Concerns about Susan Cox Powell's children, ages 5 and 3; experts weigh in

March 5, 2010 - Susan Cox Powell, 28, mysteriously disappeared Dec. 6. Her husband, Josh Powell, was the last person to see her around midnight. He claimed to have taken their two young sons on an impromptu overnight camping trip leaving in the middle of the night. The next day when he returned his wife was missing. He claims he does not know where she is.

Soon after Susan disappeared police questioned Josh but he would not cooperate and canceled future interviews scheduled by police.

He will not speak with family or friends and, other than an interview with media the day Susan was reported missing, he has refused to speak to media. Click here for the interview.

He has not pleaded with the public to help find his wife.

His silence has raised concerns that he may have something to do with Susan's disappearance, or that he may know something he isn't telling police.

Josh remains the only person of interest in what police call a missing person's case with suspicious criminal overtones.

Josh moved his two young children, now ages 5 and 3, from their West Valley City, Utah home to his hometown of Puyallup, Wash., less than a month after Susan went missing. Friends and family are concerned that the children have lost not only their mother but the only support system they knew.

Josh and his sons are now living with Josh's father, Steven Powell aka Steven Chantrey, in the Country Hollow community in Puyallup. 

Examiner.com spoke with two legal experts, Attorney and Legal Analyst, Anne Bremner, and Family Law Attorney, Juliana Wong, of Stafford Frey Cooper in Seattle regarding the Susan Cox Powell case. Attorneys Bremner and Wong have agreed to provide their expert opinion.

"The paramount concern for any court is the well-being of the children - physically, mentally and emotionally. Here, in this case," Bremner and Wong said, "it is necessary to investigate what is occurring in the home and whether the children are being cared for properly."

"This includes," they said, "whether the boys are being exposed to mental and emotional abuse as it relates to their missing mother and their current circumstances of having no contact with extended family."

While Susan and Josh's children live near their maternal grandparents in Puyallup, Chuck and Judy Cox, they're not allowed to see them without their father being present and they must visit the children at Steven Powell's home. The Coxes are not comfortable in Steven's home.

Josh has never given any reason why he will not allow the Coxes see the children unsupervised.

"Given the tragic circumstances, one has to analyze why Josh Powell and his family is choosing to keep the children away from their maternal grandparents and other extended family," said legal experts, Bremner and Wong.

"The children are young and confused and should be afforded the security of familiar family members," they said. "The complete alienation from a set of grandparents and an aunt and uncle, who were very involved in their lives prior to the disappearance, cannot be seen as in the best interests of the children. Especially, when additional comfort and support is essential during this time of transition."

Jennifer Graves, Josh's sister, said that her father, Steven, is the only adult in the home who is working at this time. Three of Jennifer's brothers and one sister all live in the home with their father, are all 24 and older, and are all unemployed. She does not believe it is a good environment for her nephews. 

Kirk Graves, Josh's brother-in-law, told Examiner.com that Steven works selling furniture made in prisons that is then sold mostly to public schools and that on the side, he writes and edits songs using the name 'Steven Chantrey'.

Debbie Caldwell, who provided childcare for the Powell's before Susan disappeared, said Susan made it clear to her husband she did not feel comfortable around his father, Steven, and that she never wanted the children left alone in his care. She also said she never wanted her boys left alone with Josh's brother.

A little digging revealed Steven Powell had a troubled childhood. He claimed on his website that he was 'kidnapped' by his grandparents and when he told a friend his grandmother put cayenne pepper on his tongue and stood him in the corner. He was told he would never see his mother again.

Levi Page, Host of the Levi Page Show, a crime-based Internet radio show on Blog Talk Radio, has been covering Susan's case. He said, "Let's not forget about the suspicion that is growing around Joshua's father. Why is the family of Susan Powell afraid of Joshua's father? Having the children living with someone like Joshua in addition to his father, could be TNT, an explosion waiting to happen."

"Unfortunately," Page said, "Child Services rarely take children out of the homes of parents, but this at least should entail an investigation. I've covered cases where children are left in the care of unstable parents and they end up abused, missing or murdered. Hopefully that will not happen in this case."

"The big question," he said, "is what do the children know? Did they witness anything that could implicate Joshua? If so, I believe the children are in immediate danger."

Jennifer Graves, Josh's sister, says, "I don't feel it's an emotionally safe environment for the boys."

Kirk, Jennifer's husband, and Jennifer believe it's no place for their nephews who they say they have not seen since Jan. 22. They traveled 900 miles to see the boys and were asked to leave when they asked Josh about Susan's disappearance.

Chuck Cox, Susan Powell's father, said that physically he doesn't believe his grandkids are in danger. But then again, did he ever consider his son-in-law could possibly be involved in the disappearance of his wife?

Did he consider Josh, his son-in-law, would tell the unbelievable story he told, that he would move away from the house where Susan lived before she disappeared, and that he would not help police find her?

He never thought any of those things. He did say during a recent press conference that he feels Steven Powell's home is dysfunctional.

Are they in danger? No one really knows.

Levi Page shared his opinion and said, "I believe that based on Joshua's strange behavior that his children are in danger. Putting aside the obvious fact that it is a strong possibility that he was involved in his wife's mysterious disappearance, according to his time line of events, he had taken his children out to a remote area to go camping after midnight while it was 10 degrees outside and snowing."

"The fact that he would subject a two-year-old toddler, and a four-your-old to that sort of weather, that late at night, while they should have been sleeping peacefully in their own beds," he said, "shows that he is lacking proper judgment and that the children are not safe in his care. Joshua also acts on impulse, according to him he suddenly decides to go camping in freezing weather after midnight and then acts on those impulses."

Legal Analyst, Lisa Bloom, said on the Dr. Phil Show, "Let me speak plainly, I think that Josh's alibi
is preposterous, it's outrageous, and it's an insult to our intelligence. Nobody can really believe that he would take two little children out camping in the middle of the night. But there may be a germ of truth in it just as there was a germ of truth in Scott Peterson's story, because, unfortunately, Laci's remains were found in the bay where he said he had gone fishing. And I do believe that Josh Powell probably did take a long ride that night with the boys in the car, and, unfortunately, that may have been where he disposed of his wife."

"But we really can't believe anything that he said. His story is so far beyond the pale. And his refusal to be part of the search, his refusal to cooperate, his clamming up, his moving out of state when people are still looking in the state for his own wife, none of that adds up to anything good for Josh Powell," Bloom said.

Susan Murphy Milano, Violence Expert, said, "Jason Young, after 3 years, was finally indicted in North Carolina for the murder of wife Michelle Young, who was pregnant at the time. Young, like so many who are finally charged, do not take their own life as they believe they will never 'get caught.' The children are in danger in my opinion when the person with whom they identify with as 'daddy' is a suspect in not some random act, but premeditated murder.

"When a mother goes missing (like in the Powell case), the children should automatically be placed by the State with relatives until such time as the husband or father of the children is cleared," Milano said, "We are seeing far too many of these cases and we need to protect the children unable to speak for themselves. "

"In this case, it would be appropriate for the children to be placed with relatives and not the father, at least pending an investigation," said legal experts Bremner and Wong.

"A Guardian ad Litem should be appointed on behalf of the minors and pending the recommendations of the GAL, liberal residential time should be set forth for the father, but the children’s safety should be secured by placing them temporarily with the Cox’s," they said, "Especially when the father is under investigation is still a possible suspect in the disappearance of the children’s mother."

The Coxes have made repeated attempts to contact Josh to visit the boys. Josh has declined their requests or simply refused to return their phone calls. They have seen their grandchildren only three times since their daughter went missing three months ago.

Chuck said Josh claims to have lost his cell phone and is using that as an excuse for not returning Chuck's calls and requests to see the boys.

For their entire lives the boys have been 900 miles away from their maternal grandparents, now they live within a few minutes, but they are further from their grandparents than ever.

Josh was a talkative, very opinionated man before his wife went mysteriously missing last December. Now, Susan's family and friends say they can hardly get two words out of him these days.

Josh's sister, Jennifer Graves, said this about her nephews, "I have concerns about their safety - especially emotionally."