Could Washington have done more to protect Powell boys?

SEATTLE — State authorities can expect tough questions about whether more might have been done to protect a missing Utah woman's two children, who died along with their father after authorities say he ignited his home in an inferno Sunday.

Josh Powell was a person of interest in his wife's disappearance. Why was he allowed to meet with his sons at all? Why weren't more precautions taken, such as requiring that supervised visits be at a neutral site rather than at his home?

The answers rest largely in that no concrete evidence has emerged publicly linking him with Susan Powell's disappearance, and Josh Powell was never arrested or charged in the case. Josh Powell had custody of the boys for nearly two years after his wife vanished. And it was only because his father — with whom Josh Powell and the boys lived — was arrested in a voyeurism and child pornography case last fall that the children were taken out of the home and placed with Susan's parents.

Sherry Hill, a spokeswoman for the Children's Administration at the Department of Social and Health Services, said state authorities work closely with courts to determine whether supervised visits should be allowed and whether they should be held at a parent's home or at a neutral site.

"If there had been any indication of suicidal thoughts, or anything that we would have thought there was an intent to harm the children, we would have taken immediate action," she said. "If we had thought that, we would have done what we could. I don't think there's anything else we could have done."

And as devastated as Susan's parents are to have lost her and now her sons, they aren't critical of how the custody case was handled, said their attorney, Steve Downing.

"They knew that legally he would probably have supervised visitation," Downing said. "It was their belief he had something to do with Susan's disappearance, and that ultimately he could harm the children. But they believed the state had listened to them and had taken appropriate measures to protect them. They don't know what more the state could have done."

Supervised visits are typically ordered to take place at a neutral site in cases of documented abuse or domestic violence, Downing said. Powell had been having supervised visits with the boys twice a week, three hours at a time, for about four months.