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

[believe09]

​

NIC #: M058555154​

Last Name: Koecher
First Name: Steven T
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Height: 5'10
Weight: 180
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Complexion: Fair
Race: White​

Date of last contact: 12/13/2009

Steven is from ST George UTAH. He was last seen on surveillance video striding away from his vehicle which was parked in a cul de sac in Sun City Anthem, Henderson NV. On Friday, December 11, 2009 at 3PM he assisted two juveniles who were locked out of their home in the St. George area. Between December 11 and December 13 he held two cell phone conversations with friends indicating that he was in the Henderson area. His car was discovered on December 15, 2009 still parked in the cul de sac.

Steven had recently started a window washing job part time and had been handing out flyers. His last financial transaction was on Saturday December 12th when he purchased Christmas gifts at a Kmart in St George.

Here are some links to media and other sites that have been helping to draw attention to Steven's case-perhaps we can draw some of the traffic on the Susan Powell thread to this one to help energize this investigation!!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=225335012614&ref=nf
http://juljef7.blogspot.com/
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14064989
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705356478/Powell-isnt-only-missing-Utahn.html
http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/22053714/detail.html?taf=vegas

 

[raines67]

:woohoo:Thank you so much for starting this thread!!! I just couldn't believe that this case had gotten so little attention. I look forward to seeing our wonderful and experienced posters give their opinions and use their sleuthing skills. Prayers to the family and friends of Steven and may he be found safe.

 

[dreamweaver]

I hope police have checked the cell phone pings. Most likely, since his phone calls were traced.
He almost has to be in that area where his car was parked.
Unless there was an abduction.
And is he found on KMart security tape on Dec. 12? Was he there in his car?
Have they tried scent dogs yet?

Prayers for Steven and his family.

 

[webrocket]

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.

 

[believe09]

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.

Interestingly enough, WR, this stuck out to me as well.

If you guys check the facebook, you will see that helicopter, ATV's and dogs have been used in searches during the last week in December. I would love those of you who have the skill set to link a map of the community because this case reminded me of a case from this area that was sent to me as a possible match for BK-the missing person parked his car in an over 55 community and was seen on video walking into the desert. (This particular person was schizophrenic, so the LE I spoke with felt pretty certain that this was a clear cut case of suicide but he wanted to rule out any other possible scenarios which is why he called me for the BK rule out.)

 

[believe09]

I hope police have checked the cell phone pings. Most likely, since his phone calls were traced.
He almost has to be in that area where his car was parked.
Unless there was an abduction.
And is he found on KMart security tape on Dec. 12? Was he there in his car?
Have they tried scent dogs yet?

Prayers for Steven and his family.

Pings from the two calls put him into the Henderson area, dream. He was not carrying equipment, so he was not window washing clearly. I would love to know if he was "spreading the word" but then how did he get into the gated community to begin with?

 

[believe09]

Here is a site that indicates Mr. Koecher went missing during a job:
http://thelostnmissing.blogspot.com/2009/12/steven-koecher-30-missing-during-job-in.html

He was also subcontracting putting up Christmas decorations.

This is a clip from an article by ABC4:

"His white 2003 Chevy Cavalier had been sitting in the cul de sac of a upscale Hendersen, Nevada retirement community for four days. A nearby resident who is a retired US Marshal, has a video surveillance system he keeps running at his home. The video shows Steven walking away from his car the morning he disappeared. His mom says, “He looks very purposeful, doesn't look disoriented, looks like he has a reason to be there.”

As for any other signs showing Steven might have felt troubled, his mom says they had spoken to him recently and they had a typical conversation. She says, “Nothing in my heart says he would stay away from us on purpose….Thirty years old, and probably wasn't exactly where he wanted to be in life, but handling it.”

http://www.abc4.com/content/news/slc/story/Exclusive-ABC4-talks-to-parents-of-30-year-old/774hcIASHE2bx66oAVVAMg.cspx

 

[webrocket]

how did he get into the gated community to begin with?

I did not see any reference to a gated community, just it was called "upscale". I might have missed it though. It would be interesting if it was gated, then at least his presence should have been announced and recorded.

Also that blogspot someone quoted mentioned a job. I think that information is just wrong. He was starting his business in St. George. Who would drive that many miles to earn a few dollars? The cost of gas and wasted time make that scenario far-fetched.

 

[believe09]

There seem to be a few discrepancies-his car was discovered on 12/15 according to most reports and the facebook and the tape of him walking away from the car was 12/13, but I have seen a few reports that state his car was discovered 4 days later....

I have seen gated community and age restricted reported...looking at maps of Sun Anthem, I do not see where there are gates, so any locals willing to weigh in??

 

[webrocket]

I looked up Sun City Anthem, the development where Koecher walked away from his car. It is huge with thousands of homes. I do not see how they could impede the flow of vehicles with gates.

It would be interesting to know the street address in front of which he abandoned his car in order to get a visual of what major road may have been closest to where he was, which is probably where he prearranged to be picked up by some guy.

There are airports nearby but I extremely doubt he flew anywhere, too much of a papertrail.

 

[burbqueen]

was this guy near water?

Seems like every missing guy is found in water drowned!:waitasec:

 

[believe09]

was this guy near water?

Seems like every missing guy is found in water drowned!:waitasec:

I cant believe you brought this up-something about this case reminds me of Jody King's case-it seemed one thing on the surface and once the layers were peeled back became 180 degrees something else....Jody was eventually found in a drain pipe 100-200 yards from where he was last seen.

 

[raines67]

I cant believe you brought this up-something about this case reminds me of Jody King's case-it seemed one thing on the surface and once the layers were peeled back became 180 degrees something else....Jody was eventually found in a drain pipe 100-200 yards from where he was last seen.

Wow, I remember that case, it was sooo sad. His poor wife and family. I hope this one doesn't turn out the same. I just haven't read anything that makes me think Steven would want to disappear. Yet at the same time, where in the world did he go? Going to check his facebook page and see if his friends have added anything new. :waitasec:

 

[Fairy1]

Hi ya'll. Well, I'm right here in Vegas and haven't heard a peep about this fellow! I'm linking the Sun City Anthem website for all to see. There is a map link from the homepage:

http://www.sca-hoa.org/outside_home.asp

I don't see where it says it's a gated community, but I would bet that it is. That tells me that he either knows someone in the community or had clearance to go in for a reason. Maybe to hang Christmas lights?

The Black Mountain Foothills, IIRC, are located behind the community. They're not very high or rugged, but pretty desolate. However, there are communities all around them. I think it would be fairly simple to conduct a thorough search in that area.

Lake Mead isn't far, but too far to go on foot. In fact, I can't imagine him going very far from Sun City without his vehicle.

 

[fran]

The one thing that doesn't make sense is, on one hand they're saying he disappeared while hanging Xmas lights?...................YET, he had on a 'dress shirt' per accounts?

I don't believe he'd have on a dress shirt to hang Xmas lights.

Nahhh,.............something else going on here. But, I haven't been able to figure it out yet.

JMHO
fran

 

[webrocket]

I don't see anything accidental here. Koecher chose to abandon his car in this community probably with the expectation no one would notice it for a while. He was not counting on a security video capturing him walking away from the car in a deliberate manner.

This development is highly residential and if he found water, he would have had to go out of his way to find it. This is not a drunk falling off a bridge in the middle of night, nor was he wandering out to walk a dog near a creek, nor was he going for a hike in rugged terrain. He was neatly dressed so he was not planning an outing in the mountains.

On this one I am going with my very strong intuition that he met a guy online and decided to leave his Mormon family and community rather than come out to them as being gay. Hate to generalize but straight Mormons marry young. This good looking guy was 30 and in the words of his own mother had not found the right girl.

 

[Fairy1]

The one thing that doesn't make sense is, on one hand they're saying he disappeared while hanging Xmas lights?...................YET, he had on a 'dress shirt' per accounts?

I don't believe he'd have on a dress shirt to hang Xmas lights.

Nahhh,.............something else going on here. But, I haven't been able to figure it out yet.

JMHO
fran

I agree, Fran. Something more to this. I don't want to sound glib, but maybe he has an older love interest in the community and didn't want everyone to know about it????

I doubt he would let his family worry about him if that's the case, but at least it would be likely that he's ok somewhere.

 

[TRL]

I think it is very strange that he parks his car in a cul-de-sac and walks away from it. I find it even more strange that noone in the neighborhood has come forward to say, 'Oh yeah, he was doing a job for me that day.' Why was he in that neighborhood? Why did he leave his car there? Where was he walking to? So many questions.

I wonder if he parked his car here and walked somewhere to buy drugs and something went wrong? Are there any "bad" neighborhoods around the area?

I'm at a loss on what I think about this one.

 

[webrocket]

I think it is very strange that he parks his car in a cul-de-sac and walks away from it. I find it even more strange that noone in the neighborhood has come forward to say, 'Oh yeah, he was doing a job for me that day.' Why was he in that neighborhood? Why did he leave his car there? Where was he walking to? So many questions.

I wonder if he parked his car here and walked somewhere to buy drugs and something went wrong? Are there any "bad" neighborhoods around the area?

I'm at a loss on what I think about this one.

He did not go there to work. Nor would he be buying drugs in a real estate development for retired people. The Vegas strip is where he'd buy his drugs, but I don't think he was into drugs at all.

He went to the Vegas area to hook up with another man. I would put money on that. If he had a woman, he'd be parading her around to the family.

It may seem very callous of him to walk away from the family and worry them like that. However, who knows what kind of mental hell he was going through trying to be a good Mormon boy but being gay and not wanting to shame his family or be on the receiving side of being shunned by them. I feel bad for the guy that he this was how he felt he had to deal with it.

 

[TRL]

He did not go there to work. Nor would he be buying drugs in a real estate development for retired people. The Vegas strip is where he'd buy his drugs, but I don't think he was into drugs at all.

He went to the Vegas area to hook up with another man. I would put money on that. If he had a woman, he'd be parading her around to the family.

It may seem very callous of him to walk away from the family and worry them like that. However, who knows what kind of mental hell he was going through trying to be a good Mormon boy but being gay and not wanting to shame his family or be on the receiving side of being shunned by them. I feel bad for the guy that he this was how he felt he had to deal with it.

It has shades of Nicholas Francisco, doesn't it? I hope you're right. As much as I wish he would have just told someone, I hope he is found alive and something like this is the case.