NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - # 5

[laytonian]

Maybe he went to Elko, NV. It's about the same population as St. George and Ruby Valley is on the way. Granted we have no receipts from Elko, but we don't have a lot of receipts in general. Also, from what I understand, St. George has been hit pretty hard by the recession. Much like Vegas, it's kinda Utah's resort town. If Steven wanted to find a job in Utah, the best place would be Salt Lake City where the unemployment rate is around 6%. In St. George it's more like 8 - 9% and Vegas - 13%.

Surprisingly, St George itself has over 72,000 residents and Washington County has almost 140,000. Elko's only about 18,000.....and that growth has come from the nearby mining activities. Not many jobs, and the casinos have kinda died off.

I wish we knew if any of Steven's acquaintances moved to St George about the same time he did.

 

[laytonian]

steven had no "link" or "connection" to be in vegas either but he was...

...that we know of (besides his fellow church leader).

 

[laytonian]

RubyRed,
I believe Trevor Morse was last seen when he was caught on videotape on A Sunday afternoon, around 3:20 p.m. Also, Trevor and Steven were blond haired,blue eyed, and basically had the same "type" of physical looks. Their life circumstances were way different,though, in that Trevor was employed as a journeyman elecrtician when he vanished.

But they both (oddly) left their cars behind. Trevor left his car behind and took a cab to meet "a friend" at the mall....and Steven left his car behind to do whatever.

Whatever each was planning next, they didn't seem to think they needed their own vehicles. Just odd.

 

[Yeahitsanna]

Let's brainstorm this.

So if he was meeting someone, and the other person was driving to Sacramento -- why would he abandon his car in Henderson, NV? Why not drive himself to Sacramento? Why do you need someone with you?
Why would he not take his computer, or a change of clothing?

This is why the "he was leaving for a new life with someone" scenarios don't really fit. He didn't take his stuff.

Certainly, the ONE thing he'd answer voicemail for, would BE a business prospect. He was avoiding those closest to him, and clearing up any immediate obligations. We know he was checking voicemails, and obviously not returning messages.

I also doubt he went to Sacramento during the Ruby Valley trip. There's no gas receipts, food receipts, anything like that. I doubt he'd even have had time to do anything but drive there (arriving late in the day) and driving right back to St George.
I think Sacramento only came up, because he thought AN might be living there and was hoping some information about AN would be volunteered.

Why not drive yourself? Cause someone was already going and he didnt have to pay for gas. This someone offered to go with him. maybe introducing him to someone or somewhere. I dont bring a change of clothes or my computer with me if im only going for the day. h emay have planned to be back late that night. Hence parking in the cul de sac. He wouldnt have to worry about getting towed like a local store parking lot.

if the number came up unknown maybe. But, if it was family. We have our answer. I really think cell phone records are key here. If im in a car with one person. I generally wont answer my phone. He was probably in the company of this person consistently since he left. Hence not returning the messages. he figured hed get to it later.

the Neff family told steven AN was living in SLC. he knew that while he was there.

 

[seekingsusan]

Surprisingly, St George itself has over 72,000 residents and Washington County has almost 140,000. Elko's only about 18,000.....and that growth has come from the nearby mining activities. Not many jobs, and the casinos have kinda died off.

I wish we knew if any of Steven's acquaintances moved to St George about the same time he did.

Sure there are more people, but that just means more competition for jobs. Maybe he thought he could get a job with a small town newspaper. The unemployment rate is key; if he was looking for work in Vegas, he was looking in the wrong place. IMO

 

[carbuff]

Yet, as a poster here has pointed out, there were better employment prospects for Steven right there in St.George. He had no ties to Sacramento, no local references, and didn't go to school in California. But, I will admit, that reference to maybe going to Sacramento was odd.

Well, theoretically better, but he hadn't been able to find much in several months, so if he had a lead to a job somewhere else, I'm sure he'd pursue it.

 

[liz b.]

It's true, the fact that they both left their cars behind is weird. Because, if ther'e one thing a person needs in Vegas, it's wheels. Don't think Trevor mentioned going to the mall to the cabdriver ; he just said he needed to meet someone in that area. When he supposedly sees the person(s) he's meeting, he walks off the video frame towards them, but going away from the mall area, towards the desert. Really strange.

 

[fasteddy4]

The Trevor Morse angle had hit me a while ago and I think I posted something way back in like Part #2 of this thread. Now that I have read the account of Trevor's disappearance and know as much as I do about Steven's disappearance there may be a couple of interesting similarities.

-when I read the description of Trevor's disappearance, it seems to me there is something implied that whoever he was meeting Sunday, he had met the night before while he was out clubbing. It may be just the way I am reading it but it's like those two things are linked. Plus, if he was out with friends but never mentioned he was meeting someone the next day would that not make someone think that the meeting arrangements had been made after he saw his friends. Compare this with Steven, he comes to Vegas on a Saturday night. One of his good friends is already here. (I can say "here" because I live in Vegas) I am leaning toward more and more that the two met up here. They're out doing whatever. Night ends. Steven runs into someone that tells him to come over to his place at noon. Webb truly doesn't know what happened to Steven then. BUT, he does not want to say the two met up because they may have been places where questions might be asked and Webb really doesn't know if Steven is going to appear or not so he decides to stick to the "I didn't see him story." There are some real big logical leaps here but the comparisons between Trevor and Steven are probably closer than we may realize.

-Trevor taking a taxi and Steven's car. Did Trevor not have a car? He's an electrician and he doesn't have a car? Really? Anytime I hear that someone in Vegas is using a taxi I think they must be heading to the airport because everybody owns a car here. No local uses a taxi to get around town. To me, what I read into this is that Trevor was heading out of town and did not want to leave his car in that parking lot. Maybe whoever he had the meeting with told him, "Don't bring your car, we're going to be gone a while. But I'll pick you up on W. Flamingo. . ." As for Steven, maybe whoever Steven met took for granted that since Steven was from out of town, Steven would not have a car. For example, I meet some tourist out on the Strip I just take for granted they are using the buses and taxis to get around. I don't automatically think they get a rental because everything is decently close together. And you can get a bus trip to the Dam and back and who wants to get a rental for one day trip. So, Steven drives his car to the meeting point. . .instead of taking a taxi (like Trevor did). So, the car is now a problem if the person who lured Steven to Evening Lights has bad motives. But, what is the guy to do at that point? Get ticked that Steven drove a car? Probably not. The guy may figure that he has covered his tracks before he will just have to do it better this time. Steven resolves that his car might be okay parked there for the day or night. The two leave. The bad guy never comes back since no one probably will remember Steven on Evening Lights anyway. And he would be right except for the fact that Security Guy had his cameras.

-and one more thing, Trevor got dropped off at shopping center? That tells me someone is trying to conceal his/her residence, if he/she even lives in Vegas at all. Steven ends up in the middle of a 55+ community? Both of those locations don't scream "Meeting Place Central" to me. They both give the feel of someone who is being evasive about his/her own housing situation.

Once again, I know there are some decent logical leaps here but the cases are NOT really that different. But going back to the car, it has been a sticking point since the beginning. Why leave it? One possibility, I guess, is that whoever committed foul play, if there was foul play, did not know Steven would come in his own car. The guy did not have that in his plans and ultimately decided that he would just leave Steven's car there. Better that than get caught driving a car owned by a guy who disappeared.

 

[laytonian]

OK, I've started a new page: "similar cases" and I need your help.

http://sites.google.com/site/parallelcooler/home/koecher-html/similar-cases

There are instructions for you on the page.

I've ALREADY found something interesting, just by doing this: Trevor is reported to have recently had Lasik surgery. The address he went missing at, is right near a Lasik surgery center (and NOT "at Flamingo", a lazy way of giving Las Vegas addresses!)

 

[laytonian]

Sure there are more people, but that just means more competition for jobs. Maybe he thought he could get a job with a small town newspaper. The unemployment rate is key; if he was looking for work in Vegas, he was looking in the wrong place. IMO

Definitely was in the wrong place - and really, who makes business appointments at noon on Sunday, unless it's a scam that Steven didn't sense, but everyone else did? In a tough job market, you'd think there'd have been several interviews that day, if legit.

Steven hadn't worked at a newspaper, since he left the Trib 18 months before. You'd think, though, he could have wrangled a "stringer" job at the sister "Dixie" publication of the newspaper (The Clipper) his Dad works for. Or at the regular newspaper in St George.

I dunno. There's a big, gaping hole here.

 

[fasteddy4]

OK, I've started a new page: "similar cases" and I need your help.

http://sites.google.com/site/parallelcooler/home/koecher-html/similar-cases

There are instructions for you on the page.

I've ALREADY found something interesting, just by doing this: Trevor is reported to have recently had Lasik surgery. The address he went missing at, is right near a Lasik surgery center (and NOT "at Flamingo", a lazy way of giving Las Vegas addresses!)

Laytonian, if I may. . .the reason those addresses may be off is that at that time the Town Center connection to the 215 was just being constructed. That section of highway is very new. In fact, at that time, there would have been construction all over that area. . .on the 215, on Town Center, etc. If Trevor walked off in a SW direction, as in walking on Town Center, he would have been walking straight into one of the busiest construction areas at that time in all of Las Vegas. Now, I don't know if he made it to the highway or not but at the time I had a job that took me up and down the 215 all the time and it was a nightmare of construction. Fairy1 lives here too. Maybe she has some insight as well as to what that area of town looked like at the time. Because the Google Map is not accurate for 2007. It is accurate for now and traffic patterns and roads can rapidly change here. In addition, I really wonder if that Lasik place was even there in 2007.

 

[webrocket]

OK, I've started a new page: "similar cases" and I need your help.

http://sites.google.com/site/parallelcooler/home/koecher-html/similar-cases

There are instructions for you on the page.

I've ALREADY found something interesting, just by doing this: Trevor is reported to have recently had Lasik surgery. The address he went missing at, is right near a Lasik surgery center (and NOT "at Flamingo", a lazy way of giving Las Vegas addresses!)

Besides the obvious similarities in age and city of disappearance I see nothing in common with these guys. Trevor had an apt, a job, and money to pay his bills. Steven had nothing of material value. Trevor may have been involved with drugs (as per LE comment on rehab) Steven was probably clean as a whistle in that dept.

Trevor owned a gun which is missing(?).

 

[liz b.]

Thing about going with someone, and leaving your own car behind is that you are a captive audience for whatever they have in mind. Trevor,probably much more "streetwise" than Steven, might well have thought to take his gun with him.
Another angle, and a question : did Steven have a cousin who was a realtor, and had an office close to Anthem ? Why wouldn't he stop by when he was there ? Realtors offices are always open on Sundays , it's usually an Open House day. They do a lot of business on week ends. It would have been a golden opportunity for Steven to try to get some business for the window washing / marketing gig. Apologies in advance if this has been covered .....

 

[laytonian]

Why not drive yourself? Cause someone was already going and he didnt have to pay for gas. This someone offered to go with him. maybe introducing him to someone or somewhere. I dont bring a change of clothes or my computer with me if im only going for the day. h emay have planned to be back late that night. Hence parking in the cul de sac. He wouldnt have to worry about getting towed like a local store parking lot.

if the number came up unknown maybe. But, if it was family. We have our answer. I really think cell phone records are key here. If im in a car with one person. I generally wont answer my phone. He was probably in the company of this person consistently since he left. Hence not returning the messages. he figured hed get to it later.

the Neff family told steven AN was living in SLC. he knew that while he was there.

Just bouncin' ideas here:

Vegas to Sacramento "for the day" is a 575 mile drive from Vegas. Since the Dec 14th cellphone ping was "in the Vegas area".....you'd arrive in Sacto two days later very dirty, without your shaving kit, clean clothes, your computer. Whatever job was worth driving that way for, you just blew a good impression. And whoever drove you, is introducing you to someone and yet they paid all your expenses, while doing you a favor? All you have is a "portfolio".

He was being very selective in answering the phone, and answering. He ignored his best friend from college, Tom. He ignored the landlord. When he talked to family, he didn't tell them he was travelling. He said he was shopping for groceries in WalMart. But we really don't know that he was, do we?

I'm saying he brought it up like this "I'm thinking of visiting friends in Sacramento, is AN still living there?"....gotta be casual, you know OR maybe like Naegle said, it was just small talk to explain what he was doing there.

 

[laytonian]

Thing about going with someone, and leaving your own car behind is that you are a captive audience for whatever they have in mind. Trevor,probably much more "streetwise" than Steven, might well have thought to take his gun with him.
Another angle, and a question : did Steven have a cousin who was a realtor, and had an office close to Anthem ? Why wouldn't he stop by when he was there ? Realtors offices are always open on Sundays , it's usually an Open House day. They do a lot of business on week ends. It would have been a golden opportunity for Steven to try to get some business for the window washing / marketing gig. Apologies in advance if this has been covered .....

Steven's "second cousin removed" has a realty office in the Vegas area, but we never really found out if he was the same Jeff Bradshaw with the realty office on S. Eastern.

 

[laytonian]

Besides the obvious similarities in age and city of disappearance I see nothing in common with these guys. Trevor had an apt, a job, and money to pay his bills. Steven had nothing of material value. Trevor may have been involved with drugs (as per LE comment on rehab) Steven was probably clean as a whistle in that dept.

Trevor owned a gun which is missing(?).

I'm not looking for similarities in the people as much as trying to figure out how many similar cases there are.

We've heard "1500 people are reported missing every month in Vegas". We don't know how many are found, how many are suicides, how many are old, women, young, fat, thin.

AND we don't know how common it is, for a 30-year-old to vanish into thin air.

So far, I've got two 5'10" mid-weight guys missing on a Sunday in the Vegas area. Maybe there's more? Maybe there's not. Doesn't hurt to think about it.

 

[laytonian]

RubyRed,
I believe Trevor Morse was last seen when he was caught on videotape on A Sunday afternoon, around 3:20 p.m. Also, Trevor and Steven were blond haired,blue eyed, and basically had the same "type" of physical looks. Their life circumstances were way different,though, in that Trevor was employed as a journeyman elecrtician when he vanished.

Trevor's described as having dark hair. But their basic physicality is simlar.

EDIT:
Trevor's father posted an UPDATE to his myspace page, about some human remains found out by Nellis AFB in 2009. He hasn't posted since.
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=300628111&blogId=516696078

 

[laytonian]

Laytonian, if I may. . .the reason those addresses may be off is that at that time the Town Center connection to the 215 was just being constructed. That section of highway is very new. In fact, at that time, there would have been construction all over that area. . .on the 215, on Town Center, etc. If Trevor walked off in a SW direction, as in walking on Town Center, he would have been walking straight into one of the busiest construction areas at that time in all of Las Vegas. Now, I don't know if he made it to the highway or not but at the time I had a job that took me up and down the 215 all the time and it was a nightmare of construction. Fairy1 lives here too. Maybe she has some insight as well as to what that area of town looked like at the time. Because the Google Map is not accurate for 2007. It is accurate for now and traffic patterns and roads can rapidly change here. In addition, I really wonder if that Lasik place was even there in 2007.

I know....but there had to have been something there, to catch him on the security camera.

 

[RubyRed]

http://dianedimond.net/the-maliciously-missing/

This is an article on the maliciously missing and down in the comments there is an article on a proposed law for people that voluntarily walk away. An interesting read. I am not saying Steven did this but one never knows, and these families never thought their love ones would leave.

 

[Fairy1]

I'm positive that the 215 in the Flamingo area was open before 2007. I'm sure there was plenty of construction in that area, but not on the freeway.

I was thinking today that back when I was a kid, they found bodies in the desert areas in and surrounding the city ALL the time. In fact, I knew some kids that found one cutting through a neighborhood desert lot on their way to school! It still happens quite often. Just in the past couple of months they found two bodies up on Sunrise Mountain - I never could find out who they were.

I'm a bit confused on the exact location of the last sighting of Trevor. I do believe he was very close to the 215, but not Red Rock Canyon. It's interesting to note that the 215 begins in Henderson (south) and loops around the city ending in the north. Here's a link to more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas_Beltway

I wish we had more details about Trevor so we could really compare the two cases side-by-side. Both of these fellas seem to have been somewhat isolated and not particularly close to anyone where they were living.