First, many crimes are not reported, and this neighborhood is not entirely occupied. Many foreclosures, and many second homes by people who live out of state. That is obvious just from public records. Many times people do not know that someone has been in their second home until they come back to check on it. If they do not rent it out, they probably don't even have a property manager who checks on it. And yes, these crimes happen in broad daylight by people who disguise themselves as delivery people or utility people. A time when many neighbors are likely to be at church or at the country club is a prime burglary time in Utah and Arizona. Many burglars choose the crime because it is quick and they are looking for something to fence. They are high or jonesing for their next fix. That makes them especially dangerous to encounter.
This is why I think that the first things that need to happen are looking at the door-to-door canvassing - who was missed? who wasn't home the first time? has every home in the area been searched? how about sheds, crawl spaces? Cadaver dogs can do this.
Second, if Steven went to see someone, it doesn't follow that he HAD to have an appointment and that there would be a cell phone or computer trail. He himself has already shown us that he sometimes shows up places to see people. Also, if Steven called someone at their work, that wouldn't show as suspicious or unusual (calling Lowe's, etc.). If he met someone in person, at an IHOP, that person might just give out their address and invite him to come by.
Also, there needs to be a foot search starting where his car was parked and extending as far out as possible, then another one in the foothills, in case he was picked up and dumped somewhere, or he accepted a ride with someone and it went bad. Suppose he walked across the golf course to all the business on Hampton Road to leave resumes there, accepted a ride back to his car, but never got there. Steven's ward in St. George plus a few wards in Anthem, which has an entire stake, ought to be able to pull out hundreds of people, Scouts, etc. to search. Frankly, if Steven were the missing young father of two kids, I think more would be being done to find him this way so that this could at be done thoroughly and crossed off the list.
Gas stations where he stopped that week - are these the most likely places to buy gas on his route? or are any of them off the freeway and thus puzzling? was he visiting anyone else? making any other contacts who might be afraid to come forward? Just loose ends to investigate.
Also, young men are more likely than women to have psychological breakdowns, lose track of who they are, and become homeless. There is a group in Vegas that does free food picnics in parks and they were having one that day, although it was quite far from where he was. But one thing that may not have been done is to be sure that this group is keeping an eye out for him, and flyers passed out to the homeless people who come to the next gathering. Many of them will have their ears to the street and may hear something if a crime was committed, Steven was "rolled" for his ID and money, or abused. The reward in this case might be too modest to make a drug dealer come forward but it's a lot of money to someone who lost their apartment to gambling debts and many crimes have been solved with tips from homeless individuals.
