UT -Susan Powell, 28, West Valley City, 6 Dec 2009 - #6

[AlexisFresca]

West Valley City, UT

TY! Thats close to what I thought it was.

 

[Breathe]

TY! Thats close to what I thought it was.

You're welcome! (The only reason I knew the answer is because I was reading a December article about Susan and still had the window up on my computer. I should have explained that instead of leaving the name only. After reading what I posted it, it felt kind of harsh. I didn't mean to at all. I was just excited that I had the name right there. Sorry.) :banghead:

 

[grayjay]

Hi Sleuthers,

That van might be common in SLC, but if we saw it out off the beaten path, we'd remember. Thing is, we get out in remote areas and can go all day and not run into another vehicle.

The dry sand forms a layer on the vehicle on those dirt roads and the mud really tells a story. The forensics team would have known a lot right away about where it had been, even if he'd stopped at a car wash. It sure is hard to wait to hear their findings. It looks like they're keeping what they know to themselves for a good reason.

Can anyone explain, why SP isn't wearing her wedding band in this photo? http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/12/14/image5977789.jpg It looks like the kind she'd send to all the family at Christmas.

 

[AlexisFresca]

You're welcome! (The only reason I knew the answer is because I was reading a December article about Susan and still had the window up on my computer. I should have explained that instead of leaving the name only. After reading what I posted it, it felt kind of harsh. I didn't mean to at all. I was just excited that I had the name right there. Sorry.) :banghead:

You didn't sound harsh at all! Now, please stop banging your head. My supply of bandaids is very limited, and only the small ones. The kids found the rest.

 

[Fairy1]

If I am ever murdered, my children left motherless, and my murderer disposes of me and lies to LE denying his involvement, refusing to be forthright w police... and then four weeks after I've been tossed off an icy cliff or dumped in a ditch along a snowcovered road this murderer makes plans to up and leave w my precious babies, who have no clue where I am and may even be told I've abandoned them... please do not honor me by offering to facilitate his plan. Please I am pleading w you don't honor me by offering to lighten his load or by preparing the way for him to shun his moral and legal duties to give LE the assistance they need to bring me home to my distraught family. Please do not honor me by helping him to ease his burden of guilt or reward his treachery by speaking of his suffering and how much he's hurting, when my children may live their entire lives never learning what became of me--and my parents may never even be able to lay me to rest nor have the solace of visiting my gravesite. Please don't honor me by worrying about possessions when he's fleeing w the most valuable treasures of all--my precious children in his ruthless hands. Please do not honor me by aiding him in taking my children to a home where his vindictive, meddlesome, controlling sycophant father will also make my sons his next emotional victims.

Please I implore you instead to honor my memory and my legacy by joining together in strong and prayerful unison to send a silent message loud and clear--that you will neither encourage the unruly, support injustice, nor assist unrighteousness--and that before he should expect your support or assistance he must heed LE's pleas to either corroborate his tales or tell them where the frozen lifeless body of his children's mother lies so they can say goodbye to me, and to ease the darkened anguish of my family so they can at least begin to grieve and rebuild their lives. JMO

arrot:

kiki, I love this post - thank you. I understand why those who helped Josh last weekend did it. But when you put it this way, well.....

 

[Fairy1]

Hi Sleuthers,

That van might be common in SLC, but if we saw it out off the beaten path, we'd remember. Thing is, we get out in remote areas and can go all day and not run into another vehicle.

The dry sand forms a layer on the vehicle on those dirt roads and the mud really tells a story. The forensics team would have known a lot right away about where it had been, even if he'd stopped at a car wash. It sure is hard to wait to hear their findings. It looks like they're keeping what they know to themselves for a good reason.

Can anyone explain, why SP isn't wearing her wedding band in this photo? http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/12/14/image5977789.jpg It looks like the kind she'd send to all the family at Christmas.

Hiya grayjay and welcome!

Your post has me thinking about a couple of things. Years ago, I used to travel to Cedar City every weekend from Vegas - leaving on Friday nights and returning on Sunday nights. I recall there were tons of 18-wheelers on I-15 every Sunday night - and they were often less than courteous to those of us in regular vehicles. I wonder if that is the case further north and if so, if LE ever spoke to some of the truck drivers that drive that route regularly and may have seen the minivan??? I don't know if they would have even noticed, but you never know.

Also - I'm much more familiar with southern Utah than with northern Utah. Anyone who's enjoyed some outdoor recreation in southern Utah would be familiar with that red dirt that you can't wash off or out of anything to save your life! If Josh did head down south and went off road at all, chances are he picked up a good bit of that dirt. Does anyone know if northern Utah has that dirt too?

 

[nomad]

I pulled out my abacus but you had it figured before I got done.

Sorry off topic but I wish we had an LOL button next to the thanks button...

 

[grayjay]

Yes, Fairy1, the sandstone of Utah is up north, too. It varies quite a bit in color, actually, but that makes it all the better for tracking where the van has been.

If the van was parked in a campsite, people are good about minding their own business.

People have also asked about tailing the rental car. It's easy to tell you're being followed when you get out in the remote areas. If the road is dirt, it's common to be able to see the dust cloud from another vehicle a very long ways in the distance.

 

[kiki the parrot]

When viewing a map this is an obvious choice for a midpoint meeting--or resting--place. IMO it's likely this has may have served over the years as their stop en route when traveling from one to the other--dividing 13.5 hour (or 850 mi) driving distance approx in half. I'm confident they would have arranged some meeting place in advance, and daddy would have instructed Joshy to either disable or leave his phone behind as well, take food, or pay for fuel, food etc in cash but someone might still recollect their faces or vehicles...

(bump post from 12/30, snip, bbm)

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4619006&postcount=1015"]Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - UT-Susan Powell, 28, West Valley City; thread #4[/ame]

arrot:

 

[kiki the parrot]

Welcome grayjay... I am really putting this mouse to work now...

...and thanks, that is some very interesting info.

arrot:

 

[Doctorwoof]

I have a couple of questions about the rental car issue. All the news reports say he rented a car at Salt Lake Airport. There are two airports, Salt Lake International Airport and Salt Lake Municipal Airport. Neither one would be the closest car rental to his house. The Municipal airport is very close to his sister’s house. One article stated that after returning the car he went Peterson’s house to get a ride to the police station to pick up his van. The international is closer to where he lived. There is an Enterprise and Hertz just 2+ miles from his house. Both are much closer than either airport.

If you live in that area which airport would be referred to as “Salt Lake Airport “?

Do you know who watched the kids while he had the rental car?

Was there ever any mention of how he got to the airport to rent the car?
I’ve seen speculation about this but what I’m after is a definitive answer.

Sorry in advance to the rehash police. I’ve been talking to a friend who is a police detective (in my city. He is not involved in this case at all) and he had some interesting comments and questions. (I’ll post his take on this latter)

 

[PercyVeer]

Well, another night and no Susan. Glad to see all. Speaking of tracking, this is an example of some of the info out there. I have been looking into tracking for other reasons. If I get a soapbox I will be pushing for LE to use this in missing persons cases and not just to bust people for tweets or for political reasons. What a tool this could be for good !
http://www.brighthub.com/electronics/gps/articles/51103.aspx

 

[Fairy1]

I have a couple of questions about the rental car issue. All the news reports say he rented a car at Salt Lake Airport. There are two airports, Salt Lake International Airport and Salt Lake Municipal Airport. Neither one would be the closest car rental to his house. The Municipal airport is very close to his sister’s house. One article stated that after returning the car he went Peterson’s house to get a ride to the police station to pick up his van. The international is closer to where he lived. There is an Enterprise and Hertz just 2+ miles from his house. Both are much closer than either airport.

If you live in that area which airport would be referred to as “Salt Lake Airport “?

Do you know who watched the kids while he had the rental car?

Was there ever any mention of how he got to the airport to rent the car?
I’ve seen speculation about this but what I’m after is a definitive answer.

Sorry in advance to the rehash police. I’ve been talking to a friend who is a police detective (in my city. He is not involved in this case at all) and he had some interesting comments and questions. (I’ll post his take on this latter)

IIRC, the boys were with Josh's sister at that time.

 

[lemonmoussetart]

I have a couple of questions about the rental car issue. All the news reports say he rented a car at Salt Lake Airport. There are two airports, Salt Lake International Airport and Salt Lake Municipal Airport. Neither one would be the closest car rental to his house. The Municipal airport is very close to his sister’s house. One article stated that after returning the car he went Peterson’s house to get a ride to the police station to pick up his van. The international is closer to where he lived. There is an Enterprise and Hertz just 2+ miles from his house. Both are much closer than either airport.

If you live in that area which airport would be referred to as “Salt Lake Airport “?

Can't wait to hear your detective friend's thoughts.

The only reason that I can think of to rent the car at one of the airports rather than the closer Enterprise, and Hertz is price. It has been my experience that airports offer about 25-30% lower pricing.

 

[Curious Me]

I have a couple of questions about the rental car .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Sorry in advance to the rehash police. I’ve been talking to a friend who is a police detective (in my city. He is not involved in this case at all) and he had some interesting comments and questions. (I’ll post his take on this latter)

Enjoy your posts, Doctorwoof. I'm looking forward to hear your friends comments too.

 

[kiki the parrot]

Hiya grayjay and welcome!

Your post has me thinking about a couple of things. Years ago, I used to travel to Cedar City every weekend from Vegas - leaving on Friday nights and returning on Sunday nights. I recall there were tons of 18-wheelers on I-15 every Sunday night - and they were often less than courteous to those of us in regular vehicles. I wonder if that is the case further north and if so, if LE ever spoke to some of the truck drivers that drive that route regularly and may have seen the minivan??? I don't know if they would have even noticed, but you never know.

Also - I'm much more familiar with southern Utah than with northern Utah. Anyone who's enjoyed some outdoor recreation in southern Utah would be familiar with that red dirt that you can't wash off or out of anything to save your life! If Josh did head down south and went off road at all, chances are he picked up a good bit of that dirt. Does anyone know if northern Utah has that dirt too?

Yes, Fairy1, the sandstone of Utah is up north, too. It varies quite a bit in color, actually, but that makes it all the better for tracking where the van has been.

If the van was parked in a campsite, people are good about minding their own business.

People have also asked about tailing the rental car. It's easy to tell you're being followed when you get out in the remote areas. If the road is dirt, it's common to be able to see the dust cloud from another vehicle a very long ways in the distance.

(bbm) I can see how this would be the case in other conditions--and perhaps some of the newly joined locals can educate me--but I'd asked a while back whether the snow and especially the heavy snowfall accumulation on that particular night, wouldn't effect the transfer or deposit of soil onto vehicle underbody, into tire treads and wheel wells, etc? It just seems unlikely much actual soil would be deposited under those weather conditions at the time.


arrot:

 

[Curious Me]

Not even soil stuck to the muffler, or anywhere?

But it is hard to imagine you could pinpoint that soil so distinctly to an area.
Would that be really possible if he went outside the state?

 

[grayjay]

Would that be really possible if he went outside the state?

Interstate is a totally different thing and not what I was looking at (sorry). If the camping story had any validity and he took a dirt road, then there's likely to be soil. Like if he went to Simpson Springs or up to the Dinosaur area, or to other remote areas of Utah. The snow was just starting to fly and not more than half inch to an inch, from the early videos I saw.

 

[kiki the parrot]

If anyone else really believes JP's story of camping or being at an actual campgrounds, I don't.

In fact, based upon this statement alone I feel confident that is the one place we can safely rule out. JMO

arrot:

 

[Fairy1]

If anyone else really believes JP's story of camping or being at an actual campgrounds, I don't.

In fact, based upon this statement alone I feel confident that is the one place we can safely rule out. JMO

arrot:

I don't believe he gave away the exact location, no. But many times, there is a kernal of truth in a lie. And often times, a killer will leave the victim in an area with which he/she is familiar. Particularly when they are doing in in the middle of a freezing cold night with two small children in the vehicle. That's just MO.

No - I don't believe he was camping and I'm 100% positive s'mores were not involved in any way.