Analysis: What Josh Powell's murder of his two young sons says about Susan Cox Powell's disappearance

There are several theories about what happened to Susan Powell, including new revelations to the LA Times that her oldest son had drawn a picture for a school assignment that depicted his mother in the trunk of the family car.

"Charlie drew a picture at school. You were supposed to draw a picture of something you had done during the summer. And he drew a picture of the family's vehicle, with Dad driving the car, he and Braden in the back seat, and Mom was in the trunk," Tacoma attorney Steve Downing told the Los Angeles Times.

Josh Powell and his father created a website after Susan's disappearance based on the premise that Susan had left the family on her own accord. On it they said, "Susan knows that she cannot return without having people of the same mentality as the Cox 'Friends and Family' turn on her. As difficult as it has been for Josh to cope with this, we believe that in Susan's emotional state she will not be able to face it."

In a 2009 interview with Greta Van Sustern, Kiirsi Hallewell, Susan Powell's best friend, spoke of divorce, but indicated things had gotten better before her disappearance.

"They have had their problems in the past, and some of them were somewhat more severe than some of the other couples I have known," Hallewell said. "But they both told me in the past couple of months that things are getting much better.

Josh's father Steven agrees that Susan was motivated "sexually" and "financially" to leave her family. In an interview with ABC News, he told the reporter that Susan came onto him to the point where he began to "fall in love with her."

Criminal profiler Marcel Elfers believes Steven Powell may have something to do with Susan's disappearance, inferring that events leading up to her disappearance open up the "possibility that Josh left the home with the children to give someone else ample time to clean up the evidence. A person with his own secrets that Josh knows about, a person that is a confidant, a person willing to cooperate, a person like a dad with norms and values that are extended outside acceptable boundaries. Law enforcement will soon figure it out. The charges against the father increase the stress levels on Josh and Steve Powell. One will be played against the other and the one that gives in first is not the murderer."

In the same ABC interview where Steven Powell confessed his attraction to Susan, a reporter asked Josh directly, "Did you kill your wife?" "I would never hurt her," Josh replied.

Elfers gives his professional opinion: "That answer is very telling.

"First, he did not answer the question and did not deny killing her. Secondly, he makes a conditional claim referencing to the future ('would never') and thirdly, he down plays the question by changing 'killing' to just 'hurting.' Such statements are very often deceptive in nature. Lying makes one extremely uncomfortable. They rather make a truthful statement and then leave critical information out. 'I would never hurt her' is such a statement. He avoided a direct answer without lying and that is 'lying by omission.' "

Answers may become available to these and other questions in the coming days and months. However, many may be left unanswered including what happened to Susan Cox Powell now that Josh Powell and his little boys are gone.