20/20 - If Something Happens to Me (Revisited)

Episode Date: November 29, 2025

A deep dive into the disappearance of wife and mother Susan Powell and the stunning twist involving her two young sons at the hands of her husband Josh Powell. (Originally broadcast 11/13/20) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This show is supported by Hot and Deadly, a podcast from ID. Hot and Deadly brings you American true crime that is often stranger than fiction. Every week, dive into shocking stories of murder and betrayal, from IRS impersonators in Kentucky to a South Carolina businessman deceived by those closest to him. You'll hear firsthand accounts from investigators, witnesses, and family members as they share the chilling details behind each case. If you love true crime with a southern twist, you're going to want to check this one out. Follow Hot and Deadly so you never miss an episode.

This is me covering all my bases, making sure that if something happens to me or my family or all of us. And the phone rang, and the voice on the other end said, when was the last time you saw Susan? And I instantly kind of felt like dread. What has happened? 28-year-old Susan Powell was last seen Sunday. It has been three days. Four days and counting.

Been missing for a week. Josh had taken the children on a middle-of-the-night camping trip. It was freezing cold. None of this makes any sense. He was like, yeah, the kids are here. No, Susan's not with me. And I was like, where is she? You know, and he was like, I don't know.

Who were you camping with? My dad and my mom. The children said, Mommy was in the van but didn't come back with us. Pretty significant thing for a four-year-old to tell a detective. Susan had often referred to her father-in-law as creepy. We're too close. There was Stephen. wanting to be interviewed and he ends up revealing the biggest bombshell.

We interacted in a lot of sexual ways because I enjoy doing that. Gene goes as far as to say, if I die, it may not be an accident. Okay, go and ask one next question. How are I going to find your wife from that your help? Pialup is a smaller town. It's located in an area that's kind of protected from wind and rain from the mountains around it. It's a suburb of Seattle and Tacoma. It's a homey. It's growing. Low crime.

Lots of children who live there, lots of families. How many people are members of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Jesus Christ as Latter-day Saints. A lot of really nice people, interconnected through the church. It's kind of a very typical American community. It is in Puyallup, Washington, where these two families and these two lives intersect. Josh Powell and Susan Cox. Susan Cox.

Susan was one of four daughters. of four daughters, born to Chuck and Judy Cox. She was just, you know, a really typical girl and teenagers. She liked to ride horses. She's my partner in crime. Susan tried to be rebellious, but she had too good of a heart. She was doing well in church and school. Had a friend, she loved choir.

She liked her hair done, her nails done, wear stylish clothes. Susan had gone to cosmetology school. She liked to make other people feel good about themselves. She got interested in boys as a teenager. She met Josh when she was 18 at a social event for young Mormons. And he was in his 20s. And she hadn't dated a lot. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,

if you are unmarried, you can attend and a congregation that is for other unmarried individuals. And so Josh and Susan are both kind of circulating in this singles crowd. There are these incredible home movies taken by Josh's dad, which were later released by police, that show the couple's blossoming relationship. You'll cut that out of the tape, right?

When I first met Josh, I guess I thought he was cute. He was very confident, and he thought he could get any girl he wanted. Susan said that he was treating her really well and he cared about her and he promised he'd make her happy. Josh Powell was an ambitious, strong-headed, kind of nerdy guy. Just tall, dorky, his head's too big for his shoulders. He just looked awkward. He's got a job, he's got his own place, and he's going to college.

It's sounding pretty good. He's going to go to school for business, so he's somebody who is bright when he applies himself. They quickly fell in love. You see pictures of them. They looked to be completely smitten. Josh and Susan's relationship goes from not knowing each other at all in October to being engaged by the end of December. When she told me she was getting married,

I wasn't that supportive because she barely knew him. And she just assured me that she's going to be really happy and that he wanted in life what she wanted in life. Those videos also capture Josh and Susan's wedding and the home life they built together after. Susan looked very pretty at her wedding, very traditional long white dress. So you put the ring in that box and open it up, put it on. She was very excited to show off Josh. Josh and start their lives together.

Let's see the ring. Let's see that ring. Hold your hand up, please. It's a young person's love story that quickly becomes dark. As the reception went on, Josh was ignoring her more and more, Taking pictures and hanging out with this family and then disappearing, I could tell she's getting more agitated.

Susan and Josh didn't have much money, and they found themselves in doing some odd jobs just to get by. Susan actually was the financial provider. He kept going in and out of jobs and was never really settled with anything. They moved to, West Valley City in Utah because they were looking for a better life. They wanted to improve their economic situation.

They buy a house and they start to have a family. I still remember the day that she told me she was pregnant. It was probably the most impactful day of her life. She was so excited because she always wanted to be a mom. I would describe Josh as an unattached dad. Josh wanted to hold Charlie when he wanted to show him off to people. But other than that, he didn't want to change his diaper or feed him or give him a bath. Hey, buddy.

Go up here. Here we go. Okay. And then they had Braden. And if you look at the family pictures, there is joy and there is sparkle. Aww. Yeah. As little boys, they were rambunctious and mischievous and ran around being typical happy little boys.

What are you watching? Cars! And Susan loved them more than anything in the world. Monday morning, December 7, 2009. Monday morning, December 7th, 2009, they didn't show up. Debbie Caldwell. She is the daycare provider for Charlie and Braden Powell. And by 7 o'clock, still no Susan, she had to be to work at 7. That's not like Susan to be late and not call.

They don't show up that Monday morning as the snowstorm is coming in, and Debbie Caldwell becomes concerned. Debbie tried to call Susan on the phone, tried to call Josh, couldn't reach anybody. So I got in a van and I went up the street to her house. And as I pulled into her circle, there was no tire tracks in the driveway. So I pounded on the door and I got no answer. So Debbie calls the emergency contact, which is Josh's sister, Jennifer Graves, and Josh's mom, Terry Powell.

The conclusion that we came to was carbon monoxide. They're probably dead in their beds. We ended up calling the police. 911, what is he in the emergency? My son and his wife and they're too killed. They're not responding to calls, so they're not responding to people pending on their door and there's no trucks coming out of their driveway.

We're worried that maybe gas has been left on or something like that. And a couple of officers come out on a welfare check. They determine that the best course of action is to break a window to see whether or not the family is in there. And they said, we'll go in if you'll pay for the window. And so we said, yeah, absolutely.

They find evidence that pointed to some unusual circumstances. Why would that be here? That just wasn't a normal thing. Good Monday morning, Utah. It is the summer 7th. Snow and ice. Two to four feet of snow in this. December 7th, 2009, I was viewing a bank robbery case, and the sergeant cast me to reach out to patrol,

they were out on a missing family out on the west side of town. Jennifer gave permission to the police to break a window and go into the house. The smallest officers just kind of shimmied in. He was like, wait, what is up with the fans? There are two box fans pointed at the carpet in the living room and we were all confused. The officers cleared the entire residence and found nobody inside the home. And the Powell vehicle, which was a blue minivan, it wasn't parked in the garage. The first thing I saw was Susan's purse was on a table and I started pulling out things.

You know, I found her keys. her wallet and had her driver's license and her credit cards. You would expect that if she had left on her own was intending to go someplace, she would have taken those items. The kitchen, the master bedroom was fairly clean. I mean, bed wasn't made. The bedroom for the children, the blankets were missing. But yeah, the house was pretty orderly.

There was no sign of a disturbance. Physical education inside of the residence. On the morning of December 7th, I was sitting in my family room, homeschooling my three kids. And the phone rang, the voice on the other end said, Josh, Susan, and the boys are missing, and nobody has seen them since yesterday. It's just the most horrible sickening feeling. I just thought, what has happened? Susan's friends were afraid that they'd gone out on a jaunt

because Josh liked to drive and take photographs and maybe had slipped off a cliff or they'd gotten stuck in the snow. I made a few phone calls asking other people in the congregation if anyone had seen Susan. Jovanna goes, I actually had dinner with them last night. Susan asked Jovanna to come over to the house and help her with her knitting and crocheting. While she was there, Josh, who never did anything domestic at all, offered to make people dinner. She was crocheting on her blanket. I was working on the yarn. Josh and the boys were in the kitchen cooking.

He called his father, Steve, to ask for a recipe for pancakes. Everything he did was a little bit different routine than anybody else would have. He made them one by one. He took a plate into Giovanna. He took a plate with different pans. with different pancakes made, obviously, into Susan. He and the boys ate at the table, and he brought our plates into us in the living rooms.

I think that was probably very unusual. I never, ever witnessed them, ever eating in the living room. Shortly after that, Susan began to not feel well. Susan laid down, and Josh sort of suggested Giovanna that it was time for her to leave. He was going to take the boy sledding, and he and the boys actually drove out before I had. I had finished putting it on my seatbelt.

That was the last time I saw anybody, or around five. My brother finally called, right away, asked about the kids, asked about Susan. And he was like, yeah, the kids are here. No, Susan's not with me. And I was like, well, where is she? You know, and he was like, I don't know. I have no idea. She went to work.

Josh drives all the way south to a place called Point of the Mountain, and he places a phone call to Susan's phone. Oh, Susan. We are on our way back, and I can't believe that somehow my brain missed the day. I thought today was Sunday. That was really, really stupid. All right, I'll talk to you later. Okay, bye. We sat there and waited. It was a long time. It was an hour. An hour, maybe more. Josh finally showed up at the house. Josh had taken the children on a middle of the night camping trip.

It was freezing cold. None of this makes any sense. Except to him, he does things spontaneously without any plan. And he took the kids. He said that he left Susan in the house. She was sleeping. We really wanted to talk with Josh,

and we wanted to record it. We had Josh follow us to the substation. He was adamant about taking the boys with him. When's the last time you've seen her? Probably about midnight of last night. We're finishing up a movie. What movie do you just watch?

Um... Boy. Mom. Hey, go, thank you. Josh is very evasive, and he uses the kids who are in the room to distract the ways. He wasn't forthcoming with answers or information,

so it was very frustrating. And where did you drive to? Well, I started heading south. heading south to Willa turned on to the Pony Express. How far down the Pony Express did you go? Not very far, maybe 20 miles, I don't know. So what did you do once you got there? I hooked up a heater and had a fire for the boys.

Josh said they drove to Simpson Springs and had s'mores over a campfire. It's not really very clear exactly what happened that evening and the next morning. We asked him if we could search his minivan and he agreed. The minivan was full of camping supplies like there was a tarp, a generator, shovel, gram crackers. During that search of the minivan where they find Susan's phone hidden in the center console. It's this pink cell phone, clearly not Josh's. And he was kind of like during headlights. He just kind of looked at us In no way did it make any sense.

Susan's cell phone is in the van with him. Where the heck with Susan? Detectives talked to Josh and Susan's son, Charlie. There was one particular statement that raised a lot of eyebrows. Who were you camping with? My dad and my mom and my little brother. Dad, your mom and your brother? Brother?

Down the street from the palace, Kirstie Hilliwell sat in a downstairs playroom, wondering, where is Susan? Then came the news. It made her heartbeat faster. Her stomach turned in somersaults. I just lost it. Nine o'clock that night, Jennifer told me that Josh and the boys are home, and I'm like, we'll wear Susan. And she said, we don't know. As soon as I heard that he was back and Susan was not with them, I instantly said to myself, what has he done?

It became like this game of telephone, where people were passing along these little bits of information, and suddenly a larger story was coming together. He said he was out driving around, and he'd gone out camping with the boys. And I'm like, are you a crazy man? It was cold. That is 100% Josh.

He did that kind of stuff all the time. But Susan would have never allowed him to ever take the boys out in the winter to the desert in the middle of the night. Never. I never. believed his story at all it was determined we didn't have enough probable cause to secure a search warrant for the residents blood loan booked Josh into

jail because we didn't have any physical evidence the decision was a huge mistake because he burns this metal object into oblivion So thoroughly destroyed was this item that nobody to this day can say what exactly it was. Bags and bags of things are shoved into the garbage. Why would you do that? The day after your wife disappears. The following morning he is observed with the minivan pulled out of the garage, all the doors open, thoroughly cleaning it, wiping it down, vacuuming it.

It was really odd to me. really odd to me because he was running around the house, grabbing piles of towels and putting them in the washer. And finally, we're like, you've got to go to your interview with the police. All right, I'll probably have to say, let me grab my notebook, and I'll be right back, okay? Okay.

Josh Powell kind of has a uniform of sorts. It's typically a t-shirt, it's a leather jacket, it's denim pants, and it's dingy white shoes. When Josh goes in to talk to the police, in the tape, you see him initially acting very emotional. I don't know. I didn't even think it was that.

I didn't even sink in yesterday. He's crying. His voice is shaking. He's just trying to hold it together. But as Detective Maxwell, continues to push Josh about what's going on, Josh's demeanor changes. Can we remember what we were doing?

OK. So you don't remember what you guys did from 6 o'clock till you went to bed on Saturday night? I just don't remember what activity we were doing. Josh is not a participant at all. in talking about his missing wife. Shows no urgency in getting out to go look for her. Have you checked any places where she could be?

I haven't had much of a chance to do that yet. He asks police no questions about what they're doing to find her. What place should soon we go check to see if we can find her? Beauty supply. I don't think she would be there, but she likes them. And he offers no suggestions really. about where they might look. Okay, let me ask you this before you go.

Go and ask one last question. How am I going to find your wife and not your help? While I'm interviewing him, another colleague conducted a child forensic interview. Right there. Yeah. Good job. It's got nice lights, huh? Pretty. We went to the Children's Justice Center,

Center and they were able to interview Charlie, Braden really wouldn't talk to them. Okay, well what did you do last night? Go camping. You went camping? Who were you camping with? My dad and my mom and my little brother. The children said, Mommy was in the van but didn't come back with us. a pretty significant thing for a four-year-old to tell a detective.

We got an airplane, and the airplane went to dinosaur master park. Oh, you went to an airplane yesterday? Charlie's interview is perplexing because he says a lot of things that don't make much sense. Okay, so Charlie, when you guys came home from camping, Who came home with you? My dad. And? And my mom stayed at the dinosaur mastropower.

My mom stayed where a crystal are. There was one particular statement that raised a lot of eyebrows. Mommy is with the crystals. And how some people interpreted that was that the boys had been with their mom and she was not alive. Your children are telling our detectives that mom went with you guys last night and that she didn't come back. She did not go with us.

They know that she didn't go with us. So your kids lie then? Do your kids lie? Sometimes they do. With children, they're going to go from threads of truth and reality to fantasy. And maybe things that happened long before mom disappeared, they're still in his memory, and in his mind sort of fuses together. She was not with us.

I didn't leave her at the Pony Express. I didn't just take her out and drop her off or even do anything. I do want the lawyer, because at this point, I definitely want a lawyer. Could have I went and booked him into jail? Yeah, I could have. But we wanted to find Susan, so we were putting a GPS tracker on his van. We want him to be out and about and see where he goes. Instead of picking up his van, he went to the airport.

He rented a Ford Focus. And he vanishes in that rental car for 18 hours. And when he returns that rental car, it has an additional 807 miles on the odometer. To this day, we don't know where Josh. went. Very quickly, the police realized that Josh was lying to them, that he was evasive, and he was not acting like a bereaved husband. When detectives spoke with Susan's friends, there was a very different picture of this marriage. She went to see a divorce lawyer, and he told her to make a videotape. This is me, covering all my bases.

Get no frills, delivered. Shop the same in-store prices online and enjoy unlimited delivery with PC Express Pass. Get your first year for $2.50 a month. Learn more at pceexpress.ca. Fire is the only pure thing in this world. On December 19th, the world of Avatar will change forever. There's something you're hiding.

Tell her, it is time. From director James Cameron. This world goes much deeper than you imagine. Get tickets now. Movies don't get any bigger than this. The day has come. Avatar, Fire and Dash. Ready PG-13, may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Get tickets now. In a developing story, the search continues this month. morning. For a missing wife and mother in West Valley City. We had been hearing some buzz in the community, that there was a woman who was missing. Sunday night, a family dinner with other friends. It has been three days. Four days and counting. We've been missing for a week. Utah gets nursing persons cases almost every day. So this didn't really stand out as anything out of the normal.

ABC 4 is Brian Carlson is live of the West Valley Police Station tonight. Until you start to hear some of the details unravel. We've learned the search warrants for the Powell's home have now been sealed off. It's strange that he came home with the kids and not heard. West Valley City Police calling this one a puzzler. Call it suspicious. Not even a clue. If you see her or know anything,

please contact the West Valley Police Department. Her friends and family were just starting to ask questions. They were out there with flyers, just trying to find out where she might be. Volunteers fanned out, handing out flyers of Susan Powell. Josh, after Susan was missing, he went from the guy who was talking about everything and knew everything to somebody who said nothing, knew nothing. And a husband who says he does not know what has happened to her.

We know the answers are out there and we need those who know where she is and what happened to come forward. I held a candlelight vigil a few days into her disappearance and Josh came to that late. After the candlelight vigil was over, Josh Powell did show up here in the park with his two children, but he quickly left without saying anything. Charlie had come up to me and he was telling me, Debbie, my hands are cold, my hands are cold. And Josh scooped Charlie up and kind of pulled him away like this. And reporters were trying to chase him through the snow and he was walking away from them. You were camping with the boys?

I have to go get my boys. There was no point at which Josh ever seemed to even be concerned that Susan was missing. If he wanted to help on the website, he should have detailed a timeline. He never participated in any of the massive, massive efforts that myself and relatives and friends launched to put out flyers and malls and parking lots. He didn't seem like he was engaged at all in what was going to be engaged at all in what was going on. It seemed like his mind was somewhere else. He spoke very briefly with local media. I've been trying to figure out what I can do so I don't sit idle. I'm dealing with

this repeatedly. People were upset that he didn't seem upset that she was missing. And so people thought that's because he's guilty. Josh, will you give us a comment today? Pointing the fingers of Joshua, I don't want to do that. It seemed like initially Josh and Susan were a pretty conservative couple, loving family, a couple of kids. We learned that there was a lot of distress, a lot of turmoil in their marriage. He controlled the money, even though she was the breadwinner. Josh is very willing to spend money building himself a fancy computer.

Susan doesn't get that privilege. There's my new printer. But the drawers underneath the shelving. It's sad to look at that family and know now what was actually going on. Susan was tormented about how trouble the marriage was. She'd been really happy, he'd been a great husband, and she said that he really changed. He became not affectionate.

Taking a picture of the back of your head. Awkward to talk about, but they also had issues, you know, in the bedroom. Susan was this beautiful girl, but Josh just was not interested in her sexually. It was just really weird. He kept her at arm's length. He wouldn't kiss her anymore. He wouldn't touch her. He wouldn't hold her hand.

Josh and Susan's marriage reaches rock bottom in the summer of 2008. Josh and Susan are constantly fighting. They're arguing front of the kids. Josh is exhibiting extreme control over Susan. Susan. She said one time we were having a screaming fight and I shoved him, pushed me back and he goes, if you ever do that again, I'm going to hit you. But she said he never did.

Susan's now starting to think about, I've got to get out of this marriage. She went to see a divorce lawyer one time for a free consultation at my advice and he told her to make a videotape of everything in your house. This is me. July 29th, 2008, covering all my bases, making sure that if something happens to me or my family or all of us that our assets are documented. And here is our safe. Got all sorts of files, financial information.

Speakers, 5.1 surround sound. Broke this and threw all my DVDs and made a mess. There's a hole in that wall. Diffle diamond necklace my mom bought. Jade, that's a family heirloom. Not worth thousands of dollars, but I have assets. Hope everything works out and we're all happy. live happily ever after as much as that's possible.

After she would email me a lot and just say it. I want to do everything in my power to save my marriage before I walk away. Josh had warned her, if you divorce me, you'll never see the children. So she stayed. Police ended up discovering the safety deposit box that Susan kept secretly from Josh at the bank where she worked. In it, they found a DVD, some savings bonds, and there was a makeshift Will and Testament.

The last Will and Testament, handwritten on one piece of paper, both sides, top to bottom, side to side, there was no room to write another word. She wrote about how bad the marriage had become. She talked about a million dollar life insurance policy that Josh had taken out on her. And she told her boys she would never leave them. She even goes as far as to say, if I die, it may not be an accident. That is our biggest piece of evidence. It's her last words.

There was no doubt that this document was authored by Susan. The biggest mystery of this case is why didn't police arrest Josh Powell? I was frustrated because they hadn't arrested him. I felt they had plenty of evidence to arrest him. have officially named Joshua Powell a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife, Susan. The West Valley City Police Department took a lot of heat for not throwing the handcuffs on Josh. There's a pile of circumstantial evidence. Is there enough there to arrest him and book him into jail and hold him accountable? Absolutely there is. Could we? No. The district attorney's

office would not file any charges. They were very specific and told us that we needed to wait 12 months with nobody. ABC News reached out to the DA at the time, who declined to respond to this claim and refused to comment on the case. Within days of Susan's disappearance, he had closed their bank accounts, cashed out her retirement fund,

took the boys to Puyallup. People we talk to say they can't believe that Joshua Powell has emptied the house and left what is ground zero in the disappearance of his wife. They say it only casts more doubt on a man they're having an increasingly difficult time believing. I suddenly had this, this thought I should get Josh to confess. Jennifer volunteered with the police to wear a wire. What is he do?

I know what I've done and I haven't done anything. For right now, you just endure and take each day as you can. When Josh told police, you took the boys camping in the middle of the night in Utah's West Desert. Police started their search there. Detectives are scouring rocky hillsides and abandoned mine tunnels or any signs of Susan Powell. But police for months and months would search these mines. K-9 teams.

And West Valley police detectives say they plan to survey as many as possible. The most intense part of this surge is happening right at the bottom of this hill. Investigators are swarming the high desert. Josh told somebody that the best place to dispose of a body would be in a mine. This is one of those abandoned mine shafts in which detectives went through. Nobody would ever find him. It's like finding a needle in the haystack. A lot of questions still unanswered at this point.

There's a big part of you. missing and you want to know the truth. But the family won't give up hope. There is still purple ribbons at their home. There is still stickers on car windows. Josh decides that he's going to take the boys up to his dad's house in Washington to try to get away from the media circus. Josh, will you give us a comment today?

Josh's dad, Steve Powell, he takes control. He shields Josh from the media. and becomes his most ardent defender. I call it Fort Powell, because it became a fortress. They had the windows, blinds drawn. They kept the house dark inside. When the media would knock, they'd open a crack and say no.

They weren't talking to anybody. Hi, I'm trying to find Josh Powell? They were just their own little country. Josh isolates himself from the world. He's not talking to police. He's not talking to media. He's certainly not searching for his missing wife. I suddenly had this thought I should try and get Josh to confess.

Even Josh's sister, Jennifer Graves, doesn't believe him. So she goes to police and she volunteers to wear a wire and go inside her dad's house. They were just about to have dinner and we went in and the boys were so excited. excited to see us. My birthday. It is. It's your birthday, John. You're all right.

I didn't know exactly how to force this confrontation with Josh. There's been hearing rumors that you'll probably be arrested soon. Well, I don't know. Suddenly I just, I just shoved Josh into the bathroom. And at that point I was like, drop all pretense. Just tell me where her body is. We're trying to cover it up? Where is Susan?

Jennifer. did a phenomenal job. I just don't believe it anymore. I can see it in your eyes. There's something there. You're wrong. No. I think you just need to confess now and get it out of you.

Don't be ridiculous. I know what I've done, and I haven't done anything. You told me? I've probably told me every step. I'm not going to violate an attorney's direction. He still wouldn't budge. He still would not give me anything. I was so frustrated.

Eventually, Steve kicked Jennifer out of the residents calling her derogatory names. You are a . You're talking about your brother and my son that way. I regret not getting the confession, but I don't regret going. This is Good Morning America. And joining us now, Susan's mother and father, Judy. Susan's parents from the moment she was missing, they were very involved at the press.

When did you suspect your son-in-law? Your grandchildren, what they saw? But very quickly, the tone changed. We made a conscious decision. The politeness wasn't working. So we basically called him out. Josh is a desperate person. He has no valid explanation for where he was. Chuck Cox and the family, they're putting the purple ribbons. They've got the billboard outside the neighborhood. All these things, I'm sure, are driving him crazy. But for 18 months, he sits in isolation and doesn't talk to anybody about it. To try to get Josh to talk. We put together the honk and wave. What in the world is a honk and wave? Thank you. And he said, you're going to get these huge signs, and you stand on the

really busy corners and get people to honk and wave to show their support. Thank you. It can cause anxiety and disruption in your suspect's mind. People start to do things as the stress tends to build. They picked a busy street near a store that they knew Steve and Josh shot at. And Chuck and Judy, others were out there with signs and everything. And there were television cameras there. We're not going to stop looking for her no matter how long it takes.

They had these shirts with Susan's face. I think it said, have you seen me? And they had some big posters, and they were waving, and balloons and handing out flyers to cars as they went by. Steve pulled by, and the next thing I know, he's stomping over towards me. You can't do this. This is a store that I shop out.

The only places where they've passed out flyers about Susan, the only place where they've put up billboards, the only place where they've duct-taped flyers to light posts, flyers to light posts. How is you coming here helping to find Susan? It doesn't helping to find Susan. How is you standing at our neighborhood market helping to find Susan, Chuck? An extraordinary, personal, and very public confrontation that erupted in the middle of the search for Susan Powell.

Several family members were clashing in front of the cameras. They're all over the media. If somebody has seen her, then they can report to the police. And you're only going to do this. Which other stores are you doing this at Chuck? It was ugly. It was weird. really contentious. I was waiting for the cops to come and haul one of them away. Since you come out against my family.

And Josh showed up midway into this confrontation on the street corner, and he had the boys in the van with him. Chuck Cox uses my sons as pawns in the media to drive whatever message he is trying to drive. Are you doing okay? Yeah, that's all right. I get a call from Josh. We were telling Josh, okay, are you going to do this interview or not?

And he finally, he finally said yes. So I just wanted to talk to us real quick, and I just want to him. You still love her? Yeah. He seemed very distant when I spoke to him. He had a hollow look and a stare that I wondered, is he trying to intimidate me?

Josh. Did you kill your wife? Then there was Stephen wanting to be interviewed, and he ends up revealing the biggest bombshell. There were just sexual things going on between us. This is your daughter-in-law. We were watching this on TV, and our jaws just dropped. Big news, see the birdie?

Don't crawl in the dirt, boys. Hope everything works out, and we're all happy, and... And live happily ever after as much as that's possible. And I was like, where is she? You know, and he was like, I don't know. I instantly said to myself, what has he done? Do you have anything to say? Josh, will you give us a comment today?

You're a person of interest, Josh. Even his own sister didn't believe him anymore. I just shoved Josh into the bathroom. And at that point, I was like, drop all pretense. Just tell me where her body is. Susan had often referred to her father-in-law as creepy. But she, I don't think, had any idea how creepy the man truly was. I can love you in a secret way.

We can talk about Susan for campus. I always keep things as secrets. During that interview, it's very clear that Charlie has been coached. He looked more and more. like a psychopath. He was running out of places to hide. Slams the door in her face and locks him. This is a story you can't write in the Hollywood script.

No one would have thought in a million years. That's how the story would have ended. Susan Powell was a young, beautiful mother of two adorable children. She just one night vanished. Detectives have named Josh Powell a person of interest in the case. He did some local news, some ambush. style interviews where they would ask him something on the fly. You were camping with a boy?

I have to go get my boys. But he never really sat down and talked about what happened. I'll never forget the first time that I met him. I shook his hand and a chill just like raced up through my spine. I just shook the hand of a killer. Are we rolling? Why talk now? Oh man, I wanted to come out and say something.

People who know me know that I'm a good dad. I was a good husband. I provided for them. Susan also contributed. Nothing he told me during that interview convinced me that he was not part of what happened to her and why she disappeared. I know that you've told police that you were camping. You brought your two-year-old and your four-year-old camping.

Is that where you were? I'm not going to talk about anything that my attorney has specifically told me not to. Okay. Why not just answer where you were when she disappeared? His father was there, and his father really wanted to be interviewed, which was odd. And I had really no desire to interview Stephen Powell at that time, zero. And I just thought, this is such a waste of time. This is pointless.

You think she ran away with another man? It was another man. I don't think Josh was in the room. Josh was in the room for that part of the interview. And before you know it, he ends up revealing the biggest bombshell out of all of the interviews that I had done out of the whole case. What makes you think that she would leave, leave her kids, her two young sons, and run away with another man?

Susan was very, very sexual with me. She was very flirtatious. I mean, she was just, she did it. I did, I mean, we interacted in a lot of sexual ways because Susan enjoys doing that. But this is... I enjoy doing that. Why are you telling everyone that?

That's not to your benefit, but somehow in my dad's own twisted mind, he thought that that was the greatest strategy to keep the dogs off Josh or something. I don't know. One day we were at an animal park. I was holding Braden in my arms, and I had my hands like this. The part I remember is that Susan came over to take him from me,

and instead of just reaching out and grabbing him, she pressed her breasts against my hands, tightly. And she wouldn't let my hands out. And that's nice. It was a cold day, so it was a nice, warm feeling. Give me a break. But he loved to talk about it. Josh and Susan early in their marriage move in to Steve Powell's home. Susan had often referred to her father-in-law as creepy,

but she, I don't think, had any idea how creepy the man truly was. No, I'll do this. And during this period of time, Steve Powell is constantly filming Susan. filming Susan. This is a man who is collecting video for his own perverse gratification. Because Steve Powell is a voyer. He wrote a number of songs about Susan. Stephen Powell even recorded them and posted them on his website. I can love you in a secret way. I can love you each and every day.

He had a pseudonym he used Steve Chantre. While Josh and Susan were living with my dad, there was a point where she was alone in the car with my dad for a short time while Josh was in the house, and my dad actually hit on her. He has put his camera in the bag on the center console and left it recording. And so the audio of this conversation is captured. Last year I have, you're about the only thing we can think about. And just, for example, when we were sitting on the couch, it just felt like you were very, you know, I mean, I was extremely aroused,

and I think you were somewhat aroused, at least I thought. I don't know where you're going with this. That audio was an opportunity to hear Susan in her own voice, telling Steve in no uncertain terms she was not interested. Kind of meaning to talk to you about this. Because I realized the last time I came over and that my own father doesn't kiss me and you kiss me

and I didn't like that. She was extremely upset about that and disturbed, but even more disturbed when Josh just said that that's his dad. I mean, he was obsessed with Susan. He was absolutely obsessed, and he wanted to talk about it. To me, this was the headline, and it also put a target on Stevens back,

and maybe he had something to do with this. The focus was less on Josh, and it shifted straight to Josh's father, because it was so creepy. was so creepy. That was my big takeaway. Police raided the home of her husband and father-in-law, seizing several computers and sealed boxes after those disturbing allegations made by both of them

right here on GMA yesterday. My name is Percy Jackson. Getting in troubles like breathing for me. The hit series returns to Disney Plus and Hulu. The danger the camp is under is greater than you can possibly imagine. For the key to our survival, three of you must quest to the sea of monsters. Let's go do the impossible.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, new season to episode premiere December 10th on Disney Plus and Hulu. Ritted TV, PGV. Hey guys, it's Coach Glow from Dance Moms. Don't miss the new season of Dance Moms' A New Era, premiering December 8th on Hulu. This season, I'm starting a brand new studio. My daughter, Miss Kaley. He's going to be here full time. I like save the studio.

These moms are like hyenas. You're stupid. Look at you. These clothes have to show up the world that they're back and they're better than ever. Don't miss Dance Moms A New Era Season 2 on December 8. Streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply. Susan Powell disappeared from her home near Salt Lake City on December 6, 2000.

Since then, no word, nothing. The Powell's, they had this entire campaign of their own. And it was to make Susan look bad. It was to make her look like she was promiscuous, like she was looking to leave the marriage and abandon her children. Susan Cox kept a diary, a secret diary. Let's stay focused on the journals, okay? Because I think that's very interesting.

I believe that Susan had a liaison with... with somebody who disappeared the same week she did. She was very open sexually, and when I read her journals, it's clear that most of the male, the relationships she got into with males were ones that she initiated. Basically, Josh and Steven, on their own stupidity, were telling, hey, this is, you know, the Holy Girl. This is telling us where Susan is.

This is telling us how Susan acted. So that gave us the nexus. through the judicial system to get into the house. When Josh moved in with his father, shortly after his wife's disappearance, he took some things from his Utah home, including Susan's journals. Susan Powell's diaries have taken center stage. According to the search warrant left at the Powell's home, police came looking for seven very specific diaries, all written by Susan, diaries that her husband insist will help explain

her disappearance. They went through everything in the house, including all of Steve's you know, files, journals, computers. They also find Steve Powell's collection of Voyer videos. Steve Powell is doing things like sliding mirrors under the bathroom door, attempting to get images of Susan while she's undressed. I love putting her underwear against my face, just smelling her scent. Steve would narrate his videos to

as he's shooting video of her dirty underwear. Stephen Powell would save things of Susan that she'd throw away in a bathroom garbage. Things like cotton swabs, wax strips, tampons. He would mark each one of them, like for specific storage. In his walk-in closet, there was a filing cabinet that was locked. And once we got into that, that was kind of like the unwanted treasure that we found. Police say inside Powell's bedroom, they found thousands of images of mostly young girls, many naked, being videotaped without their knowledge.

Prosecutors say two former neighbors, sisters just seven and 12, were repeatedly videotaped while bathing. Police said Powell shot from his bedroom window into the neighbor's bathroom window using a telephoto lens. They've looked at Steve Powell's suspect in Susan's disappearance and ruled him out, but it's obviously of great concern to detectives as they're scouring through all the material they take out of Steve Powell's home when they see underage neighbor girls. undressed on Steve Powell's tapes.

Powell entered a plea of not guilty to 14 counts of voyeurism and one count of child pornography. Stephen Powell was eventually convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for possession of child pornography. Because of all the things that the police encountered in the search of the Stephen Powell home, it became apparent eventually. These boys were at imminent risk of harm. The best part that came out of the search warrant was Steve's house. was Child Family Services of Washington stepped in and shared with us that they would take custody of the children. The boys ages four and six were taken last night by the state,

and now Susan's father is fighting to keep them with him. They were going to be placed, relative placement with us, so we were the essentially foster parents. Josh didn't want them with us. My sons are safe with me. They're safe in my home. They're safe with my family. I think Josh's main fear probably was that once Charlie started talking to their grandparents,

the story would get out. They were saying things like, our mommy went with us on the trip, but didn't come back. We can only see our mom again if we go camping again. Braden drew the picture of a minivan with stick people inside and who's this, oh, that's me, who's that, that's Charlie, who's that, that's daddy and he said and he volunteered mommy's in the trunk we wanted to interview them so I wrote the search warrant for that Charlie has anybody talked to you about your mom no I don't know where she is and she got lost me somewhere during that interview it's very clear that Charlie has been coached

His answers are extremely evasive. We can talk about students for camping. I always keep things as secrets. The only thing we got out of that time was that at one point he said that she went camping, but she didn't come home with them. And then he kind of clammed up after that. I didn't want to talk to you on this lawn.

I made it on this one. on this many minutes, and now I'm done. While the Coxes were fighting for custody of the kids and had temporary custody of the boys, they were still essentially wards of the state. Washington State had control over these children, and the Coxes were glorified foster care. So the boys are living with Grandma and Grandpa,

and Josh is getting supervised visitation with the boys. The visitation is at first understood to be taking place at a secure third-party facility. But in short order, Josh takes steps to rent his own house, and he begins pushing the social workers asking them if they can move visitation to this new house that he's rented because it's not Steve Powell's house. It shouldn't have the same concerns. I think the boys were ones originally told me, hey, we got to go to Daddy's house or something.

And I went, oh, really? I was concerned about that. They were very excited. They were thrilled about the new house. And they were thrilled about the yard at the new house. I am in their best interest as their father that I should be raising them. Through December into early January, He was confident that his reunification motion was going to be granted.

Who has custody of your kids? Well, that was doomsday for Josh Powell. This is a story you can't write in a Hollywood script. No one would have thought in a million years that's how this story would have ended. Josh, is there anything you care to see on your way in? When Josh was fighting for custody of Charlie and Braden, it wasn't about being a father. It was about beating the coxes. The kids seemed like typical kids to a certain extent,

but they were undergoing a lot of stress. I think Josh went into that hearing on February 1st, thinking he was going to get his kids back. I was pretty positive that Josh was the one that Josh was the one that killed Susan. I wanted to keep those boys out of that home as long as possible. I was going to West Valley going, hey, guys, we need something. Pierce County authorities and investigators in Utah

shared the common goal of protecting the boys. So the West Valley police in Utah passed along previously unreleased evidence, recovered from the Pals' home. When I pushed West Valley and they sent us the disc with the cartoon, incestuous images. The West Valley City Police Department in Utah had found images on a computer taken out of the house in Sarah Circle way back in December of 2009

that were of great concern. They were characters from popular Nickelodeon shows engaged in sexual acts, acts of incest. The evidence was allegedly taken from Josh Powell's Utah home They raised very serious questions about Josh's ability to be a safe parent for the boys. He denies ever looking at any kiddie porn. He denies any knowledge about any of these images that had purportedly been taken off of his computers. Illegal images? No. I asked Mr. Long, he saw nothing on there that he believed would be in violation of a law.

Bad taste? I'll give you that from what he was describing to me. And that's when the judge ruled that the boys would stay with the coxas longer. The images are enough that Judge Catherine Nelson is ordering Josh Powell to now undergo a psychosexual evaluation. This is an exam where they measure aberrant arousal, so you can't lie. Because physically the arousal will show if you're into things that might be illegal. He had to take psychosexual evaluation, which is one thing that I know it wouldn't pass, but it included a polygraph. That means that Josh is going to have to do

what he's avoided doing from the very first days after Susan disappeared, which is take a lie detector test. He'd been able to get away with murder, so to speak, for a long time. But a polygraph, I think he was really afraid of. He didn't want to answer all these questions about Susan and how she went missing. He truly had gone down in flames

from being pretty sure that he was gonna get his kids back. Are you disappointed? I think the error was taken out of him. He looked bad. You just saw his welfare diminish. He looked more and more like a psychopath. He was running out of places to hide, and he ran out of options,

and it was tearing him down as a person. The custody hearing between Chuck and Josh essentially was put on pause. put on pause. That was on February 1st. We know then that Josh spent the next four days preparing. We know that he transferred some of his finances. He gathered up some of the boys, things and toys, took them to Salmation Army and Goodwill. He bought five gallon gas cans and went and filled them with gas. I said, look, I am afraid Josh is backed into a corner with the psychosexual and the polygraph.

He knows there's no way he's going to beat those. So the morning of Sunday, February 5th, Chuck had gone to church early. I knew they were going for their visit, and they were making it clear to my wife and myself. We don't want to see him today. No, we don't want to go. I picked up the boys, they were waiting with their grandmother, and I expected to return the boys in about four and a half hours. And things just go very wrong.

The Pierce County Sheriff believes what has happened is nothing short of pure evil. This is a story you can't write in the Hollywood script. No one would have thought in a million years. That's how the story would have ended. When you talk about a tragedy, this is it. The morning of Sunday, February 5th, Elizabeth Griffin Hall arrived at the rental house, parked out front, and as children do,

Charlie and Braden got out of their car seats. They rushed to the front door, which is what they always did. I was one or two steps in back of them. The kids just rushed in. I saw Josh for just one second. His eyes caught mine, and he had a look in his eyes. She looks him straight in the face. He slams the door in her face and locks it.

I knocked and I knocked and I rang the doorbell and I started yelling at it. Josh let me in and I heard him say, Charlie, I've got a big surprise for you. and immediately she smelled gasoline, and she knew it was an emergency situation. I'm on a supervised visitation for a court-ordered visit, and something really weird has happened. I think I need help right away. He looked right out me and closed the door. All right. We'll have somebody look for you there. Okay. How long will it be?

I don't know, ma'am. They have to respond to emergency, life-threatening situations first. The first available deputy... Well, this could be life-threatening. He went to court on one day. and he didn't get his kids back. And this is really, I'm afraid for their lives. Okay. Has he threatened the lives of the children previously? I have no idea.

All right. We'll have the person available I have the deputy contact you. February 5th, 2012, Super Bowl Sunday. I went to church. I came home. Super Bowl Sunday. I remember watching the Super Bowl that day and seeing the reports come in. Good afternoon, everyone.

I'm John Decepolo. We are interrupting your programming for some breaking news. And I got a call from my neighbor, and he said, change the channel. I was actually in Indianapolis. The Patriots were playing the Giants at the Super Bowl. Patriots lead the Giants 10-9 at halftime. And I was there with my family, and it was half-time, and Madonna was about to take center stage. As Madonna takes the stage to perform Vogue, Abby's in the stadium concourse, trying to absorb more of the text she just received. I get a text

pops up on my phone. There has been a fatal explosion at the home of Josh Powell. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. I thought I'm going to get help from the neighbors. They'll be able to help me get the boys out. So I went screaming to the neighbors and said, there's two children in there. There's two children in there.

I said, oh my God, and I thought, like, natural gas or something, and they said they found three bodies. There's a fire, the house exploded, and we're hearing that Josh and Charlie and Braden were inside. This can't be, this can't be. And I thought, no, I can't be real. I would have heard something. And I called Susan's father. I said, Chuck, is it true? Chuck, Chuck.

Is it true? Is it true? And he said, yes. And I didn't even say goodbye. I just hung up the phone and started crying. And I was looking at a house with steam still coming out of it and fires, and he went and talked to his sergeant or whatever. He said, yeah, they're there, and they're dead.

Honestly, I wasn't surprised. And the actions that he made after she went missing, went missing. I never underestimated him. And then to find out the details, it just breaks your heart. The Pierce County Medical Examiner says both boys had chopping wounds on their heads and necks. But that's not what killed them. The cause of death for all three was carbon monoxide poisoning. I believe he bought two, five gallons worth of gas, and one was used in the room where the boys were killed where we found the hatchet, the boys in one of the gas cans. And then after he had incapacitated them. He arranged them on the floor next to each other and poured gasoline on

and around them and around the house. And then he sat on a gas can and lit a match. And they were still alive when the fire started and they died of smoke inhalation. And there was also gasoline in their lungs. Police say there's clear evidence. Josh planned out this house explosion and meant to kill himself and his children. The morning of the fifth, he sent a couple of text messages and voicemails to people, essentially saying goodbye. His sister Elena found one when it was too late to intervene after the explosion. What did he say?

I think he said, hello, this is Josh. Hi, you have you been? No. able to look out my sons, and I'm not able to go on anymore. I'm sorry, to everyone I've hurt. Goodbye. When you heard the audio recording, what did you think? What did you make of that?

I thought he had lost all hope. To find out that, you know, he used the axe first, and to find out that he said to them, you know, I have a surprise for you. Any little bit of doubt that anyone could have possibly had that Josh killed Susan, had to have gone out the window, the fact that he could have done that to his kids. This wasn't tragic. This was deeply wrong. This was evil. You do not kill little kids. Police are convinced the explosion and fire that destroyed Josh Powell's home is a murder suicide.

I don't know anything else I could have done. And they're still dead. My daughter's still missing, and now the children are dead. I had them safe. They were in my care. They were gone. I was frustrated with the Child Protective Service Agency. Why would they put this single woman in charge of these boys and send her into the lion's den?

They had the right to grow up. The Cox family is determined to hold the state accountable and make them pay for the deaths of their grandchildren. That out of the tape, right? Hey, Braden. Still. That's the saddest partners. You look at photos of Josh and Susan, Charlie and Brayden.

You think about what could have been. Those boys deserve to grow up, and then they never got the chance. We've been robbed of three precious lives, and it's just unthinkable that the same person did it. Amazing breath, how sweet the sound. Why take the kids? Why? It makes absolutely no sense.

My worst nightmare had just happened. But I went from praying that somehow Susan Susan was alive to praying now that she was dead so that she could greet her boys in heaven. Outside the fenced-off crime scene, strangers visit the memorial that has risen. Flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals offered in memory of Charlie and Brayden Powell. Why would he go through so much to get custody of the boys only to murder them? Come here, Charlie. Charlie.

Hey, buddy. Well, one of the possibilities is he destroyed the evidence. Those boys were starting to talk. And by destroying the evidence, basically he committed murder on his two boys. It shows how much of a monster he really was. And it shows how many people dropped the ball in this case. I was frustrated with the Child Protective Service Agency. Why would they put this single woman in charge

of these boys and send her into the lion's den. It made no sense to me. I wanted to get the kids, no matter what, I wanted to get the kids. If I could have gotten through the door, I would have. She did what she could. She did everything right. There's no blame on her at all. Anybody puts any blame on her.

It's misdirected. The Coxes have filed a lawsuit against the state of Washington on behalf of Braden and Charlie. It's a wrongful death law. and their position is that the state of Washington put Josh's parental rights before the welfare of these boys. The Cox family lawsuit didn't include Elizabeth Griffin Hall or any other individuals as defendants.

The fact is she was not the one that made the decision for this to be in the home. So to a certain extent, she's lucky, she's alive and she's, I think, a victim in a lot of ways too. They filed this lawsuit $35 million. $5 million for Braden, $50 million for Charlie. $5 million for each minute that these boys suffered at the hands of their father before they were ultimately

blown up in Josh's rental house. Please be seated. Good morning, everybody. You have a civil case against the state that started in February was disrupted, because of COVID-19. Please now give your attention to Mr. Buck as he presents the plaintiff's final argument.

It is out of the state's failed to live up to their own primary directive of assuring the safety of the children that this tragedy was born. What was the place that had the least protection, Josh Powell's home? What about the level of risk? Then the state learned of the boy's statements. It learned of this incest images. It learned that he was going to have to undergo a psychosexual evaluation of polygraph. If the state had followed its policies, its guidelines, common sense, investigated,

had visitations where it was supposed to have them, none of this would have happened. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, This will be the only and final time that you hear from the state in this matter. The state took this very serious. They did their job. They followed their policies. Yes, the fact that Susan Powell was missing, was known.

But after more than two years after her disappearance, still no arrest, no charges against Josh Powell. It actually takes facts and proof to remove a child from their parents. to keep them out of the home. The guides on visitation shows the number one preferred location is at a parent's home. That's why transition to a home occurs.

The goal in these type of cases is always family reunification. I'm going to submit to you that Mr. Powell is the sole cause of the murder of his sons. It was not due to any negligence by the state of Washington. It was Mr. Powell who did this.

The truth of the fact of the matter is, they're the only ones who could have protected the children that point. They're the ones of the responsibility. Has the jury reached the verdict, ma'am? All please rise? Please be seated. The court is reconvened.

Has the jury reached the verdict, ma'am? It pleases the court we have. Was the state of Washington negligent? of Washington negligent answer yes what do you find plaintiff Charles Powell's total amount of damages 57 million five hundred thousand dollars Braden Powell's total amount of damages 57 million five hundred thousand dollars for eight years the Cox family has been trying to find justice and it took us a long time and we took a long hiatus with the pandemic today just

Justice has been needed out. What I intend to do is use the award to try and help other people in that so that we can save more children. Jury members told ABC News they didn't believe any one individual at Child Protective Services was responsible for what happened. They believe a systematic failure for the tragedy. It just came down to this. You cannot have reunification, you know, as your goal. at the expense of child safety. And, you know, lawsuits change things.

Brown versus Board of Education, Roe v. Wade. I mean, that's how things change. So 2020 reached out to several agencies in both states, and they declined to comment or refer to us to other departments. In the end, we were unable to get an answer to our questions. Could the actions of these agencies, or their inactions, have contributed to the murders of Braden and Charlie Powell? It should have never got to the point where you had Josh getting his kids into that house and blowing it up.

Josh's actions are definitely an admission of guilt. She's going to divorce him. If he can't have her, nobody will. So he kidnaps Susan and most likely murders her and disposes of her body. Where, nobody knows. I know there are 10,000 abandoned mines in Utah. That's a lot of places where you can dump a body. We do begin tonight with the search happening hundreds of feet down, deep inside of a mine in Utah's West Desert.

The search for Susan Powell's body continues. Emily, what happened to Susan Powell is still unknown and her family never got closure. But now a crew is searching a mine shaft in the West Desert. Dave and I, since we were kids, we've been out exploring this sort of stuff since a long time. But every once in a while, we get a really cool opportunity to, you know, get involved in the missing person case, like this one with Susan Pau. I was very fascinated with the idea of maybe helping find Susan. I've kind of just been following along ever since. And then we got a tip that there's a chance she's out here.

The majority of our search, rescue, and recovery operations are all pro bono. We are not part of law enforcement. As a private entity and a volunteer search group, we can kind of just move faster. Early on the excavation, roughly at about the 75 foot level, did just find a bone, looks like a rib. We were more motivated to keep getting down in there, removing more and more material.

The likelihood is pretty low that we're going to find something, but on the other hand, she's still out there somewhere. And Chuck kind of came over to me quietly, and he's like, hey, I know how to operate a radio. Do you need help down there? And I said, Chuck, do you really want to go down in this hole? And he said, absolutely. He went from a father who was looking for the body of his daughter

to part of the search team. We're still at the point where it's like, are the bones animal or they're human? So we're excited to get the DNA tests back. It's a blessing, and I'm just so thankful that they're doing it. And I'm just grateful that people are still looking for Susan. The testing shows the recovered bones were animal and not human. Sadly, for all those who love Susan, the search continues. My heart absolutely breaks for Chuck and Judy Cox.

Think about what this couple has gone through. They lost their daughter. Both of their grandbabies were horrifically butchered. And the only three people that could shed any light on this are dead. Her story will continue to live on and inspire others to move in the right direction, to move towards good relationships and get out of bad situations, abusive situations. The Washington Court of Appeals reversed an earlier decision and reinstated the Cox Civil Award of $98 million. million dollars. And Chuck Cox actually tells us that that money won will now help domestic violence survivors. That is our program for tonight. Thanks for watching. I'm David

Muir. And I'm Deborah Roberts. From all of us here at 2020 and ABC News, good night.