Steven Powell, a key figure in a gruesome saga that started in 2009 with the disappearance of his daughter-in-law and ended last year with his release from prison after serving time for possession of child pornography, died Sunday. He was 68.

Powell died in a Tacoma hospital as a result of heart problems, Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said Monday.

Powell was the father-in-law of Susan Powell, a woman who went missing from her home in