Family plans online blitz for missing mom
PUYALLUP, Wash. - Twitter and Facebook are about to play key roles in the search for a missing mother from Puyallup.
Her family plans to saturate the sites - and others - in a media blitz to find Susan Powell, who disappeared nearly a month ago.
It's an experiment, and no one knows if it will work. People often find friends with Facebook - although this could be the first time the site has been used to find a missing person.
But Susan's desperate family is ready to try anything. On Saturday, one of her kids turned 3 years old. And her family says she wouldn't miss his birthday for the world unless she was in trouble.
Susan Powell disappeared from her Utah home nearly a month ago under suspicious circumstances.
Shelby Gifford is the family spokesperson. She says that by the time she is done, she hopes everyone in the world will know about the desperate search for Susan Powell.
"Using different social networking sites, using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube - lots of different sites like that," she says.
"It's just an opportunity to remind people that we're still looking for her. And if they pass that around, our hope is that it will go viral."
For example, YouTube has a channel dedicated to Powell.
And the Facebook page includes an extensive photo gallery of the 28-year-old mother of two.
Susan's husband Joshua attended a candlelight vigil for her in Puyallup two weeks ago.
He told police he last saw Susan just before he took their children on a midnight camping trip in the snow. When they got back, he says she was gone.
Police now consider Joshua a person of interest.
"She would never disappear and leave her babies here with somebody else," says Gifford. "It's just a huge red flag for the family."
KOMO News went looking for Joshua at his father's house, where he's visiting for the holidays. We were told through the door to go away, and Joshua would not answer questions.
Susan's supporters hope their online media blitz brings out the truth.
"We're hoping that somebody might remember something. They'll see this. They'll remember. Something will hit them that before they hadn't though about. Some bit of information will get passed on to the police," Gifford says.
The tweets and postings start Monday morning and will continue non-stop for 72 hours.
People who want to help can send an e-mail to findsusanpowell@gmail.com.
Her family plans to saturate the sites - and others - in a media blitz to find Susan Powell, who disappeared nearly a month ago.
It's an experiment, and no one knows if it will work. People often find friends with Facebook - although this could be the first time the site has been used to find a missing person.
But Susan's desperate family is ready to try anything. On Saturday, one of her kids turned 3 years old. And her family says she wouldn't miss his birthday for the world unless she was in trouble.
Susan Powell disappeared from her Utah home nearly a month ago under suspicious circumstances.
Shelby Gifford is the family spokesperson. She says that by the time she is done, she hopes everyone in the world will know about the desperate search for Susan Powell.
"Using different social networking sites, using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube - lots of different sites like that," she says.
"It's just an opportunity to remind people that we're still looking for her. And if they pass that around, our hope is that it will go viral."
For example, YouTube has a channel dedicated to Powell.
And the Facebook page includes an extensive photo gallery of the 28-year-old mother of two.
Susan's husband Joshua attended a candlelight vigil for her in Puyallup two weeks ago.
He told police he last saw Susan just before he took their children on a midnight camping trip in the snow. When they got back, he says she was gone.
Police now consider Joshua a person of interest.
"She would never disappear and leave her babies here with somebody else," says Gifford. "It's just a huge red flag for the family."
KOMO News went looking for Joshua at his father's house, where he's visiting for the holidays. We were told through the door to go away, and Joshua would not answer questions.
Susan's supporters hope their online media blitz brings out the truth.
"We're hoping that somebody might remember something. They'll see this. They'll remember. Something will hit them that before they hadn't though about. Some bit of information will get passed on to the police," Gifford says.
The tweets and postings start Monday morning and will continue non-stop for 72 hours.
People who want to help can send an e-mail to findsusanpowell@gmail.com.