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WEST VALLEY CITY -- He has refused to speak with police detectives investigating the disappearance of his wife, but police have started retracing the footsteps of their only person of interest in the case.
KSL Newsradio has learned Josh Powell may have spent time at a strip club just hours after Susan Powell was reported missing. But despite numerous eyewitness accounts, police are skeptical that the man was indeed Josh Powell.
Workers at the South Salt Lake strip club, Duces Wild, say a man they believe was Josh made sexually-explicit comments and advances, yelled, yanked away a customer's drink and ultimately didn't tip the workers when he visited the day after Susan was last seen.
A man who asked we only identify him by his first name, Sherman, is a regular at Duces Wild in South Salt Lake, as most of the customers are.
"After the story broke, I kept saying, 'Where do I know that guy?' And then I traced it back to that guy in the bar, because nobody forgets a jerk," Sherman said.
Bartender Liz Burkholder, who later identified Powell in several photos from police, says the man tried to make advances toward her, take her picture -- a no-no in strip clubs -- and then was rude and vulgar when she declined.
"He wanted me to come over and bend down so he could see my boobs, kept telling me I had a nice [behind], telling me to come down there, he wouldn't hurt me, bend over," Burkholder said in an exclusive interview with KSL Newsradio. "At first it was advances, and then when I wouldn't go back down there it was just rude and vulgar… It was embarrassing because that's not normal -- even in a strip club. I stayed away from him as much as possible."
The alleged appearance at the club happened the afternoon of Dec. 7, when police were still looking for Susan, Josh and their two children. They had been reported missing that morning after a day care provider grew concerned because the children had not been dropped off on schedule. Josh showed up to his home with the kids between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. that evening.
• Dec. 7 - The day Susan Powell was reported missing
• Dec. 9 - Police call disappearance of Susan Powell suspicious
• Dec. 12 - Family of missing woman's husband speaks
• Dec. 16 - Josh Powell named person of interest
• Dec. 17 - 2nd search warrant served at Powell home
• Dec. 20 - Josh Powell attends Wash. vigil
• Jan. 3 - Friends of missing Utah mom launch Web media blitz
• Jan. 4 - Social media blitz kick off
• Jan. 9 - Josh Powell packs up West Valley City house
• Jan. 27 - Family, friends put up ribbon display at Powell WVC home
• Feb. 5 - Friends plan ‘Week of Service' in honor of Susan Powell
• Feb. 15 - Family accuses missing woman's husband of abuse
• March 1 - Susan Powell's family, former cop question new website
• March 6 - Vigils mark 3-month anniversary of Susan Powell's disappearance
The man strip club employees identified as Powell came in around 2 p.m. wearing a hat. He ordered two beers and a shot and left after about an hour-and-a-half to two hours. Burkholder says customers moved away from him and actually applauded as he walked out the door.
His behavior was "outlandish," club owner Rydell Mitchell said.
"[He was] yelling out loud, saying weird things," Mitchell said.
Sherman was sitting next to the man and asked if he was OK.
"He kept repeating that he had a really bad day and he had a story to tell," Sherman said. "When I asked him to tell his story, he said, 'No. You don't want to hear my story;' and that he just had a really bad day."
Burkholder says Powell later grabbed a drink from another patron.
"Acting really peculiar like that -- it just made everybody really uncomfortable," Mitchell said.
Mitchell says he wasn't sure if the man identified as Powell was there for the drinks or the dancers, but he believes it was for both.
"He didn't sit on the stage or anything like that. I guess he wasn't tipping the girls, from what I do understand," Mitchell said. "Not sure if he was sitting over by the bar and maybe watching them -- trying to get a free show."
Sherman later recognized Powell on the news, particularly because he says the man in the bar was wearing the same knit hat Powell had worn in several TV appearances.
Sherman was so sure, he called West Valley police. Investigators showed up at the club several days after the ordeal.
"I wouldn't want the authorities finding out I was in a strip club the day after my wife came up missing," said former police officer and UtahDetective.com owner David Lundberg.
Lundberg says the alleged encounter raises suspicion, although the question remains how much this may add to the investigation.
"The circumstances as far as the lighting in a club like that, the sound, the noise, where he was moving around, how well people actually paid attention to him -- eyewitness evidence has been thrown out because it's not as positive as they'd like to see it," he said.
West Valley police Capt. Tom McLachlan says the tip was investigated and the statements of the eyewitnesses "were taken into account." Tuesday, he said based on eyewitness accounts alone, they cannot confirm it was Josh.
"I'm not trying to discredit the individuals involved, but sometimes, you know, eyewitness accounts can be mistaken, so you can't rely wholly on that," McLachlan said. "You try to verify, and at this point we are not able to verify though independent means that that was Josh."
Mitchell says surveillance cameras were not working in the club at the time.
"I don't have any idea why anybody would say something like that," Powell's attorney, Scott Williams, told KSL Monday. "We have no need to respond."
Powell has said he took the children camping near Simpson Springs and the Pony Express Trail in Tooele County beginning around 12:30 a.m. the morning of Dec. 7. His alleged appearance at Duces Wild would have been more than 13 hours after that time and roughly one to two hours before he returned home with the children.
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Story compiled with contributions from Andrew Adams, Shara Park and Jennifer Stagg.
