The horrific ending to the disappearance of Susan Powell and the suicide of Josh Powell following the murder of the couple’s two boys, Braden and Charles, seems in hindsight to be one of those things you could see coming a mile away.

To say suspicion that Josh Powell- who claimed he’d gone camping alone in the wilderness during a blizzard with his two toddler boys when wife Susan disappeared- in the murder of his spouse has intensified since Powell and the boys succumbed to a blaze in his home on Sunday is an understatement. Indeed, while it’s not too upsetting that a probable-killer died in the blaze, the heartbreaking fact that his two boys- who had suffered intensely from the loss of their mother- died just as painfully has he did is perhaps the most upsetting part of the whole long, sad story.

Family members report that prior to the murder-suicide, which occurred during a supervised visit with social services, Powell had begun offloading the boys’ possessions to Goodwill. And twenty minutes before the explosion, Powell left a suicide note of sorts on a family member’s voicemail, saying:

“I am not able to live without my sons, and I’m not able to go on anymore. I’m sorry to everyone I’ve hurt. Goodbye.”

It seems that despite the evidence condemning Powell, particularly in the deaths of his boys, his family blames others for his horrifying actions. Alina Powell, Josh’s sister, released a statement following the deaths Sunday. Powell said:

“Josh and his boys spent more than two years being crushed alive by hate, harassment, and abuse. None of us could have anticipated the devastating tragedy that took place Sunday, but what this unimaginable loss shows is that hate will never end well. Hate kills.”

Powell’s father Steven Powell has now been named a person of interest in the disappearance of Susan Powell, and the elder Powell is on suicide watch.

Josh Powell Leaves Final Voicemail Before Murder Suicide is a post from: The Inquisitr

The story of missing woman Susan Powell and husband Josh Powell has come to an extremely tragic end, as now all four members of the Powell family have died or are presumed dead.

Josh Powell has long been suspected in the disappearance and assumed murder of his wife Susan, 28, who has been missing since a strange camping trip taken by Josh with the two young boys during a blizzard in December 2009. Powell has long insisted his wife ran off with another man, but a lawyer for Susan Powell’s family said that it is only recently the boys- then toddlers- had begun to piece together what happened on the night Susan Powell disappeared. The lawyer recalls the boys’ account of the trip:

“They had gone camping. Their mother had been in the trunk and later, their mom and dad walked out into the desert and mommy got lost.”

The tragedy occurred yesterday during a hand-off with a social worker at Josh Powell’s home. Powell had been locked in a custody battle with the Cox family, Susan’s parents, and a social worker visited the Powell home for a supervised visit. It was then Powell sent a chilling email to his lawyer, and police believe, killed himself and his children. CBS explains:

About ten minutes before the fire started, Powell reportedly sent his attorney an email that read, “I’m sorry. Goodbye.” Then, just minutes after his children were dropped off by a social worker for a supervised visit, the explosion occurred.

“He grabbed the kids,” said [Police spokesman Ed Troyer], “locked her out of the house, and immediately, the house went up in flames. … We believe that the house fire went up so fast that accelerants were used.”

The bodies of Josh Powell, five-year-old Braden and seven-year-old Charles were found inside the home after the explosion.

Josh Powell, Husband of Missing Woman Susan Powell, and Two Sons Dead in Blaze is a post from: The Inquisitr

People often criticize the media for what they perceive to be an obsession with bad news; That sort of “if it bleeds it leads” credo that keeps many viewers away from their 6′oclock’s because “it’s just going to make me angry.” We’ve all heard it. So here’s a piece of good and uplifting news for you:

This past Saturday while we were all getting fabulous for our New Years Eve shenanigans, former police officer Chris Willden came upon an accident along the U.S. 89 in Logan Canyon, Utah where a Honda Accord had slid off the road and plummeted into an icy river turned upside-down – with three kids inside.

Heroes don’t hesitate, and Willden didn’t miss a beat when he realized that there were kids trapped inside the car. He pulled his gun, leaped into the water, pressed up against the windows, and shot them out. He reached inside and cut one child free from a seat-belt with a pocket knife. He was aided by his own father.

Rescue workers then arrived, and along with several Good Samaritans that happened upon the scene, turned over the car to free the other two children. Though they were at the time lifeless, river-side resuscitation was successful, and Willden heard the clapping as he bandaged his own bleeding arms nearby.

So how does a man get into the proper frame of mind for such a heroic feat? According to Willden, he told himself, “You’re going to see some dead kids, get ready”. Prepared though he was, he was thankfully wrong as all four occupants of the vehicle survived the ordeal.

The driver was Roger Andersen, 46, of Logan, and two of the trapped children were his own: Mia, 9, and Baylor, 4. The other child, 9-year-old Kenya Wildman, is a family friend. They were all on their way to Beaver Mountain for a day of skiing when Andersen lost control of the car on the slippery highway.

Both Mia and Baylor were flown to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City, spending the night in intensive care. They were taken out of IC Sunday, and were listed as being in fair condition, merely recovering from hypothermia. Roger Andersen and Kenya Wildman were uninjured.

Oh, and our hero’s last words before riding into the sunset?

“It’s in our family to go out and help others.”

What a guy.

What do you think of Willden’s heroic tale?

Former Cop Shoots Out Windows Of Car To Save Drowning Kids is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sandy, Utah- A Utah woman has been rescued from a harrowing hostage situation after police say friends were alerted to the situation following a Facebook status update.

The woman, who has not been named, posted to the social network that she and her baby son, also unnamed, would be “dead by Christmas.” The two were held for five days, and the captive woman managed to sneak a laptop- evading the notice of her assailant- into a closet to post her plea for help to the site.

When police arrived on the scene, they found the woman along with suspect Troy Critchfield, 33, and their toddler son. The woman is also reportedly the mother of a disabled Iraqi war veteran, but it is unclear whether he was present at the Sandy residence. The victim appeared visibly battered, with bruises of varying age on her face. Police say that each time she attempted to flee with her son, Critchfield would choke and assault her, preventing her from leaving the home.

Sandy Police Department Sgt. Jon Arnold says:

“You could see the dating of the brusing, multiple colors of bruising.”

Alarmingly, Critchfield was involved in a similar hostage situation just last year, and required a SWAT team to extract him from the home. That incident occurred just thirteen months ago, and Critchfield served only 120 days in jail before he was freed.

The victim is now recovering at home, and Critchfield has been charged with numerous offenses, including sodomy, sexual assault and child abuse. He is still on probation for the incident last November.

Facebook Status Update Saves Utah Woman’s Life During Hostage Situation is a post from: The Inquisitr

Utah driver David Dopp won a $380,000 Lamborghini Murcielago on Saturday and then managed to crash the sports machine just six hours later.

Speaking about the accident Dopp told KSL.com:

“Yeah, I got it on Saturday and I wrecked it on Saturday.”

The car was part of the ”Joe Schmo to Lambo” contest that was put together by local convenience store chain Maverik and teh nonprofit organization teamgive.

Dopp actually found out about his victory last month during a BYU football game and then had to wait for his change to drive the car.

After receiving the keys to his sweet new ride he began giving rides to family members and friends at which point the accident occured.

Recalling the series of events that led to the collision David said:

“We were coming up a hill, going around a corner; and as soon as we came up the hill, we either hit some black ice or loose gravel or something, and all of a sudden we just started spinning.” Dopp adds, “We ended up in a field, and I back-ended a couple of fence posts.”

Thankfully David Dopp has car insurance on the vehicle which will pay for the damages.

In the meantime he also won $5,000 worth of driving lessons for his new car, lessons he might want to seriously consider accepting at this time.

Would you have taken the $5,000 driving lessons before stepping behind the wheels of a sports vehicle that cost more than the price of a home for many people?

[Image via BartlomiejMagierowski / Shutterstock.com]

Man Wins Lamborghini Murcielago Then Crashes It Six Hours Later is a post from: The Inquisitr

Your dog is supposed to be your best friend. Well, until your dog shoots you with a gun.

A 46-year-old dog owner from Brigham City, Utah was shot from behind by his “loyal canine” during a duck hunting.

The best friends were traveling in a boat when the man stepped out to a shallow marsh to set up decoys for the targets. His 12-gauge shotgun was left resting across the bow of the boat.

County Sheriff Deputy Kevin Potter reported that:

“The dog did something to make the gun discharge. I don’t know if the safety device was on. It’s not impossible the dog could have taken it off safety.”

The report added that the dog must have jumped on the boat’s bow and hit the gun, resulting to the accidental firing. About 27 pellets of birdshot hit the man’s buttocks. The man was able to call 9-1-1 after the incident.
The hunter was transported to Brigham City Community Hospital where doctors removed the bird shot. He was eventually released to recover.

There is no word if the man and dog are still best friends.

Dog Shoots Best Friend is a post from: The Inquisitr

The family behind the reality show Sister Wives has a new baby, as Kody Brown and fourth wife Robyn (and first second and third wives Meri, Janelle and Christine) welcome the family’s 17th child.

Unlike the Duggars, the Browns have several women taking on the responsibility of populating the family. Robyn has sister wives Meri, Janelle and Christine, all of whom have their own children as well. Kody married Meri first, and the pair have been wed for 20 years- Meri is Kody’s first and only legal wife. Janelle and Kody have been together for for 17 years. Christine is Kody’s third wife, and has been part of the family for 16 years.

The new ‘Sister Wives baby,’ a boy named Solomon, was born Wednesday at 2:02 AM in the family’s Las Vegas home. Solomon weighed 9 lbs, 10.5 oz, and was 22 inches long. The baby joins a large brood of siblings in the growing Brown family.

Kody and Meri have one child together, a 15-year-old daughter, Mariah. Kody and Janelle have six children together Madison, 15, and Savanah, 6, both girls; and Logan 16, Hunter, 14, Garrison, 12, and Gabriel, 9, all boys. Kody and Christine also have six children- girls Aspyn, 15, Mykelti, 14, Gwendlyn, 9, Ysabel, 7, and Truely, 1, and son Paedon, 12. Robyn brings three children from her first, monogamous marriage to Brown clan- Dayton, 12, Aurora, 9, and Breanna, 7.

Proud dad Kody has gushed about the new addition to press, telling reporters Soloman is “perfect and [the Browns] couldn’t be happier.” The news was probably especially welcome to the family, who faced some stress when Kody was investigated for felony bigamy. He faced five years in prison if convicted and the family moved from Utah to Nevada to escape the probe.

Sister Wives Baby: Polygamist Clan Welcomes 17th Child is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Utah woman pleaded guilty to two sexual exploitation charges for trying to sell her 13-year old daughter’s virginity and asking the girl to model in her underwear for men. She now faces up to 30 years in prison.

In April, the 33-year-old mother offered her daughter’s virginity to a man in exchange for $10,000. The daughter agreed and even modeled twice for the man but eventually changed her mind.

The mother also faced two first-degree felony counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child and could have been sent to prison for life. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors drop these charges.

The mother’s boyfriend found text messages on her cellphone about the ongoing plan of selling the girl’s virginity. He eventually turned them over  to the police.

The potential buyer, of virginity, has not been charged. News reports did not name the woman to avoid identifying the minor.

Is 30 years enough for someone who is supposed to be the mother and should be protecting her daughter and not selling her virginity?

Utah Mom Pleads Guilty to Attempt to Sell Daughter’s Virginity is a post from: The Inquisitr

Nearly two years after she vanished, a search for missing mom Susan Powell has uncovered human remains of unknown origin in the Utah Desert.

37-year-old Susan Powell was last seen in 2009, reported missing on December 27th of that year after she failed to show up for her job as a stockbroker. The last confirmed sighting of Powell occurred on the 26th, when she was spotted by family and friends both at church and dinner.

Powell’s husband, Josh Powell, has remained a person of interest in the disappearance but was never charged in relation to the case. His behavior at the time his wife vanished- Powell brought the couple’s two toddler sons on a mid-winter camping trip near the Pony Express trail, claiming he left the home with his sons at 12:30 AM. The boys were four and two at the time, and the elder boy confirmed that the trip occurred. Josh Powell’s family believed that his wife fled with another man and was not convinced that the odd behavior on his part indicated any involvement in Susan Powell’s disappearance.

Since Susan Powell vanished, the families of the missing woman and her husband have sparred publicly. Josh Powell’s family allege that Susan was unstable, suicidal and promiscuous, while Susan’s family has angrily refuted the accusations. Weirdly, Susan’s father-in-law even insinuated he’d engaged in inappropriate relations with his son’s wife, claiming in a Good Morning America interview last spring:

“Susan was very sexual with me… We interacted in a lot of sexual ways because Susan enjoys doing that.”

Chuck Cox, Susan Powell’s father, said that the allegations were false but that his daughter had been on the receiving end of unwanted sexual advances by the father of Josh Powell in the past. A search of the desert earlier this year also yielded human remains, but the body found turned out to be that of a young male.

Susan Powell Search Turns Up Human Remains in Desert is a post from: The Inquisitr

Pro Snowboard Kevin Pierce will be honored at this years Victory Awards which occur on Thursday, December 1 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Pearce, a four-time Winter X Games medalist sustained a traumatic brain injury in late 2009 while training on a halfpipe at his Park City, Utah facility. While the injury may have left others in taters, he regained much of his strength and now sits in the broadcast booth analyzing events with plans to return this winter.

Other nominees for the 25th anniversary event include:

Robert David Hall, star of the CBS series CSI: Las Vegas; Mickey Gilley, country music legend; Marquita Lister, opera star; and Edward Eckenhoff, the founder of NRH.

According to FirstTracksOnline:

The Victory Awards were created by NRH in 1986 to honor individuals who best exemplify exceptional strength and courage in the face of physical adversity. Over the past 25 years, NRH has recognized celebrities and former patients from all walks of life with this prestigious award.

Congrats to Pearce and the rest of this years nominees.

Pro Snowboarder Kevin Pearce To Receive Victory Award is a post from: The Inquisitr

It seems the Mountain West Conference just cannot win one. They added Boise State to bolster their college football ranks and to try and get their conference a automatic BCS bid, but now they have lost the University of Utah to the Pac 10. The school has agreed to join the Pac 10 and its automatic BCS bid, and leave the MWC high and dry. It looks like now the Pac 10 will be spilt into two six team divisions, unless they can convince a few more schools to join.

Geographically speaking the way the Pac 10 should be spilt up would be to have a North Division consisting of the University of California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington and Washing ton State and a South division consisting of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, USC, UCLA, and Utah.

This move makes the Boise State move to the MWC from the Western Athletic Conference seem unnecessary. The college football powerhouse is still in a mid major conference with no automatic bid to the BCS each year. They could try to lure a few other Big 12 school to them, but most of the football powerhouse programs have already been realigned.

If and when (and it will happen at some point) the Big 12 erodes any further the Mountain West could go after schools like Kansas , Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. They would need to find another school to be a 16 team conference in their own right, and that seems a longer shot than getting any of these schools in the first place.

Related Links:

•The Business of College Sports
•MTR College Sports.com

University of Utah to join Pac 10 is a post from: The Inquisitr

John Edward Jones, 26, died during a rescue attempt at Nutty Putty cave in Utah, 28 hours after he first became trapped.

According to CNN, Jones died at approximately 12:30 am, after becoming stuck in a crevice that was about 18″ wide by 10′ deep. Rescuers worked on freeing the young man for more than 24 hours, but equipment failure caused some difficulty in the rescue attempt, according to Sgt. Spencer Cannon:

“They had him to a level spot where he wasn’t heading downhill with his head below his feet,” Cannon said. “During the course of that, they have a raising system to hold him in position, and one of the devices of that system failed, and Mr. Jones actually fell back to the area where he had been stuck for so long.”

Before Jones died, Sgt. Cannon commented on the difficulties faced in extricating the man from the cave:

“Getting people to him is very difficult,” Cannon told KSL before Jones died. “It is a tightly confined space. When there is movement, it is literally millimeters at a time.”

Around 5,000 people visit the cave 28 miles west of Salt Lake City every year.

Man trapped in Utah cave dies in rescue attempt is a post from: The Inquisitr

Elizabeth Smart, the Utah girl snatched from her bed and later found alive in 2002, has been allowed to give testimony today against kidnapper Brian David Mitchell in his competency hearings.

Smart, then 14, was held captive by Mitchell and his partner Wanda Barzee for nine months in 2002. Smart was located in Sandy, Utah, only 18 miles from her home. Mitchell was initially found incompetent when charged with the kidnapping, but now faces charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor.

Smart, who is now 21 and a senior at Brigham Young University, testified that during the ordeal, she was raped frequently, sometimes 3-4 times a day. Smart said that the assaults were frequent and that she was rarely able to defy her attacker, causing friction with Barzee:

“Wanda would get very upset with him,” said Smart. “She’d say ‘All you do is lust after her.’”

Smart said “There wasn’t an actual 24-hour period he wasn’t able to rape me.”

There was at least one time when Smart was able to rebuff Mitchell. During a hike to get water from a stream, Smart said that Mitchell tried to convince her to have sex with him despite it being Wanda’s turn.

“He said how much he needed me to have sex with him right then and there, and that Wanda would never know, she would understand and she would be OK, and it would be OK,” said Smart, who testified that she had refused him sex.

[Source: ABC]

Federal judge allows Elizabeth Smart testimony against kidnapper Brian David Mitchell is a post from: The Inquisitr

Do any of us raised in religious environments not sympathize?

A 7-year-old boy in Weber County, Utah lead police on a car chase last Sunday morning. Police responded to reports of a “child driving recklessly” and indicated that the rugrat ran a stop sign before his apprehension. The officers tried unsuccessfully to stop the child, who reached speeds of about 40 mph, before he stopped in a driveway and ran into his house.

Under questioning by his father, the kid admitted he didn’t want to go to church. (I feel you, brother.) Police were unable to arrest the child or issue citations due to his age, but did urge the dad to keep his keys somewhere less prone to being thieved.

Video below, but someone really needs to add the Cops theme to it.

7 year old steals car to avoid church is a post from: The Inquisitr

A school in Utah has sent a student home after alleging the student was promoting cross dressing by wearing a kilt.

14 year old Gavin McFarland, who has Scottish heritage (if the Mc wasn’t a give away already) was wearing his family tartan to school as part of an art project. Rocky Mountain Junior High Principal Craig Jessop though had other ideas: that kilt was clearly a sin as it promoted the homosexual act of cross-dressing.

The school district however was far more tolerant of Scottish tradition, and has asked Jessop to apologize to McFarland over the incident, as opposed to apologizing for his clear homophobia and victimization of school children.

Utah school says wearing a Kilt promotes cross-dressing is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s hard to be sure from the shot, but the Missile appears to be an AIM-9 Sidewinder used by the US Air Force. It’s also a considerable distance from the Utah Test and Training Range, so it would appear to be out of place.

Google Maps shows Missile over Utah is a post from: The Inquisitr