NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - #21

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:Welcome1: Thanks for the thoughtful posts. There is a lot of information in the previous threads, so you'll need to review them when you get a chance. Most of your questions are addressed, however I don't want to quote the information wrong. We used to have a great time-line, but the creator of the document removed it for valid reasons.

Hello, I am new to this forum and have been very intrigued by SK's Disappearance. I have some of my own Theories of what led him the South LV and eventually down to SCA, But I will need the following questions answered.

1. Did SK have a telephone at his residence? (Land line)

2. If he did have a land line, did the police check the records of that land line?

3. Did SK have a PayPal or have an Ebay Account?

4. Did the police use computer forensics on his Lap Top to check to see what SK would "Search For" or "How To" on the internet?

5. Did the police or the PI Go Door to Door in the neighborhood, that SK was last seen in and ask everyone if they had any business with SK on that day?

6. Were there any Debit Card or Cash withdrawals on the 13th?

7. Where was JZ during SK's Trip on the 13th? and were JZ's phone records ever searched?

8. Was SK Left handed or did he carry things in his left hand, books, camping stuff, fishing poles, ect, ect?

We have to use what the evidence in front of us is saying and I have a theory that SK did not have an Appointment with anyone on the Morning of the 13th, I think he planned on leaving for the LV Area on the afternoon of the 12th, when he was out that way from the Overton Tower Ping, Whatever he was doing on the 12th is what made him decide to leave early in the morning on the 13th to go to LV area, but Not to meet with anyone, just to go by Businesses and drop off his resumes, How could he have an appointment with anyone if his phone records or Emails do not indicate such

I don't think he slept in his car on the night of the 12th even though he had a pillow and blanket and coats in the back seat, he could have kept them back there from his trip to Ruby Valley, I do feel like he was trying to avoid his LL. So it is possible that the night of the 12th that he slept somewhere close to SG, Because the first phone call that he received on the 13th was at 7:52am LV Time and he was already halfway to LV

It is very important that SK said he could come back if they needed him too, For Church services. That is a very important piece of information because If he did come back and Not go to the SCA Neighborhood to meet with who ever he was going to meet with. How would he Cancel his appointment if there was NO EVIDENCE of him ever having contacts in the SCA Area to begin with. That is why I think he did not have an appointment to begin with. I feel that he went down to LV Area for Jobs and he was going to risk missing church to do so.

When the second phone call was made to him, it was 9:53am which is 2 hours from the first phone call so he spent quite a bit of time in the LV area before heading to the SCA Neighborhood, This is another important piece of information, Something in the LV area made him go to the SCA Neighborhood and that is where I feel his day changed from LV to SCA Neighborhood. He may have ran into something in the LV Area that made his decision to go to the SCA Neighborhood. I feel like he was looking for something because he spent so much time in the LV area before heading down to SCA.
The Tower Ping at Cactus and Bermuda means he was not heading for the SCA Neighborhood yet, it was around 9:53am, He had 2 more hours to spend before arriving at the SCA Neighborhood at 11:54am, He must have paid cash for his meals that morning, I often wondered if he ate anything prior to the Neighborhood visit

I dont know why he parked in the cul de sac. He did slow down before reaching the first street, you can see him slow down and he possibly looked down the street to see if a vehicle was outside of the residence that he was going to. He took 6 minutes before he walked in front of the security camera tells me he was organizing his things together and getting them ready, In the first camera, whatever he was carrying in his left arm appeared to be big like a sleeping bag, a back pack, an animal, but the second camera, as he crossed the street, It appeared he did not have anything in his left arm.

He may have gone to the residence and knocked and no one was home, and someone else that was there for business like SK may have drove up as SK was about to leave and the two probably engaged in conversation and the driver at that point may have liked SK for whatever reason and offered him a ride back to his car or offered to take him out in town to eat or waste time before the owner could make it back to there home, SK probably said OK and left with a total stranger and sometime between 12pm-1pm, they may have been together and thats when all hell broke loose, I feel that SK may have been sexually assaulted in the vehicle and was killed in the vehicle and the person that could have killed him didn't go back to the house that day but went into the Whitney Ranch area all day and probably put SK in the trunk, or back of the van, who knows, but I feel that the person involved owned a storage locker at 515 and Russell Rd, there are huge Storage Lockers there at that location.

I feel that SK was Murdered and the killer used SKs Phone to check voice mail for whatever reason at 7am on the 14th and left the phone with SK in a storage locker at 515 and Russell Rd. I feel that SK was probably in one of the Storage Lockers for days until the killer went back and disposed of SKs body in the desert somewhere

I feel for the family, These are just my theories, There are alot of unanswered questions that I hope will be answered one day
 
I had recorded the disappeared episode last week and watched it again last night. I know that he was working passing out fliers for a living and that there where fliers in the car when it was found which caused speculation that he was passing out the fliers, but I still dont understand what he was doing in Vegas.

It was reported that Steven was working for a window washing co, and handed out the fliers for them. The company was in St George Utah, 2 hrs away. I just cant see that a window washing company would solicit business from Las Vegas/Henderson area. The family went through his yahoo acct and saw the jobs he had applied for and those he had been rejected for. Im curious if any of them where in the Henderson or LV area. Im sure this info would have been given to LE if he had been seeking employment in LV area.
I think he's out there, alive. Gut instinct.

BTW, the IHOP that he was reportedly seen at, can anyone in LV area tell me where that's at (unless there's more then one) in conjunction with where the cell phone pings came from? Thanks

Edit- Im finding info googling that the IHOP was the one @ flamingo and Boulder Hwy, is that correct?
 
Keep in mind, when discussing all these theories, that Steven was driving all over the place for the last 2 days. When did he have time to sleep or bathe? From what I remember, he abruptly left a church gathering & started driving through Utah and Nevada.

I always thought he was having a manic episode or a darn good reason for driving from hither to yon. All I've ever been able to think of, regarding his disappearance, is that it's connected to this driving around aimlessly.
 
I'm relatively new to this case, but I feel an odd connection to this one. I'm in my late 20s and I had a *heck* of a time getting some sort of career started circa 2009, so I really feel for Steven. He was obviously coping with a lot of pressure, as were many of us then (and now).

It seems like his behavior was frantic in the few days before he went missing -- when you're frantic you're vulnerable, and like one of the posters above mentioned, there is a LOT of shady employment-related activity going on ever since the recession started.

Anyway, even though I doubt my random musings shed any light on this case, I just wanted to organize my thoughts. It seems like there are several main theories:

1. He disappeared voluntarily to start some sort of new life

2. He took his own life

3. He was the victim of foul play, perhaps due to some sort of employment-related scam OR a random act

*A possible 4: He was the victim of something, then started a new life (victim of amnesia, etc.)

All seem valid, since he was under a lot of pressure and could have been in a vulnerable state. In my opinion, the one that seems LEAST likely is the suicide theory, because (assuming it IS him in the video and not a lookalike bad guy who drove his car) how would he have done it? He seems to have been walking purposefully, and I thought the area he was in doesn't contain many cliffs, bridges, etc. within walking distance (not 100% sure though, I could be wrong). But the other possibilities...this is just baffling! :waitasec:
 
I just keep asking myself "Why would I park my car at the end of a dead end road?" To me, the answer comes back "so I can do something nefarious". That may say more about me than it does about Steven, but if I were up to something clandestine I wouldn't want my car parked right in front of the scene of my transgression...
 
I had recorded the disappeared episode last week and watched it again last night. I know that he was working passing out fliers for a living and that there where fliers in the car when it was found which caused speculation that he was passing out the fliers, but I still dont understand what he was doing in Vegas.

It was reported that Steven was working for a window washing co, and handed out the fliers for them. The company was in St George Utah, 2 hrs away. I just cant see that a window washing company would solicit business from Las Vegas/Henderson area. The family went through his yahoo acct and saw the jobs he had applied for and those he had been rejected for. Im curious if any of them where in the Henderson or LV area. Im sure this info would have been given to LE if he had been seeking employment in LV area.
I think he's out there, alive. Gut instinct.

BTW, the IHOP that he was reportedly seen at, can anyone in LV area tell me where that's at (unless there's more then one) in conjunction with where the cell phone pings came from? Thanks

Edit- Im finding info googling that the IHOP was the one @ flamingo and Boulder Hwy, is that correct?

Yes, it was the IHOP @ Boulder Highway and Flamingo.

None of the flyers were found in the SCA neighborhood where Steven's car was found, nor did anyone there say they recalled seeing him.
 
In answer to the apparent "slow down" of Steven's car on the video, I can tell you there is a substantial dip in the road at that spot. IMO, nothing more should be read into that.
 
I used to work the "doggy railroad" and it's NOT for a person who is habitually worried about gas money. It's volunteer work for people trying to keep dogs alive and cared for. It's expensive for the volunteer.
 
I was reading news articles about the homeless in LV. Apparently, many of them live in tunnels under the city. They say there could be thousands of homeless in this labyrinth of tunnels. Nightline did a report on this at one time http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/las-vegas-strip-home-homeless/story?id=8652139#.TzRw4qpMmxJ

I saw that the family had done searches of the homeless shelters/soup kitchens a couple times but Im wondering if the tunnels where ever checked.

edit-here is another story with some pics of these tunnels http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...-people-living-in-drains-below-Las-Vegas.html
 
I was reading news articles about the homeless in LV. Apparently, many of them live in tunnels under the city. They say there could be thousands of homeless in this labyrinth of tunnels. Nightline did a report on this at one time http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/las-vegas-strip-home-homeless/story?id=8652139#.TzRw4qpMmxJ

I saw that the family had done searches of the homeless shelters/soup kitchens a couple times but Im wondering if the tunnels where ever checked.

edit-here is another story with some pics of these tunnels http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...-people-living-in-drains-below-Las-Vegas.html

There is a book about the underground tunnels called "Beneath the Neon" by Matthew O'Brien. Matthew continues to work with the homeless living in the tunnels and one of our posters here contacted him some time ago and asked him to keep an eye out for Steven.

That said, there are plenty of other areas in Vegas where the homeless dwell. Just in the past few weeks, a relatively new "tent city" in a vacant lot was cleared out by city authorities. There were lots of people there.

It has been argued that even if Steven was living that lifestyle, he would have come up on the radar at some point. I am not inclined to agree with that sentiment.
 
I just keep asking myself "Why would I park my car at the end of a dead end road?" To me, the answer comes back "so I can do something nefarious". That may say more about me than it does about Steven, but if I were up to something clandestine I wouldn't want my car parked right in front of the scene of my transgression...

It's not really a "dead end." It's the end of a cul-de-sac with a barred fence leading into the next neighborhood. And it's at the end of Savannah Springs. Steven walked from his car to Evening Lights. Which is toward the city, not the desert.

If someone in that neighborhood harmed Steven, I don't believe they would have wanted his car to be found there. The fact that it took several days before anyone sounded the alarm is weird. IMO.
 
Ok more musings on this case.....

Even though I believe that, in all likelihood, Steven Koecher is (unfortunately) deceased, there's a tiny part of me that thinks this could be one of the rare cases where the missing person may still be alive.

Whether he deliberately took off, or was somehow abducted by somebody, I do think it's possible (though not probable) to stay under the radar long-term. Like many of my generation, I have substantial student loans, and one day my brother and I were joking about how we could "take off" and avoid paying them. If we could just get to Mexico, we theorized, we could work for cash in a restaurant or bar and just eliminate all luxuries, not bother anybody, and live a sort of subsistence existence for a while.

*Obviously this "plan" is riddled with problems and I do pay my student loans!

Nevertheless, I think that the horrible economy (which does seem to play a role in this case) has actually made it *easier* for people to live off the grid, so to speak.

In a transient area like Las Vegas, one could (theoretically) just "fall in" with a certain crowd (homeless, drug dealers, etc.) and crash on people's couches, living a sort of vagabond lifestyle. If you're living in someone else's apartment, or continuously traveling around with various drifters, all you'd really need is food, and that could be obtained via your new "friends" or through some sort of cash-only gig or service.

While it's certainly very difficult and unlikely for a clean-cut, educated guy like Steven to live under the radar, I don't think it's 100% out of the question -- millions of illegal immigrants do it every day, and many victims of human trafficking (involuntarily) do as well.

Of course, if he were to start a new life, why park his car in that random spot? Seems like a LONG walk to the Vegas strip! If I were going to ditch my life and try to begin anew, I'd probably at least drive to the transient-type area before ditching my car. Hmmm. You also have the purposeful-looking walk away from the vehicle, the lack of any credible sightings, and the fact that Steven seemed unlikely to completely cut off his loving family. Then again, you NEVER know what is really going on in someone's heart and mind.

So many questions, so few answers...
 
Another thought, and a question to those who are as intrigued by this case as I am now:

What do you think the "key" to this case might be? What piece of knowledge do you think could bring us a lot closer to finding out what became of Steven?

I think it's a super-thorough review of all of the houses in the neighborhood he was last seen. (It could certainly be too late to do that now, unfortunately.)

There HAS to be a reason he was there, and even if it was an innocent reason (he met a guy at Starbucks or something, the guy said "hey meet me at my house in SCA on Sunday at noon to go over details of this job," and something nefarious followed), I think the key is in the neighborhood. If we could (magically?) know WHO was in each house at the time SK disappeared, WHAT types of business they were involved in, and who else may have been in the neighborhood at the time, we could be further along than we are now.

*I'm sure the police did investigate the neighborhood and its then-residents, I'm just wondering what the full extent of their investigation was...
 
I was talking about this case with my dd last night when we where out and about. She is involved with homeless groups and an advocate for feeding the homeless. Anyways, she got a friend request on fb from a group in Reno which made me think of Steven's case. She asked "have you thought about the Rainbow Family group?" she told me that many people just "drop out" of society and follow this group. Some could even be missing persons like SK. It is a thought, although I dont know if he really would have had interest in a group like this.
 
More random thoughts...mainly obvious rehashing, but I'm working my way through all the threads on this case, and even re-hashes are better than no hashes!

I just re-watched the surveillance tapes, and I thought: what would be my immediate, "gut" conclusion of these images, if I did NOT know the backstory involved? (Steven's unemployment, etc.)

I would immediately conclude that this was a young man walking to some sort of appointment or interview.

Now, I know that is REALLY obvious (of course it looks like a young guy walking to an interview, lol), but I tend to go with the "if it quacks like a duck" line of thinking.

What stymies me, though, is that it seems like 99% of modern-day job-hunters will leave an enormous electronic trail of their appointments and such. As far as we know, SK lacks that in relation to this (potential) 12pm Sunday appt./interview. So, if this was an indeed an "interview gone awry" scenario, how did he hear about it in the first place? Maybe he:

-Used library computers
-Met someone in-person while using library computers
-Randomly met someone in-person while out wandering
-Saw a poster/flyer nailed to a telephone pole or something

However, even given any of the above methods of finding out about a job opportunity (with no electronic trail), there doesn't seem to be any evidence that any sort of evil activity took place in the SCA neighborhood. It's an "older" neighborhood, nobody saw anything suspicious, nobody's reported any foul odors, etc.

Does anyone know if SCA (in Dec. of 2009) was one of those ultra-strict 55+ communities, where no one under a certain age can live there at all? Or did the neighborhood not have any age restrictions? (I'm sorry if this has been asked before, I am doing my best to read through all the threads!!)

If this was an interview gone awry, it seems like the perp would have to be closer to 55 (not a genuinely elderly person), OR someone living with their older parents...as a former Florida resident I know 55+ communities can be quite strict, and can also contain a lot of "nosy neighbors" who keep tabs on who is and isn't harboring a young'n in their midst...
 
More random thoughts...mainly obvious rehashing, but I'm working my way through all the threads on this case, and even re-hashes are better than no hashes!

I just re-watched the surveillance tapes, and I thought: what would be my immediate, "gut" conclusion of these images, if I did NOT know the backstory involved? (Steven's unemployment, etc.)

I would immediately conclude that this was a young man walking to some sort of appointment or interview.

Now, I know that is REALLY obvious (of course it looks like a young guy walking to an interview, lol), but I tend to go with the "if it quacks like a duck" line of thinking.

What stymies me, though, is that it seems like 99% of modern-day job-hunters will leave an enormous electronic trail of their appointments and such. As far as we know, SK lacks that in relation to this (potential) 12pm Sunday appt./interview. So, if this was an indeed an "interview gone awry" scenario, how did he hear about it in the first place? Maybe he:

-Used library computers
-Met someone in-person while using library computers
-Randomly met someone in-person while out wandering
-Saw a poster/flyer nailed to a telephone pole or something

However, even given any of the above methods of finding out about a job opportunity (with no electronic trail), there doesn't seem to be any evidence that any sort of evil activity took place in the SCA neighborhood. It's an "older" neighborhood, nobody saw anything suspicious, nobody's reported any foul odors, etc.

Does anyone know if SCA (in Dec. of 2009) was one of those ultra-strict 55+ communities, where no one under a certain age can live there at all? Or did the neighborhood not have any age restrictions? (I'm sorry if this has been asked before, I am doing my best to read through all the threads!!)

If this was an interview gone awry, it seems like the perp would have to be closer to 55 (not a genuinely elderly person), OR someone living with their older parents...as a former Florida resident I know 55+ communities can be quite strict, and can also contain a lot of "nosy neighbors" who keep tabs on who is and isn't harboring a young'n in their midst...

You raise a lot of great questions that I have not seen on this thread. Welcome to this forum. His family deserve answers. I know his cousin has a great website devoted to him but I don't have the links, been awhile since I've visited this thread.
 
More random thoughts...mainly obvious rehashing, but I'm working my way through all the threads on this case, and even re-hashes are better than no hashes!

I just re-watched the surveillance tapes, and I thought: what would be my immediate, "gut" conclusion of these images, if I did NOT know the backstory involved? (Steven's unemployment, etc.)

I would immediately conclude that this was a young man walking to some sort of appointment or interview.

Now, I know that is REALLY obvious (of course it looks like a young guy walking to an interview, lol), but I tend to go with the "if it quacks like a duck" line of thinking.

What stymies me, though, is that it seems like 99% of modern-day job-hunters will leave an enormous electronic trail of their appointments and such. As far as we know, SK lacks that in relation to this (potential) 12pm Sunday appt./interview. So, if this was an indeed an "interview gone awry" scenario, how did he hear about it in the first place? Maybe he:

-Used library computers
-Met someone in-person while using library computers
-Randomly met someone in-person while out wandering
-Saw a poster/flyer nailed to a telephone pole or something

However, even given any of the above methods of finding out about a job opportunity (with no electronic trail), there doesn't seem to be any evidence that any sort of evil activity took place in the SCA neighborhood. It's an "older" neighborhood, nobody saw anything suspicious, nobody's reported any foul odors, etc.

Does anyone know if SCA (in Dec. of 2009) was one of those ultra-strict 55+ communities, where no one under a certain age can live there at all? Or did the neighborhood not have any age restrictions? (I'm sorry if this has been asked before, I am doing my best to read through all the threads!!)

If this was an interview gone awry, it seems like the perp would have to be closer to 55 (not a genuinely elderly person), OR someone living with their older parents...as a former Florida resident I know 55+ communities can be quite strict, and can also contain a lot of "nosy neighbors" who keep tabs on who is and isn't harboring a young'n in their midst...

I have always felt that Steven appears to be resolutely headed for a specific destination in the video. There are some - including some of Steven's own family members - who are not 100% positive it's Steven in the video. Personally, I believe it is.

Steven's Mother was adamant that he would not have missed church that Sunday for a job interview.

We do know that Steven regularly used the library computers in St. George. Obviously, it was not possible to search those computers following his disappearance. This is a huge missing puzzle piece, IMO. We have been told over and over that nothing on his personal computer provided any clues as to why he was in SCA. Same with his phone records.

The neighborhood in which Steven's car was found is a 55 and over community. There is an association and security. Any homeowners living there would have to be 55 +. However, who's to say whether any residents had house guests at the time? Children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc.

There has also been speculation that Steven was instructed to meet someone there and was driven away by in another car.

Having been to the area several times, I honestly don't believe the spot was randomly chosen for a "car dump." And as I've mentioned, the direction Steven is headed in the video (provided it IS him) is toward Henderson/Las Vegas - not the desert.

I believe whoever or whatever led Steven to that area originated in St. George and was, quite possibly (likely), someone he knew.
 
bolded by me

However, there is evidence (public records) of SK's landlord being involved in illegal activity. We all know that SK was behind on his rent. I'm not saying SK knowingly got involved in illegal activity.
LE isn't investigating SK's disappearance, so we may never know.


Sex, Money, Revenge, Fear and Power

SK did not have any money, I dont feel like he was ever involved in anything that would impose a hit on him like revenge, so that leaves 3 things

Sex and Power are a thin line, For SKs sake I feel that Fear or Power is why he was killed if he was killed at all, Sexual advances from a man and SK may have put up a fight and out of Fear may have killed him, and then you have the other factor that we have no evidence of and that is SK ever being involved in Illegal activity, I feel that He got in someone's vehicle he trusted and what I mean by trusted is a ride to his car or a ride into town to waste some time so before the owner of whoever's home they may have both been at would return. I can see him getting in a strangers vehicle to get a ride back to his car or go get a bite to eat before returning back to the residence for business but something went wrong once he got in the vehicle because I cant see him staying in Henderson all afternoon before returning to his car, I feel that he probably wanted to do what he needed to get done at the residence and then head home after that, Not stay in town all day and night
 
I’ve been following this case for along time, banging my head against the wall trying to come up with a logical reason for Steven’s disappearance and this is what I have finally decided (of course, I could be completely wrong).

Someone Steven knew set him up with a job opportunity. I believe this person was someone Steven either saw or spoke to on the phone on a regular basis so LE didn’t really think much of the phone calls between the two when they looked thru Steven’s cell phone log. The person who set him up with the job knew it involved some shady business but didn’t disclose that to Steven, they just told him it was a quick and easy way to make money. The job turned out to be much shadier than the person had thought and when Steven disappeared, the person didn’t want to come forward for fear of getting in trouble and exposing his/her involvement in any kind of shady business. I think this person was more of an associate of Steven’s, not a close friend, and were more concerned about covering for themselves than Steven’s whereabouts. I believe the reason this case hasn’t been solved is because LE didn’t do a thorough investigation of Steven’s associates and probably made the poor assumption that people highly involved in the religious circles would not be involved in his disappearance.
 
bolded by me

However, there is evidence (public records) of SK's landlord being involved in illegal activity. We all know that SK was behind on his rent. I'm not saying SK knowingly got involved in illegal activity.
LE isn't investigating SK's disappearance, so we may never know.

BBM - Bingo
 
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