NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - #17

[rd_jfc]

carbuff, that implies he had been working as a mule beforehand. No indication he had. On the other hand, I find it hard to believe he had no income from May to December other than what he earned handing out flyers for the window washing company. I wouldn't be surprised he had done some mule work with the same contact prior to this, or that the driving toward Sacramento the previous week wasn't related.

One of the most important parts of keeping an unknowing transporter unknowing would be pay that is typical for transport work, such as driving a car from one place to another. It wouldn't be much.

I have no idea how much transport of contraband is done like that, if any.

P.S. Just read RR's post, and in fact I see that it is done.

rd

 

[laytonian]

I'm not posting much these days (anywhere) but I did take a look at the CAM3 and CAM7 videos earlier today.

- With the speed that SK drives up past CAM3 to park at the edge of the cul de sac, I believe it is certain that he knew the location and was driving directly there to park.

Don't discount the effect of the fisheye lens, which makes things in the center of the image, appear to be moving more quickly. Later, through the same camera lens, we see him walking "quickly" when he's near, and then it takes [/I]almost forever[/I] for him to emerge from behind the small tree.

If he'd really have been driving as fast as it looks like on CAM3, he'd likely have crashed through the gate at the end of the street (since it's right at the end of Mr Security's property).

- While there is hesitation at Evening Lights before resuming his speed in the cul de sac, in my opinion he was slowing down to look down Evening Lights for a vehicle parked out front that he expected to be there, saw it, and resumed his speed to park his own car. I saw the posts about the bump or depression, but it is where he can look down Evening Lights in the direction he will be walking and I think that's what he was doing when his car slows down.

But he still had to slow down for the drainage "dip".

- He did then wait for 5 minutes or so until noon sharp to walk away, but I believe it was becaue he was supposed to show up at noon. He is going down Evening Lights just before 12:01.

If you have to be somewhere at noon, wouldn't you leave *before* noon - so you'd arrive on time? He had a cellphone with him, which would have had accurate time.

To me, it seems like IF you start walking at noon, that's your own "appointment with yourself". Like "I've got this all planned out...and I'll start walking at noon...."

- His walking is the same as his driving. He knows where he is going, there is no uncertainty whatsoever. He is not in a hurry nor is he strolling. He is just ambling across the street as any of us would if we parked a car and were walking across the street to some place we were headed.

- Seeing what he was carrying in motion helped a little bit. It is bigger than a portfolio and smaller than a canvas bag. It appears to be a bedroll or possibly even a sleeping bag rolled up. Everything I see tells me he was parking his car for at least overnight if not one or two days and carrying a bedroll as if he were making a trip with and for someone, say going with someone to drive a car back or making some kind of setup / packup type work trip, roadie work if you will, but there and back.

I just did a scientific test. We have a rolled-up sleeping bag, and I just got it out and put it under my arm. My arm stuck out almost straight from my shoulder, with my elbow holding it in place and my hand not even touching my waist.

One of the theories I like best, IF this is a crime, is this: he could have been hired to drive a vehicle to another state. That doesn't mean there was contraband, though. People buy/sell cars, or move, and will hire a driver.

In fact, some people look for such ads so that they CAN move cross-country or visit someone, at someone else's expense.

Leaving his car where he did, if this is the case, shows he meant to return and wasn't hiding anything.

- Based on the hesitation at Evening Lights, waiting until noon, and the pace of his walk it appears to me that he is essentially walking across the street, perhaps to the house that had the red car / multiple vehicles parked out front in various pictures.

- The CAM7 video shows him walking directly to that side of Evening Lights, his pace steady from CAM3 and turning the corner. He appears headed directly to a house on that side of the street.

What if he was walking up that side of Evening Lights, so he could make a right turn at the top of the street and go to aother address?

It's easy to focus on Evening Lights, because we see someone there. But we don't see him stop.

 

[laytonian]

carbuff, that implies he had been working as a mule beforehand. No indication he had. On the other hand, I find it hard to believe he had no income from May to December other than what he earned handing out flyers for the window washing company. I wouldn't be surprised he had done some mule work with the same contact prior to this, or that the driving toward Sacramento the previous week wasn't related.

One of the most important parts of keeping an unknowing transporter unknowing would be pay that is typical for transport work, such as driving a car from one place to another. It wouldn't be much.

I have no idea how much transport of contraband is done like that, if any.

P.S. Just read RR's post, and in fact I see that it is done.

rd

It's VERY common to hire someone to drive your car cross-country. It seldom has to do with contraband, and is an easy way to move or tour. Or just plain disappear.

There's hundreds of websites that talk about it; I picked THIS ONE because it's the first one that popped up.

 

[sbakker]

I think if Steven had been acting as a mule, he wouldn't have been behind on his rent and his car payments.

Not if he were just starting as a mule. It could have just been the first week, first day.

 

[carbuff]

carbuff, that implies he had been working as a mule beforehand. No indication he had. On the other hand, I find it hard to believe he had no income from May to December other than what he earned handing out flyers for the window washing company. I wouldn't be surprised he had done some mule work with the same contact prior to this, or that the driving toward Sacramento the previous week wasn't related.

One of the most important parts of keeping an unknowing transporter unknowing would be pay that is typical for transport work, such as driving a car from one place to another. It wouldn't be much.

I have no idea how much transport of contraband is done like that, if any.

P.S. Just read RR's post, and in fact I see that it is done.

rd

Sorry, I must have misread. I thought you said he had been to this place before and was familiar with it.

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

You're right. And I had forgotten about him checking his VM the next day. He could have travelled quite a distance on foot by then.

But which way did he go? And why on foot?

Laytonian...please confirm GW didn't call after the call Sunday morning. Maybe the message he wanted to hear...was not there.

 

[rd_jfc]

That is what I said, carbuff, but I also said he was in the area for hours prior based on tower pings and could have been there prior day. I am certain from way he was driving that he had been to the location prior and was returning to park. That was no random drive around and oh, this looks like a good place to park.

laytonian, that was an extreme reading of what I wrote about speed. Perhaps pace is a better word. Consider the complexities of that cul de sac. Mailboxes, fire hydrant, gate, carve out to one side. He beelined past CAM3, to a dead end. No hesitation whatsoever. There is no way that is the first time he encountered that location and decided to park his car there.

The test is interesting. I just folded up a quilt and tried it. It is just about the exact size of what is seen in the video. The bundle extends up and out at the shoulder area, down to about hip area. A folded up thick quilt fits right under the arm, arm not pushed out at all.

A rolled up sleeping bag would. That's why I said possibly even a sleeping bag. It would have to be a thin one though.

I stick with my impression he's walking across the street for a noon appointment. Yes, it's just prior to 12:01 according to the cameras.

Of more importance to me is that I can't see him traversing the last bit of reflected roadside. A dark shadow forms, and he doesn't just exit on out that last bit. Could be he turned at that point.

The hidden contraband I suggested is a scenario where he had to be silenced because of something he saw and protested.

rd

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

Was it ever determined if there were actually fliers where SK helped those girls??? Maybe he was in the area for another reason.

Or in my other theory, I'd need to find out where GW stayed while he was in Vegas and what he did with whom the night before.

Two things someone knows probably and didn't give them any answers. BUT...on the second question, unless activity has been physically verified, it can't be ruled out. Even though we were eventually blocked, many of us read and copied the Facebook updates that could have very well been an indication of "guilt" and not necessarily for committing a crime but for not stopping something from happening, or even possibly putting someone in harms way.

And there's the Home Teaching materials that were found...that were not in the scope of SK's calling, and could appear as almost a gift to the Pres, GW, that was never finished. Maybe it was going to be a Christmas present or something. I wonder why it was not completed?? SK seemed to have the time...or rather could have made the time. And the pictures at dinner on the 7th. We do have these two "events" per se and directly from the horses mouth as in the case with the Home Teaching. If the recollection of SK leaving the party upset did not come from GW, then there is even more reason to pursue his role in THAT evening at the very least.

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

That is what I said, carbuff, but I also said he was in the area for hours prior based on tower pings and could have been there prior day. I am certain from way he was driving that he had been to the location prior and was returning to park. That was no random drive around and oh, this looks like a good place to park.

laytonian, that was an extreme reading of what I wrote about speed. Perhaps pace is a better word. Consider the complexities of that cul de sac. Mailboxes, fire hydrant, gate, carve out to one side. He beelined past CAM3, to a dead end. No hesitation whatsoever. There is no way that is the first time he encountered that location and decided to park his car there.

The test is interesting. I just folded up a quilt and tried it. It is just about the exact size of what is seen in the video. The bundle extends up and out at the shoulder area, down to about hip area. A folded up thick quilt fits right under the arm, arm not pushed out at all.

A rolled up sleeping bag would. That's why I said possibly even a sleeping bag. It would have to be a thin one though.

I stick with my impression he's walking across the street for a noon appointment. Yes, it's just prior to 12:01 according to the cameras.

This doesn't bother me. He may have just not wanted to seem too eager, yet still be on-time. Which would make it seem more social than business. Business being early is usually appropriate. But in either situation, it seems where he was going wouldn't be too far from where he parked, if 12 was the meeting time.

Of more importance to me is that I can't see him traversing the last bit of reflected roadside. A dark shadow forms, and he doesn't just exit on out that last bit. Could be he turned at that point.

The hidden contraband I suggested is a scenario where he had to be silenced because of something he saw and protested.

rd

 

[laytonian]

That is what I said, carbuff, but I also said he was in the area for hours prior based on tower pings and could have been there prior day. I am certain from way he was driving that he had been to the location prior and was returning to park. That was no random drive around and oh, this looks like a good place to park.

laytonian, that was an extreme reading of what I wrote about speed. Perhaps pace is a better word. Consider the complexities of that cul de sac. Mailboxes, fire hydrant, gate, carve out to one side. He beelined past CAM3, to a dead end. No hesitation whatsoever. There is no way that is the first time he encountered that location and decided to park his car there.

The test is interesting. I just folded up a quilt and tried it. It is just about the exact size of what is seen in the video. The bundle extends up and out at the shoulder area, down to about hip area. A folded up thick quilt fits right under the arm, arm not pushed out at all.

A rolled up sleeping bag would. That's why I said possibly even a sleeping bag. It would have to be a thin one though.

I stick with my impression he's walking across the street for a noon appointment. Yes, it's just prior to 12:01 according to the cameras.

Of more importance to me is that I can't see him traversing the last bit of reflected roadside. A dark shadow forms, and he doesn't just exit on out that last bit. Could be he turned at that point.

The hidden contraband I suggested is a scenario where he had to be silenced because of something he saw and protested.

rd

I thought we determined that the dark shadow (in the CAM7 video window reflections) were caused by his walking by the shrubs in that yard -- the yard of the home that faces Savannah Springs, but has the long wall along EL, with the planted bushes.

At one time, several of us thought we saw a car at that point, with someone standing by the front door -- but the man's footprints are obviously on the sidewalk, not the street.

I hear what you're saying, rd. Really. FastEddy4 went out there, measured the steps, drove along the street at the point where you have to slow down for the cip, and then walked along where those bushes area. You can see the bushes in the video, and in the satellite view of the property.

 

[laytonian]

Was it ever determined if there were actually fliers where SK helped those girls??? Maybe he was in the area for another reason.

As far as we know, there's been no investigation of the neighborhood in Hurricane, where he found the two latchkey kids locked out. All we know, is that the phone number was called, and the explanation given.

(Note that the previous neighborhood view I posted, used a phony address NEAR but NOT the actual home.)

Or in my other theory, I'd need to find out where GW stayed while he was in Vegas and what he did with whom the night before.

Two things someone knows probably and didn't give them any answers. BUT...on the second question, unless activity has been physically verified, it can't be ruled out. Even though we were eventually blocked, many of us read and copied the Facebook updates that could have very well been an indication of "guilt" and not necessarily for committing a crime but for not stopping something from happening, or even possibly putting someone in harms way.

Yeah, that "long story" and "tell it some day" were telling. I'd say it's "some day" now -- and it's "come to Jesus" time for GW.

At the very least, you'd think he'd tell whatever story he has, to at least eliminate the logical fingers pointed in his direction.

And there's the Home Teaching materials that were found...that were not in the scope of SK's calling, and could appear as almost a gift to the Pres, GW, that was never finished. Maybe it was going to be a Christmas present or something. I wonder why it was not completed?? SK seemed to have the time...or rather could have made the time. And the pictures at dinner on the 7th. We do have these two "events" per se and directly from the horses mouth as in the case with the Home Teaching. If the recollection of SK leaving the party upset did not come from GW, then there is even more reason to pursue his role in THAT evening at the very least.

I was curious why none of the searchers who talked to Mrs K, asked her "Who told you that, and why did he leave abruptly?"

 

[carbuff]

It's entirely possible that these things have been told to the family, just not to the public.

 

[laytonian]

Laytonian...please confirm GW didn't call after the call Sunday morning.

There were no further incoming phone calls from (or TO) GW's *known* phone number, after the Sunday morning call.

In fact, there's only one phone number from that area code that I've not ID'd - and that call didn't come in until Dec 16th, after it was known that his car had been found.

Maybe the message he wanted to hear...was not there.

That's been a definite possibility, although I started out wondering if he was waiting for AN to call. (I give it a 50/50 that IF he was waiting for a call and faced disappointment, that GW or AN would have been the caller he desperately wanted to hear from.)

 

[laytonian]

It's entirely possible that these things have been told to the family, just not to the public.

It depends.

If there was a two-way relationship (KWIM?), revealing it would jeopardize GW's church and professional standing.

If it were a one-way crush or something like that, it could explain the defensiveness we read in the description of SK being "a man's man".

 

[rd_jfc]

I thought we determined that the dark shadow (in the CAM7 video window reflections) were caused by his walking by the shrubs in that yard -- the yard of the home that faces Savannah Springs, but has the long wall along EL, with the planted bushes.

At one time, several of us thought we saw a car at that point, with someone standing by the front door -- but the man's footprints are obviously on the sidewalk, not the street.

I hear what you're saying, rd. Really. FastEddy4 went out there, measured the steps, drove along the street at the point where you have to slow down for the cip, and then walked along where those bushes area. You can see the bushes in the video, and in the satellite view of the property.

But the dark shadow doesn't appear in that corner until he gets there, laytonian. The leading low shadow and him walking goes right across (from left to right, opposite when we see enter picture from right to left).

The road is cleanly reflected all the way to the right edge of the window, with no dark shadow. But as I looked for his shadow and then him to exit off the right edge, a dark shadow forms and then disappears, just short of reaching the edge.

Like I said, it might be the optics of that extreme right corner of the window, for example, the leading low shadow becoming larger or something, but the road reflection is not distorted in that corner.

The large shadow forms where he is and in a little bit from the edge of the window, with road still showing to the right. One, a car approaching him would come in left from the right side, and two, for it to disappear as it does, would require it to back up the street out of reflected view as soon as it reached him, and I mean immediately. The large dark shadow is only there for a moment.

Does him turning toward a house really change his profile all that much to create a larger shadow (him turned sideways versus from facing forward)? No, not at all. However, if he turned and headed toward a house the shadow would move upwards in the window.

I tried to estimate how far down the street that angle covers. You can almost count his steps after he passes the car and then shows up in the window, so it's not a real wild guess. It seems to me to about the entrance of the house with the red car / multiple vehicles out front in various pictures, which we know has an interest background, was a rental, and whoever was there is not there any longer.

I try not to let that and the rest of the behavior that looks like he's parking nearby and just crossing the street bias me. If I saw his low shadow and him just exit on off the edge of the road reflection, I would just say he was still walking down the street last I saw him, but SK's reflection stops short of that as a large dark shadow forms and disappears.

In any event, I really do believe he was looking down the street when he paused at the intersection, then parked, and walked right around the corner to where he was looking.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

rd

 

[laytonian]

But the dark shadow doesn't appear in that corner until he gets there, laytonian. The leading low shadow and him walking goes right across (from left to right, opposite when we see enter picture from right to left).

The road is cleanly reflected all the way to the right edge of the window, with no dark shadow. But as I looked for his shadow and then him to exit off the right edge, a dark shadow forms and then disappears, just short of reaching the edge.

Like I said, it might be the optics of that extreme right corner of the window, for example, the leading low shadow becoming larger or something, but the road reflection is not distorted in that corner.

The large shadow forms where he is and in a little bit from the edge of the window, with road still showing to the right. One, a car approaching him would come in left from the right side, and two, for it to disappear as it does, would require it to back up the street out of reflected view as soon as it reached him, and I mean immediately. The large dark shadow is only there for a moment.

Does him turning toward a house really change his profile all that much to create a larger shadow (him turned sideways versus from facing forward)? No, not at all. However, if he turned and headed toward a house the shadow would move upwards in the window.

I tried to estimate how far down the street that angle covers. You can almost count his steps after he passes the car and then shows up in the window, so it's not a real wild guess. It seems to me to about the entrance of the house with the red car / multiple vehicles out front in various pictures, which we know has an interest background, was a rental, and whoever was there is not there any longer.

I try not to let that and the rest of the behavior that looks like he's parking nearby and just crossing the street bias me. If I saw his low shadow and him just exit on off the edge of the road reflection, I would just say he was still walking down the street last I saw him, but SK's reflection stops short of that as a large dark shadow forms and disappears.

In any event, I really do believe he was looking down the street when he paused at the intersection, then parked, and walked right around the corner to where he was looking.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

rd

When we studied the shrubs, and a WSer went to the neighborhood and investigated the area between the privacy wall indent and the end of the wall, it all matched.

So we kinda figured the dark shadow (almost a movement) was because he casted a shadow on the shrubs themselves, right when he walked by them...and it matched his other shadows.

BUT...we were highly disappointed with our own conclusion, because "we" (some of us) really did think we saw a car and a moving figure.

Anyway, that's an alternate theory and it stuck with some
aIsn't that because he casts a shadow on the shrubs? IIRC, that's what we came up with due to the conformance of the shrubs to the video.

 

[laytonian]

This is unlikely SK, but be aware:

Man's body found at Desert Breeze Park, Las Vegas. The man is described as being in his 40s, so they may have unreleased ID.

MAP

ETA:
Original map didn't work; link corrected

 

[sbakker]

What is the address of the home that had the RED CAR ? Does anyone know that?

 

[rd_jfc]

yeah, you and FastEddy are right, laytonian. Looked at it again and it is a shadow on the bushes. It briefly gets much darker but not larger.

So he is still walking down the street last we can see.

rd

 

[dreamweaver]

I like where WS is at in the theory of what happened to Steven Koecher.
I have always thought he was there that day at noon to meet someone, about a temporary job or to continue with a temporary job.
I think there were posts about the red car and that house it was parked near, and that LE had questioned them.
But, I would hope the police would reinterview everyone.

FBI has great resources in reviewing video or security footage and determing what
is there on a tape.
(jennifer kesse security tape comes to mind)