She disappeared in 2009 while the family lived in West Valley City, Utah. She has never been found, and police in Utah named Josh Powell as a “person of interest” in the case.
The boys’ grandfather, Chuck Cox, has said Braden, the younger of the two Powell children, had drawn a picture the summer after his mother’s disappearance. The drawing showed three people in a vehicle.
Asked what was in the drawing by his day care teachers, Braden – about 3 at the time – said the drawing showed himself, his dad and his brother Charlie.
Asked where his mother was, he replied, “Mommy is in the trunk,” Chuck Cox said Monday. He said Braden said the vehicle stopped somewhere and that his mother got out and never came back, Cox said.
He believes the children might have been able to remember more details about the trip had they been able to undergo hypnosis.
What happened to the drawing?
Braden gave it to his father, said Judy Cox, the children’s grandmother.
West Valley City police spokesman Sgt. Mike Powell declined to say Tuesday whether detectives had heard about or seen the drawing.
“I am not able to discuss anything pertinent to the investigation,” said Powell, who is not related to Josh Powell. “We want to maintain the integrity of the investigation.”
Debbie Cafazzo and Stacey Mulick, staff writers
Service for Charlie, Braden
Charlie and Braden Powell will be remembered Saturday during a funeral service.
The service for Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, will begin at 1 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 13420 94th Ave. E. in Puyallup, the Curnow Funeral Home & Cremation Service announced Tuesday. The public is invited to attend.
The family will take part in a private interment at Woodbine Cemetery afterward.
