Susan Powell: The Letter She Left Behind
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What led to Susan Powell's disappearance?
When someone goes missing, the headlines focus on what happened, but the truth often lives in the smallest details. I'm Sarah Turney. After my sister disappeared, I learned how those final hours, the last conversations, the last decisions can haunt families forever. And I'm Courtney Nicole. After seeing crime impact my own family, I've learned how overlooked moments, missed red flags, and unanswered questions can change everything. Together, we're bringing those lived experiences into the work. This is The Final Hours, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios, a podcast that puts the moments before a disappearance under a microscope. Listen to and follow The Final Hours wherever you get your podcasts.
New episodes every Monday.
This is Crime House. A mother of two disappears. Her husband has no idea where she could be. Her son says she went camping with them, but stayed behind. When detectives open her secret safe deposit box, they realize she knew she was going to die. But it was too late to save herself. Today, we're getting to the case of Susan Powell.
Hi guys, welcome back to Clues, where we sneak past the crime scene tape to explore the key evidence behind some of the most gripping true crime cases. Once again, I'm Kaylin Moore. I'm going to be the one digging deeper into the timelines, the backstories, and the court files released on these cases. And I'm your internet sleuth, Morgan Absher. I'm diving into everything I can find on Reddit and all across the internet to see those lesser known details and pull out the threads that just don't add up. Don't forget to share your thoughts on social. Want ad-free listening and early access? You can subscribe to CrimeHouse Plus on Apple Podcasts. Let's get into this case and the clues that defined it. This case came upon our radar when a listener actually put it in the comments.
Yeah. They wanted us to highlight it as the missing person case of the week. And we started digging a little deeper into it and we were blown away. Yeah, it's a case that I had heard about for a long time.
What were the initial reactions of Susan's family and friends?
I mean, it was like all over the news when it was happening. But the more you dive into it, there's so many threads and rabbit holes you can go down. It just keeps getting weirder and weirder and more upsetting. So we're going to lead you through the whole thing today. Yeah, I literally just got the chills as you said that. I'm like, my legs. I'm like, I might as well not shave my legs yesterday because I just got goosebumps. It is a really bizarre and gripping case. And it's just it is a bit tragic as well. Yes absolutely absolutely. Here we go. As a reminder if you're watching on YouTube you're going to see some images that will help you put pieces of the case together and if you're listening you can follow us on our social media which everyone should just do anyways that's at clues podcast on Instagram.
Definitely. Definitely going to want to check out socials and everything for this one. There's a lot of interview clips and things we're going to be posting, so you don't want to miss those. And just a warning before we begin, this episode does contain some graphic descriptions of murder, stalking, domestic violence, child abuse, child death. There are also some brief non-graphic mentions of child sexual abuse material. So again, this is a bit of a heavy one. Please listen with care. Listen with care, guys. Okay. This case begins on Monday, December 7th, 2009. A child care provider named Deborah Caldwell is starting to grow increasingly concerned. And that's because four-year-old Charlie Powell and his two-year-old brother Braden didn't show up for daycare at 6 a.m.
like they normally do. Deborah tries calling both of their parents, 33-year-old Josh and 28-year-old Susan Powell, but neither of them answer their cell phone or their landline. And not only that, but their cell phones are going straight to voicemail. So by 9 a.m., Debra's pretty worried at this point, and she thinks, I'll just go check in on this family. Now, the Powells only lived a half mile away, but it's really snowy and it's icy in West Valley, Utah, this time of year.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What led to Susan Powell's disappearance?
0:01–2:28
2
What were the initial reactions of Susan's family and friends?
2:28–4:23
3
What evidence was found in Susan's home after her disappearance?
4:23–6:26
4
How did Josh Powell's alibi change over time?
6:26–8:18
5
What role did Susan's safety deposit box play in the investigation?
8:18–10:26
6
What were the implications of the findings in Stephen Powell's home?
10:26–13:12
7
How did the investigation evolve over the years following Susan's disappearance?
13:12–15:27
8
What was the outcome of the investigation into Susan's case?
15:27–1:24:18