Possible Break in the Case of Missing Utah Mom Susan Powell
Aug. 18, 2011 — -- A new lead in the nearly two-year-old case of missing Utah mom Susan Powell has investigators scrambling to Nevada, where they say they have a fresh lead that might help solve the mysterious missing person's case.
"We have received some information, a tip, that we're going to be following up on, and it's information regarding Susan Powell," said Utah's West Valley City Police Sgt. Michael Powell, who is not related to the missing woman.
"We will be in Ely, Nev., tomorrow with a team of detectives," he said.
Sgt. Powell declined to say whether they believe the missing mother might be dead or alive, or comment on the nature of the tip.
Probe Into Susan Powell Disappearance Heads to Ely, Nev.
The Nevada town where investigators will soon be searching is nearly 250 miles southwest of where Susan Powell, then 28, was last seen on Dec. 6, 2009, at the West Valley City, Utah, home she shared with her husband Josh Powell and their two young sons, who were 2 and 4 at the time.
She was reported missing the next day.
Josh Powell, 34, is the only named person of interest in the case and has maintained that his wife left on her own. He has told authorities that he had been camping -- in the middle of a blizzard -- with the couple's sons the night his wife vanished.
In a November 2010 interview with the Salt Lake City Tribune, Josh Powell described his wife as being "extremely unstable" and said he feels her mental illness led to her disappearance.
Josh Powell has taken his kids to live with his father, Steven Powell, in Washington state since the disappearance.
A message left for Josh Powell's attorney, prominent criminal defense lawyer Scott Williams, was not immediately returned.
Steven Powell also spoke to the Tribune, saying that the curious wet spot found by police on the carpet in his son and daughter-in-laws home after her disappearance was from a clean-up that Susan Powell had done on a red stain that he said was "probably juice or something."
In an e-mail to ABC News last year, Steven Powell also attributed Susan Powell's disappearance to mental illness.
