Susan Powell case called murder

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Authorities have been investigating the disappearance of Susan Powell as a murder for at least several months, while they publicly left open the possibility that the Utah mother might be found alive.

A Washington state search warrant obtained by The Associated Press Tuesday through a public records request showed that police were investigating three felonies in Utah: first-degree murder, kidnapping and obstructing a public servant.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill acknowledged for the first time that Powell is believed probably dead, but he said the case remains a missing persons probe for now. Gill wouldn't discuss the evidence, but said authorities don't have enough information to file charges in the case.

"I think when I talk about it as a missing persons case, that's because we haven't located the body of Susan Powell," Gill said in an interview with the AP.

"Do we think that she may have met harm? Sure. I think that's been an ongoing assumption with law enforcement," he said, adding that the case remains "open and active."

Investigators are reassessing the case after her husband Josh Powell, a "person of interest" in her 2009 disappearance, torched his home this weekend, killing himself and their two young children.

ABC News obtained what it says was a voicemail Josh Powell left for his family members. In it, Powell said he couldn't live without the boys and didn't want to go on anymore.

In the recording played yesterday on "Good Morning America," Powell also said he was calling to say goodbye and apologize.

"I'm sorry to everyone I've hurt," he is heard saying. "Goodbye."