Before I say what I want to say, all of you should know, when Steven disappeared I lived within two miles of where his car was found. I drove down the street where he was last seen many times. I took part in a search party in April 2010. And I was one of the early posters on this thread going way back to January of 2010--although I went by a little bit different username at the time. This is the first time I've frequented this story in a long time, probably because I haven't lived in Vegas since 2011. In addition, I was one of the first people to get to see Steven's cell phone records from the day before and the day of his disapearance. And I should say: Reading back several pages on this current thread brings back a lot of memories from when Steven disappeared--it's like it's November 2009 all over again.
For me, even though I haven't taken part in this discussion in a long time, something still sticks out to me 5 yrs later: No directions were ever found in his car. And Steven didn't have GPS. Nor did he own a fancy phone with GPS--they weren't as common then as they are now. Plus, no detailed map of Las Vegas or Henderson was found in his car as far as we know. I mean, you can't go somewhere if you don't know where you're going.
And for those who believe he was walking out on his life--if he wanted to do that, he was walking the wrong direction. The way he went loops around back to the main road, and it's the long way around. Plus, he couldn't cut between the houses on that street because there's a popular golf course behind them--you can't disappear by putting yourself out in the open where many golfers would see you.
The next part takes some logical progressions so bare with me . . . And this is all predicated on the fact that Steven didn't pick a random street to park on.
So, how did he get to that location? Either he had the directions written down and he took them with him when he got out of the car OR somebody later went out to his car and took them out to cover-up evidence (frankly). The only problem with this is there is no record of him talking to anyone from the Vegas area on his cellphone--no one. In fact, all of the conversations on his phone were with people he knew, all from the general Salt Lake City/St. George area. Unless one of them gave him that address . . . I suppose it's possible. But then, a friend of his got him caught up in something that caused Steven to disappear? Interesting . . .
Maybe he got the directions texted to him, so he had no need to write them down? Very possible. But for someone to do that, the person would need Steven's #. How did that person get his number? Moreover, if this is a person who intended some harm to come to Steven OR was helping him "escape his life", wouldn't texting Steven leave an electronic trail that an investigator might just happen upon? That seems like a HUGE loose end.
Email? Steven's computer was searched--nothing. Twitter--Steven didn't use it and it wasn't popular at the time. Facebook--I think this would fall under the search of the computer. Payphone--once again, how did Steven get the # he was supposed to call? Or, how did the person know which payphone to call?
I guess what I'm saying is there is only one logical way Steven got to that address on that street: The entire case starts with Steven interacting with someone in person. It's the only way Steven and whoever else would know each other's information regarding how to communicate an address.
That means the interaction occurred in Utah, since he had never been to Vegas before. That means the entire disappearance starts in Utah, one way or the other. Yes, ultimately, Steven disappeared in Las Vegas. But it was a connection he had in Utah that led him to Nevada--it's the only thing that makes sense. I should also note that nothing in Steven's cell phone records showed him talking to anyone in Vegas as he approached that street that Sunday--so it wasn't like someone was giving him directions as he drove.
All of this is the reason I still believe almost 5 years later that the directions are the key: How did he get them and who gave them to him--because he didn't end up on the street randomly. Why? Because if Steven truly, truly wanted to leave his life, he could've parked in any hotel parking lot and it would've taken weeks if not months to find his car--thus leaving a very, very cold trail. Or, he could've parked in the area just west of the Stratosphere and the car would've been stolen within 12 hours. If he wanted to disappear, parking in an upper class neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon, and slowly strolling away seems like the worst of all choices. Yes, if he did, he's gotten away with it for almost 5 years but he could've never predicted that before he did it--if he did it.
The other part about his disapearance is how unique it is: Seemingly normal guy travels to another state and disappears in an upper-class neighborhood in broad daylight, and nobody can figure out why he was there. I don't know of another disappearance like that in the last 5 years. So, whoever did this isn't some kind of serial killer with a consistent modus operandi. This leads me to believe the facts that led to Steven's disappearance are unique--like a one time thing. You can take from that what you will . . .
That's all I got for now. But it's been really weird thinking about this case all over again.
hwow: Has anyone explored the gay scene in Las Vegas?
