Husband Named Person of Interest in Susan Powell Disappearance

Dec. 16, 2009 — -- The husband of a missing Utah mom has become "a person of interest" in her disappearance, police told ABC News today.

West Valley City Police Capt. Tom McLachlan said investigators were looking at Joshua Powell in connection with the disappearance of 28-year-old Susan Powell more than a week ago.

Joshua Powell agreed to a police interview early in the investigation, but he became more uncooperative as the search wore on. He failed to show up for a scheduled interview with investigators on Monday, and on Tuesday answered only a handful of detectives' questions, McLachlan said.

The captain said that Powell's attorney, Scott C. Williams, has made statements that lead the public to think he's served up his client to police "on a silver platter," but McLachlan said Powell would only answer a few of the investigators' questions.

Powell, he said, "is not fully cooperating, and while he's cooperating at some level it is certainly not the level we would like."

Police obtained a court order to force a DNA sample of Powell Tuesday. McLachlan told ABC News that they secured the court order for Powell's DNA to guarantee they would get it.

DNA samples also have been collected from others, but McLachlan would not elaborate on who they had tested.

Police have been back to the Simpson Springs Campground where Powell told investigators he had taken his young sons on a camping trip in the early morning hours of Dec. 6, they told ABC News, but they could not find any evidence that verified his story.

ABC News has learned that fewer than 20 people visit the remote campground each winter. The temperature the night Powell allegedly took the couple's sons, ages 4 and 2, to the campground was between 10 and 25 degrees, with rain and snow. Powell told police they set out for the trip around 12:30 a.m.

Investigators have been at the Powell home every day since Susan Powell was reported missing Dec. 7, neighbors said. Forensic tests were run in portions of the house, but were not expected back for weeks.

Susan Powell's father, Charles Cox, indicated to "Good Morning America" Monday that his faith in his son-in-law was wavering.

"I asked him if he had any idea where his wife, my daughter Susan, would be. And he said he didn't. He was sincere sounding when he said that. I believed that," Cox told "GMA."

When asked if he still believed his son-in-law, Cox replied, "I don't know what to think anymore."

Cox said that now he has no choice but to leave the investigation up to police.

"I understand the concerns I'm hearing from everyone, and I can see their point," he said. "I just don't want us to focus on him exclusively or that story exclusively when there might be another explanation."