Police look into rental car in missing-mom case

SALT LAKE CITY — Police said Tuesday that they want to question the husband of a missing Utah woman about a car he allegedly rented that was driven hundreds of miles after his wife's disappearance.

"It was rented in Joshua Powell's name, and there were several hundred miles put on it," West Valley City police Capt. Tom McLachlan said. "The company that rents the car has said there is no stored GPS data that would indicate where it was taken."

Powell's wife, Susan, who formerly lived in Puyallup and who has family living there, was last seen Dec. 7. He told police he left her at home about 12:30 a.m. that day to go camping on the Pony Express trail west of Salt Lake City with their sons, ages 4 and 2, in freezing temperatures.

Susan Powell was reported missing the same day when she failed to show up for her job as a stockbroker for Wells Fargo Bank and her children were not dropped off at day care.

Police said the case is still a missing-persons investigation but have twice searched the family home and a minivan and have labeled Joshua Powell a "person of interest." Police have not said what, if anything, has been taken from the Powell home or van.

McLachlan said Joshua Powell rented the car during the 24-hour period that his van was in police custody, about two days after his wife was reported missing.

McLachlan declined to say specifically how many miles were added to the rental car's odometer and acknowledged that while police know the car was rented by Powell, they can only speculate about whether he was the person who used it. McLachlan said he didn't know what type of car was rented and declined to name the rental company.

Scott Williams, Joshua Powell's attorney, told The Associated Press that he has no information about the rental car. Joshua Powell, who is also from the Puyallup area, traveled to Washington state over the weekend with the children to be with family for the Christmas holiday, Williams has said.

McLachlan has said Powell has provided police only with vague information about his camping trip but acknowledged that the 4-year-old boy confirmed the outing in an interview with police.

"We have an open, standing request to talk to him, whenever he wants to come in for an interview," he said. "At this point he's refusing to do so through his attorney."

Williams disputed that characterization and said Powell has answered all questions from police.

He also said Powell has provided police with a DNA sample.

On Monday, police announced a $10,000 reward being offered by an anonymous donor for information that helps them locate Susan Powell.