MEDIA RELEASE 12/16/09 0630 PST from Shelby Gifford, family friend and spokesperson for the Cox Family in Puyallup WA:
We wish to extend our appreciation to the hundreds of journalists who have contacted us and who have provided such extensive coverage of Susan's disappearance. We have no doubt that your efforts are one of the best tools for finding her.
For today, December 16, 2009, the entire Cox family, Shelby and Michael Gifford, Kiirsi Hellewell and other friends of Susan's will not be scheduling media interviews.
If we have already scheduled an interview with you for today, we will keep that commitment. We will not, however, be adding any interviews to our schedule unless a major break comes in the case, in which case, Shelby Gifford will be available for interviews as appropriate.
The Cox family and friends of Susan Powell all express our appreciation for the kind way we've been treated by almost every journalist we've encountered. We know you have a job to do, and we are trying to accommodate you, as well as continue to have Susan's photo and information spread throughout the world.
Mr. Cox and Mr. Gifford will be traveling to Seattle from Salt Lake City this afternoon. Interview requests for tomorrow, Thursday, December 17, should be scheduled to take place in Puyallup, WA, approximately 40 miles south of Seattle.
We will be in contact with the West Valley City Police Department today and will continue to receive updates from them as needed. We appreciate the long, difficult hours the entire department is working to find Susan.
Thank you for honoring our request that you do not contact extended family members of Susan Powell. We look forward to this day as a day of reconnection and appreciate your understanding our request for privacy.
Inquiries for interviews scheduled for tomorrow can be directed to Shelby Gifford, family friend and spokesperson for the Cox Family.