missing-mom case takes strange new turns - msnbc.com

DELTA, Utah — The search in the Utah desert for missing mother Susan Powell has taken a couple of twists, with authorities saying that earlier reports of human remains having been found were incorrect.

At the same time, NBC News reported that Powell's father-in-law, Steve, told investigators several weeks ago that Susan was promiscuous and may have run off with another man, NBC's Miguel Almaguer reported (on this page) .

He also said she flirted with him and implied they had been involved sexually.

"I wasn't going to turn down an opportunity with this beautiful woman even though she was my son's wife," Steve said. "I'm sorry. She is just a wonderful person and I enjoyed it."

After those comments, investigators seized Susan's journal from her father-in-law's home, along with several other boxes of evidence.

Meanwhile, the search for remains was expected to resume Friday at a site that had been pointed to by cadaver dogs, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Late Thursday, authorities said as they shut down excavating for the day at 6 p.m. MT (8 p.m. ET) that no bones or clothing had been found.

Police did not say why they earlier stated that they had found human remains when they had not seen any.

"Right now, we haven't found anything except for these scents that these dogs are picking up," said West Valley City Police Lt. Bill Merritt. "We have not come across bones."

Because the site is on government land, a federal anthropologist was brought in to examine the site Thursday and see if it was part of an ancient burial ground.

Merritt spoke Thursday afternoon after anthropologist Joelle McCarthy examined the site, found a day earlier by authorities searching for clues in Powell's disappearance. McCarthy told authorities human-caused disturbance at the site appears to be "fairly recent."

Investigators were sifting through what was described as a shallow grave.

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Merritt said chances are "50-50" that the grave belonged to the missing mother.

"We're not looking at some ancient burial ground," said Merritt said at a Thursday afternoon news conference. "This is not going to be some cowboy from the West."

'Human decomposition'
The discovery "fits in with what we've been looking for," Merritt said. However, he cautioned that authorities may not have any answers until the remains are taken back to a lab.

"They have found what looks like a grave where the dirt has been shoveled and moved around a little bit," said West Valley City Police Chief Thayne "Buzz" Nielsen.

Merritt said two cadaver dogs that were not on the site when two others first came across the remains on the rugged, scrub-spotted Bureau of Land Management property near Topaz Mountain in Juab County, were taken to the area Thursday afternoon. Those dogs also confirmed the remains are human.

As of 5 p.m. MT, searchers and dogs had dug into the gravesite about 1 foot deep and 3 feet wide, NBC station KSL reported. Merritt said dogs continued to give a "strong indication" that remains are present.

"The dogs are smelling something," he said. "It's human decomposition."

Merritt said the dogs are able to alert to remains buried up to 12 feet deep.

Earlier Thursday, Merritt said if McCarthy determined the site to be modern, the state medical examiner would be called to the scene to try to identify the remains.

After McCarthy's determination, Merritt said, officials were getting closer to the point of calling the medical examiner.

'Maybe alive'
"We would love this to be a break," Merritt said earlier Thursday. "We hope, to a certain extent, that it is not Susan because that would mean that she is maybe alive somewhere."

Meanwhile, Susan Powell's father, Chuck Cox, traveled from his Washington state home to Salt Lake City on Thursday afternoon and officers planned to bring him to the search site Friday, the Tribune said.

Investigators spent the night at the scene to protect any possible finds. They would not elaborate on what evidence was found at the scene.

Powell was 28 when she was reported missing Dec. 7, 2009, after she failed to show up for her stockbroking job. The case has cast a harsh spotlight on Powell's husband, Josh, the only person of interest declared by authorities. Josh has not been arrested or charged.

Josh Powell told authorities that at 12:30 a.m. that morning, he took the couple's two young sons — then 4 and 2 — camping in single-digit temperatures in a remote part of Tooele County. He said that when he returned a day and a half later, his wife was gone.

The search area about 130 miles southwest of Provo in Utah's central high desert is surrounded by grasses and sagebrush and punctuated by jagged mountains rising from the flat landscape. At the time of year Susan Powell vanished, it would have been covered in snow, the ground frozen.

Merritt said the site would have been hard to reach in December but not impossible. Josh Powell was driving a minivan that night.

"Impossible? I can't say that," Merritt said. "Difficult? It probably would be."

Father-in-law: Susan was promiscuous
Josh Powell released a statement on Thursday asking police to share more information, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

"With very little information available to the public, we can only hope that additional information is released quickly to minimize heartache to those of us who love Susan. In the meantime, we continue to hope for Susan's safe return," the statement reads.

Last month, investigators searched mine shaft-dotted mountains near Ely, Nev., and later served a search warrant at the Puyallup, Wash., home that Josh Powell shares with his father,  seizing computers and journals.

Praying and waiting
Meanwhile on Thursday, friends and family waited and prayed.

Kiirsi Hellewell, a close friend of Susan Powell, said the reported discovery of remains brought a sense of hope that the case might finally move forward but also sadness that she might really be dead.

"It's always a mixture of emotions because we've been down this road before with the discovery of bodies and remains," Hellewell said. "It's like a seesaw because we also don't want to find out that she's dead."

In May, speculation swirled that remains found in the desert about 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City might have been those of Susan Powell, but authorities later said it was a young adult male.

This latest search is in an area popular for gem and rock hunters. Police have said Josh Powell liked to rock hunt in the area.

"From the very beginning he clearly indicated he had been in and around the area," said West Valley City Police Sgt. Mike Powell, who is not related to the family of the missing woman.

Susan Powell's father, Chuck Cox, expressed doubt that the remains belonged to his daughter because of how difficult it would have been to access the area in winter.

"We're just waiting," he said Wednesday evening.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.