Josh Powell house
Gifts left to honor the memory of Josh Powell's little boysThe victims of the events of the last horrifying day in the lives of Josh Powell and his young sons just keep piling up. His wife Susan Powell's parents, Chuck and Judy Cox. His family. The neighbors. And now the 911 calls made by a social worker have been released, making it clear she should be on the list too. 

The system gets a lot of grief, but it's evident the woman whose job it was to bring little Charlie and Braden Powell to their father's house for a supervised visit, only to have the door slammed in her face and locked, did everything she could for those children. She jumped on the phone with 911 immediately and asked for help. And when the house exploded before her very eyes, you can hear the very real pain in her voice.


Washingtonpost - 911 audio: Josh Powell 'exploded the house' (1:13)

This 911 call is a sad reminder that in his decision to kill himself and his children, Josh Powell did so much more. He left behind all these people who are cursed with hindsight and left to wonder "what if" they could have stopped it.

What if the people at the goodwill center where he'd dropped off his kids' belongings before the murder-suicide had noticed he was a little off? What if cops had been tracking his bank activity so they would have noticed his sudden $7,000 withdrawal? What if cops had taken little Braden's pictures claiming mommy was in the trunk of their car and been able to use them to prove Josh should be "more" than a person of interest in Susan's missing persons case? What if family members who received odd voicemails from him had acted sooner? What if that social worker hadn't taken the kids there that day?

Folks, none of these what ifs are fair. None of these people could have prevented a sick, twisted man from hurting his children. But this is the nature of humanity. We go back over tragedy in our minds again and again. This is how Josh Powell has hurt not just his immediate family, but so many more innocent people.

This poor social worker was just doing the job the court had assigned her to do, and now she has to live with the knowledge that she was the person who delivered these children to their death. She has to live with seeing that image over and over again in her mind, probably every time she closes her eyes.

Even if cops solve Susan Powell's disappearance tomorrow, this tragedy is not going to disappear overnight. Josh Powell's wake of destruction is too big.

Do you have any words of solace for these poor people in pain?

 

Image via Stephen Brashear/Getty Images