The Cox family was devastated when one of their family members apparently vanished into thin air in late 2009. ABC News’ ‘20/20: The Disappearance of Wife and Mother Susan Powell’ focuses on the case of the beloved mother and how her family has coped with the ordeal since. Susan’s father, Chuck Cox, has since served as the family’s spokesperson while Denise, the sister, held out hope that new information would reveal what happened to Susan. So, let’s find out more about the family, shall we?
Who are Chuck Cox and Denise Cox?
Chuck is a retired pilot who also worked with the Federal Aviation Administration. He has been married to Judy Cox for over three decades and has been actively involved in finding out what happened to their daughter, Susan. In 2001, Susan married Joshua Powell and the couple had two sons, Charlie and Braden. While the relationship was great at first, things started to turn sour. Relatives said Joshua was controlling and often got angry.
Denise Cox-Ernest asked her sister to end things but said she heard something disturbing. According to Denise, “When I told her to leave with the children, she told me that he had told her: ‘On my corpse you will have these boys. They are mine.’ She added, “Boys were a possession to him. They were his possessions. Events got worse when Susan was reported missing in December 2009, with all suspicion apparently turning on Joshua.
In a safe at Susan’s workplace, authorities found a will that mentioned how her marriage had fallen apart and that Joshua had taken out a hefty life insurance policy in her name. Susan added: “If I die, it might not be an accident.” Additionally, other disturbing details about the couple’s life have begun to emerge. Joshua’s father, Steven, had made inappropriate advances to Susan in the past, which she told Joshua about.
Denise recalled, “She (Susan) was extremely upset about it and upset, but even more upset when Josh just said that, you know, it’s her dad.” After Susan disappeared, Joshua took the children to his father’s home in Puyallup, Washington. In this house, authorities eventually found secret recordings of Susan’s body and videos of Steven smelling her underwear, professing his feelings for her. There were also images of other young girls and women.
Steven was arrested for voyeurism and child pornography and was eventually convicted on those charges. But after the arrest, Joshua lost custody of the children, with Chuck and Judy being granted temporary custody. However, in a tragic case of murder-suicide, Joshua took his own life and murdered both children during a supervised visitation in February 2012. Chuck said: “I don’t know anything else I could have done , and they are still dead. My daughter is still missing, and now the children are dead. I had them safe… They were in my custody.
Where are Chuck and Denise Cox now?
After Braden and Charlie’s deaths, Chuck and Judy filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Washington State Department of Health and Human Services, alleging negligence. The case suffered considerable delays before a judge awarded $98.5 million, later reduced to $32 million. Chuck said: “I intend to… use the prize to try to help other people, [so] that we can save more children.
In 2018, Steven passed away after being released from prison. Many, including Denise, believed he knew what had happened to Susan. So the news of his death came as a shock. Denise said: “I was like it was a mixed emotion; you don’t know if you’re happy or sad about it. Corn [it’s] bad because the last legacy of hope to find out what happened to Susan is gone.
Since then, the family has not stopped trying to find Susan. In February 2022, Chuck joined search efforts at a mine shaft in Utah that ended with the discovery of bone fragments and torn pants. While they were yet to be analyzed, Chuck was reasonably certain that they belonged to Susan. He continues to fight for justice with Judy, and the couple now live in Puyallup. They also run the Susan Cox Powell Foundation to help families of missing persons. As for Denise, she has been married to Albert Ernest since 2017 and lives with her family in Graham, Washington.
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