***Trigger Warning***

Today’s post involves discussion of domestic violence, suicide, and the murder of two children under the age of 10. If you need support, please contact one of the following organizations:

• The National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1.800.799.7233
• The Suicide and Crisis hotline: 988
• To report child abuse, please contact your local authorities

Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and it is not meant to cause harm to anyone connected with the case. Please do not contact, threaten, harm, malign, or otherwise intimidate those mentioned in the post. Please do not release any personal information of the people mentioned in this post, and do not join in attacks conducted by others. Per U.S. law, every person directly or indirectly connected with this case is innocent until proven guilty.

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This post is the second part in a two-part series. For part one, click here.

My Thoughts

The Susan Powell disappearance is one that’s incredibly confusing, messy, and tragic. A young mother goes missing while her husband and sons just happen to be on an impromptu camping trip in the middle of the night, in the bitter cold. Very quickly, Josh becomes a person of interest, and it’s not hard to see why. Within a week, he hires a lawyer. That in and of itself doesn’t make him suspicious, but it’s his other actions that raise red flags. He can’t give a good answer for why he took the kids camping in the middle of a freezing Utah winter, he packed everything and moved with his sons a month after Susan disappeared, he alienated the kids from Susan’s family, and he later killed both himself and the kids.

Needless to say, it’s little wonder why people suspect him.

When people look at this case, they see three major theories:

1. Susan ran away.
2. Susan ran off with Steven Koecher, a Utah man who disappeared on December 12, 2009, a few days after she disappeared.
3. Josh was responsible for her disappearance, and his father and brother might’ve helped.

Let’s examine these one by one.

First, we have the theory that Susan ran away. At first blush, this seems possible. After all, Susan herself reported that she was unhappy in her marriage. We have evidence that Josh spent a large amount of money, racked up $200,000 in debt, and forced the family to file for bankruptcy. There was a lot of stress occurring, and she had every reason to leave and start a new life.

The only problem is that she wasn’t that kind of person. Everyone who spoke of her said that she loved her boys dearly and wouldn’t leave them. I have to agree. If she loved them as much as everyone says, why would she abandon them, knowing that Josh would probably hurt them too? Even in domestic violence situations, many victims find ways to flee with their children. If she was truly that desperate, I have to think that she would’ve found a way to bring them with her.

Let’s say for argument’s sake that Susan left willingly, and she’s been happy and healthy for all these years. Wouldn’t she come out of the woodwork when her sons died? If she loved them as much as everyone says, why would she continue to stay away?

For me, this might be a possibility, but I just don’t think it’s likely.

This leads us to our second theory, which is that Susan ran away with Steven Koecher. Steven disappeared from St. George, Utah on December 12, 2009, and he hasn’t been heard from since. Other than being a part of the LDS church and living in Utah, there’s nothing that connects the two of them. They didn’t have any friends in common, and there were no records of phone calls, text messages, emails, or letters between the two of them. How would they have planned this if they never communicated with one another? Granted, stranger things have happened, but it would’ve been difficult to organize something if neither of them ever contacted each other.

The police investigated thoroughly, but they were never able to find a connection between the two cases. You would think that after nearly 15 years, the authorities would’ve said something by now. But they haven’t. So either the authorities are playing this VERY close to the vest or they haven’t found a connection.

That brings us to our final theory, that Josh, Steven, Michael, or some combination were responsible for Susan’s disappearance. This is by far the most popular theory, and it’s not hard to see why. Josh made some interesting decisions in the days and weeks after Susan’s disappearance. For starters, he took their then four- and two-year-old sons camping in the middle of the night in rural Utah (in the freezing cold) on the same night that Susan disappeared. It would be a hell of a coincidence if these two events were unrelated.

For me, it’s really suspicious that Josh never gave a clear answer as to why he took the boys camping. I’m not a parent, but I’ve worked with young children in the past, and I know several people who are parents. Many would absolutely refuse to take their children camping, never mind in the middle of the night. Young children need their sleep. Without it, it’s more likely they’ll have meltdowns and tantrums and be crabby in general.

The fact that he decided to get a lawyer within a week of her disappearance speaks volumes to me, as does the fact that he moved the boys to Washington State within a month of her disappearance. Legally, he had every right to get a lawyer. At that point, he was also not a person of interest, so he didn’t have to say anything to the police. But still, it strikes me as odd. If your spouse, the love of your life, disappeared, wouldn’t you want to do everything in your power to help find them? I’ve read some cases where the families are still in contact with police, even after 20 or 30 years. Everyone processes tragedies differently, though. It’s possible that he wanted to maintain some sense of normalcy for the boys or get some help raising them, for example. None of this is ironclad evidence by any means, but it’s enough to arouse suspicions for those who look at this case.

I also find it really interesting that Charlie supposedly stated that Susan was dead, and Braden drew a haunting picture. Even though they were very young, who knows what they could’ve seen, especially on the camping trip. Kids that young have very little filter, and it’s almost impossible for them to keep secrets. However, it’s also possible that they were parroting the thoughts of the adults around them, whether through words or drawings.

Personally, I put more stock in the drawing than Charlie’s words. Like I stated earlier, it’s easy for kids to repeat whatever the adults around them say, even if they don’t understand the words. The drawing is a lot more specific, though. It’s supposedly a picture of a van with Josh, Charlie, and Braden inside, with Susan in the trunk. Little kids don’t get ideas like that in their heads unless they see it in their environment. That leads me to think that Braden, and perhaps Charlie, saw more that night.

The most damning piece of evidence for me is that Josh killed Charlie and Braden, and then himself. It’s an incredibly tragic turn of events, and my heart aches for Chuck and Judy Cox. They loved those boys dearly, and if they had had the opportunity to get permanent custody, they would’ve taken the boys in a heartbeat. I absolutely believe that CPS messed up big time, and it cost the boys their lives. According to this article, they were granted nearly $100 million in a wrongful death lawsuit. I applaud them for getting justice for their grandsons, and I dearly hope they’re able to find some measure of peace and happiness.

There are any number of reasons why Josh did what he did. I’m not a psychologist or a mental health professional, so it would be inappropriate for me to speculate on his mental state. However, I find it telling that Josh killed not only himself, but his two small children. Most people can agree that it takes a special kind of evil to harm or kill a child. If he was able to kill his children, it’s entirely possible that he could have killed his wife as well.

Another interesting angle is that Michael, Josh’s brother, killed himself almost exactly a year later. We don’t know much about what happened or what contributed to his actions, though. You could look at this from a few different perspectives. On one hand, it could be that Michael felt so guilty about his involvement in Susan’s disappearance that he couldn’t see a way out and killed himself as a result. On the other hand, it could be that Michael had dealt with so many losses that he couldn’t take it any more. After all, within the span of three years, his sister-in-law vanishes, and his brother killed his young nephews, and then himself. We can’t know for sure, though, since Michael’s no longer here.

For me, this is one of the frustrating aspects of this case. Josh, Michael, and Steven, the three who likely knew the most about Susan’s disappearance, are no longer here, and authorities are unable to question them further. I’m not sure what it’s going to take to find Susan at this point. I think the best bet is going to either be someone coming forward or someone stumbling across her body accidentally. Without one of these things happening, it’s unlikely that her case will ever get solved.

That being said, we can’t give up. After all, cases far older than Susan’s are being solved every day. It just takes one person coming forward with the right information. It might even be you.

***

If you’re looking for more information about the Susan Powell case, there are a variety of articles, books, podcasts, YouTube videos, and documentaries discussing the details of her disappearance. The following articles helped me as I wrote this post:

• abcnews.com
• susancoxpowellfoundation.net
• kutv.com
• wikipedia.org
• Charley Project

If you have any information about the disappearance of Susan Powell, please contact the West Valley Police Department at (801)963-3462.

What do you think happened? Leave your thoughts in the comments.