Mine co-owner Bob Murray has clashed with the families in the past. After an Aug. 16 collapse killed three rescuers and injured six others, Murray declared the mountain "evil," and said he would suspend rescue efforts. He also told the family members the six trapped miners were likely dead.

"Mr. Murray, you promised us you would get them dead or alive," Jackie Taylor, the mother of Brandon Phillips' girlfriend, recalled asking him in a heated conversation.

Murray told the Deseret Morning News last week that he was merely the bearer of bad news and never returned to the family meetings. He shut down the Crandall Canyon Mine and laid off 170 workers at his other mines in Utah.

Feeling helpless

Across Utah's coal country, the frustration of the rescue effort has been weighing upon everyone.

"I think for the last week, I've kind of seen it coming," said Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon. "The writing has been on the wall."

Gordon was at the meeting with the families and said some were understanding of MSHA's decision to suspend the rescue. Others were angry, frustrated and disappointed, demanding that more be done.

"All of us are feeling helpless," Gordon said. "None of us like the outcome."

Olsen said that for the past 10 days, he's watched the families each come to terms on some level with the possibility their loved ones are dead. He's watched some families begin to grieve privately. What weighs heavily is the unanswered questions of what happened to the miners.

"The prospect of not knowing terrifies some of them," Olsen said. "Did they die quickly? Did some of them get away and suffocate?"

Emery County Sheriff Lamar Guymon said it has been tough for the families.

"They're giving up hope a little, because nobody knows what to do and where to go," he said Friday night.

In a statement late Friday, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said he hoped the families would be able to get some form of closure.

"The most important thing now is for the families to feel at peace with the decision made with MSHA," he said. "These families, and the whole community, have endured so much throughout this devastating tragedy. Each family must determine their own way of gaining closure and moving on to honor those loved ones who have been lost."

The governor is asking for an interfaith memorial service for the six missing miners to be held in the next couple of weeks.

Investigations