Susan Cox Powell (October 16,1981 – c. December 6, 2009) is an American missing person from WestValley City, Utah whose disappearance and presumed murder, as well asthe subsequent investigation and events, garnered significant mediaattention. Her husband, Joshua Powell, was named a person of interestin the investigation into her disappearance but was never charged. OnFebruary 5, 2012, Joshua killed himself and their two young sons,Charles Joshua (b. January 19, 2005) and Braden Timothy (b. January2, 2007), in a murder–suicide after custody of the boys had beenawarded to Susan's parents, Charles and Judy Cox.
On May 21, 2013, West Valley Citypolice closed their active investigation into Susan's disappearance,stating that they believed Joshua murdered her and that his brother,Michael, had assisted him in concealing her body. Since then, therehave been repeated attempts to have Susan legally declared dead.
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Background
Joshua Powell was born on January 20,1976, to Steven and Terrica Powell in Puyallup, Washington. Joshua'sparents had a dysfunctional marriage, caused in large part bySteven's disaffection with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-DaySaints (LDS Church). According to divorce filings by Terrica in 1992,Steven shared pornography with Joshua and his two male siblings andrefused to teach or enforce limits on certain behaviors. As ateenager, Joshua allegedly killed gerbils belonging to one of hissisters and threatened his mother with a butcher knife. He alsoattempted suicide on at least one occasion.
By 1998, Joshua was living in Seattleas a student at the University of Washington. It was here that Powellbegan his first relationship with a young woman named Catherine TerryEverett, whom he met at a local LDS ward. After the two moved into anapartment together, Joshua became possessive towards Everett. "Hewould have restrictions and limitations on what I could and couldn'tdo when it came to my family," she later recalled. "IfI was going to go visit them, he had to come too. I couldn't go bymyself." When Everett visited a friend in Utah withoutJoshua, she decided not to return to Seattle and broke up with himover the phone.
Joshua met Susan Cox, a classmate athis LDS Institute of Religion course, during a dinner party at hisTacoma apartment in November 2000. The two began a relationship andeventually married at the Portland Oregon Temple in April 2001.Joshua had a bachelor's degree in business and worked for a number ofdifferent companies over the years, while Susan, a trainedcosmetologist, took up a job with Wells Fargo Investments after thefamily's relocation to West Valley City, Utah, a suburb of Salt LakeCity. The Powells went on to have two sons: Charles, born in 2005,and Braden, born in 2007.
For a brief period following theirwedding, Joshua and Susan lived at Steven Powell's home in SouthHill, Washington. Initially unbeknownst to Susan, her father-in-lawSteven had developed an obsessive infatuation with her, which wasonly inflamed by their close proximity. Steven followed Susan aroundthe house with a camcorder, used a small mirror to spy on her whileshe used the bathroom, stole her underwear from her laundry, read heradult journals, and even posted love songs online under a pseudonym. In 2003, Steven confessed his amorous feelings to a stunned Susan,who rejected him; the encounter was inadvertently captured bySteven's camcorder microphone. The Powells moved out-of-state soonafter, partly so Susan could distance herself from Steven.
