Probe focused on foul play

OLYMPIA – Utah authorities have for at least six months investigated the disappearance of Susan Powell as a murder case. But without a body, they publicly held out hope that she would be found alive.

So what evidence did they have that the mother of two was dead? And was there anything to identify her killer?

There was the damp spot on the floor in her Utah home and a curious late-night camping trip described by her husband. There were also the recollections of their young son Braden about a camping trip and his mother being “in the trunk.”

That could strike some as a clue or as the ramblings of a boy who was then just 2.

For authorities in Utah, none of it was enough to bring charges.

The man identified by investigators as a “person of interest” – Powell’s husband Josh – had already moved from Utah to Washington state, taking with him their two young sons. On Sunday, he torched his house, killing himself and the boys. A 911 call released by police late Tuesday revealed a social worker’s frantic attempts to alert authorities that Josh Powell had locked himself and his two young sons in his home moments before he set the house on fire, killing everyone inside.

The social worker said she had just dropped off the boys and that a man grabbed them and then wouldn’t let her in the door.

Josh Powell was scheduled for a supervised visit with his sons. On the recording, the social worker tells a dispatcher she can hear one of the boys crying, then she screams, “He exploded the house!” after the fire began.

Now, as authorities try to determine what led him to take such a drastic measure, many questions remain about the status of the investigation into Susan Powell’s 2009 disappearance and how close they were to bringing charges.

A Washington state search warrant obtained by the Associated Press through a public records request Tuesday showed that police were investigating three felonies in Utah: first-degree murder, kidnapping and obstructing a public servant.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill acknowledged for the first time that investigators believe Powell is likely dead, but he said in an interview with the AP that the case remains a missing-person probe for now.

Gill wouldn’t discuss the evidence but said authorities didn’t have enough information to file charges.

“I think when I talk about it as a missing persons case, that’s because we haven’t located the body of Susan Powell,” Gill said. “Do we think that she may have met harm? Sure. I think that’s been an ongoing assumption with law enforcement.”

Investigators said Josh Powell withdrew $7,000 in cash from a bank the day before he killed himself and his two young sons in the house fire.