Friend: Missing Utah mom was mulling divorce

‘She talked of escaping, but there’s no way she would have left her boys’

Advertise | AdChoices

Video: Friend: Missing mom had unhappy marriage

Open in new window

Closed captioning of: Friend: Missing mom had unhappy marriage

Advertise | AdChoices

>>> but first, let's begin with the search for a utah mother who has been missing for two weeks. over the weekend, another husband, who police consider a person of doctor, attended a public vigil for his wife. but did not acknowledge her family. nbc's miguel almaguer has the latest this morning.

>> reporter: over the weekend, police say there was very little movement in their investigation. but last night, family members were certainly surprised. josh powell , at a vigil for his missing wife in washington state . sharing a moment with his oldest son, 4-year-old charlie. the first time that powell has made a public appearance since he was named a person of interest in susan powell 's disappearance. he joined more than 100 others, but didn't speak or acknowledge his wife's family who was also there. 900 miles away , susan powell 's friends gathered just outside of salt lake city , where the couple moved several years ago. it's been two weeks since she was last seen alive in utah . police no closer to finding the vibrant young mother of two, than the day she vanished. shortly after susan disappeared, josh powell spent time with friend tim peterson , who says he asked one simple question --

>> where is susan ? where is susan ? i told him, i said, if it was me and my wife was missing, i'd be going out of my mind. and he just sat there with this blank stare on his face and said, well the police are dealing with that.

>> reporter: peterson is one of the few to speak with powell . when detectives couldn't verify his story that his took his boys camping in this area after midnight on a monday morning in subfreezing temperatures. josh powell hired a lawyer and police say became reluctant to cooperate with investigators. after the powell home was searched by detectives, wayne hamburg said powell spent time with him.

>> last time i saw josh he was completely broken down. i've never seen someone in my lifetime that was that depressed and broken as a person.

>> reporter: back in washington state with his family for the holidays, police in utah and washington say they're working on their investigation together. detectives continue to gather more information about the couple's history, their eight-year marriage. friends say susan spoke of divorce. of leaving when she called a controlling husband. rachel morini met the powells just after they married.

>> if i could go back i think i would just tell her that, even though she wanted to she, she wanted to make her marriage work. but i just don't think it was worth it.

>> reporter: back quickly to last night's vigil in washington state , josh powell stood roughly 15 feet away from his father in law, charles cox , and neither man again said anything to the other. ann?

>> thank you so much for reporting on this. rachel morini , a friend of both susan and josh powell . she now joins us exclusively, good morning to you, rachel .

>> good morning.

>> we heard you say if you could go back you would tell susan that it wasn't worth it to try to make her marriage work. what did susan tell you about how unhappy she was in her marriage for you to say something like that now?

>> just that over the eight years, it got progressively worse. and josh became more and more controlling. and it was harder for her to remain herself and remain the happy person that she was.

>> you've told us that in washington state , you and your husband were best friends with josh and susan . and when you both were living in utah , something happened with josh. something he seemed very different, you've said. exactly how was he different?

>> josh was very controlling. he controlled everything in their marriage from the money that susan spent, to what groceries she could buy, what she could eat. there was a lot of fighting and belittling on his part. and it just reduced her to a very different person. a very unhappy and different person than she was when we first met her.

>> so last night when you attended a vigil in utah for susan and you hear now that her husband, josh, was attending a vigil in washington state , and not acknowledging her family, what is your reaction?

>> it very much surprises me. because i mean how you cannot -- her parents are hurting just as much as he is. and i would have hoped that he would have been comforting to them. as i know they would have been to him.

>> well, they say, you know, susan 's parents and her siblings say that they're not surprised that he's been named as a person of interest . what is your reaction to that? are you surprised that he was named a person of interest in this case?

>> no. his story just doesn't add up. so i think it was only a matter of time before this came to this.

>> so you don't buy the story that he went camping? that he was going camping with his two young boys in subfreezing temperatures? what do you think was going on there?

>> i don't know. but i do know that if susan , if he had told susan , hey, i'm going to take the boys out camping and you know, it's ten degrees out, it's a blizzard and we have school the next day, she would have said, no way and she wouldn't have let him.

>> what do you think about whether susan might have left her children, even to escape? is that a possibility, to escape an unhappy marriage?

>> absolutely not. susan talked many times of escaping her unhappy marriage. but there's no way that she would have left her boys.

>> if she's listening now, what would you say to susan ?

>> i would tell her that we all love her. there's over 8,000 people now on the facebook page that all love her. and are supporting her and want her to come home. and her boys want her to come home.

>> is there any new information you can give us about the investigation? about what's happening now?

>> no, i don't know any updates.

>> well rachel morini , thank you soap. and i know this must be so shocking and difficult for you. thanks for speaking to us and our best to you in all of those involved.

>> thank you.

>>> and now let's get a check of the weather from

Show transcript

By Mike Celizic

TODAY contributor

updated 12/21/2009 8:46:35 AM ET

Print
Font:
+
-

A woman who has known a missing Utah woman and her husband since the couple were married eight years ago is not surprised that Josh Powell has been named a person of interest in his wife Susan’s disappearance, saying that his increasingly controlling behavior had put the couple’s marriage on the rocks.

“His story just doesn’t add up,” Rachel Marini told TODAY’s Ann Curry Monday from her home in American Fork, Utah. “I think it was only a matter of time before it came to this.”

It has been two weeks since Josh Powell told police he took the couple’s two boys on a late-night camping trip, leaving Susan behind in their suburban Salt Lake City home. When he came home, she wasn’t there, he told police.

Since then, Josh has hired a prominent local defense attorney and has not responded to police efforts to interview him further. Last week, he took sons Charlie, 4, and Raden, 2, back to his parents’ home in Puyallup, Wash., for the holidays. On Sunday evening, he attended a prayer vigil for Susan with his older son but did not acknowledge his wife’s parents, Chuck and Judy Cox, who stood just a dozen or so feet away from him.

Stories from

Marini said that behavior seemed strange. “Her parents are hurting just as much as he is. I would have hoped that he would have been comforting to them, as I know they would have been to him,” she said.

Debts and deterioration
Marini said that what had been a happy marriage began to deteriorate several years ago when the Powells moved from Washington to Utah. The couple had financial difficulties and filed for bankruptcy in 2007, citing nearly $200,000 in debts.

“Josh became more and more controlling, and it was harder for her to remain herself, or remain the happy person that she was,” Marini said.

“Josh was very controlling. He controlled everything in their marriage, from the money that Susan spent to what groceries she could buy to what she could eat. There was a lot of fighting and belittling on his part. It just reduced her to a very unhappy and different person than she was when he first met her,” Marini told Curry.

Marini said that Susan had spoken about her unhappiness and had even discussed leaving her husband. But, she said, it’s unthinkable that her friend would have gone without her children.

“Susan talked many times about escaping her unhappy marriage, but there’s no way she would have left her boys,” Marini said.

Advertise | AdChoices

Credible story?
Police have focused on Josh’s account that he decided to go camping near midnight on Sunday, Dec. 6. He said he went to a park in the desert west of Salt Lake City, despite sub-freezing temperatures and a snowstorm moving in. He and the boys slept in the family van, he said.

Police have said that Josh was vague about the exact location of his campsite. An overnight snowstorm also eradicated tracks and made it impossible for police to check Josh’s story.

TODAY

Joshua Powell told police he last saw his wife before taking their sons on a late-night camping trip.

When the children didn’t show up at day care and Susan didn’t go to work, concerned friends called police, who broke into the house. They reportedly found Susan’s purse and cell phone. In the living room, fans were trained on a wet spot on the carpet

Curry asked Marini whether Josh’s story about an impromptu camping trip is credible.

“I don’t know, but I do know that if he had told Susan, ‘Hey, I’m going to take the boys out camping, and it’s 10 degrees out, it’s a blizzard, and we have school the next day,’ she would have said, ‘No way,’ and she wouldn’t have let him,” Marini said.