NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - # 1

[ella's mom]

Ok. I am back to my Craigslist research. I was focusing on Nevada Craigslist earlier and realized St. George CL might be a good place to look as well (duh!!). Ran into the same problem with dates though. In this case, I could not go further back than December 14th. Not knowing where to start, I searched for LDS in all personals. Whoa!! Got a little more than I bargained for. Webrocket just might be on to something there.

Warning very graphic in nature. I am not going to post a link, due to some of the content.

I am not saying this has anything to do with Steven, but it does back up what Web was saying about LDS's feelings on gay relationships or what LDS members feel the church would think. (Hopefully that makes sense).

 

[Fairy1]

I went to craigslist and under neveda, las vegas, search steven under the personals and this is what I found: (you could go there and contact that ad just in case it could be him)

I am looking for Mr. Steven *advertiser censored* - Black Jack expert - 30 (Excalibur)
Date: 2010-01-05, 11:47PM PST
Reply To This Post

We met at Excalibur in Las Vegas on 12th of Dec - we were two hungarian girls who asked your help to learn playing Black Jack..
And you were very kind and didn't give it up teaching us as long as we needed...We had really a great time: laughing a lot next to the table!
There was only one thing: you were said about something - even though you won.. I hope everything is fine with you.

Actually I was smiling at you and that was it..., as I was not brave enough to step forward (I was the one who didn't play).
But here is the New Year, so I decided to try to find you and tell you that you impressed me a lot.. more than anyone else ever...when shall I say it if not this time, eh?

Happy New Year - when all your dreams come true!
Truly Yours, *advertiser censored*
The hungarian girl


* Location: Excalibur
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests



PostingID: 1539602258

Hmmmm. This is interesting.

I can't go back to the job postings in the RJ prior to Steve going missing.

 

[Fairy1]

Ok. I am back to my Craigslist research. I was focusing on Nevada Craigslist earlier and realized St. George CL might be a good place to look as well (duh!!). Ran into the same problem with dates though. In this case, I could not go further back than December 14th. Not knowing where to start, I searched for LDS in all personals. Whoa!! Got a little more than I bargained for. Webrocket just might be on to something there.

Warning very graphic in nature. I am not going to post a link, due to some of the content.

I am not saying this has anything to do with Steven, but it does back up what Web was saying about LDS's feelings on gay relationships or what LDS members feel the church would think. (Hopefully that makes sense).

Are you looking at the LV Craigslist ads?

I have to say, it doesn't really surprise me.

 

[ella's mom]

I went to craigslist and under neveda, las vegas, search steven under the personals and this is what I found: (you could go there and contact that ad just in case it could be him)

Snipped for space

PostingID: 1539602258

Welcome JBird. Great first post. Hope you plan on staying!!

 

[ella's mom]

Are you looking at the LV Craigslist ads?

I have to say, it doesn't really surprise me.

No, I did that earlier. I went to the St. George personals. I can give you the link. Let me know if you want me to PM it.

(P.S. I am glad you brought up the N. Francisco case. I did not realize he was found alive and well. What a JERK!!)

 

[Fairy1]

No, I did that earlier. I went to the St. George personals. I can give you the link. Let me know if you want me to PM it.

(P.S. I am glad you brought up the N. Francisco case. I did not realize he was found alive and well. What a JERK!!)

No worries - I have a Craigslist account - I just HATE going there....

Honestly, I think you could look in just about any city and find similar ads. NOT necessarily saying that's what we're dealing with here, but as I said earlier, it certainly wouldn't be unheard of. Thanks to your sleuthing, I guess that's obvious now.

Now then, at least we have a couple of possibilities for the portfolio. I'm leaning more toward the genealogy research at this point - only because it was a Sunday. I wonder if Steve attended church that day before heading off to Vegas?

O/T - you should check out the NF forum - I think there's a pic of him there from after he went missing. I wouldn't have recognized him if he knocked on my door and told me his name was Nicholas!

 

[Fairy1]

I want to share a couple of personal experiences I know of involving Mormon friends who have fallen out of grace with the church - in the hopes that it will help with Steven's case.

One of my best girlfriends was born and raised in the church. She completed her mission and attended BYU in Utah. After college, she returned to home and began working, where she fell in love with a married man. She had a relationship with this man for many, many years, during which time, she voluntarily stopped being a practicing Mormon because she felt it was hypocritical. She has always been close to her family - though they have always been aware of her situation - and her Mormon faith is still very much a part of her heart.

I have another good friend who is a gay male - also attended BYU in Utah. He too remains very close to his family and his faith is still very much a part of his life, though he no longer attends church regularly.

If Steven did feel that he needed to cut ties with his family - for whatever reason - maybe he'll see that some families are more understanding than expected and at least will let them know that he's ok somewhere.

 

[liz b.]

Is it possible that this guy went to Las Vegas to gamble ?

 

[fasteddy4]

I live not far away from the general area where Steven disappeared. Lived in this area for almost two years. I don't know the exact area of Anthem where Steven disappeared though. I follow disappearances pretty regularly but I did not even hear about this until like five days ago. Maybe that has to do with the coverage here in Las Vegas or me being off my game.

In any case, I was STUNNED to find out that someone disappeared in Anthem. It is one of the nicer, non-gated communities in Las Vegas/Henderson. I would say that it has to be one of the lowest crime areas in Las Vegas as well. I'm not even sure a murder has occurred in Anthem. Granted, the community is not more than seven years old but still. . .Las Vegas is not the safest city in the U.S. if you know what I mean. Granted, there may be some car thefts and burglaries but I would think that would be about it concerning crime in Anthem.

I watched the videos. What stood out to me is that in the second video you can definitely see that he is speeding down the street and when he gets to the street he eventually walks down, he slows WAY down in his car as if he is looking at the street name but continues down the other street. Five minutes later (we'll get to that in a second), we see him walk into frame, cross the street diagonally and disappears. This tells me:

-he had an address, meaning he did not aimlessly wander into the neighborhood.
-he had been told by whomever it was that he was to not park in front of the house he was driving to. So he continued driving down the other street, parked his car, and backtracked by walking to the street.

Also, I notice on the video that it is EXACTLY noon on the cameras. Taking for granted that the camera times are accurate, this makes me believe he had arranged to meet someone right at noon. I mean, what are the chances that he shows up in a neighborhood exactly at noon. . .1 in 60. In fact, he waits at least a couple of minutes in his car (the five minutes between him passing the street and him walking down it) before walking down the street. What this tells me:

-he was going to see a girl.

Why? If I am planning to pick up a friend of mine to go to a game, if I get there a couple of minutes early no big deal. BUT, if I am going on a date and picking a girl up or even meeting a girl, I know girls are ALWAYS late so I show up right on time. In this case, I believe that time was noon. A girl told him to meet her at her place at noon. She told him to park down the street for whatever reason (parking not allowed on the street, someone might see his car, it's street sweeping day. . .she could tell him anything since he doesn't live in Las Vegas).

The white SUV caught my eye. If that SUV cannot be located then I think it has something to do with his disappearance. If they find the person driving it, then I think the SUV had nothing to do with it. It went down the street then turned obviously in the cul de sac. It stopped in front of a house across the street. The person driving could easily see where Steven went. I just think it is not coincidental that a car just happens to go down that street, makes a u-turn, and stops right by the street that Steven walks down at the same time he is walking down that street. What are the odds of that? Not high that is for sure.

I don't think Steven was "leaving his life". The last place you would want to park a car to abandon it in Las Vegas would be in Anthem. He could have parked that car in a casino parking garage and it would have not been found for weeks. . .maybe months. Even with all the video cameras. In fact, I am surprised it took four days for someone to alert the police to a car in that cul de sac. I would have thought it would have been no more than a day given HOA's in this town.

As for the Craigslist ad, don't know what to think of it. Was Steven a blackjack player? I guess he could have done shopping in St. George and then made it to Las Vegas (an hour and forty minute drive), and met a couple of girls before the day was over. But the ad was written on Jan. 5. Either it's absolutely nothing and a weird coincidence (the name Steven is not rare) or it is someone covering their tracks by claiming to be looking for Steven while already knowing that he is gone. However, it also makes me think: Who the heck puts an ad on Craigslist looking for someone three weeks!!! after the fact? The only reason I would put a "looking for someone" ad on Craigslist would be if that is how I met someone in the first place. Right? But that would mean that the girl had the impression that the Mr. Steven was from Las Vegas in the first place, which Steven was not.

Why Steven had his "portfolio" with him? No idea. Was it really a portfolio? From the video, you can't tell what he has in his hands. Would he really have turned around and helped his friend out? No idea. Given what has happened, I don't think so. I think he was just going along with his friend truthfully. The "driving to Sacramento" ad? Could be a lead. But once again, why leave the car there? He could have left the car virtually anywhere else in Las Vegas that was more convenient than in the middle of some cul de sac way off a major road.

Will Steven be found? No idea. Is he still alive? No idea. But the gifts in the car, the parking of the car on a street, no phone/credit card/id use, etc. tells me that he is gone. All I can say is that police are lucky that one guy had video outside of his house or this would be an even bigger mystery than it already is.

What really happened? I am going to guess that Steven has a side to him that his friends and parents didn't know. That he just picked up and ended up in Vegas by himself where none of his friends live tells me all I need to know. Yes, he obviously had a good side to him: helping those kids locked out of their house. But, maybe he had some demons. Met some people on the Strip. Gave him an address. He shows up. Carried his portfolio to make it look like he is showing up at a house for a job. And something went wrong. . .Not hard to picture really. That being said I hope he turns up alive and well.

 

[Fairy1]

:Welcome-12-june: fasteddy4 - and thank you for your insights!

I agree that Anthem would not have been the best choice of places to hide a car if you didn't want it found anytime soon.

If that is Steven on the surveillance video, he definitely looks like he knows where he's going and he did park a bit away from his destination.

Maybe he was seeing a married, uh, person and trying to keep a low profile.

 

[Fairy1]

Is it possible that this guy went to Las Vegas to gamble ?

I would think so. Though Mesquite would have been closer. Then again, he could easily have run into someone he knew in Mesquite.

 

[fasteddy4]

A couple more things I just thought of. Did Steven have GPS? Would it not have the last address he was driving to? Even if he didn't drive exactly to the house. The person giving him the address would surely have given him the exact address so Steven could punch it into the GPS.

And even if Steven didn't have GPS, somebody would have DEFINITELY had to give him road by road, turn by turn directions. Like I said before, I don't know exactly where this all happened but I am absolutely sure that it was deep enough in Anthem that any person new to the area would need precise directions. (And being that Steven slowed down in the video tells me he was not sure where he was going) And once again, whoever gave him the directions would have surely given Steven the exact address and Steven would have written it down. I just don't think that Steven would be on the phone the whole time talking to someone while driving and that person giving him turn by turn directions as he went. Of course, that would be easy to prove by reviewing the cell phone records.

In addition, I know when someone gives me directions I usually leave the directions in the car when I get to wherever I am going. I think most people do this. Maybe these directions are still in the car? And the address of the house that he was headed to is written in the directions? Maybe someone even wrote down the directions for him? The police could then get the person's handwriting. Now, if it was part of what he was carrying to wherever he was walking, then it is gone and can't be used.

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

I agree with fasteddy4 on many points. I also think that the lack of phone records could be b/c the person he was meeting was planning on something "bad", so they made sure not to communicate that way. Has the family been able to access email accounts? I am sure if he was looking for work, he had a few.

Also, did he have any plans for the following days? No one noticed he was missing for four days...why? Did he not have any appointments lined up, meetings at church, dates???? Maybe he had planned on meeting someone and spending time with them, just not returning.

As an LDS woman, I know that if something would have happened to me when I was first away from home and partying...my family would have been shocked if I had met harm at some of the places I was. To this day, they have no idea, and don't need to. It was just what I was doing at that time in my life. Maybe he was experimenting, met someone on the internet, went to meet them...and they had planned to kill him all along, or things just got out of hand. This seems very plausible. Someone could have been staying at a relatives house or in a vacant house...hence maintaining the appearance that a house was still vacant or owners were out of town by not having him park in front. BUT, that would still not explain the SUV that seemed to clearly be following him...unless that is the person that was setting him up.

UGH! I wish I had all day to sit and think on this.

 

[Fairy1]

I agree with fasteddy4 on many points. I also think that the lack of phone records could be b/c the person he was meeting was planning on something "bad", so they made sure not to communicate that way. Has the family been able to access email accounts? I am sure if he was looking for work, he had a few.

Also, did he have any plans for the following days? No one noticed he was missing for four days...why? Did he not have any appointments lined up, meetings at church, dates???? Maybe he had planned on meeting someone and spending time with them, just not returning.

As an LDS woman, I know that if something would have happened to me when I was first away from home and partying...my family would have been shocked if I had met harm at some of the places I was. To this day, they have no idea, and don't need to. It was just what I was doing at that time in my life. Maybe he was experimenting, met someone on the internet, went to meet them...and they had planned to kill him all along, or things just got out of hand. This seems very plausible. Someone could have been staying at a relatives house or in a vacant house...hence maintaining the appearance that a house was still vacant or owners were out of town by not having him park in front. BUT, that would still not explain the SUV that seemed to clearly be following him...unless that is the person that was setting him up.

UGH! I wish I had all day to sit and think on this.

:Welcome-12-june:!!! Good thoughts. I'm not sure I believe that SUV was following Steven so much as picking him up. I think there's more to both videos that we're not seeing here. Hoping LE knows more than we do!

 

[eeyorelrn]

This will tell you how much Dateline NBC I watch... Just from the descriptions of the surveilence videos from the neighborhood that the car was found in, I had a momentary flash of a Chris Hanson segment (Yes, I am a colossal :loser: sometimes)...

In all honesty and seriousness though... From the descritption of the videos, it sounds like he was most definitely meeting someone specific for a specific purpose... Since we have family here, is it entirely possible he was meeting with someone for something church oriented or something he thought was church oriented? I ask because I dated a guy once whose sister was a LDS member, and they would frequently have visitors to the house, and several times they were not local ward members. It could have been a bible or church papers he was carrying. Maybe like some sort of outreach or bible study? I know its probably a stretch, but would he do something like that?

 

[webrocket]

This is what I said in post #4 on this thread:

If anyone can answer the question as to why Koecher went to Henderson, you would probably get an answer to the question of where he is now.

I do not believe he was the victim of a crime. His residence and business he was trying to start up were in St. George, UT. He had no business reason to go to Henderson, NV. He had no known family connection to Henderson. He parked on a cul-de-sac in an age restricted community. He deliberately avoided a well traveled street to abandon his car on. He only was not expecting a security system to capture him casually walking away from his car.

I think this quote from the Deseret News unwittingly described his motives - Koecher "would be married by now if he could just find the right girl".

Sounds a bit like Nicholas Francisco to me.


Granted Nicholas was a pure jerk to leave a wife and children.

I am beginning to think the portfolio thing Steven was carrying was a mere prop to make it look like he had business to tend to.

Is LE able to get any indentifying information from that SUV?

 

[webrocket]

one other thought. There is a product on the market called a Verizon Go Phone which is a prepaid cell phone. No paper trail, no bills.

Steven may have had one of these phones to make calls in connection with his rendezvous so as not to leave a call history on his real cell phone.

 

[Fairy1]

I had thought about those disposable cell phones too, WR. Definitely something a person would use if they didn't want to be tracked or traced.

I wonder if his car did have a GPS system. I agree with the poster who said that a person with directions on paper would most likely leave them in the car upon reaching their destination. Unless they purposely didn't want any clues left in the car.

I was thinking how ironic it is that Steven was picked up on a surveillance camera he probably never imagined was there, and yet the store he stopped at in Mesquite, where one would expect a surveillance camera to be, has no footage of Steven at all.

:banghead:

 

[Naegle]

There was no paper in Steven's car with an address on it. Steven doesn't have a GPS system either.

One of the calls he got on Sunday was inviting him to a basketball game. He said he couldn't go, but didn't give a reason. I'm sure the games were weekly, but I'm not sure how often Steven attended. Steven is a very independent person so his friends probably weren't too concerned after they hadn't hear from him for a few days. He's also not online much so if he didn't update his status or reply to an email that was normal for him.

I think we can rule out Steven being in Henderson for a religeous reason. He wouldn't go to a bible study that caused him to miss his normal church meetings. Also, assumming that Steven is the person I know him to be he wouldn't set up a date for a noon on Sunday. :twocents:

I believe that the gas station didn't have video of him because they recorded over the time he was there.

 

[laytonian]

Hello, Naegle (and all)

I've posted on other forums, but never on websleuths. I registered here, because I saw the discussion on the case and picked out a couple of things from your (Naegle's comments).

Naegle----
You said Steven went to a special gas station because his hybrid car needed "hybrid" fuel. Hybrids don't need special fuel; they have a regular gas motor and an electric motor (I own one). Maybe you meant he owned a flex-fuel car and wanted to buy Ethanol? I know this is a small point, but if his car is a true hybrid vehicle, he went to that certain gas station for another reason.

His computer----
Have the "experts" in the family examined for deleted files? There's a difference between looking through a computer to see what's on the history, and using special software to reveal deleted files. When you delete something, it doesn't go away. It's marked "deleted" and doesn't show up again. The only way something truly disappears is if it's overwritten on the hard drive, or the hard drive is destroyed. There's even been cases where overwritten layers of files have been recovered.

What worries me:
That we don't have the address he drove to. When someone's been missing a month, it makes me wonder if the police don't have information about that area....and someone with a criminal record. Even the intersection would help. (If it's such a safe area, there's sure a lot of security cameras for a cul de sac!)

MY theory:
I don't think we can learn WHY he went there, until the computer is fully examined. Even MacDonald's has wifi now. You can sit in your car outside most motels, and hop onto their wifi. Someone should be Googling his email address(es) to see if they show up online.

Here's a 2006 Davis County Clipper article with a Steven Koecher byline, about the Sutherland Institute and the full quiver controversy: http://snurl.com/u24bw
It's well-balanced, but quite an odd article for the Clipper, which usually carries only local church, boy scouts, and other community events.

Anyway....I hope my comments have some "brainstorming" use, because that's all we have right now.