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SALT LAKE CITY — Chuck and Judy Cox were in Salt Lake City Monday for a couple of reasons. One of those reasons was to further work on the Susan Cox Powell Foundation, which offers help to get women out of abusive relationships.
But they were also very vocal about the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of their daughter, Susan, and the lack of information from the West Valley City Police Department.
Susan disappeared from her West Valley City home in December 2009. In the two and a half years since then, "things have gotten worse instead of better," Judy Cox said Monday.
Essentially, we found that we've been told nothing more than the mainstream press, sometimes less.
–Chuck Cox
The parents don't feel they've received enough information from the officers investigating their daughters disappearance.
"We've asked for the evidence that they have, and we want to know what's really going on," Chuck Cox said. "Essentially, we found that we've been told nothing more than the mainstream press, sometimes less."
After Susan's disappearance, the relationship between her parents and West Valley City police has become strained. The Coxes feel Susan's husband, Josh Powell, should have been arrested early on, and that police have failed to follow up on potential leads.
"We would get calls from people who claim they left a lead with police, and the police never got back to them," Chuck Cox said.
It's just one reason the Cox family wants police records of the investigation released.
But West Valley police won't budge; and because the investigation is active and ongoing, the department says it must preserve the integrity of the investigation and keep the case sealed.
The Coxes aren't buying it.
"Now our daughter's dead — missing, probably dead — our grandchildren are certainly dead. Josh is gone. So, what's the point?" Chuck Cox said.
While that battle continues, the Coxes are also trying to figure out what to do with Josh and Susan's West Valley home. After Josh killed himself and his two sons in February, they inherited the property — and found out there is a lot of debt attached to it.
It's just one more question, in a series of questions, where the answers sadly lie with those who are dead.
"We're frustrated," Chuck Cox said. "We're still determined to find our daughter."
The Coxes will be in Utah a couple more days, raising money for a memorial dedicated to Susan and her two boys. They're still in the beginning stages but hope to have a small monument or plaque put up in a Salt Lake County park.
Email: mheadrick@ksl.com
