WEST VALLEY CITY -- West Valley City police are now calling Josh Powell a person of interest in his wife's disappearance. A woman who is close friends with the couple says Josh's personality seemed to change over the last few years, and she encouraged Susan to divorce him.

For more than eight years, Rachel Marini and her husband were the best of friends with Josh and Susan Powell. Rachel Marini became friends with the Powells soon after the two were married in Washington State.

However, Marini said not long after the couple moved from Washington to Utah, Josh started becoming controlling of everything Susan did. She said the control problem reached a point that others started telling Susan to get out of the relationship.

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"She had a lot of friends and family members telling her, ‘Why just you don't end it?' But she was committed to her marriage," said Marini. "I didn't like the way he treated her. I didn't think that she should stand for it."

Marini said after a road trip with the Powells she became so disgusted with the way Josh treated Susan that she didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore, but she kept in contact with Susan through Facebook and e-mail.

"We would just ask her, ‘How are things going?' She would tell us things were getting better, mostly because she was demanding that he let her do stuff," said Marini.

Marini said Josh's actions toward Susan were manipulative and out of line.

"She would tell him, ‘Even though you are not going to church I'm going to take the kids to church,' or ‘Even though you say we don't have the money I'm going to buy the kids presents for Christmas.' So she just started putting her foot down and demanding stuff from him," Marini said.

Marini said she last had contact with Susan a couple of weeks ago, and there wasn't any sign of distress or additional problems. She doesn't know what to think now that Susan is missing.

"I don't think that Josh is capable of hurting her, but I don't think she would leave her kids. She never would have left her kids," Marini said.

She also said that even though Josh was controlling, in his own way, he did love her.

Marini says she and her husband have tried to reach out to Josh Powell and offer their support, but he will not return their phone calls.

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Story compiled with contributions from Randall Jeppesen and Jennifer Stagg.

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