WEST VALLEY CITY — Josh Powell has left Utah — at least temporarily.
Powell attended a vigil for his missing wife, Susan, at an LDS Church in their hometown of Puyallup, Wash., Sunday evening. The vigil was also attended by Susan Powell's parents, grandparents and siblings.
Neighbors said Josh Powell went home to Washington state either Friday or Saturday to escape the media attention and be closer to family.
Josh Powell, who has been labeled a person of interest in the disappearance case, is not required to check in with police or report his movements, West Valley Police Capt. Tom McLachlan said Sunday.
"He's free to come and go. … He's not required to tell us where he's at or where he's going or what he's going to do," he said. "We always have an open, standing invitation to have Joshua come in and talk to us."
Friend and fellow member of the Powells' LDS ward, John Hellewell, said he talked to Josh Powell about 30 minutes before a pair of candlelight vigils held by friends and family members in Washington and Utah to pray for the safe return of their "beloved Susan" began Sunday night.
"He was wanting details about the vigil in Washington — when and where it was," said Hellewell, 32, who was a home teacher with Josh Powell before Powell stopped attending church two years ago. A vigil for Susan Powell was held at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Ridgecrest chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Puyallup, Wash., while another vigil was held at 8:30 p.m. at an LDS Church attended by about 30 of the Powells' friends and ward members in West Valley City.
Hellewell also said Josh Powell was telling people he had lost his job. The family had already declared bankruptcy before Susan went missing.
Hellewell, alongside neighbors and church members, prayed for Susan's safe return beneath a canopy set up near the Powells' ward house at 3665 S. 6000 West. But many questioned why Josh Powell would leave for Washington during the height of the police investigation.
"One of the biggest problems Susan had was that (Josh) talked to his dad for hours, more than he talked to her," said Tim Peterson, a friend and member of the Powells' ward who has been vocal in the past about Josh Powell and once called police on him. "And now guess where he's at. He hasn't been formally charged, but he's not that far from the border to Canada now."
Neighbors and ward members also wondered about problems the couple had been going through before Susan went missing.
Joe Trujillo, who talked to Josh Powell often when he would come visit two doors down the street, said Josh told him only a month ago that some family problems stemmed from how busy and active Susan was with her ward, which Josh Powell started attending again a few months ago because of marriage counseling.
"(Josh) mentioned the church was putting a burden on their marriage," Trujillo said.
Other ward members described a similar scenario.
Peterson said he went with the Elders Quorum presidency last September to offer Susan a blessing when she was feeling sick, and said that Josh Powell talked to them for 45 minutes while his wife sat there sick.
"Not in any part of the time did he show any concern for his wife," Peterson said.
"(Susan) told me that a couple times he would say to the kids, 'You can go to church or have this cake,' " Peterson said. "She had to do everything."
Hellewell said he knew Josh struggled with pressure from his family, especially his dad, Stephen Powell, about church.
"His dad is very against the church," Hellewell said. "His dad is always sending him anti-Mormon literature and I've heard stories from Josh and Susan that (Josh's) dad was always trying to break up their marriage."
McLachlan said he was not sure if detectives have been in touch with Powell since he left the state. Powell's father, like the parents of Susan Powell, lives in Puyallup, Wash., and Josh Powell traveled with his two young sons to visit family for the holidays, said his attorney Scott Williams.
A phone call to Steven Powell, Josh Powell's father, was not returned Sunday.
Police have executed several search warrants at the Powell home in West Valley City and are no longer searching for clues there. Neighbors said friends and what may have been family had begun moving things out of the house.
Neighbor Wendy Trujillo told the Deseret News she had seen people moving wrapped items from the Powells' home Sunday afternoon, describing the objects as "about the size of a box but not box-shaped." Hellewell said Josh Powell had called another family in the ward Sunday morning to retrieve the Powells' pet bird and birdcage.
"He already started moving his stuff out. … (He) took bedding out over the weekend," Hellewell said.
Susan Powell, 28, was last seen Dec. 6 at her home, 6254 W. Sarah Circle. Her husband told police he went camping about midnight that night with his two sons, ages 2 and 4, in a remote part of Tooele County along the Pony Express Trail. He failed to show up to work the next day.
Friends and neighbors described Josh Powell's behavior as both "odd" and "suspicious."
Peterson said he saw Josh Powell two days after he returned from the camping trip and that he had "wind-burnt hands."
"He told me he was testing a generator," Peterson said. "I just thought this was really strange."
Hellewell concurred saying that it "just didn't make sense."
Contributing: Associated Press
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