10 April 2010: Cache Valley residents organizing search for Susan Powell

[PickieChickie]

I've been waiting for the Trib to get involved in this search.....buy have yet seen an article....What gives?

I sent Nate Carlise, a reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune, an e-mail with the link to the article about the search, the moment I received it yesterday. Maybe they are going to write a more in depth article and are needing more time to contact the people involved in the search?

 

[dovebar]

I'm glad to hear that someone has come up with a plan and gained some traction with it. I agree it's fantastic.

I'm wondering about this comment. The search is most likely based on best guess, best practices and best information from the collected information so far. I wouldn't be too quick to decide the place to start, myself. I've thought all along that figuring out where to spend the resources is a huge problem in this case. Given that these people have offered their time and energy to the cause, how do you figure where they should concentrate their efforts?

No one is being quick to decide a place but rather a lot of thought has gone into what roads would have been passable, how many hours a suspect might have had to drive, places they would have known, what the weather was like and where.

One of the many suggestions there was that we should all be searching in our areas if we are within driving distance. Cache Valley has many canyons that would have been plowed and passable. The area is popular both for day trips and vacations and might have been one a suspect knew.

We especially ought to consider that if someone dumped a body, probably the LAST place to find that person would be where the suspect pointed us. Mark Hacking, for instance, sent searchers all over a specific canyon, knowing full well that his wife's body had gone out in the opposite direction with the trash. Perhaps if his word had been taken with more skepticism, she might have been found sooner; she was very nearly not found at all.

So it's genuinely great that they are searching. I hope that people who cannot make that search will go out and walk their nearby creeks, canyons, fields. Someone was just found in another search that way, by property owners who decided to walk their own land.

 

[grayjay]

Am I being too crass in asking why they are saying "to look for clues for Susan". Aren't they looking for Susan? This just doesn't sound right for some reason.?????

Things like a shoe, maybe a scrap of shrink wrap, an empty hershey bar wrapper (yeah, right, from the s'mores) or tire tracks where they don't belong would be clues. If I were told to look for clues, I'd look for odd things, even a dug up rock might get my attention, where if I were told to look for a body, I'd be all about finding a lump of approximately a certain size and shape.

 

[hollyblue]

If you have read any of the other threads at all, you would see quite a bit of discussion with people wondering where to look. No one is being quick to decide a place but rather a lot of thought has gone into what roads would have been passable, how many hours a suspect might have had to drive, places they would have known, what the weather was like and where.

One of the many suggestions there was that we should all be searching in our areas if we are within driving distance. Cache Valley has many canyons that would have been plowed and passable. The area is popular both for day trips and vacations and might have been one a suspect knew.

We especially ought to consider that if someone dumped a body, probably the LAST place to find that person would be where the suspect pointed us. Mark Hacking, for instance, sent searchers all over a specific canyon, knowing full well that his wife's body had gone out in the opposite direction with the trash. Perhaps if his word had been taken with more skepticism, she might have been found sooner; she was very nearly not found at all.

So it's genuinely great that they are searching. I hope that people who cannot make that search will go out and walk their nearby creeks, canyons, fields. Someone was just found in another search that way, by property owners who decided to walk their own land.

Although I don't think she is there, it's great that they are searching and can atleast put this area of speculation behind. I think people should have been out in their own local area everytime the weather broke alittle. You can track animal activity better in the snow than not. You'd never know what you might find.

 

[dovebar]

Although I don't think she is there, it's great that they are searching and can atleast put this area of speculation behind. I think people should have been out in their own local area everytime the weather broke alittle. You can track animal activity better in the snow than not. You'd never know what you might find.

I think that's precisely why they are starting there. It's a "rule it out" search. Josh claimed they were there. Searchers have to start there.

If she is there, I hope and pray they find her. If she is not, they will be able to move on to other areas without criticism because they thoroughly searched the place he told them.

 

[hollyblue]

Volunteers to comb desert for Powell
Missing » But WVC police warn against it, saying, 'We've spent several thousand hours [searching the area].'


http://www.sltrib.com/ci_14687046?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

 

[RayO]

Volunteers to comb desert for Powell
Missing » But WVC police warn against it, saying, 'We've spent several thousand hours [searching the area].'


http://www.sltrib.com/ci_14687046?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

OK, the WVC PD think that area has been combed-through thoroughly. Certainly they must have other ideas based on the evidence they must have accumulated (like cell phone and credit card records). As the weather becomes more favorable for searching they should make some of that public to help -- I don't understand the need for complete secrecy. They wouldn't play their entire hand by naming a few probable areas, or possible types of areas (ravines near roads below 4500 ft, abandoned mine shafts, for example).

I'm thinking there was some element of truth when he said "south". I mean he may know there was evidence of him being south (buying gas in Lehi or something) and yet it is, of course, vague enough that it doesn't give away the actual location(s). Also we've heard that something Charlie said was they were in a wooded area. Southwest of SLC is generally not as wooded as southeast. If it was up a fairly lightly traveled canyon southeast of SLC, how far up would be limited by the ability of his van to navigate the road in snow, unplowed and/or unpaved conditions. How far south might be limited by how far he was willing to drive around at night with his kids and a body in the van.

 

[grayjay]

OK, the WVC PD think that area has been combed-through thoroughly. Certainly they must have other ideas based on the evidence they must have accumulated (like cell phone and credit card records). As the weather becomes more favorable for searching they should make some of that public to help -- I don't understand the need for complete secrecy. They wouldn't play their entire hand by naming a few probable areas, or possible types of areas (ravines near roads below 4500 ft, abandoned mine shafts, for example).

I'm thinking there was some element of truth when he said "south". I mean he may know there was evidence of him being south (buying gas in Lehi or something) and yet it is, of course, vague enough that it doesn't give away the actual location(s). Also we've heard that something Charlie said was they were in a wooded area. Southwest of SLC is generally not as wooded as southeast. If it was up a fairly lightly traveled canyon southeast of SLC, how far up would be limited by the ability of his van to navigate the road in snow, unplowed and/or unpaved conditions. How far south might be limited by how far he was willing to drive around at night with his kids and a body in the van.

Thanks, Ray. This definitely reconciles what the WVCPD told us with the FaceBook search. They were very polite and put our names on a list. We made it clear we had the range, the gear, the experience, etc., so hearing about this search so soon after talking to them had us confused.

 

[PickieChickie]

Thanks, Ray. This definitely reconciles what the WVCPD told us with the FaceBook search. They were very polite and put our names on a list. We made it clear we had the range, the gear, the experience, etc., so hearing about this search so soon after talking to them had us confused.

Since you are on a list, have you been contacted by WVCPD to let you know about the April 10 search? Or were they just doing that to appease you?

 

[grayjay]

Since you are on a list, have you been contacted by WVCPD to let you know about the April 10 search? Or were they just doing that to appease you?

I have no reason to think they were just trying to appease us. It seems more like this particular search is on top of thousands of hours of their own efforts. They made us think there actually is a list and that we'd be contacted when they could use the help and they decided to set up a wider search. I also got the impression they still hold out hope there's going to be a breakthrough any day and that might not be necessary.

 

[Dr.Fessel]

The West Valley City Police Department said the area is dangerous and volunteer searchers may put themselves at risk going over an area already thoroughly investigated.

How many thousand square miles is this area?

 

[Dr.Fessel]

Isn't this a place that people go to camp and play?

 

[Dr.Fessel]

I find it odd the police say don't search there and not give an area to search. This is all weird to me.

 

[gwenabob]

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_14687046

Trib has a story now about the search.

 

[Foxy Loxy]

West Valley police concerned with Susan Powell search plans
Reported by: Brent Hunsaker
Last Update: 3/16 10:28 pm
Print Story | ShareThis


Susan Cox Powell (Scott Hardman, Hardman Photography)
Related Links
Facebook page for friends and family of Susan Powell
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - A pair of Cache County residents -- people who have never even met Susan Cox Powell -- are organizing a search to be conducted around Simpson Springs in Tooele County. The search date is Saturday, April 10th.

Hundreds could potentially answer the call to search the area where Josh Powell said he took his boys camping the night his wife, Susan, disappeared.

But the West Valley Police Department is concerned about the safety of the people who might be involved in that search. "We don't oppose it, but we're also not promoting it," said Captain Tom McLachlan, spokesman for the Department.

"We're not going to accept that liability," said Captain McLachlan. "This is a very remote, very wild place where if a person gets hurt, help is a long ways away."

What's more, the Captain points out police investigators have already spent thousands of hours searching from the air, on the ground and even below the ground. The results: "We found nothing ... that would substantiate Josh's story that he was there," Captain McLachlan said.

While it appears that West Valley Police will have no official role in the volunteer search, Tooele County Sheriff Frank Park said his department will. However, Sheriff Park said Tuesday that since he has not seen a detailed plan from organizers, he could not say what that role would be.

As for Susan's family, spokesperson Shelby Gifford wrote, "We are thankful people want to help us find Susan. We hope any searchers will follow safe search practices and will observe any guidelines set by police."

To find out more about the search and requirements for volunteers, click here. (You must be a member of Facebook to access this link.)

http://www.abc4.com/content/news/top%20stories/story/West-Valley-police-concerned-with-Susan-Powell/V8GvLTFtZUWOWY3aW85pWg.cspx

bbm

 

[dovebar]

Isn't Hobble Creek plowed because it is essentially a residential area, if very wooded?

Another person used it as a dump site. It's not impossible that Josh did. It would be easier to drive a van up there than either of the Cottonwood or Parley's canyons.

 

[grayjay]

I thought that perhaps the reason the people that found Aunt Amy were out on snowshoes that weekend might have been to look for Susan. Am I correct, that it's a more accessible area for locals than the west desert? I'm a desert rat myself because there are so few signs of visitors when we get out on vast chunks of BLM land.

 

[PickieChickie]

I thought that perhaps the reason the people that found Aunt Amy were out on snowshoes that weekend might have been to look for Susan. Am I correct, that it's a more accessible area for locals than the west desert? I'm a desert rat myself because there are so few signs of visitors when we get out on vast chunks of BLM land.

I would think he would have gotten off the main roads as soon as possible for fear of getting pulled over by law enforcement on a fluke like a tail light that just happened to burn out. I would think he was extremely paranoid and wanting to get away from civilization as quickly as possible.

I believe, when he first left the house, he had no clue where he was going, that he was just blindly driving in an intense state of panic; that he drove for a long time before it really sunk in what he had to do.

I think his first instinct would have been to drive to his father's house in Puyallup, Washington. In my opinion, the search area would be in the mountains up as far as there was no snow at the time where he may have turned off onto a logging or fire road then pushed her off a cliff or stuffed her into a culvert.

 

[grayjay]

The thing about driving on the interstate and pulling off somewhere, is that there would be pings. I just don't see him turning off his cellphone and there's a signal all the way across now, even if it breaks up in spots, isn't there? Or do you actually think she's over in Idaho somewhere? I think he went somewhere that there's no cell signal.

 

[PickieChickie]

The thing about driving on the interstate and pulling off somewhere, is that there would be pings. I just don't see him turning off his cellphone and there's a signal all the way across now, even if it breaks up in spots, isn't there? Or do you actually think she's over in Idaho somewhere? I think he went somewhere that there's no cell signal.

One has to wonder WHY law enforcement spent thousands of hours searching in the area to be searched on April 10, 2010 and WHY this search party is choosing this particular area as well.

Captain McLaughlin said they spent thousands of hours searching the area that will be searched on April 10, 2010.

Obviously, he is referring to TOTAL MAN HOURS. If you have 100 men searching for 8 hours, that's 800 hours X 6 days would be "thousands of hours" or 4,800 hours total or 12 8 hour days for 50 men.

Susan has been missing, as of today, exactly 100 days:
From and including: Monday, December 7, 2009
To, but not including : Wednesday, March 17, 2010

100 days X 24 hours is 2400 hours and we know they weren't out there searching day and night this entire time! Lol!

He should have said, "Law enforcement has spent thousands of MAN HOURS searching for Susan Powell." His statement leads people to think they've been searching for Susan for every moment out there since she disappeared!
http://www.timeanddate.com/date/durationresult.html?m1=12&d1=7&y1=2009&m2=3&d2=17&y2=2010