AZ AZ - Susan Cassell, 35, Glendale, 3 Jan 1991

[mysticrose]

Susan Carol Cassell

Missing since January 3, 1991 from Glendale, Maricopa County, Arizona.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics
•Date Of Birth: September 14, 1955
•Age at Time of Disappearance: 35 years old
•Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'7, 140 lbs
•Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Green eyes; brown hair. Her ears are pierced. She wears contact lenses and glasses.
•Marks, Scars: She has a birth mark on the back of her neck.
•Jewelry: At the time of her disappearance she wore a nurses pin, a jade brooch, sapphire diamond earrings, a sapphire necklace, a sapphire ring, her wedding rings and some costume jewelry.
•Medical Conditions: She was pregnant at the time of her disappearance.
•AKA: Susan S. Cassell, Susan Carol Stinnett, Susan Carol Smith

Circumstances of Disappearance
Susan's husband, James F. Cassell, told authorities that his wife returned home unexpectedly from work on January 3, 1991 in Glendale, Arizona. Susan was employed as a nurse at Boswell Memorial Hospital in Sun City, Arizona at the time. James stated that she left their young child in his care, then departed from their residence. Susan has not been seen again. She joined the United States Army prior to her marriage to James. The couple lived in Nevada for a time before returning to Arizona. James received a divorce from Susan in February 1992, over a year after she was last seen. James reportedly moved to Pennsylvania with their son afterwards. Susan's case remains unsolved. Her vehicle had not been removed from the residence and uncashed paychecks were not picked up. She had no known medical or personal problems and has not made contact with any family members. She has not been seen since. Investigators suspect that foul play was involved in her disappearance.



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Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Glendale Police Department
623-930-3314

Agency Case Number: 91-19748

NCIC Number:
M-739499123
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
NMCO
NamUs

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/584dfaz.html

 

[mysticrose]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cassell_susan.html

 

[mysticrose]

It ihas been hard to find much information on this case but I'm trying. When I read the story of her disappearence the first case that popped in my head was Susan Powell, alot of similarity ...

I'll keep looking

 

[mysticrose]

Police - Cold Case Information
Susan Cassell - Case number 91-19748


On January 3, 1991, Susan Cassell went to work as a nurse for Boswell Hospital. Susan worked as a nurse for a temporary service in the medical field in the Phoenix Metro area. Susan’s husband Jim Cassell took his son on an overnight camping trip on the same day Susan last went to work. When Jim and his son returned Susan was not at the home. Jim contacted Glendale Police on January 4, and filed a report saying Susan did not return home, and he had no idea where she was. Relatives of Susan contacted Glendale Police one month later and reported her as missing. Relatives reported there were problems in Susan’s marriage, but she never spoke about any other problems in her life. Relatives report Susan would never have abandoned her child to disappear on her own. As of this time there has been no further contact with Susan, and her disappearance remains a mystery. Please complete the form below to submit a tip online.

http://www.glendaleaz.com/police/ColdCase_SusanCassell.cfm

 

[KateB]

Susan has been missing for 25 years today.
NamUs: https://findthemissing.org/en/cases/show/474

 

[skydelta3574]

Why are the two stories so different? One says her husband claims she returned home from work unexpectedly while the other says she didn't return at all.

Why do authorities suspect foul play?



Sent from my KFTHWI using Tapatalk

 

[Mka28]

Apparently she returned home after her shift. Then her husband and son went camping in the middle of the night. I'm sure the son knows something, but will more then likely protect his father.

 

[AZ Native Cat]

Any new information on this case? Lots of unanswered questions.

 

[tmac29]

Any new information on this case? Lots of unanswered questions.

I would suspect the father, who moved out of Arizona, murdered her and took his son on a “camping trip” to hide Susan’s body. If I were investigating i would’ve checked his car for evidence or mileage of last trip but authorities really dropped ball on this one.

 

[AZ Native Cat]

I would suspect the father, who moved out of Arizona, murdered her and took his son on a “camping trip” to hide Susan’s body. If I were investigating i would’ve checked his car for evidence or mileage of last trip but authorities really dropped ball on this one.

Yes. If I was a detective assigned to this case I would take another run at the boy. I agree. He knows probably more than he shared at the very least what their relationship might have really been like. Its been several decades now so maybe there is some remorse?

 

[spartanx]

I have the impression that she escaped... on the day of her disappearance she called her mother on the phone and told her that she was tired of working double shifts... I think she meant more than tired of double shifts... tired of her marriage. ...which I don't understand why she left her son if he is not guilty of anything...maybe the father convinced him that she was bad and that she would soon go somewhere else and that they would leave the state... Maybe she was depressed, she didn't want to continue like this...
either way
rest in peace

 

[Aurora90]

I have the impression that she escaped... on the day of her disappearance she called her mother on the phone and told her that she was tired of working double shifts... I think she meant more than tired of double shifts... tired of her marriage. ...which I don't understand why she left her son if he is not guilty of anything...maybe the father convinced him that she was bad and that she would soon go somewhere else and that they would leave the state... Maybe she was depressed, she didn't want to continue like this...
either way
rest in peace

While I truly hope that is the case, I fear it may not be true. it reminds me of missing mother Haifaa Assad. Religion and a strong paternal family influence are themes that may ring true in both cases.

 

[Pennysmom1]

Susan Carol Cassell – The Charley Project

• Medical Conditions Susan was pregnant at the time of her January 1991 disappearance.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes. Susan has a birthmark on the back of her neck. She wears contact lenses or eyeglasses. Susan occasionally uses her maiden name, Smith, or her maternal grandmother's maiden name, Stinett.

<<Susan's mother described her as a social person with strong religious values. Susan was born in Michigan and her family moved to Arizona when she was a teenager. She joined the United States Army prior to her marriage to James. The couple lived in Nevada for a time before returning to Arizona.>>

584DFAZ - Susan Carol Cassell

City of Glendale police dept

https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_15209001/File/Live/Police%20Department/Cold%20Case%20PDFs/Susan%20Cassell.pdf

<<Relatives report Susan would never have abandoned her child to disappear on her own>>

 

[Caring1]

4 Unidentified Person Exclusions

 

[JSolt1210]

Has the hospital confirmed that Susan actually worked her shift, or is this information coming directly from the husband?

Also, at what time was her shift? Someone else upthread mentioned she may have been working double shifts, so maybe James took their son because Susan was working late into the night or even overnight. When they came home (in the morning?), they expected her there because her shift would've been over, but she wasn't. If this is true, and the hospital confirms that Susan worked, then I would look less towards the husband—despite how odd the story sounds.

Unless, of course, Susan worked only part of her shift, came home unexpectedly, had an argument with her husband for some reason, he attacked her, and then on a whim he made up the "overnight camping trip" scenario. That's why I wish we knew when Susan worked, if it was overnight, and how long she was at work for.

Conversely, if her shift was during the day, could a pregnant Susan have been secretly planning an abortion, died during the procedure, and was disposed of afterwards? I don't know what abortion was like in Arizona in the early '90s. I assume it was safe post-Roe v. Wade, but that doesn't always mean people seek out professionals for the procedure, or the person performing it actually is who they say they are.

 

[LLR]

This is my first time posting here. I can answer a few questions and clear up a few misconceptions as I am familiar with this case. Susan was my sister's sister-in-law. I say was because my sister is no longer married to Susan's brother and because I'm quite sure that Susan is dead.

Regarding the question of whether or not she'd worked the night before she disappeared, she did work a double shift at the hospital and spoke with her mother by phone when she got home that afternoon. She told her mother she was tired and needed to get some rest and that she'd call her when she woke up later. She never called and no one in the family ever saw her again.

Her son Kyle wasn't even 3 years old when she disappeared. He has no memory of her. He's a grown man now with his own children, at least the one daughter that I know of. The cold case detective assigned to the case did fly out to Pennsylvania and speak with Kyle at one point; he told Kyle flat out that he believed Susan was killed by his father. The detective told me that Kyle wasn't too happy to hear that.

It gets hot in arizona, and sometimes it gets hot even in january. But not this January. It got down to 40° or so that night according to historical weather data. Jim said Susan left and he decided to take Kyle camping. Who takes a 3-year-old camping in the mountains in 40° temperatures?

Jim didn't report her missing. He didn't call the hospital to see if she ended up being called into work or call her friends and family to ask if anyone had seen her. Her car was still in the driveway and her purse, ID and uncashed paychecks we're still at the home they shared: and while she was reportedly pregnant, the family believes she was on the verge of filing for divorce at the time she disappeared. I personally don't believe she would have had an abortion.

Her mother ended up reporting her missing. And while I can't remember now how she learned her daughter was missing, I suspect she tried to call several times and was given the runaround. And I do recall that her quote to other family members when she couldn't get a hold of Susan after repeated attempts , was "that b×××××d killed her."

Jim didn't help search for her. He didn't call the police and ask if there were any updates on the case. Instead, he took Kyle and moved to Pennsylvania where he was from shortly after she went missing. He filed for divorce after he moved.

He also never told Kyle that is mother loved him very much or that he was beside himself wondering what happened to her blah blah blah. None of that ever happened. There were no photos of Susan on Kyle's nightstand as he grew up or anything like that. Years later when family members on his mother's side tracked him down and called him in Pennsylvania, they learned that he never received any of the cards or gifts they'd sent, nor did he know they even existed. They sent him pics of his mother which he'd never seen.

Jim was also an army vet. I think Susan met him while she was in the service. When they lived in Las Vegas he was an Elvis impersonator. The last I saw of him, on facebook, there were pics of him playing Santa at some shopping mall in Pennsylvania. I don't believe he ever remarried. I think he was an alcoholic. I know he was volatile and that their relationship was rocky. She'd left him once before and had only recently reconciled at the time she went missing. They might have been back together a few months, long enough to get pregnant anyway.

Susan would never have left Kyle. Certainly not with him. And she wouldn't have gone away for all these years without contacting her family. At the time she went missing she was speaking with her mother every day.

The Phoenix police really did drop the ball on this case. And the cold case detective assigned to it now inherited what was basically a bare bones file. He told me that the original police assigned to the case did search the area that Jim said he took Kyle camping, which was in the Superstition Mountains I believe. And of course they found nothing. I wish now that I'd asked if he knew whether they'd found signs that anyone had camped there. He did tell me that unless someone comes across her remains, the case is unlikely to be solved. Because the original case was bungled so badly there's just no evidence, and Jim is not about to confess.

That's pretty much all I know. I think of Susan often and every now and then I'll do a search online to see if there are any updates. That's how I came across this forum. It sickens me to think that Jim got away with murder and went on living his miserable life without having to pay for his crime. But I suspect that the detective is right. I've been to the Superstition Mountains. They're vast and imposing, and Jim probably lied about going camping there anyway.

If there's anything else I can answer or clear up, let me know and I'll answer as best as I can. I knew Susan and I know she loved her child and would never ever have deserted him.