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

[believe09]

Welcome Laytonian!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for your perspective and we are thrilled to have you here...

 

[laytonian]

Naegle, I'm sorry, I forgot some other things:

Have you or another (young) family member sat down with his previous co-workers at the Salt Lake Tribune, and talked openly about Steven? Sometimes, co-workers know more about a person's true interests and habits, than family and church-friends.

I'm curious why his car hasn't been fingerprinted.
The videos are so blurry, can anyone positively ID that person as Steven?

Has anyone brought a drug dog, and sniffed around his car?
I'm starting to wonder if he drove to Sacramento and back, to earn money.
One can be asked to make a delivery, and not know what's in the delivery.
OR....if Steven ever made it to Vegas in that car.

 

[laytonian]

Welcome Laytonian!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for your perspective and we are thrilled to have you here...

I'm happy to be here, too!

Don't get THAT excited -- and remember: I may sound cranky, but I'm not.
I may sound like I'm picking on someone, but I'm only picking on ideas and trying to bring out more brainstorming. I was trained to do that, and it's a habit I can't let go.

 

[ella's mom]

Naegle, I'm sorry, I forgot some other things:

Have you or another (young) family member sat down with his previous co-workers at the Salt Lake Tribune, and talked openly about Steven? Sometimes, co-workers know more about a person's true interests and habits, than family and church-friends.

I'm curious why his car hasn't been fingerprinted.
The videos are so blurry, can anyone positively ID that person as Steven?

Has anyone brought a drug dog, and sniffed around his car?
I'm starting to wonder if he drove to Sacramento and back, to earn money.
One can be asked to make a delivery, and not know what's in the delivery.
OR....if Steven ever made it to Vegas in that car.

Hi Laytonian. Welcome. I have seen you on some of the other boards. Glad you made it over here as well.

KC mentioned yesterday that the car was not fingerprinted because there was no sign of a crime committed with the car. I believe that was the reason. The post is only a page or two back.

In one of the early articles, his father indicated that LE did use drug sniffing dogs in and around the vehicle to confirm it was not used for transporting drugs.

Hope that helps with some of you questions. Also, I agree on finding out more about the job at the Tribune. He told his family he left because he didn't like working nights. I wonder if that is the real reason or if his co-workers think something different. It seems odd to just up and leave a job especially when you do not have another one lined up and you are having financial difficulties.

 

[dreamweaver]

Glad to see new posters on board.

If I were family, I would hire private investigators.
or
I would get family and friends together with fliers.
I would hire a scent dog. Specifically, a scent dog.
I would notify police of the plans.
I would start same time, same day of week,
as Steven disappeared.
Start at 11am on Sunday, and head out
from the parking area where Steven's car was found.

I would have a grid map of the housing estate.
(taken from google map)
I would cross off all houses as they were contacted.
Anything that struck me as odd or wrong or out of place,
I would take a picture of it.
Every hour, check in by cell phone with everyone.
Stop at 1pm and regroup.

Also, I would have Steven's car dusted for fingerprints.
I would have the computer examined by computer forensic experts.
And I would pay for it all out of my own pocket, if I could afford it.
I would probably even take out a loan to accomplish this.
As it has been nearly a month, time for more serious measures by the
family.
The family obviously cares deeply for Steven and want only his safe return.

Prayers for Steven.

 

[laytonian]

Hi Laytonian. Welcome. I have seen you on some of the other boards. Glad you made it over here as well.

KC mentioned yesterday that the car was not fingerprinted because there was no sign of a crime committed with the car. I believe that was the reason. The post is only a page or two back.

In one of the early articles, his father indicated that LE did use drug sniffing dogs in and around the vehicle to confirm it was not used for transporting drugs.

Hope that helps with some of you questions. Also, I agree on finding out more about the job at the Tribune. He told his family he left because he didn't like working nights.

I thought he moved to St George because he "didn't like the inversions"....but there was a good question about "If he didn't like working nights because he missed his friends, why would he move so far away from his friends?"

Yes, I saw the reason why the police didn't fingerprint the car -- and that doesn't wash with me.

How do we know it was really Steven driving that car? Did someone else have access to it? Is there video of the car sitting there for four days? Does it show anyone entering the trunk?

I'm sorry, I'm full of questions.

Evidently "no sign of a crime" means the police have written this off as a purposeful disappearance. IF it were, then it's just happenstance that put his car in that particular spot. Without knowing if that street is close to the mountains...I'm not going there. I'm sorry, I'm not buying it.

If Steven wanted to harm himself or disappear, he could have abandoned his car in any St George subdivision and walked away. Or at a motel, the airport, or an apartment complex. Or just drive off a cliff in the mountains, like that young man who went missing from the Hurricane area, did last year.

Oh, about craigslist personals: there would be little need to go to Vegas to "link up". St George has a vibrant, fully-networked gay community. Many have moved from the pricey Palm Springs area, finding the St George climate and lifestyle quite amenable. They meet at restaurants, there's newspaper articles. It wouldn't be hard to find someone "connected" and see if they could spread the word about Steven. I'm NOT saying Steven was gay....but the gay community is out in society more than your average St George retiree. It's also a wealthier group, more likely to hire someone to hang Christmas lights and do windows.

 

[liz b.]

What's really strange about those videos is that Steven never looks at the SUV when it is pulling up, when he turned left You would think that if he was going to be picked up by the driver of that SUV, he would have somehow acknowledged the driver.A wave, or a nod. But he doesn't even turn his head. It is weird because he was not aware that he was being videotaped. Steven himself really does look as though he has somewhere to go. I got the impression that the driver of that SUV was watching him. Also I found it a little strange that a 30 year old man was not able to pay his rent.He doesn't sound like a slacker to me. Is it possible that he had a gambling problem ?

 

[Malini2001]

What's really strange about those videos is that Steven never looks at the SUV when it is pulling up, when he turned left You would think that if he was going to be picked up by the driver of that SUV, he would have somehow acknowledged the driver.A wave, or a nod. But he doesn't even turn his head. It is weird because he was not aware that he was being videotaped. Steven himself really does look as though he has somewhere to go. I got the impression that the driver of that SUV was watching him. Also I found it a little strange that a 30 year old man was not able to pay his rent.He doesn't sound like a slacker to me. Is it possible that he had a gambling problem ?

I don't believe the SUV was there to pick him up, but I do believe the driver of the SUV had to see him, and maybe even see where he went as he walked down the street.

He (presumably Steven) looks very purposeful as he is walking, I think he knew exactly where he was going. I think the ride share is worth looking into.....only thing that makes me hesitate on that is that he told his friend he would attend the stake meeting. I don't think he would have done that if he did not intend to be back by then. So I don't think he intended to walk away and disappear.

I think the reason he couldn't afford his rent (even for just a room) is that he didn't have a full time job. I guess he was having trouble finding work in the current economy. But it presumably was a bit disconcerting for him at his age.

 

[laytonian]

I don't believe the SUV was there to pick him up, but I do believe the driver of the SUV had to see him, and maybe even see where he went as he walked down the street.

What if he was meeting someone, but didn't know what kind of car they were going to be driving? The could explain why he doesn't acknowledge the SUV.

The SUV may be coincidental...but can't be discounted unless LE knows who owns it.
I just don't think LVPD has looked at this very hard.

 

[Fairy1]

What if he was meeting someone, but didn't know what kind of car they were going to be driving? The could explain why he doesn't acknowledge the SUV.

The SUV may be coincidental...but can't be discounted unless LE knows who owns it.
I just don't think LVPD has looked at this very hard.

Although I believe the Las Vegas Metro PD has assisted with searches for Steven, it would be the Henderson PD investigating the case. I would agree, though, that a 30-year-old man missing with the absence of obvious signs of foul play would probably not be considered a priority for any PD - anywhere. Unless they've uncovered some huge red flag that indicates it's highly unlikely he just walked away, they're probably not too concerned.

As far as the SUV goes - someone previously posted (webrocket?) that the chances of a grown man being kidnapped from an upscale residential neighborhood in broad daylight would be slim to none. For all we know, he had the person or people in that SUV follow him into Sun City Anthem for the purpose of driving him out of there. That would explain why we don't see him acknowledge them on the video.

I'm pretty confident LE has a better idea of the orientation of what's on that tape. They would know which direction he headed in after leaving his car and should have a fairly narrow list of where he went. Surely they would have looked up that list of residents for possible criminal records, etc. I should hope so anyway!

 

[MBLover]

Surely that 2nd video tape went on longer.

Did the family see that whole tape (2nd cam) or even up to 5 minutes afterward that Steven appears and then leaves the view of the cam? Did the SUV roll up the street behind him? Or did the 1st cam capture that SUV leaving the area?

ETA: Also - this street that Steven appeared to walk towards and turn left on. Is it a thru street, another cul-de-sac or does it connect/loop into another street in that neighborhood?

 

[webrocket]

I am assuming that there are reasons why LE has not publicly disclosed the address where the car was abandoned. However, concealing the address does not help those of us who are trying to find answers.

I took a look at a map of Sun City Anthem. It is filled with cul de sacs, which is actually ironic. It was my belief that some communities prefer that set up to deter people from just driving through the developments. Oddly Steven found his way into and left his car in one of the cul de sacs.

I think unless the family pays to have the hard drive searched, they are not going to get much further here.

 

[Naegle]

We have hired a PI. She won't take our money anymore because there are no leads.
We have used sent dogs. Both in Stven's car and in the neighborhood. They found nothing.
We have canvassed the whole neighborhood with flyers in hand several times.
The police have had helecopters, atvs and dogs search the area and the mountains beyond.
We will get the laptop back soon. Do you all know of somewhere that will do a magnetic level search on a hard drive or fingerprint a car?
Here's the address where Steven's car was abandoned: 2647 Savannah Springs Ave. Henderson Nev
As for Steven's car being a hybrid, if you couldn't tell I don't know what kind of car Steven has, but he did tell me he could use regular gas or a different kind that he could only find at a few gas stations.

 

[webrocket]

I don't know who does forensic type searches of hard drives but I know they do exist. One place you might look for advice would be a divorce attorney. That has become a huge issue in divorces and they frequently advise clients to try to snoop on the hard drives.

Thanks for the street address. I did a google map search and he went one of two ways. One, if he made a left onto a street, it had to be Evening Lights Avenue or he might have made a left to the rear of the buildings that abut Anthem Parkway, which looks like it has some businesses there. If he was cutting through business parking lots, some of them might have surveillance cameras. Also, if he was cutting through parking lots, his destination would look to be Anthem Parkway, which is a main drag in the subdivision.

 

[higherpower]

As i was reading the Salt Lake Tribune article from 01/11 it struck me odd that Webb was the last person to have spoken to Steven moments before the video and also that he happened to be in Vegas at the same time and didn't question Steven about what he was doing. What was Webb doing in Vegas, and what did that conversation entail other that what Webb described.

LDS Singles wards typically start around noon to 1:00. Webb made a very last minute attempt to arrange a substitution at church seeing as it takes about 2 hrs to get to st George from where he was at. On FB the bishop states that he had just found out that the elders quorum pres. was not going to make it and so he called Steven to see if he would be there to take his place. This was at approximately 11:10am. Did Webb actually go back to make the meeting like the news reports said? It just seems to me that this Webb character knows more than he is letting on.

 

[believe09]

OK guys-I am looking at Preferred Mortgage Services at 2639 Savannah Springs-think I should assume they have been canvassed or I should email them and see if he had an interview or appointment??

 

[Fairy1]

Thanks for the address Naegle!

Savanna Springs is just the other side of Anthem Parkway which is a major thoroughfare - and you can get there directly off of Anthem Parkway. Strange that it comes up as a business when it is clearly a residence. :waitasec:

What if he just ducked into that development specifically to dump his car and then left with someone else - either the SUV in the video or someone waiting round the corner we see him turn? It would be easy to jump back onto Anthem Parkway and take off.

I can't tell from the video which direction he goes!

 

[webrocket]

Now that's strange. If you google "preferred mortgage" "anthem parkway" and Henderson, you get a street address of the mortgage company being at 2639 Savannah Springs Avenue. If you go to the street view, it takes you to Anthem Parkway. If you look at it, there is a wall between the sidewalk and the rear of the homes.

So Steven could not have been cutting through a parking lot to get to Anthem Parkway. I can only conclude based on what we have been told, looking at the video, and this street view, that he made a left onto Evening Lights AVenue. This was deep in the development so there is no way he was going to walk out to a main road. He was either meeting someone who lived there (unlikely as he would have parked in front of their home) or he was walking to a predetermined pick up point a block or two away from where he abandoned the car.

 

[Fairy1]

As i was reading the Salt Lake Tribune article from 01/11 it struck me odd that Webb was the last person to have spoken to Steven moments before the video and also that he happened to be in Vegas at the same time and didn't question Steven about what he was doing. What was Webb doing in Vegas, and what did that conversation entail other that what Webb described.

LDS Singles wards typically start around noon to 1:00. Webb made a very last minute attempt to arrange a substitution at church seeing as it takes about 2 hrs to get to st George from where he was at. On FB the bishop states that he had just found out that the elders quorum pres. was not going to make it and so he called Steven to see if he would be there to take his place. This was at approximately 11:10am. Did Webb actually go back to make the meeting like the news reports said? It just seems to me that this Webb character knows more than he is letting on.

Welcome higherpower! Well, you certainly bring up a new possibility here. Much as I hate to insinuate anything, what if these guys were in Vegas together and didn't want anyone to know - for whatever reason?

 

[believe09]

Welcome higherpower! Well, you certainly bring up a new possibility here. Much as I hate to insinuate anything, what if these guys were in Vegas together and didn't want anyone to know - for whatever reason?

So the question then becomes did/does Webb drive a white SUV???