09-17-2011 Topaz Mountain Search Yields Charred Wood and Decomp

[Jacie Estes]

Thanks. I posted a comment on the ABC article:

http://www.abc4.com/content/news/to...ar-Topaz-Mountain/3KI1-xiJrUuaYbXE0bGJxA.cspx

Not sure where to send besides that.

BBM

WVCPD; they must have an email addie.

 

[dsntslp]

At one time we had a dog thread for just that purpose, but it got lost somewhere! I would be happy to, though as you can tell the filter between my brain and my mouth seems to be lost at the moment, and Oriah has taken my "PC" card away from me, lol.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114025&highlight=SAR+dogs
IDK if that is the right one, it seems like the one I remember was much longer??? (Maybe that was "You know you are SAR if...")

 

[Jacie Estes]

I have a question for HotLavaJavas.

You are the person on this thread who knows Susan personally; did she ever speak about josh being a 'gamer', spending lots of time on the computer with WOW [World of Warcraft ] or other similar sites? TIA

 

[DLT88]

My youngest son is 12. If I put him in my van, drive up to Pike's Peak in the wee hours, and then tell him that we were on Mount Evans, he would tell everyone that indeed, we were at Mt. Evans. Even if he said, "Gee, Mom, this looks like the place we were at last year, and you said it was Pike's Peak" I could reassure him that while it does resemble Mt. Evans, it is Pike's Peak. I don't understand why anyone would put a whole lot of faith in the testimony of a 4 year old. Not that I have no faith in them, it's just hard to put a lot of credence in the opinion of someone who still believes in the Easter Bunny.

EXACTLY!!! And they are also SO gullible at that age. So 'Daddy' could have kept saying, "We're on a CAMPING TRIP!" the entire time he was driving even though no actual camping happened, the kid (when asked) would say "We were on a camping trip!" They are parrots and will repeat just what they've been told and actually believe it.

 

[hollyblue]

Very interesting. But it does lead to more questions. Could DNA have survived heat from a fire? Is there enough there to do a DNA match? Is this a true report?

Agree. It could be DNA from someone handling the evidence...who ever had the fire..or the person in the video still having it in the palm of their hand. Er... If it's decomp DNA, then it could be anyone...not just necessarily Susan's. Since I couldn't find anything more elsewhere....I'm wondering who gave this info to ABC4? Reporter didn't say....just that it had been found.

 

[cocomod]

No, doesn't make sense to me. I think the officers who are working are being paid, and that there are no volunteers out there. I have a major problem with ABC4's reporting. Seems very sloppy to me.

BeanE, I actually have friends that have verified that there are police officers out there searching on their own time - non-paid hours. They are LE and yet they are also volunteers. Many LE in this state really want some closure to this case. It has been very stressful to some to see no resolution.

Here is an article that also states that they are volunteers. I know that you think the reporting is bad, but I think this one is pretty clear:
http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile/52604453-78/police-powell-search-human.html.csp

West Valley City Police Lt. Bill Merritt said many of the searchers, including members of the Juab and Millard county search-and-rescue teams and handlers of the cadaver dogs, are volunteers who must return to their regular jobs.

 

[HotLavaJavas]

I have a question for HotLavaJavas.

You are the person on this thread who knows Susan personally; did she ever speak about josh being a 'gamer', spending lots of time on the computer with WOW [World of Warcraft ] or other similar sites? TIA

I'm hesitant to speak at the moment, but I will answer the best I can.

Susan talked about her prior life in Washington, and how she and Josh were buying the house at Sarah circle. She mentioned it was a HUD and that they had a lot of work to do to get the house in suitable conditions.

I got the impression from her that Josh was very controlling. She would say that "Josh said we can do this or that"...it was always Josh said yes or no. It was never "We decided..."

At that time, a lot of us would tell her that it was her money too, and she should enjoy it. When she got pregnant, she seemed to be happy about it, and I do think she was, but I also think she was worried. It seemed like Josh could never settle on a job, and she wanted to stay at home to raise her kids.

She never mentioned specific games, but I do believe he was into computers, yes. I'm an IT professional, and I can tell you looking at his websites, if he did spend a lot of time online, it wasn't on honing his web development skills.

I did notice in the picture of them at church the day prior, he is holding an SLR camera, which is something I use as well. Being a professional camera, I imagine he has an extensive photo collection. But, I'm also going to wager that he put photos of her on his .org site that intentionally portray Susan as unattractive. She was a very pretty woman and could have done so much better than him. But, she chose him and she was quite dedicated.

 

[cocomod]

I absolutely do not think that the testimony of a 4 year old can be trusted. My now 12 y/o has always had an amazing sense of direction; but at 4 he would not have known what mountain range we were on. Realize that Utah is a vast are of mountains and deserts. He could have gone in any direction.

We must also consider that he moved her the day he rented the car. There is just no telling where she might be. I wonder what SP was doing during those 24 hours when Josh dropped the boys off with his sister and took a hundreds of miles tour around Utah?

 

[cocomod]

Also, why isn't it plausible to wonder what exactly is in SP's front yard? If he really did put a new mound in his yard around the time that Susan went missing, is there a possibility that this needs to be checked out? He was admittedly obsessed with Susan; that would be one way to keep her close. That just gives me shudders to say out loud!

 

[sarx]

It would be interesting to have HRD dogs check out the vehicles now.

 

[sarx]

Also, why isn't it plausible to wonder what exactly is in SP's front yard? If he really did put a new mound in his yard around the time that Susan went missing, is there a possibility that this needs to be checked out? He was admittedly obsessed with Susan; that would be one way to keep her close. That just gives me shudders to say out loud!

It wouldn't be the first time.

 

[Jacie Estes]

I'm hesitant to speak at the moment, but I will answer the best I can.

Susan talked about her prior life in Washington, and how she and Josh were buying the house at Sarah circle. She mentioned it was a HUD and that they had a lot of work to do to get the house in suitable conditions.

I got the impression from her that Josh was very controlling. She would say that "Josh said we can do this or that"...it was always Josh said yes or no. It was never "We decided..."

At that time, a lot of us would tell her that it was her money too, and she should enjoy it. When she got pregnant, she seemed to be happy about it, and I do think she was, but I also think she was worried. It seemed like Josh could never settle on a job, and she wanted to stay at home to raise her kids.

She never mentioned specific games, but I do believe he was into computers, yes. I'm an IT professional, and I can tell you looking at his websites, if he did spend a lot of time online, it wasn't on honing his web development skills.

I did notice in the picture of them at church the day prior, he is holding an SLR camera, which is something I use as well. Being a professional camera, I imagine he has an extensive photo collection. But, I'm also going to wager that he put photos of her on his .org site that intentionally portray Susan as unattractive. She was a very pretty woman and could have done so much better than him. But, she chose him and she was quite dedicated.

Thank you; I appreciate your answer.

I wanted to add, every time I see the pictures of her she is wearing that pair of earrings, they are gold/multiple hoops, it tugs at my heart. I make jewelry, powwow earrings and Native jewelry plus I own tons of earrings that are gifts; I imagined that he did not let her spend money on much for herself. I so wish her life had been better; she deserved so much more than what has happened. As a survivor of a violent DV assault, I want to see him pay for what he has done. IMHO

 

[HatesSociopaths]

I'm hesitant to speak at the moment, but I will answer the best I can.

Susan talked about her prior life in Washington, and how she and Josh were buying the house at Sarah circle. She mentioned it was a HUD and that they had a lot of work to do to get the house in suitable conditions.

I got the impression from her that Josh was very controlling. She would say that "Josh said we can do this or that"...it was always Josh said yes or no. It was never "We decided..."

At that time, a lot of us would tell her that it was her money too, and she should enjoy it. When she got pregnant, she seemed to be happy about it, and I do think she was, but I also think she was worried. It seemed like Josh could never settle on a job, and she wanted to stay at home to raise her kids.

She never mentioned specific games, but I do believe he was into computers, yes. I'm an IT professional, and I can tell you looking at his websites, if he did spend a lot of time online, it wasn't on honing his web development skills.

I did notice in the picture of them at church the day prior, he is holding an SLR camera, which is something I use as well. Being a professional camera, I imagine he has an extensive photo collection. But, I'm also going to wager that he put photos of her on his .org site that intentionally portray Susan as unattractive. She was a very pretty woman and could have done so much better than him. But, she chose him and she was quite dedicated.

Thanks very much for your input! :loser:

BBM. I didn't know about him having attended church on Sunday. In the beanie video he says he didn't attend church that day. Good evidence for the trial.

At 2:30 of this video:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCXDpQEfZm8"]Josh Powell Full Interview With 2News Utah News, KUTV, 2News, Utah Community.flv - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Jacie Estes]

Thanks very much for your input! :loser:

BBM. I didn't know about him having attended church on Sunday. In the beanie video he says he didn't attend church that day. Good evidence for the trial.

At 2:30 of this video:

Josh Powell Full Interview With 2News Utah News, KUTV, 2News, Utah Community.flv - YouTube

The picture of that event wasn't from that Sunday; it was from an event at the church a few days [?] prior to her going missing.

 

[HotLavaJavas]

Thank you; I appreciate your answer.

I wanted to add, every time I see the pictures of her she is wearing that pair of earrings, they are gold/multiple hoops, it tugs at my heart. I make jewelry, powwow earrings and Native jewelry plus I own tons of earrings that are gifts; I imagined that he did not let her spend money on much for herself. I so wish her life had been better; she deserved so much more than what has happened. As a survivor of a violent DV assault, I want to see him pay for what he has done. IMHO

I agree. Sometimes when I see her picture, I get teary eyed. She made this world better. I get so pissed off when I see where JP or his creepy dad say people make her out to be perfect and she wasn't, and she was a sexual flirt.

Susan really was a wonderful person. She touched peoples' lives in such a way. I used to think "wow, I'm such a wench and she is so nice." She really was very kind to people, regardless of what she thought of them.

I made a new flyer for her birthday next month over the weekend, and it made me really emotional....it'll be her 30th.

 

[cocomod]

HotLavaJavas

:hug:

We all have learned to love Susan from the news reports. I am so sorry that your friend is still missing.

 

[Lera213]

I pray that some how some way an angel will guide law enforcement to find Susan and soon. I'm praying hard for my prayers to be answered.

 

[scapa]

It's just hard to put a lot of credence in the opinion of someone who still believes in the Easter Bunny.

:tears:

But congrats for having a 12 year-old who still believes. My toddler won't leave his stocking out because he figures that anyone coming down a chimney in the dead of night is up to no good.

I always thought the Easter Bunny was, in the pantheon of holiday mascots, the least plausible. What was his (or her) backstory anyway? Why would a bunny deliver eggs? Chocolate eggs? It just don't add up.

Back on topic, more or less, I agree that they could have been anywhere that night and neither child would have been the wiser. I was so hopeful when news of the find broke -- I must confess that as talk turned to charred wood, trace DNA, dubiously-trained hounds, "expanded" searches and various Powells weeing on fires, I am beginning to see this last big push of the search as more desperation than solid lead.

s

 

[Lera213]

Susan's earrings! I wonder if JP even took them out of her ears? I hope LE has a metal detector out there, heck all searchers walking should have one! Perhaps the key is detecting the earrings!

 

[hollyblue]

Thank you; I appreciate your answer.

I wanted to add, every time I see the pictures of her she is wearing that pair of earrings, they are gold/multiple hoops, it tugs at my heart. I make jewelry, powwow earrings and Native jewelry plus I own tons of earrings that are gifts; I imagined that he did not let her spend money on much for herself. I so wish her life had been better; she deserved so much more than what has happened. As a survivor of a violent DV assault, I want to see him pay for what he has done. IMHO

Just from what I have seen, I don't think she was "into" jewelry. The only pics of her, I believe, where she is wearing them are the professional pics taken. Many of the other pictures of her in social settings I didn't see any. She may be the type of person who only wears jewelry (earrings) on a special occasion....or because she has small children who could pull or accidentally get "caught" in them. She could also be spending her money on the children for gifts, toys or other things for the children that would bring her more joy than jewelry. It's just me, but I'd wear rags and a cheap pair of earrings so my children could have the best I could provide. Not saying the one's she had on were cheap...they could be 18k for all we know. jmo