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1991 cold case Susan Carol Cassell


tomahawkchomp

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So Susan Carol Cassell was a nurse at Boswell Memorial Hospital in 1991. She lived in Glendale Az with her young son Kyle and husband James, known as Jim. Susan calls her mom and tells her she's tired after working 16 hour shift and that's the last anyone is heard from her. Jims story from the cops is he decided to take his 4 year old camping in the middle of the night and when he gets back poof! Susan was gone. Jim gets a divorce then runs away to Pennselvania with Kyle. Jim is now in his 60s and is a mall Santa living of his veterans benifits. Kyle is a dad to a young son himself. They both are best buddies don't seem to care about Susan.Susans mom died a few years ago too. So its up to us to care about her. How are we going to solve this case?

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Well, it's a familiar story...that is, wife missing, husband camping. Surely, the husband's story didn't make sense from the get-go, but regardless...

I don't think this case can be solved unless remains are found and even then, only if there's incriminating evidence at the recovery site.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cassell_susan.html

http://www.missingveterans.com/1991/susan-cassell/

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this would be a good case for "Cold Justice".

Theres not enough info.....was there life insurance? Did the husband have a job? Did they go camping often or was this out of character? Was the area they camped in thoroughly checked?

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Now wait a minute... if her remains were found anywhere in the vicinity of where he said he camped, then to me, the location alone would be incriminating enough to bring a murder charge. (I mean, that together with his cockamamie story.)

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  • 3 weeks later...

It really makes me wonder when a new member pops up and only focuses on one case.. Are they associated with it in some way>?

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  • 3 months later...

I knew Susan. I am related to her (by family). We weren't particularly close but I've thought of her many times over the years. Interesting that I decided to look up this case today which turns out to be the anniversary of her disappearance. My understanding is that the police always felt the husband did it (as I do and all her family members do) and felt he killed her and buried her on the the property, but that there wasn't the technology back then to do the kind of investigation available to them today.

Out of curiosity I looked the ex up on facebook this morning and there is the son in his friend's list, all grown up and looking so much like Susan. I wonder what he has been told (he was only 4 or 5 at the time). I agree this would be an excellent case to dust off and dig into.

The ex by the way is only 55. And Kyle has a daughter not a son. But yeah it didn't look to me like there was any bad blood there.

One more thing... I know we're talking Arizona... but still to go camping in the mountains in January is COLD. It's enough of a red flag (and so reminiscent of another Susan we're all familiar with) that you'd think someone would want to investigate that a little further.

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I knew Susan. I am related to her (by family). We weren't particularly close but I've thought of her many times over the years. Interesting that I decided to look up this case today which turns out to be the anniversary of her disappearance. My understanding is that the police always felt the husband did it (as I do and all her family members do) and felt he killed her and buried her on the the property, but that there wasn't the technology back then to do the kind of investigation available to them today.

Out of curiosity I looked the ex up on facebook this morning and there is the son in his friend's list, all grown up and looking so much like Susan. I wonder what he has been told (he was only 4 or 5 at the time). I agree this would be an excellent case to dust off and dig into.

The ex by the way is only 55. And Kyle has a daughter not a son. But yeah it didn't look to me like there was any bad blood there.

One more thing... I know we're talking Arizona... but still to go camping in the mountains in January is COLD. It's enough of a red flag (and so reminiscent of another Susan we're all familiar with) that you'd think someone would want to investigate that a little further.

you should go to the Cold Justice website and suggest this case. if you are able to contact the PD working the case, you should encourage them to contact Cold Justice. Cold Justice will only work a case if Law enforcement agrees. good luck with it. Susan does deserve justice and the lame camping story does make the husband look very suspicious to say the least.

Edited by mbrn30000
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I knew Susan. I am related to her (by family). We weren't particularly close but I've thought of her many times over the years. Interesting that I decided to look up this case today which turns out to be the anniversary of her disappearance. My understanding is that the police always felt the husband did it (as I do and all her family members do) and felt he killed her and buried her on the the property, but that there wasn't the technology back then to do the kind of investigation available to them today.

Out of curiosity I looked the ex up on facebook this morning and there is the son in his friend's list, all grown up and looking so much like Susan. I wonder what he has been told (he was only 4 or 5 at the time). I agree this would be an excellent case to dust off and dig into.

The ex by the way is only 55. And Kyle has a daughter not a son. But yeah it didn't look to me like there was any bad blood there.

One more thing... I know we're talking Arizona... but still to go camping in the mountains in January is COLD. It's enough of a red flag (and so reminiscent of another Susan we're all familiar with) that you'd think someone would want to investigate that a little further.

Have you ever thought about talking about it with Kyle? Could he have evidence or suspect his dad did it? I was the one who posted this case on my friends account because I lost mine. I really hope it gets solved. We looked through his Facebook and James, Susan's ex, is shady. He is a mall santa which is a really creepy profession similar to an ice cream man: one usually occupied by sexual predators. At the time of her "disappearance" Susan was leaving James but was there any history of domestic violence? I believe both were in the military and traveled around allot. It still screams guilty for a man to run away to a state across the country when his wife and mother of his kids is missing. What type of criminal history does this creep have?

Edited by Lucas North-justiceseeker
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It really makes me wonder when a new member pops up and only focuses on one case.. Are they associated with it in some way>?

I posted this case on my friends account and was a toddler when Susan went missing in 1991. You shouldn't jump to conclusions without facts but if your so convinced I did it ask law enforcement to check me out. The detective on the Angela Brosso case knows me and they know I am pretty much the only one on the internet trying to get old cold cases from the Phoenix area some national publicity.

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thank you I did that... and then see where they only want submissions from the investigating PD. But thanks for the recommendation. I'll follow through with Glendale PD

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Hi Lucas North Justice Seeker, if you mean me, yes I'm a brand new member and signed up specifically to comment on this case. Was thinking of her today and did a google search which led me here... I guess I am associated in some round about way... but only knew Susan peripherally... Even so it seems so wrong to have had this happen to her. No way would she have just left on her own.

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I think there was domestic violence history (possibly on both sides). I've never spoken with Kyle. I never knew him (my sister did when he was a little kid). I just found his FB account today.

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As a member interested in these cold case cases, did anyone ever check where the husband and the child supposedly camped that night right after seeing his wife and this mother and was the child ever questioned?

Edited by docyabut2
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I knew Susan. I am related to her (by family). We weren't particularly close but I've thought of her many times over the years. Interesting that I decided to look up this case today which turns out to be the anniversary of her disappearance. My understanding is that the police always felt the husband did it (as I do and all her family members do) and felt he killed her and buried her on the the property, but that there wasn't the technology back then to do the kind of investigation available to them today.

Out of curiosity I looked the ex up on facebook this morning and there is the son in his friend's list, all grown up and looking so much like Susan. I wonder what he has been told (he was only 4 or 5 at the time). I agree this would be an excellent case to dust off and dig into.

The ex by the way is only 55. And Kyle has a daughter not a son. But yeah it didn't look to me like there was any bad blood there.

One more thing... I know we're talking Arizona... but still to go camping in the mountains in January is COLD. It's enough of a red flag (and so reminiscent of another Susan we're all familiar with) that you'd think someone would want to investigate that a little further.

Which property did they suspect she was buried on? The family home in Glendale? Also which "mountains" did James say he was going to?

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I don't want to perpetuate misinformation.. that may have been hearsay. I heard it from another family member. But I assume it means the property they owned at the time.

Edited by ecalypso
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Her husband was the last one to see her, but yet the vehicle she had left in was later located at her family’s residence, how far was her family`s residence from the home she had shared with her husband?

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Ok i spoke with my ex-brother-in-law's current wife; she's now aware of this thread. She has a lot of info, probably more than anyone else. She may even come over and contribute to this thread. She and my ex-brother-in-law inherited a lot of documents from Susan's mother when she died and also spoke with the detective who was involved with the case at the time -- he flew out to FL (where they now live) and spoke with them in 1996. He said this case always haunted him and would until the day he died.

This is what I've learned -- and again some of this is based on 20+ year recollections. Susan and Jim fought all the time and at one point she left him. She and Kyle went to live with her parents in Michigan and then reconciled with Jim shortly before she disappeared. At that time she called her mother every single day from her and Jim's place in AZ. The last call was the one after her 16-hour shift when she told her mom she was going to get some sleep and would call tomorrow.

I guess they didn't have "property" ...to quote my ex-bnl's wife they "didn't have a pot to p*** in" -- and her car was found at their house, not their relative's house. Her purse and checkbook was also left there and he actually tried to cash one of her paychecks after she turned up missing.

The detective was speaking of surrounding property which I guess there were some areas near or behind the house that might have been a place to hide/ bury a body. I just don't know about that.

He did say that when he was at the house he sat down in front of Susan's computer (which back then you have to remember were dinosaurs compared to the ones we have today). and the screen popped up some kind of business or financial stuff Susan had apparently been working on. I don't know how relevant that is as that's all the info I have on that.

According to my ex-bnl's wife, Jim left AZ almost immediately and went to PA to live with his parents who ended up raising Kyle. Years later when Minnie (her husband's mother) died she called to inform them (Jim's parents) and his father said "I don't care that she died." Apparently Minnie had been sending Kyle xmas cards and gifts for years that he never got.

Jim got a divorce a year after Susan "went missing" while in Pennsylvania. He must have remarried as he had a daughter at some point later on.

My ex-bnl's wife does not know where they said went camping but I'm sure the detectives asked and followed that lead afterwards. But you have to remember it was Jan and the mountains in AZ are cold and Kyle would have been less than 4 yrs old at the time. That should have set up numerous red flags.

My ex-bnl's wife also said that Minnie is the one who reported her missing on the 4th, not Jim. And that her words to the detective were "he did something to her." They were fighting a lot and she was preparing to leave him again,

He apparently had violent rages, possibly stemming from a head injury as I guess he has a metal plate in his head.

My ex-bnl's wife found Kyle on Facebook and contacted him. They began corresponding and she's sent him a bunch of pictures of him and his mother as well as his various aunts and uncles, grandmother etc. Kyle told her he didn't even know he had living relatives on that side of the family.

She feels very protective of Kyle and doesn't want to send him what she has (or even relay her suspicions apparently) and says she will send him that info after his dad dies. I obviously feel differently. I think he has a right to know and Santa needs to be investigated. But when Kyle asked "wonder why I didn't even know I had all these relatives" she told him "ask your dad!"

That's about all I know.. But I'm left wondering, if this man is truly innocent why didn't he at the very least want his son to have memories of his mother. photos, information on relatives, etc? Why keep all the Christmas cards and birthday gifts that had been sent to him over the years away from him? Why run away and get a divorce a year after his wife "went missing" rather than participating in the investigation to find her?

I personally think this is a GREAT story for Cold Justice or something similar... Mall Santa arrested in unsolved murder. blah blah.

Anyway I will add more as i find more and hopefully have cleared up anything I've added that was erroneous.

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Ok i spoke with my ex-brother-in-law's current wife; she's now aware of this thread. She has a lot of info, probably more than anyone else. She may even come over and contribute to this thread. She and my ex-brother-in-law inherited a lot of documents from Susan's mother when she died and also spoke with the detective who was involved with the case at the time -- he flew out to FL (where they now live) and spoke with them in 1996. He said this case always haunted him and would until the day he died.

This is what I've learned -- and again some of this is based on 20+ year recollections. Susan and Jim fought all the time and at one point she left him. She and Kyle went to live with her parents in Michigan and then reconciled with Jim shortly before she disappeared. At that time she called her mother every single day from her and Jim's place in AZ. The last call was the one after her 16-hour shift when she told her mom she was going to get some sleep and would call tomorrow.

I guess they didn't have "property" ...to quote my ex-bnl's wife they "didn't have a pot to p*** in" -- and her car was found at their house, not their relative's house. Her purse and checkbook was also left there and he actually tried to cash one of her paychecks after she turned up missing.

The detective was speaking of surrounding property which I guess there were some areas near or behind the house that might have been a place to hide/ bury a body. I just don't know about that.

He did say that when he was at the house he sat down in front of Susan's computer (which back then you have to remember were dinosaurs compared to the ones we have today). and the screen popped up some kind of business or financial stuff Susan had apparently been working on. I don't know how relevant that is as that's all the info I have on that.

According to my ex-bnl's wife, Jim left AZ almost immediately and went to PA to live with his parents who ended up raising Kyle. Years later when Minnie (her husband's mother) died she called to inform them (Jim's parents) and his father said "I don't care that she died." Apparently Minnie had been sending Kyle xmas cards and gifts for years that he never got.

Jim got a divorce a year after Susan "went missing" while in Pennsylvania. He must have remarried as he had a daughter at some point later on.

My ex-bnl's wife does not know where they said went camping but I'm sure the detectives asked and followed that lead afterwards. But you have to remember it was Jan and the mountains in AZ are cold and Kyle would have been less than 4 yrs old at the time. That should have set up numerous red flags.

My ex-bnl's wife also said that Minnie is the one who reported her missing on the 4th, not Jim. And that her words to the detective were "he did something to her." They were fighting a lot and she was preparing to leave him again,

He apparently had violent rages, possibly stemming from a head injury as I guess he has a metal plate in his head.

My ex-bnl's wife found Kyle on Facebook and contacted him. They began corresponding and she's sent him a bunch of pictures of him and his mother as well as his various aunts and uncles, grandmother etc. Kyle told her he didn't even know he had living relatives on that side of the family.

She feels very protective of Kyle and doesn't want to send him what she has (or even relay her suspicions apparently) and says she will send him that info after his dad dies. I obviously feel differently. I think he has a right to know and Santa needs to be investigated. But when Kyle asked "wonder why I didn't even know I had all these relatives" she told him "ask your dad!"

That's about all I know.. But I'm left wondering, if this man is truly innocent why didn't he at the very least want his son to have memories of his mother. photos, information on relatives, etc? Why keep all the Christmas cards and birthday gifts that had been sent to him over the years away from him? Why run away and get a divorce a year after his wife "went missing" rather than participating in the investigation to find her?

I personally think this is a GREAT story for Cold Justice or something similar... Mall Santa arrested in unsolved murder. blah blah.

Anyway I will add more as i find more and hopefully have cleared up anything I've added that was erroneous.

Thank you so much for this info

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Did the authorities ever search their house for foulplay?In most of these cases wives are strangled to death leaving no evidence.It really is a shame these guys get away with the murder of their wives, when a body can`nt be found.

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Yes they have, I've spoken with the detective assigned to this case and it seems they've done quite a bit including going out to PA to meet with both Jim and Kyle. I think unless there is a real break in this case -- someone confesses or a body is found -- it will probably remain unsolved.

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Yes they have, I've spoken with the detective assigned to this case and it seems they've done quite a bit including going out to PA to meet with both Jim and Kyle. I think unless there is a real break in this case -- someone confesses or a body is found -- it will probably remain unsolved.

What about Jim's friends in Phoenix? Did he have potential accomplices? People who supported his ridiculous alibies?

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  • 9 months later...

I just found this site while doing a search on Susan to see if her case had ever been solved. I was a friend of hers when she used to work at the VA in Tucson, before she got married. We still kept in touch from time to time after she moved. I hope someday I'll find out what happened to her. She was a very nice person & a good mom. Here's an old photo of her.

susan-cassell.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
On 10/18/2016 at 6:59 PM, TrishAnn said:

I just found this site while doing a search on Susan to see if her case had ever been solved. I was a friend of hers when she used to work at the VA in Tucson, before she got married. We still kept in touch from time to time after she moved. I hope someday I'll find out what happened to her. She was a very nice person & a good mom. Here's an old photo of her.

susan-cassell.jpg

Is that what her Husband really looked like back then? Today he looks like a hippie Santa Claus. I saw his Facebook BTW. Completely different. He looks a little off for what seems like was taken at a portrait studio for a family picture.

Edited by Lucas North-justiceseeker
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19 minutes ago, Lucas North-justiceseeker said:

Is that what her Husband really looked like back then? Today he looks like a hippie Santa Claus. I saw his Facebook BTW. Completely different. He looks a little off for what seems like was taken at a portrait studio for a family picture.

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/s960x960/14257459_119668151824574_3843394887396377628_o.jpg

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Very strange how the cops just let this guy leave to another state. And never question him again it sounds like he got away with murder if you ask me, i hope they find her body and lock him up,that guy has killer written all over his face

Edited by coolguy
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