest in the case, although he has never been arrested or charged. He has
denied having anything to do with her disappearance and said he believes his wife ran off with another man.
Susan Powell was 28 when she was reported missing after she failed to show up for her stockbroker job.
Investigators have dug down about two feet at the gravesite but don't intend to go further until the soil is sifted
and closely inspected.
So far, no bones or tissue have been discovered. Instead, forensics specialists were finding dozens of small
items that could be rocks or bone fragments, Merritt said.
Susan Powell's father, Chuck Cox, was escorted to the scene Friday for a look at the excavation effort.
He believes the area amid central Utah's sagebrush-dotted high desert and jagged mountains is a logical place to
conduct the search because Josh Powell had camped at nearby Simpson Springs.

Cox, a former investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration, said he had long-believed the search for his daughter would be a lengthy process.

"There's no real false hope, it's just another step in the investigation," Cox said. "Every day is hard for the
family. Life goes on, and so you go on the best you can. It's something you have to live with."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/17/police-resume-search-for-missing-utah-mom-inspect-shallow-grave/#ixzz1YG8BZjaN

Police find charred wood at Susan Powell search site, end dig | The Salt Lake Tribune http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52600721-78/powell-police-merritt-wood.html.csp via @sltrib

Susan Powell search continues, moves to Topaz Mountain itself
First published 1 hour ago

Updated 5 minutes ago

Topaz Mountain • After completing their investigation of an area where
cadaver dogs had indicated human remains, search crews regrouped Sunday
and began searching other areas in the desert near Delta for missing
woman Susan Powell.
The Sunday search crew numbered about 100 — the largest group yet to
assemble in the area — and included Juab and Millard County search and
rescue teams.
The plan for the day was to divide the search into five areas, covering
several square miles. The search now will focus on Topaz Mountain
itself, rather than the surrounding areas where teams have searched for
the past week.
People on ATVs and horseback, along with several cadaver dogs, likely
will continue looking through Tuesday, said West Valley City Police Lt.
Bill Merritt.
Police had expressed disappointment that the area they had begun
excavating on Wednesday contained only about 100 small pieces of charred
wood, which they believe may have been used to burn human remains.
Merritt said Saturday there was "a very good possibility" the site was,
at some time, a crime scene. He added: "Whether it’s linked to ours, we
don’t know."
Cadaver dogs, trained to detect human decomposition, stopped indicating
there was anything in the hole after the pieces of charred wood had been
removed. The hole was 2 feet wide and 3 feet long and a little over 2
feet deep at point when excavation was halted Saturday evening.
Police said the burnt wood pieces would be examined by a forensic specialist.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52604453-78/powell-search-susan-police.html.csp

Search for clues in Powell mystery continues
WEST VALLEY CITY -- Police continue searching
the Utah desert as they investigate the disappearance of a West Valley
City mother two years
ago.
West Valley City police Sgt. Mike Powell says searchers will spend Monday scouring a remote area around Topaz Mountain
in central Utah. Investigators likely will search a 10- to 12-mile area
west of the mountain using ATVs, horses and cadaver dogs.

Police say an "extensive increase" is underway in the number of searchers helping in the effort.

Police stopped excavating Saturday at a spot where cadaver dogs
had indicated the possible location of human remains. After four days of digging, no remains
were found but police did discover roughly 100 pieces of charred wood chips that will
be examined by forensics experts.

Once the pieces were removed from the 2
½-foot-deep hole, cadaver dogs stopped indicating there was something
still in the hole.

Lt. Bill Merritt with the West Valley City
Police Department said, "What we can say is these charred pieces came
into contact with a dead body, a dead human body. There was human
decomposition on these pieces of wood. What that means beyond that - was
it blood, was it an actual body? That's the question."

Susan Powell was 28 when she was
reported missing on Dec. 7, 2009, after she failed to show up for
work. Her husband, Josh Powell, is a person of interest in the case
but hasn't been arrested or charged.
Lt. Merritt says crews have searched the Simpson
Springs area "well over two dozen times" because the Powell family has a
history of camping and rock hounding in the area.

Susan's father, Chuck Cox, was at the search site Sunday and says he plans to be there again Monday.
He says he'll stay at the site until police have concluded their search.
Lt. Merritt says the search could continue through Wednesday.


http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=17306187

Susan Powell search Day 10: Return to Topaz Mountain
Topaz Mountain • Police returned to Topaz
Mountain on Wednesday for the 10th day of the Juab County search for
Susan Cox Powell.

Police realized there were "locations where
we didn’t deploy as well as we wanted to," the first time the search was
here, said West Valley City police Sgt. Mike Powell, who is no relation
to the missing woman.

Searchers on all-terrain vehicles and foot
were to scour areas northeast and southwest of the command center, Mike
Powell said. The search, which began Sept. 12, has centered around Topaz
Mountain, though on Tuesday the search was moved north to a location
near Fish Springs.

There have been no definite signs of the
woman who has been missing for 21 months, though Mike Powell said some
clothing has been found and collected to determine if it could belong to
her.

Last week, cadaver dogs detected what police
described as human remains in a suspected shallow grave. But police
unearthed only 100 or so pieces of charred wood at the site. Police
believe the wood, which will be examined by experts, was used to burn
human remains.

Topaz Mountain is about 30 miles away from
where Josh Powell, the only person of interest police have named in his
wife’s disappearance, says he took his two young sons camping the night
his wife disappeared from their West Valley City home.

Police have said Josh Powell liked to gem
hunt — and family and friends have confirmed that Josh and Susan Powell
had visited the Topaz Mountain area on family excursions.

West Valley City police recently conducted a
search in the desert around Ely, Nev., and over the past months have
conducted numerous searches in Tooele County. Police serving a search
warrant also recently removed several computer towers and other evidence
from the Washington home where Josh Powell now lives with his father.



Susan Powell, 28, has been missing since Dec.
6, 2009. Josh Powell has said he had taken the couple’s young sons,
then ages 2 and 4, on a winter camping trip to Simpson Springs in Tooele
County, and returned home to find his wife gone without a trace.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52619697-78/powell-police-search-mountain.html.csp

The father-in-law of a missing Utah woman was charged Thursday with
voyeurism and possession of child pornography after police investigating
her disappearance came across thousands of images of women videotaped
without their knowledge, some of his daughter-in-law, Pierce County
authorities said.

Steven Powell, 61, was arrested at his Puyallup, Wash., home and set for arraignment Friday in Superior Court.

Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said Powell was charged with 14 felony counts
of voyeurism and one count of possession of child pornography. He said
police found "thousands of images of females being videotaped without
their knowledge, including Susan Powell," on tapes and discs seized from
his home during an Aug. 25 search as part of their investigation into
her disappearance.

Powell is the father of Josh Powell, Susan's husband, who is the only
named person of interest in his wife's disappearance. Josh Powell has
never been arrested or charged in the case. The two live together in
Washington.

"The photographer focuses on the women's buttocks, breasts," Lindquist said in a statement. "Many images were of minor females."

The images included shots of two girls who were as young as 8 and 10 years old at the time, the prosecutor said.
Pierce County authorities determined those girls lived near Steven Powell from June 2006 to August 2007.

A person who answered the phone at the Powell home Thursday night hung up on a reporter.

Police have said Josh Powell has been uncooperative in the investigation
into his missing wife. He claims he took the couple's two sons — then
ages 4 and 2 — on a midnight camping trip in the mountains west of Salt
Lake City on Dec. 6, 2009, the night before Susan Powell was reported
missing.

Authorities have spent the last 10 days searching a remote central Utah
desert about 30 miles from where Josh Powell claims he went camping that
night. At one point, they said they found a "shallow grave" after
cadaver dogs alerted them to the spot, but they later found no human
remains.

The search of the Powell's home came after police wrapped up a search
for evidence in a network of abandoned mines outside Ely, Nev.

Around that time in August, Josh Powell and his father went on national television to discuss the case.

They claimed Susan Powell was promiscuous, emotionally unstable and suicidal, a claim her family denies.

Steven Powell said he had a flirtatious relationship with his daughter-in-law and believed they were in love.

"Susan was very sexual with me," Steve Powell told ABC's Good Morning
America. "We interacted in a lot of sexual ways because Susan enjoys
doing that."

Susan's father, Chuck Cox, denied the allegations, and said it was Steve
Powell who initiated unwanted sexual advances. Cox didn't return a
telephone call Thursday night.

Josh Powell has denied killing his wife or having anything to do with her disappearance.

"I would never even hurt her," a tearful, red-eyed Josh Powell told CBS' Early Show in August.

Josh and his father have said they believe Susan Powell ran off with another man.

"I'm still thinking she left," Steve Powell told the AP in August.
"Hopefully they'll be able to find her at some point ... We don't
believe she's dead."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/child-porn-charge-father-law-missing-mom-14587900

 

(AP) TACOMA, Wash. — The father-in-law of a missing Utah woman pleaded
not guilty on Friday after authorities accused him of possessing child
pornography and videotaping her, other women and young girls without their knowledge.

Wearing an orange jailhouse jumpsuit and with his hands cuffed, Steven Powell, 61, entered the pleas in court in
Washington state, and the judge set bail at $200,000.

Powell's arrest on Thursday at his home immediately set off another court battle,
with Susan Powell's father asking another judge on Friday for custody of her two sons.

The boys, ages 4 and 6, had been living at their grandfather's home with their father, Josh Powell, the only named
person of interest in her 2009 disappearance. No charges have been filed against him.

The judge at Powell's arraignment ordered him not to have contact with his grandsons. A lawyer for the state attorney
general said earlier that the boys had been placed in foster care since the arrest.

After the hearing, Denise Cox, Susan Powell's older sister, said she was worried that Steven Powell would easily post bail.
She said she believes that both son and father were involved in the disappearance.

"I'm just hoping for the day that hopefully Josh will join him," she said.

"It's been a long wait and it gets harder every day," she said, as she cried
spoke in front of a throng of reporters and television news cameras.

A court commissioner said Friday that he will not decide on the custody
of the sons until after the state's child welfare agency finishes its
investigation. Another hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

"We're very concerned for the welfare of our grandchildren. We're doing
everything we can," said Chuck Cox, Susan Powell's father, after the custody hearing.

The arrest — and the child custody motion — are the latest twists in a case that has perplexed Utah police, who are on
their 12th day of searching a remote stretch of desert near where Josh Powell says he went camping the night his wife vanished.

Prosecutor Mark Lindquist in Washington state said Steven Powell is charged with
14 felony counts of voyeurism and one count of possession of child pornography.

Lindquist said Utah police investigating Susan Powell's disappearance found "thousands of images of females being
videotaped without their knowledge, including Susan Powell," on tapes and disks at his home in an Aug. 25 search.

The videos were found in Steven Powell's bedroom. "The photographer focuses on the women's
buttocks, breasts," Lindquist said in a statement. "Many images were of minor females."

The images included shots of two girls who were as young as 8 and 10 years old at the time, the prosecutor said.
Authorities determined that the girls lived near Steven Powell from June 2006 to August 2007.

At Powell's arraignment, prosecutor Grant Blinn said detectives are still going through the seized items, but so
far have found more than 1,000 video files. He said it appeared he had been secretly videotaping girls or women for at least 10 years.

The arrest prompted a Cox family lawyer to directly accuse Josh — for the first time publicly — of involvement in his wife's disappearance.

"The time has come where we have to stop playing cat and mouse games: Josh Powell had something to do with the disappearance of the mother of these
children," attorney Steve Downing told the court commissioner on Friday.

Powell responded: "Everything they said is patently false. I am a good father to my sons."

Before the hearing, he sat in the back row of the small courtroom wearing a
blue jacket, jeans, white sneakers with the treads worn off — and his wedding ring.

Powell flipped through a thick stack of legal documents and told an Associated Press reporter "no" when asked if he
had anything to say about his dad's arrest. He ignored several other questions.

Susan Powell's father called the allegations against Steven Powell disgusting. "It very clearly shows her concerns were just
about Steven Powell," Chuck Cox said.

In a statement issued late Wednesday, West Valley City, Utah police, who are investigating Susan
Powell's disappearance, said Steven Powell's arrest was not related to the missing person case.

They have said Josh Powell has been uncooperative in their investigation.

Josh Powell claims he took the couple's two sons — then ages 4 and 2 — on a
midnight camping trip in the mountains west of Salt Lake City on Dec. 6, 2009, the night before she was reported missing.

Also Friday, a Washington state judge issued a permanent injunction barring Josh Powell
and his father from further publishing journal pages Susan Powell wrote as a teenager.

The Powells claimed the journal entries depicted a troubled woman, but Susan's family has been fighting their release,
saying they were the personal writings of a young girl and had no bearing on her disappearance.

Authorities planned to wrap up their 12-day search of the desert Friday about 30 miles from where Josh
Powell said he went camping that night. At one point, they said they
found a "shallow grave" after cadaver dogs alerted them to the spot.

But they found no human remains. Charred wood chips discovered in the hole have been sent to a lab for testing.

The search of the Powells home in Puyallup, Wash., last month came after
police wrapped up a search for evidence in a network of abandoned mines
outside Ely, Nev.

Around that time in August, Josh Powell and his
father went on national television to discuss the case. They claimed
Susan Powell was promiscuous, emotionally unstable and suicidal, a claim
her family denies.

Steven Powell said he had a flirtatious relationship with his daughter-in-law and believed they were in love.

"Susan was very sexual with me," Steve Powell told ABC's Good Morning America.
"We interacted in a lot of sexual ways because Susan enjoys doing that."

Cox, Susan's father, denied the allegations, and said it was Steven Powell who initiated unwanted sexual advances.

Josh Powell has denied killing his wife or having anything to do with her
disappearance. "I would never even hurt her," a tearful, red-eyed Josh Powell told CBS' Early Show in August.

Josh and his father have said they believe Susan Powell ran off with another man.

"I'm still thinking she left," Steven Powell told The Associated Press in August. "Hopefully they'll be able to find her at some point. ... We
don't believe she's dead."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/23/ap/business/main20110682.shtml

Children of Missing Utah Mom's in State Custody


For now, the two young sons of a missing Utah woman are living with strangers.

They are in state custody as the paternal grandfather they lived with in
Washington state sits in jail, accused of possessing child pornography
and secretly videotaping their mother, other women and naked neighbor
girls.

Now, the family of the boys' mother, Susan Powell, who has been missing
since 2009, is for the first time publicly accusing their father of
being involved in her disappearance. On Friday, they asked, for the
first time, to get immediate custody of the boys, ages 4 and 6.

"The time has come where we have to stop playing cat and mouse games:
Josh Powell had something to do with the disappearance," said Steve
Downing, the family's lawyer, at a custody hearing Friday.

In response, Josh Powell said: "Everything they said is patently false. I am a good father to my sons."

A judge will decide custody after the child welfare agency has time to consider where the boys should be placed.

The two sets of in-laws have been arguing publicly for months, both on
sidewalks and in the courts, as investigators have gone from abandoned
mines of central Nevada to the remote desert of western Utah looking for
clues. Things got so heated last month that a judge ordered Josh Powell
and Susan Powell's father to keep 500 feet apart.
All of it exploded Friday, a day after Steven Powell, 61, was arrested
and accused of secretly videotaping Susan Powell, other women, and young
girls taking baths and sitting on the toilet next door. Susan Powell
has been clothed in all of the footage detectives have reviewed so far,
but they had seen only 5 to 10 percent of the videos, prosecutor Mark
Lindquist said.

Josh Powell and his sons have been living at Steven Powell's house in Puyallup, Wash.

Steven Powell pleaded not guilty at a hearing on Friday. Utah police
said the arrest was unrelated to the missing person case. The judge set
bail at $200,000 and ordered him not to have contact with the boys.

The charges also resulted in Steven Powell being terminated from his job
with Washington state's Corrections Department where he had worked
since 2006, agency spokesman Chad Lewis said Friday.

After the hearing, Denise Cox, Susan Powell's older sister, said she was
worried that Steven Powell would easily post bail. She said her sister
had been concerned when he made sexual advances. Cox said she believes
both son and father were involved in the disappearance.
"I'm just hoping for the day that hopefully Josh will join him," she said.

Josh Powell has been the only named person of interest in the case, but police have not charged him with any crime.

"It's been a long wait and it gets harder every day," she said, as she
cried in front of a throng of reporters and TV news cameras.

A Washington state judge issued a permanent injunction Friday barring
Josh Powell and his father from further publishing journal pages Susan
Powell wrote as a teenager. They claimed the entries depicted a troubled
woman. Her family has been fighting their release, saying they were the
personal writings of a young girl and had no bearing on her
disappearance.

Washington prosecutors said Steven Powell is charged with child pornography possession and 14 felony counts of voyeurism.









http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/children-missing-utah-moms-state-custody-14596089

Police: More persons of interest possible in Susan Powell case


WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah -- As investigators wrapped up a search of the
Utah desert for missing mom Susan Powell on Friday, officials revealed
for the first time that her husband Josh Powell may not the only
person of interest in the case.

Sgt. Mike Powell of the West Valley City, Utah, police told KOMO
Newsradio in an interview Friday that Josh Powell is the only person of
interest who has been publicly named, but there may be others.
There are currently no other known persons of interest in the case,
Powell said, but investigators have not ruled out the possibility as
the investigation is still ongoing. (Listen to the interview)

"The West Valley City Police Department has never indicated that
Josh Powell is the only person of interest. We have always said he is a
person of interest," Powell said. "Really, anybody that may have any
involvement at any point in this investigation will be considered a
person of interest."

The development came as investigators wrapped up a 12-day search of
the Utah desert near Topaz Mountain on Friday, collecting numerous
items that could possibly be connected to the disappearance of Susan
Powell two years ago.
Up to 100 officers have been combing the rugged terrain on horseback
and in ATVs, looking for evidence. A Utah Department of Public Safety
helicopter was also being used.

Topaz Mountain is a popular rock-hounding spot about 135 miles
southwest of West Valley City, where Susan Powell was last seen by her
family on Dec. 7, 2009. She was reported missing after she failed to
show up for her job as a stockbroker.

Sgt. Powell, who is no relation to Susan Powell, said that police
"accomplished what they set out to do" during the desert probe.

He said searchers found several items that didn't belong in the desert, including clothing.

Also found was some kind of burned material in an excavation site that officials initially thought was a shallow grave.
Powell described the material as "charred items located inside the
excavation site that the specialized (cadaver) dogs had been
indicating." He said investigators "do not know what those charred
items are."

He also said police may release more information about the items recovered during the search on Monday.

Josh Powell told police he last saw Susan at about midnight on Dec.
7, 2009, just before he and the couple's young sons -- then 4 and 2 --
headed out for a winter camping trip on the historic Pony Express
Trail, an area about 30 miles north of where police conducted their
desert search.





Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/komo/article/Police-More-persons-of-interest-possible-in-2186672.php#ixzz1YtAN1Wdx

Puyallup, Wash. • Chuck
Cox said Saturday he feels vindicated by revelations about the secret
behavior of his daughter’s father-in-law, but one fact remains: Susan
Powell is still missing.

Allegations that Steve Powell surreptitiously
filmed young girls and women in public, focusing on their buttocks,
breasts and genital areas, put a “context” on his character attacks on
Susan, reported missing from her Utah home in December 2009, and her
family, Cox said.

Powell was “projecting his own issues on her
and trying to read sexual innuendos onto her journals and everything,”
Cox said. “I feel vindicated. That feels good.”

But it also is a distraction from what’s
really important, he said: “This guy is weird over here, but that
doesn’t tell us where she is.”

Powell was arrested Thursday at his home in
the quiet Country Hollow subdivision on 14 counts of voyeurism and one
count of possessing sexually explicit images of minors. Police found
thousands of images of females — including some of Susan — taken without
their knowledge, on videotapes and compact discs seized during a search
of Powell’s home on Aug. 25.

Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County
Sheriff’s Office, said Saturday that Powell remains in jail and no
arrangements have been made to pay his $200,000 cash-only bail.

On Friday, the Washington Department of
Corrections fired Powell from his job as an account executive who sold
prisoner-made furniture to schools, nonprofits and other government
entities. According to public records, his salary was $53,468 in 2010.

Josh Powell, Susan’s husband, has not
responded to requests for interviews following his father’s arrest and
the placement of his two sons, Charlie, 6, and Braden, 4, in foster
care. Josh Powell has cared for the boys since their mother’s
disappearance from their West Valley City home in early December 2009.
He is battling the state and his in-laws to regain custody of his sons. A hearing on their custody is set for Wednesday.

Cox declined to talk about his bid for
custody of his two grandsons, saying only that he hoped “someday along
the line we get to play a more significant role in their lives.”

In interviews earlier this summer, Steve
Powell had described his missing daughter-in-law as a “very flirtatious,
sexual being.” He also had tried to publish online her teenage writings
to back his claims that she was troubled and came from an emotionally
abusive, dysfunctional family.

A Washington judge on Friday barred the Powells from publicizing the journals.

Cox said he fought to keep his daughter’s
writings private even though he knew Steve and Josh Powell would
interpret that as trying to cover up family problems. But “it wasn’t
right.”

“I hadn’t read them, I didn’t think Steve had
a right to read them and he certainly didn’t have a right to publish
them,” he said. “It was definitely an attack against my daughter and
against us, and I wanted to stop that.”

Steve Powell’s effort to make use of the
journals proved to be his downfall, Cox said, because it contributed to
the police raid at his home, which led to discovery of the videos and
photographs.

Cox said he was surprised by the charges
against Steve Powell, although he “knew he was different and that their
family is different, but I guess I didn’t know how different.”
But there were hints. Cox said eight years ago his daughter had some kind of troubling encounter with her father-in-law.

He recalled that Susan was very upset one day
after Steve Powell dropped her off at their home, telling her parents
only that Steve had done something to make her very uncomfortable. At
the time, Susan and Josh were staying with his father.

Cox said he and his wife, Judy, encouraged Susan to call the police but she refused.

“She was always uncomfortable around him,”
Cox said, and shortly afterward Susan and Josh moved to Utah for a new
job, a fresh start and “to get away from Steve.”

Cox said Saturday he believes cracks are now developing in the “fortress” that surrounded Steve and Josh Powell.

“The situation is out of their control,” he
said. “They had a lock on the information and almost everything, and now
they’ve lost that control, which can only help the police.”

He praised the police work to date, saying
his daughter’s disappearance is a “very complicated case” that will take
time to solve.

“The searches you’ve seen [publicly] have
been about that much of what they’ve done,” Cox said, fingers spread
apart about an inch.



But now there is an opening, and he believes
things are moving toward an arrest and the discovery of what happened to
his daughter.

“It feels like it’s coming close,” Cox said.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52635195-78/powell-cox-susan-steve.html.csp?page=2

Missing Utah Mom's Father-in-Law Pleads Not Guilty



For now, the two young sons of a missing Utah woman are living with strangers.

They are in state custody as the paternal grandfather they lived with in
Washington state sits in jail, accused of possessing child pornography
and secretly videotaping their mother, other women and naked neighbor
girls.

Now, the family of their mother, Susan Powell, is for the first time
publicly accusing the boys' father of being involved in her
disappearance. On Friday, they asked, for the first time, to get
immediate custody of the boys, ages 4 and 6.

"The time has come where we have to stop playing cat and mouse games:
Josh Powell had something to do with the disappearance," said Steve
Downing, the family's lawyer, at a custody hearing Friday.

In response, Josh Powell said: "Everything they said is patently false. I am a good father to my sons."

A judge will decide custody after the child welfare agency has time to consider where the boys should be placed.


MORE: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/child-porn-charge-father-law-missing-mom-14587900

Tacoma, Wash. • The husband and parents of a
missing Utah mother will square off again Wednesday in a custody dispute
over two young boys at the heart of what a judge has described as an
"extraordinary situation."

The state’s Child Protective Services on
Tuesday temporarily placed the children of Susan Cox Powell with her
parents. An assistant attorney general confirmed they will remain there
pending the outcome of the ongoing custody battle.

On one side: Josh Powell, who said he had
nothing to do with his wife’s disappearance nearly two years ago and has
since provided a happy, healthy and secure environment for their sons
while living in his father’s Puyallup, Wash., home.

On the other: Chuck and Judy Cox, who believe
Josh Powell is responsible for their daughter’s disappearance. They
also argue their grandsons were exposed to harm being in the same home
as Steve Powell, their paternal grandfather who is now jailed and
awaiting trial on voyeurism and child pornography charges.

Assistant Attorney General John Long told
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Kathryn J. Nelson on Tuesday that
Josh Powell also is the "subject of a child pornography and voyeurism
investigation." Police have said they are trying to determine whether
Josh Powell or either of his two other siblings living in the Puyallup
home knew about or participated in their father’s activities.

No charges had been filed against Josh Powell as of Tuesday.

Josh Powell, who is representing himself in
the custody proceedings, told the judge Tuesday there was no basis for
such allegations.

"There is no clear and present danger to my
sons," Josh Powell said, offering to take parenting classes and enter
his boys and himself in counseling if the judge deemed it necessary.

His voice breaking at times, Josh Powell
described himself as a superior parent who has provided father-son
activities and worked to make sure his children have a stable, loving
home.

"I had no knowledge of any wrongdoing or any
indication that there could be wrongdoing on my father’s part, nor did
anyone else in our house," he said, adding that he makes sure his sons
do not have access to anything inappropriate.

Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies arrested
Steve Powell, Josh’s father, on Thursday after confiscating 15 computers
and other items during an Aug. 25 search of his home. At the same,
police took custody of the two boys, ages 4 and 6.

Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the sheriff’s
office, reiterated Tuesday that investigators are continuing to review
thousands of images of young girls and women - Susan Powell among them -
found at the home in the quiet Country Hollow subdivision.

Josh Powell is, as is everyone else, a person of interest in the case, he said.

"We have not ruled anyone else in or out except the boys," he said.

The Coxes filed a petition for custody of
their grandsons the morning after Steve Powell’s arrest. Their attorney,
Steve Downing, acknowledged Tuesday it had been prepared long ago in
anticipation of just such an event.

The motion asks the judge to give the Coxes
custody, appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the interests of the
boys, order them to receive counseling and bar contact with their
father.

A hearing had been set for the custody case on
Wednesday, but was moved with little advance notice to Tuesday. Nelson
initially said she didn’t have jurisdiction in the case but, following a
brief morning recess, proceeded after state attorneys apparently
arranged placement of the boys with the Coxes.

Downing told the judge that, in addition to
believing Josh Powell is directly responsible for their daughter’s
disappearance, his clients contend he has never done one thing to look
for Susan.

"My clients have never stopped looking for Susan," he said.

Downing pointed to the winter camping trip
Josh Powell has said he took his sons on the night of his wife’s
disappearance as an example of neglectful behavior, along with his
failure to get them into counseling and his decision to share a home
with his father, who was deeply into pornography.

"It is his own behavior that has created
suspicion of himself and his own conduct that has lead so many people to
express concerns about that behavior," Downing said.

He said Josh Powell’s lack of cooperation with law enforcement was notable.

"My clients are concerned that if he can turn
on his wife, when might he turn on his children?" Downing said. "These
children need to be in a safe place."

Josh Powell said his father has not been able
to post bail, set at $200,000, and will not be coming home any time
soon. Should that happen, he said, he will move out of the house.

He denied being uncooperative with police and
also repeated that he had nothing to do with his wife’s disappearance on
Dec. 7, 2009, from their West Valley City home.

"I did not harm her," he said. "I did not have anything to do with her disappearance . . . And I love my wife Susan."

Josh Powell said that if he had any clue as to what happened to his wife, he would come forward and produce it.

"I support any effort to find my wife from anyone who is willing," he added.

Josh Powell said that putting his sons with
the Coxes, whom he said have led a finger-pointing campaign against him,
would be the worst possible outcome for them.

Josh Powell in court recounted a supervised
visit with his sons Monday at a Child Protective Services office. He
said their behavior showed they’ve experienced irreparable harm since
being taken from him.

His oldest son cried, Josh Powell said, and asked "Why can’t I come home, when can I come home?"

The Coxes, he added, have no bond with the boys beyond intermittent visits.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52646871-78/powell-josh-custody-tuesday.html.csp?page=2

New porn accusation in missing Utah mom case

By GENE JOHNSON
The Associated Press
10:51 p.m. MDT, September 27, 2011

TACOMA, Wash. (AP)—
The husband of a missing Utah woman is the subject of a child pornography and voyeurism investigation that has already ensnared his father, a lawyer for the Washington state attorney general said Tuesday.

The comments came during a court hearing in Pierce County Superior Court as the parents of missing Susan Powell sought custody of her children.

"He's a subject of that investigation," said John Long, who represented Child Protective Services at the hearing.

Josh Powell immediately denied any such activity and noted he hasn't been arrested or charged with anything.

"I have had nothing to do with any kind of illegal pornography," he said.

A Pierce county sheriff's spokesman did not immediately return an email seeking to confirm Long's assertion.

Powell has been living at the home of his father, Steve Powell, in the Tacoma suburb of Puyallup with his two sons, ages 4 and 6, since his wife disappeared in December 2009.

Authorities said that when they searched the home recently looking for evidence in the disappearance, they found child pornography and other troubling videos in Steve Powell's bedroom.

Steve Powell was arrested last Thursday and pleaded not guilty to 14 charges of voyeurism and one of possession of child pornography. He remains jailed on $200,000 bail. Prosecutors said that for at least a decade, he had been secretly filming women, including Susan Powell, and that he shot footage of two young neighbor girls as they took baths and sat on the toilet.

The arrest prompted the state to place the children in temporary foster care, while Susan Powell's parents sought immediate custody of the boys. They wrote in court papers that they believed Josh Powell's arrest in her disappearance was imminent.

In court Tuesday, their attorney, Steve Downing, told the judge that the children were being harmed because they had never received counseling about their mother's disappearance, they might have been exposed to the inappropriate videos and they had been cut off from their maternal grandparents without explanation.

"Those kids may know something, and he sure as the dickens doesn't want them talking to anybody," Downing told Judge Kathryn Nelson.

Powell countered that he's a good, loving father; that the children are not at risk; and that they've never been exposed to porn of any kind. He also made clear that his family would not be posting bail for his father, and that if Steve Powell somehow managed to return home, Josh Powell would take the boys and stay at a hotel.

"There is no clear and present danger to my sons," he said.

The judge took the matter under consideration and told the parties to reconvene Wednesday morning. But by then, the matter might be moot: CPS had until the end of Tuesday to decide whether to begin dependency proceedings to determine whether it's safe to return the boys to the home. Any such proceeding would immediately put on hold the motion for custody by Susan Powell's parents.

Josh Powell frequently came near tears during Tuesday's hearing, breaking up as he described how the boys sat on his lap and hugged him during a visit supervised by CPS on Monday. He also grew emotional as he described the failure of the "general public" to look for his wife: "That, your honor, is deeply hurtful to me."

Josh Powell has said he took his boys, then 2 and 4, on a late night camping trip in freezing temperatures the day his wife disappeared from their West Valley City, Utah, home.

Authorities wrapped up a 12-day search of the desert Friday about 30 miles from where Josh Powell said he went camping that night. At one point, they said they found a "shallow grave" after cadaver dogs alerted them to the spot. But they found no human remains. Charred wood chips discovered in the hole have been sent to a lab for testing.

http://www.fox13now.com/news/local/kstu-josh-powell-porn-investigation-new-porn-accusation-in-missing-utah-mom-case-20110927,0,683273.story