Steve typed an asterisk in front of those words and added a comment.

“I am now reviewing this on December 8, 2009, as I contemplate the events of the past two days, which may include Susan’s death,” Steve wrote. “She is missing, but circumstances suggest that she was murdered over the weekend. I am now truly ‘wondering what on earth to do.’”

Cold obtained a copy of that document from among the private personal files of Steve Powell. It has never previously been made public. The note suggests that Steve Powell did not have an active hand in his daughter-in-law’s disappearance, or any immediate firsthand knowledge of what had actually happened to her.