that she's not there, pulling in my driveway, honking, you know, announcing that she's here. she had a heart of gold. she was there for everybody. >> she had a lot of hope for her future. she had everything to live for. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i am craig melvin. thank you for tuning in. ng in. >> hello i'm andrea canning and this is "dateline." >> i just dropped off the children and he wouldn't let me in the door. >> it was horrible. we're normal people and the person you're dealing with is a psychopath. >> it's a story that haunted

the country, the case of susan powell. >> i was like, this can't be real. and he professed to love them. >> could it have been prevented? >> he exploded the house. >> as you listen to it now, what does it do to you? >> it's excruciating. >> the 9-1-1 dispatcher shares his story about that day. >> i wish i had recognized the urgency of the situation. >> also, the startling details of a plot unfolding. >> nobody knew what was going on. >> and a father's unraveling. >> he just saw that there was no way out. >> intimate emails from susan herself. the young mother's private fears in her own words. >> it's the genuine belief of a good many people that you killed her. >> her husband speaks a final eerie interview. >> i love my sons more than anything. i put them first. i put my family first.

>> hello and welcome to "dateline." the details are heartbreaking with the disappearance of a young mom and what befell her two little boys. you will hear from her loved ones searching for answers and justice, you will also hear from her husband, josh powell, in his last in-depth interview, words that are even more hunting now. here is keith morrison with a family's story. >> it is so sad to look at them now, this apparently normal family. just a young father and his two young sons walking a postcard shore, skipping rocks across the surface. but under the surface, in the man's own skin, well, what was beneath the surface? how in the name of heaven did this come to this?

>> hi, ma'am calling -- >> yes, he exploded the house. >> do you know if anyone is in the house? >> yes, there was a man and two children. i just dropped off the children and he wouldn't let me in the door. >> you will hear an exclusive interview with the man who took that call and who has been criticized for not getting help immediately. you find yourself vilified really, what was that like? >> well, it is awful. part of the problem is like most people, i think, i was aware of josh powell's story. but i didn't associate his name with the story. >> we will retrace josh powell 's last steps, mysterious trips to gas station, a storage locker where police said they found a quilt with blood on it, and the bank where the surveillance photo he has the look of a man unglued. >> nobody knew it was going on,

he took more than 3 or 4 substantial steps towards his death. >> the motive unfathomable. >> what is the motive for him killing his kids? is it that they started to know a little too much? >> in his last interview, we will hear from josh powell himself, who offered like the negative of the film a bizarre reversal of the truth. >> i love my sons more than anything, i put them first. i put my family first. >> on february 5th, 2012, while the rest of the country was settling down to watch the super bowl, josh powell was setting a trap for his own young sons. what happened in there was really only the last chapter of a very long, sad story. of fathers and sons and husbands and wives, sexual delusions, murders, suicide and secrets. some of those secrets no doubt were burned up in the fire, but some things we do know. and they go to the darkest recesses of the human heart.

our story begins years ago with a cheerful young woman called susan cox who fell for josh, chuck and judy cox are her parents as they spoke with us they can fence they were still in shock after the disaster that claimed their two young grandsons. they recall so clearly there early fears about their daughter's beau. >> i had a bad feeling every time i saw him. i even asked my daughter why are you marrying him? >> josh's sister jennifer graves told us that as a child she was wary of him to. >> when josh was a boy he was troubled in some ways, wasn't he? >> there were some issues, yes. >> jennifer said much of the problems them for her father, josh's father. she was estranged from him when we spoke with her, the mother divorced years ago and in court papers alleged that he was abusive. >> i was about 14 when i woke up and realized my dad is

whacko. he is just on a different, different trajectory, and not a good one. >> she is talking about stephen powell. you're gonna learn much more about him later. what was it about his trajectory that bothered you are disturbed you? >> he just had a really negative outlook on life he was down on everything. >> an outlook he seemed to have passed on to josh, which paradoxically seemed to attract susan. >> i think she felt sorry for him, he didn't have many friends. and i think she felt she could make him happy and that he would change. >> they married at the mormon church and certainly looked happy in those early photos, but later the couple moved to utah, moved in temporarily with jennifer and her husband, kirk. what was the relationship like then, as far as you can tell? >> it was a little rough. she would kind of order him around a little bit and he wanted to control her and not

let her go to some activities with me. >> josh worked, sometimes, in real estate and as a web designer. when susan went into labor with their first child, said susan's parents,, josh working right there home said he was too busy to drive her to the hospital. they did and when he finally arrived -- >> he sits in the back of the room working on his computer. >> while she is in labor? >> yes, it was an odd experience. >> they named the baby charlie, brayden followed two years later, but having kids only seem to increase the friction between susan and josh. >> she would be wanting to put them to bed, she would go so far as to get them in bed, and then he would get mad and tell them to get out of bed and not to do what mom told him to do. >> where did josh get these parenting's ideas? >> from my dad. >> more and more influence from dad, said jennifer. >> josh started talking on the phone with my dad a lot. he would spend multiple hours,

multiple times a week on the phone with him. and susan would complain to me about how josh would just become unbearable to live with. it was obvious to her that my dad was trying to drive a wedge between them. >> it seemed to be working, jennifer shared something with us she has never made public before, excerpts of emails from susan. did they contain hints of what was coming? in one of them, she described her attempts to rekindle romance with josh, i've tried the dates thing with him and it goes to negative or no conversation or it is an obligation to him that he seems to hate. >> i think it is easy to say that josh learned from his dad how to treat women. >> then there is another email that suggested susan was actually afraid of him. every moment i step back and take stock of what i'm dealing with, it feels like a

never-ending cycle> but i'm too afraid that the consequences, losing my kids, him kidnapping, divorce or actions worse on his part. >> why wouldn't he just get a divorce, leave? >> because she had an income. she was the mom, there was a very strong argument that the boys would've gone to her. >> and so, they believe, josh found another solution to his problem. >> coming up -- >> i sat on this feeling, this gut sinking terrible feeling that he has done something to her. >> when "dateline" continues. stay ahead of your moderate—to—severe eczema, and show off clearer skin and less itch with dupixent. the number one prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, that helps heal your skin from within. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain,

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green cold in salt lake city a monday, josh and susan were both expected at work. >> neither one of them had shown up, and neither one of them have called. they were supposed to have dropped off their kids. >> dropped them off at daycare, she means. so the daycare center people called the emergency contact, jennifer. she went to josh in susan's house. it was empty. >> the feeling hits me very strongly that josh had done something to her. >> hindsight perhaps? or the hindsight of someone who had grown up with josh powell. >> i said don't worry about

this, this is just a couple and their kids. they are off, they are adults, they will be fine. >> then in the late afternoon, josh suddenly showed up with the boys, without susan. >> and i remember the feeling i had at that time -- >> which was what? >> which is josh has done something. >> josh told a story no one could believe, that the previous night, sunday, he decided to take the boys camping left around midnight, blew off work drove almost 100 miles. slept in the family vans in temperatures well below freezing, and drove back home to find susan go on. he said he had no idea what happened to her. >> when he came up with that story about going camping i just said no, i got a sick feeling, no, this is not good. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> and yet they did what they felt like they thought they should do, they rallied around

josh, they pleaded for susan's safe return. within ten days, police declared josh a person of interest in susan's disappearance. he stopped talking to police and then left town. packed up his possessions and his precious sons, left utah to live in washington with his father steven. when we spoke to him in 2011, he told us he interrogated his son. >> josh, you know, the most abusive thing that a father could ever do is murder his wife. you know, things like that. >> you were testing him? >> i was testing him, i wanted to see his reaction to this kind of stuff. >> and? >> it was good, i was satisfied with it. to me, he passed with flying colors. >> as for susan, he said, she had just run off with another man most likely. >> susan was very open and i would say very aggressive in male female relationships, and she called the shots. >> how did he knew that?

steven claimed susan had developed a long-standing crush on him. >> susan would come into my office after she waxed her legs and she would sit there and she would say, you know, feel my legs, they are pretty smooth. yeah, i know. >> josh wasn't concerned about this? >> i didn't talk to josh about it. you know, i enjoyed the moment. >> steven enjoyed quite a few moments with susan, he said, like when he would hand her the baby. >> she would come up and press herself against my hands and then i would have to pull my hands from between her and braden, you know, just to slip away myself away, that kind of thing. >> he said his only regret was not going a little further with her. >> i mean it's not like i didn't enjoy that kind of little thing. >> it was so easy for him to tell stories. susan could not defend herself. >> what he says is not based on reality.

>> josh's sister jennfier graves was a confident of susan's and of course as his daughter she already knew all about steven. >> he might have felt these things for her, he might have been sexually attracted to her, but she did not reciprocate. >> for a very few uncomfortable months, she said, early in their marriage susan and josh lived with steven. >> they were set up in the dining room so they put up sheets for the privacy and she had caught my dad spying on her. >> did she say how it made her feel? >> oh, she definitely was creeped out by it. he definitely mid her uncomfortable. there was one incident where they were in the car, he said would you be willing to share josh and i can share you. >> and now, susan was missing. josh was still a person of interest, steven was telling looted stories and these men had susan's children, the cox's grandchildren.

>> they were being raised by the same person who had raised josh. and my daughter was just 100% against them having anything to do with steve. >> and here they were in the house? >> here they were in his house. because josh went there, you know, brings them there. >> but josh's actions brought other people to his father's house, namely the police. in august 2011 they arrived with a search warrant. >> we got probable cause to believe that there are some items of evidentiary value in the home of the powells. they found plenty. >> evidence that might have eventually helped turn the mystery into an incomprehensible tragedy. but back then, there was no way to know that. even as we sat down for an extraordinary conversation with the person of interest, josh powell himself, no way to know then that this conversation would be the last one. >> coming up --

>> you just rattled in your cage? >> it seems. >> are you rattled? >> i'm pissed off. >> josh powell in his final television interview. were there hints of what was to come? >> when dateline continues. actively shields the enamel to defend against erosion and cavities. i think that this product is a gamechanger for my patients- it really works. (sung) febreze! i use febreze fabric refresher everyday. to make my home smell amazing. on my bed... my couch...

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[dice dreams game] yes, eva. the famous longoria, made it to the reunion, i see. we wouldn't miss it for the world, tia lupe. but what about your husband? is he here? no. unfortunately, he couldn't make it. she attacked him last night. you attacked your husband?

[silence] dice dreams, attack your friends and steal their coins. play now. >> it was august 2011, still attack your friends and steal their coins. keith morrison: it was august 2011, still warm, warm, the night josh powell came to see us to break his

long silence. >> you know everything? >> an extraordinary conversation at the time, even more so in hindsight. as we spoke, the police were searching for evidence at his father's house in puyallup, washington. josh seemed confident they wouldn't find anything. >> well according to my attorney, the less they have won a person the more they basically harass a person. >> so what you're suggesting is that they were trying to rattle your cage? >> it would seem. >> are you rattled? >> i'm pretty pissed off. >> josh claimed he knew things about susan's childhood that her parents were hiding. susan's adult behavior, or at least stevens lewd suggestion of her behavior, claimed josh were the result of childhood abuse, an allegation the coxes dismiss as ridiculous. >> i've known about things that she has told me about while she was growing up. >> you think that is the reason why, according to your father at least, she would come on to him?

>> i don't think people are characterizing that right. she is a flirtatious person. >> i hate to tell you, josh, that others who have seen that interview with your father have certainly an, eww, hat is certainly inappropriate to behave that way, and to even talk about it. do you ever get that sense from hearing him describe these things? >> well, i haven't had any real deep conversations with him about any of that stuff. >> he hasn't told you those things, those stories? >> i mean, i was there to see, you know, susan was always proud of her legs being cleanly waxed, how smooth they were. she would ask people to feel them. i told her i thought it was pretty inappropriate. >> josh was siding with his father against just about everyone else, a fateful choice it turned out. and what you are telling me is

that that story, or those stories rather, as told by your dad are accurate, and the stories told by jennifer graves and susan's friends, that susan was horrified by this and wanted to get the heck away from this as much as she could, that those stories are lies? >> that is right. >> so, on that night in december 2009, when you went out to the desert with the kids to go camping, what happened to susan? >> i think that susan simply left. >> simply left? i mean, midnight, 1:00 in the morning, just i've had enough, i'm out of here? was she angry those days? >> no. >> was she distressed? >> no. >> did she continue to assert that she loved you? >> yes.

>> and god knows she must of loved your children? >> yes. >> and yet, she at midnight or 1:00, 2:00 in the morning that night of december, got up out of her bed and went downstairs and got on a bicycle, or something, or walked and simply left? and has never, you know, hasn't sent you a note tho suggest she's still alive. is that what has happened? >> i don't know what has happened to her. i don't know where she is. >> it's the genuine belief, obviously, of a good many people who have been following this strange saga that you killed her. >> that's the allegation that a lot of people believe. >> what can you say to them to make them change their minds?

>> i've never hurt my wife. i've never never hurt her. >> and still, he claimed, susan's parent were out to get him, to try to take his children away. >> they started to say that my sons are in an emotionally, some kind of emotional danger from being in my custody. and that is a completely unfair statement. >> and that is why he did what he did, he says, when he and one of the boys and countered them at a hardware store a few months after susan disappeared. >> he said that he wanted to hug my children, i said no you may not. >> those are his grandchildren, just as they are your children, i mean shouldn't a grandfather be able to hug his grandchildren? >> he should not be using them as pawns in the media.

i love my sons more than anything, i put them first, i put my family first. >> words that now ring horribly false, of course, as do these about his missing wife and their two young sons. >> what do you tell them about her? >> i just tell tehm that we don't know where she's at. >> do they understand? how much of it do they understand? >> i think they understand quite a bit. >> indeed it now seems they did. that too would play a role in what was coming. do you worry that somebody will charge you with a crime that will prevent you from being with them? >> no. >> don't think that is going to happen? >> no. >> what makes you so sure? >> because i never did anything that someone would be able to charge me with. i never hurt susan.

and i have nothing to do with her disappearance. >> did he know how few believe him? in the end it hardly mattered, because when police entered the secret places in his father's house they found evidence of crimes all right. not the crimes they were looking for, but enough to push josh powell to the brink. >> coming up -- >> there are some videos and pictures of susan. someon's hiding, shooting through curtains. >> family secrets emerge, when dateline continues. what can you do with sensitive skin? cetaphil moisturizing lotion hydrates for a full 48 hours. because a lot can happen in 48 hours. dermatologist-recommended cetaphil. we do skin. you do you. [coughing]

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world's top stories. -- honored a milestone of the war between israel and hamas. israeli prime minister benjamin nina who says despite missiles, the country will continue the war until they achieve total victory. caucus goers in iowa will brave sub-zero temperatures to injure the first nominee in context of the rippling

primary. former president trump leads the poll. now back to dateline. back to dateline >> charlie, there is a cave keith morrison: when we met josh powell in puyallup, over there. >> when we met josh powell in puyallup, washington, he and his dad steven invited us to join them and charlie and braden on a family outing. it was summer 2011. >> all right, come on! >> and a casual observer might not have guessed the strange circumstances that brought these two men and two little boys together. the kids appeared normal, happy, but of course by then for more than a year and a half they had been missing someone very dear to them, their mother susan powell. and susan's parents were sure josh knew exactly what happened to her. when did you first think that josh killed susan? >> probably when he came up with this "i went camping" routine. >> but there was not yet enough evidence to charge him. and then, as josh and i talked that evening at the end of august, the police raided his father's house looking for

more. and they did find evidence, but not at all what they expected. >> we discovered a lot of computers and a lot of material. >> ed troyer of the pierce county police department described what was seized from steven powell's house. >> child pornography in there, so voyeuristic pictures and videos. >> and not just filth dug up from the internet, but rather materials someone had filmed himself, in secret. that's someone said detective troyer, was steven powell. >> pictures and videos that was taken from his house, little girls showering, shot right from his own window. >> stephen was arrested, hauled off to jail and charged with 14 counts of voyeurism and one count of possessing child pornography, a felony. >> he's asked to plead not guilty related to all charges. >> this was the same steven powell, remember, who claimed

his daughter-in-law susan had a serious crush on him before she disappeared. when he said it, it sounded like an old fool's fantasy. now it turned out there was evidence that the fantasy had a very dark undercurrent. because there was another face, a familiar one in steven powell's homemade porn stash. tell me about the discovery of the videos involving susan powell. >> there are some videos and pictures of susan that were obviously taken without her consent or her knowledge. somebody was hiding them shooting them through curtains and doors and taking pictures of her. >> it had to have happened early in the marriage when susan and josh, strapped for cash, moved in with even for a while. >> and, you know, even though he said that she was interested in him, we believe that's all one big fantasy and she absolutely despised him. >> the charges brought against steven powell in 2011 were ugly enough, but before long, they set in motion something much

bigger, a full on battle for control of charlie and braden. >> we wanted to take the kid out of the residence until the investigation was done, and the kids were placed with susan's parents. >> susan's parents, chuck and judy cox, in josh and steven's world, the enemy. >> i had braden in the back, before preschool were driving and he says grandpa you need to change your name. why? my name is charles cox, he says, yes, charles cox is a bad person, so you need to change your name. who says charles cox is a bad person? oh, my daddy. >> josh did everything he could to keep chuck and judy away from his sons. now they had the upper hand. >> my clients believe it is very harmful for these children to have been in the home of steven powell, who was deeply involved with pornography. >> at this hearing that september, josh powell represented himself in family court, denied any knowledge of his father's alleged crimes promised to keep the boys away

from steven, should the elder powell make bail. but here you can almost see josh unraveling. >> i am a fih and qualified father, i am the natural father, i love my sons. and the manner in which they, the manner in which they were behaving leads me to believe that the irreparable harm that is occurring to my sons is having taking them out of the stable and happy home -- >> but then a prosecutor told the judge that so far only a small portion of the evidence had been examined, and while josh powell hadn't been charged yet, he still might be. >> mr. powell is a subject of that investigation, and that is the concern that the department has. >> so josh lost that round and lost the ones that followed, including the very last one. the final defeat came when the judge ordered that the boys could stay with the coxs for at least six more months.

>> so you got that favorable ruling. >> favorable ruling, a very good day. except josh is still not arrested. our daughter is still missing. >> but those facts might have changed too, with the second ruling from the judge that day she ordered josh powell to undergo a psycho sexual evaluation. why? because according to utah investigators, some images had been found on the computer in his home back in 2009, the year susan disappeared. >> it was cartoons, the cartoons and the animations are of adults and kids having sex. >> and josh's evaluation was to include a polygraph test, a lie detector. >> he had lost the custody of the kids, he had to undergo a lie detector. and what is he going to tell them if they ask about susan with a lie detector? >> which they would have. >> which they would have. he won't be able to lie and i just saw that as this is going to be --

no way he will get through this. >> the trap was closing in. >> he is feeling really closed in. >> and if that wasn't pressure enough, there was this too, rumors that charlie and braden were getting pretty comfortable with their grandparents, that they'd started talking about that midnight camping trip. >> coming up -- >> he was explaining mother's in the trunk. >> new information emerges about josh's past. >> there was a warning sign way early. >> when "dateline" continues. r way to mop? try the swiffer powermop. ♪♪ an all-in-one cleaning tool that gives you a mop and bucket clean in half the time ♪♪ our cleaning pad has hundreds of scrubbing strips that absorb and lock dirt away, ♪♪ and it has a 360-degree swivel head that goes places a regular mop just can't. so, you can clean your home, faster than ever. ♪♪ don't mop harder, mop smarter, with the swiffer powermop.

don't mop harder, keith morrison: steven powell was >> stephen powell was arrested arrested for child pornography in september 2011. for child pornography in september 2011. josh powell was under suspicion, and as autumn deepened into winter, chuck and judy cox heard again and again, the arrest of josh powell was next, could happen any day. so they waited, held their breaths, and took in the boys, charlie and braden. how was it living with those boys for the months you had them? >> how about exhausting? >> yes, we went to bed exhausted every night. >> but it felt good to have the kids there. >> the coxs were much stricter disciplinarians then josh, enforced early bedtimes and regular meals, and according to josh's sister and brother in law, the kids thrived. >> right after the custody

hearing where they were finally in the coxs home, we saw them that they, and they were withdrawn and angry and quiet, and then two months later they were sitting on laps, hugging and playing and listening while people read stories to them. and they were acting more like a little boys. >> we're also very concerned for the welfare of our grandchildren. >> chuck and judy were determined to keep them, and as they battled josh in family court, they began to turn up new and disturbing information about the man who married their daughter. they found it in the divorce papers of his father, steven. >> right after steve was arrested, we went over to spokane and pulled up the record. >> there were disturbing allegations in there that josh had attempted suicide by hanging as a teenager, that he threatened his mother with a knife, and there was this story about josh and steven. >> there's an incident where josh killed his younger sister

lina's hamster by smashing it against the side of the cage. josh's mother was outraged. and steve's response was, according to the papers, that was that she does not understand teenage humor. >> teenage humor? >> teenage humor. and i was like what? what are you talking about? and one of the first things i heard about killers is that they abuse animals or kill animals. there was a warning sign way early. >> of course, they believed he was a killer, that killed their daughter, even though he hadn't been charged. and then they say the kids began to open up. >> they told me one time, i think it was charlie hoped mommy knew how to camp or something, because she was out where she needed to know how to camp. >> and they heard about an earlier episode, where one of the boys drew a picture at his preschool. he drew a car, two boys and a dad, no mom. the teacher asked where she was. >> mom is in the trunk.

and they knew who he was. >> all the while, even though the boys lived with the coxs, they made court ordered visits to josh at the house he was renting, a house police now say he didn't really live in. >> we believe that the house was staged just for the purpose of the visitation, to make himself look like a good dad with photos on the wall, the kid's stuff, the mini van in the driveway in the garage. unfortunately, it was everything but that. >> where did josh actually live? steven's house. and now the josh seemed in danger of losing custody of the kids permanently, chuck said he worried not about the boys so much, but about the social worker who took them to see josh. >> i was concerned that if she confronted josh in any way that he might hurt her. >> which brings us inexorably to that sunday. the first time the kids would

visit josh after he was ordered to take a polygraph. >> i got a bad feeling about this, and i didn't get a bad feeling until saturday. i was thinking, you know, maybe i should ask somebody to have a little bit more security this time or maybe we should skip this visit. >> the kids were having fun, playing, didn't want to go. but of course, there wasn't a choice. they had to go. >> i thought, i have to get them to go or i'm breaking a law. and we will get in trouble for it. >> and so, she jollied them into it. >> i said you will do something fun, you know daddy will have a project. you will get to eat with daddy, you will have fun. >> no idea, of course about the careful plans josh had been making for that visit. >> coming up -- >> you listen to that tape and it is almost painful. >> it's excruciating. i wish i had recognized the urgency of the situation. >> when dateline continues. (vo) it's ultimate endless shrimp with another limited-time

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juwelcome back to "dateline." welcome back to dateline, i'm andrea canning. i'm andrea canning. time was running out for josh powell. little charlie and braden were starting to open up about the night their mother disappeared. meanwhile, a judge ordered josh to take a polygraph. but first, he planned to see his boys. and who could have predicted what a dark turn those plans would take? now to keith morrison with the

conclusion of a family story. >> he was a person of interest in susan powell's disappearance. the target of a relentless police investigation, his contacts with his two sons had been reduced by a court order to a few hours twice a week. rumors of an imminent arrest swirled around him and josh powell was preparing to strike by. hear what police have pieced together of his final days. in february for 2012 he deposited his children's toys and clothing at a charity drop box near bhis house, at 11:32 am he walking to a bank where he withdrew $7,000 intra -- to his sister, who is still close to him. at 1:30 pm he arrived at this storage unit. here, police said, he spent an hour and a half going through susan's belongings. then back in his mini van he drove ten miles out of town to this landfill where he dumped a

bundle of material from the storage unit. that evening, he walked into this department store, purchased two 5-gallon of gas can, and sterno, things you used to keep food hot. and then he filled those gas cans. then he composed emails to family members mostly just said i'm sorry, goodbye. at 10:30 he called his sister alina's cell phone. >> hello, this is josh. and i'm -- i'm calling to say goodbye. i am not able to live without my sons. and i'm not able to go on anymore. i'm sorry to everyone i have hurt. goodbye. >> his alarmed sister called 9-1-1. >> i think my brother might be in trouble or something. >> what's going on with your brother? >> he is -- i don't know, he sending weird emails. he saying goodbye and stuff.

>> and then josh doused the house with gasoline, prepared the axe he would use on the boys before he lit the match. around noon, the social worker brought charlie and braden to the court ordered visitation. josh grabbed the boy, brought them inside, locked her out. at 12:08, she made her first call to 9-1-1. >> hey, i'm on the supervised visitation for a court ordered visit. and something really weird has happened. the kids went into the house and the parent, the biological parent, his name is josh powell, will not let me in the door. what should i do? >> the operator kept her on the line, answering questions for nearly seven minutes. >> date of birth? >> i don't know, he's about 39. >> how tall? >> 5 foot 10, 150 pounds. >> hair color? >> brown. >> do you notice what he was wearing? >> no, i didn't notice what he was wearing. >> and finally. >> all right we'll have

somebody there. >> how long will it be? >> i don't know, ma'am, we have to respond to emergency life-threatening situations first. the first available deputy -- >> this could be life-threatening. he went to court on wednesday and he didn't get his kids back. and this is really -- i'm afraid for their lives. >> deputies were alerted by dispatch of 12:16 pm. it was flagged as a routine call. and at that moment, 9-1-1 lit up with multiple reports of an explosion and fire. >> 9-1-1, what are you reporting? >> i just heard a house explode. >> the house just blew up and it's on fire. >> what are you reporting? >> i believe, fire. >> where? >> the social worker who delivered the boys to josh was back on the phone. >> he exploded the house. >> do you know if anyone was in the house? >> yes! there was a man, and two children. i just dropped off the children and he wouldn't let me in the door. >> chuck cox heard the news from a friend who had seen it

on facebook. >> and when i got there there were police cars, fire trucks and the house was smoldering. and i still didn't believe it. >> with the horror and disbelief came questions. could this have been foreseen? could josh's evil plan somehow have been derailed? >> i feel strongly that the judge did everything possible to protect the boys. josh did it, and i truly believe that when someone is committed to doing something this horrific, there is nothing anybody can do to stop them. he was going to do it. >> but could the children have been rescued in those final moments? is someone to blame? >> it was horrible. i mean, this has been a nightmare. >> fingers have been pointed at this man. dave loverack, he's the 9-1-1 dispatcher who caught the initial call that day. >> what is the address? >> just one of thousands in his 18 years in the job. >> to hear how clumsy and faltering i sounded.

>> the visit is with josh powell. he is the husband that i supervise. >> so you supervise and you're doing to visit? >> when i supervise -- >> you supervise yourself? >> i supervise myself. >> wait a minute, if it's a supervised visit, you can't supervise yourself. >> it's painful because you know what is going to happen when you listen to it. at the time, you don't know what was going to happen. as you listen to it now, what does it do to you? >> it's excruciating. it is painful to listen to. >> the dad's last name? >> powell. >> i was aware of josh powell story, but i didn't associate his name. and so his name was not resonating with me. >> to l's at the end of powell? >> yes. >> realizing what we know now i wish i would've recognize the urgency of the situation. >> you're in a position that nobody could've imagined. >> right. you don't automatically default to the notion that the person you're dealing with is a psychopath. it's difficult when one goes south on you, like this one did.

>> the coxs don't blame dave loverack, not at all. and they've worked hard to stay calm, even after the loss of their grandsons, along with josh and whatever he may have known about susan. >> i think he was very selfish. and that is why he took the kids. if he couldn't have them, no one could have some. >> i would've appreciated it if he had left a note and told us where susan was, something. >> maybe the point was not to tell anyone. >> yeah. >> yeah. i'm sure he wants for us to never find her. >> he is still mad at us, you know? mad at us because we won't give up on our daughter, on finding our daughter. >> investigators have not given up either. they searched that storage unit at josh's and recovered a comforter among susan's belongings. preliminary tests indicated bloodstains on it, and chuck cox believes there is still one person who can answer his questions. >> his dad knows something, his

dad had some part in this. >> police have named steven powell a person of interest, though he was far away when susan disappeared, they have questions. did he goad josh into something? did he devise or seek to hide something, did his words help cause something? a police source say they grilled steven relentlessly. his response was silence. but authorities were not done with steven. in 2012, he was convicted of those voyeurism charges, and three years later, found guilty of possession of child pornography. he was paroled in 2017, and then died of a heart attack a year later. the parents of the sunny girl at the center of this mystery, there is no end to their hurt. and yet -- >> we can be mad to josh, we can be mad at steve, it's not

anger, it's sadness. but there is hope, we believe that they are safe in another life with the heavenly father. and it will all be better. so, we have that hope. >> chuck and judy cox won a civil suit against the state of washington's -- claiming negligence. the jury awarded the states of charlie and braden $95.5 million to police in utah halted the search for susan, and the case remains open. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i'm adriana canning, thanks for watching. ♪♪ this sunday, iowa decides. >> are you ready to make some history on monday night? >> this is go time. republicans are facing frostbite and dangerous