NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - # 7

[laytonian]

Re: massage services, if you google, you can find Craiglist and other postings for "therapeutic massage" services which, if you take the phone numbers listed and reverse google them, you can find them showing up on sex services sites. You can further find that the phone numbers are landlines in the area of the Strip, but that the advertised services are said to happen in other neighborhoods like Anthem. This is a classic sign of a call service, as opposed to the legitimate massage services that are offered at places like the Anthem Day Spa.

..or Massage Envy in Utah, where unlicensed/licensed masseurs have been charged with sexual assaults. It's an uggy business, IMO, no matter how it takes place.

And one thing that tells me Steven didn't walk into the hills for a spiritual retreat is that he walked in the opposite direction - towards the golf course. If he had continued back down Savannah, then I might believe it, although it would still make more sense for him to drive until the last road in a subdivision, and then walk.

About home-based businesses, whoever said that they sometimes tell guests where it is legal to park, especially if they've had complaints from neighbors about foot traffic, that makes sense and fits. From what we know of Steven, it also makes sense that he just overshot the street and rather than turn around, parked and walked back.

NOTHING about Steven parking there and walking makes a bit of sense to me, even though I'm the one saying someone told him to park there.

He'd have had to have darned good instructions and a convoluted messaging plan to get there without anyone detecting it.

That ONE place in all of Anthem, with the dead-end cul de sac is just too perfect for this situation. It's a classic "car dump" to me, by someone familiar enough with the area, to either take Steven away or just walk away themselves.

Yes, I know. Everyone says it's Steven in the tape.

But really. If he wanted a massage, they're all over Utah. If he wanted a job, the situation's better in St George. If he wanted to disappear, why drive there to do it? If he wanted to GIVE massages, you can easily do that. (Really? Steven do that?) Prostitution? It's all over St George. It's legal in 8 of 16 Nevada counties (but not in Clark County).

It just seems to me, that getting rid of the car was the primary purpose to park there.

Was that a participatory crime that went wrong? It's the only one I can think of.

 

[Canyon1]

There's been a mention he was behind on his car payments (but we don't know how much)
On Dec 1st, he was three months behind on his rent (about $1,000 plus his share of the utilities)
It's certainly not an overwhelming amount, but it could have been to a 30-year-old who was trying to succeed on his own.



Bingo. If you planned to disappear and took your cellphone, why not your cellphone charger? Why not your computer, why not a chance of underwear? Why leave your shaving kit in the car?

What he took with him (basically nothing) tells me that he either knew he'd never need the left-behind items again, that he did plan on returning that evening OR that the landlord locked him out.



Here's where his car was found: http://snurl.com/u5wie [maps_google_com]

While SCA was surrounded by undeveloped land, if you were to walk to those areas, you'd (1) have to have some knowledge that you could get there from where the car was parked and (2) you'd have to walk for about 1.5 hours.

UNLESS (and I am apparently alone in this possibility) that he was just driving around, saw he was getting close to mountains/hills, parked randomly and started walking in the direction that seemed logical.

We've had people park in front of our home, and start walking up to the mountain that sits right behind us. Steven was parked a bit far away from that....and behind a walled area.

LE most certainly has the cellphone information. We don't know how much information the family has. In any case, we're not privy to it. All we've learned is that the call to voicemail was "Vegas area" and "early in the morning" on Dec 14th.

It doesn't sound at all illogical to park somewhere by open space and walk toward it because I would do the same thing. Steven apparently was pretty comfortable in the outdoors, so it's not a stretch for me to think he would have done it. He just spent the last year living within rock-throwing distance of Zion NP. Hiking/walking is a great way to clear your mind and sort out your thoughts.

Are you sure, Laytonian, that it would have taken that long--1.5 hours--to get from where he parked to some desert? It looked like it was less than two miles as the crow flies. I'll take your word for it if you're sure, but it seems that he could have run into that flood wash or whatever that is and just kept walking from there.

 

[laytonian]

It doesn't sound at all illogical to park somewhere by open space and walk toward it because I would do the same thing. Steven apparently was pretty comfortable in the outdoors, so it's not a stretch for me to think he would have done it. He just spent the last year living within rock-throwing distance of Zion NP. Hiking/walking is a great way to clear your mind and sort out your thoughts.

Are you sure, Laytonian, that it would have taken that long--1.5 hours--to get from where he parked to some desert? It looked like it was less than two miles as the crow flies. I'll take your word for it if you're sure, but it seems that he could have run into that flood wash or whatever that is and just kept walking from there.

It looks like 3-5 miles, in several directions.....

The problem is: would he have known about the "open space" golf course? Driving along Anthem Parkway is like a tunnel. There are walls on both sides, and you can't see what's beyond them. This is what it looks like (do a 360). That opening in the wall, is the ONLY place to turn into Overlook Village: SEE HERE

IF he was trying to walk through the golf course, it would have been much shorter to walk west through the gate and then up Hardin Ridge.

Or, with the required pre-knowledge, just drive a bit until you get to the "end of the world" area
Every theory I have, I can easily talk myself out of IF the figure in the video is Steven.

 

[gogrannypop]

Where the heck is Steven?? This is so sad and strange.

 

[Canyon1]

It looks like 3-5 miles, in several directions.....

The problem is: would he have known about the "open space" golf course? Driving along Anthem Parkway is like a tunnel. There are walls on both sides, and you can't see what's beyond them. This is what it looks like (do a 360). That opening in the wall, is the ONLY place to turn into Overlook Village: SEE HERE

IF he was trying to walk through the golf course, it would have been much shorter to walk west through the gate and then up Hardin Ridge.

Or, with the required pre-knowledge, just drive a bit until you get to the "end of the world" area
Every theory I have, I can easily talk myself out of IF the figure in the video is Steven.

Me too. Round pegs and square holes come to mind. And I have to take to word of people who know him. I believe it's Steven in the video.

 

[laytonian]

[/B]
Me too. Round pegs and square holes come to mind.

Every time I watch the first video, I see the walking figure (wearing something on his head) look down as the SUV approaches. Like they're trying to avoid recognition or identification,

After it passes, he raises his head and looks slightly to the right....as if he knows where the SUV is going to end up parking.

Maybe that's Steven, doing the avoidance. But why? No one there knew him.

I know.
Everyone else is sure it's Steven.
I'm not convinced.
Maybe just because I can't rule anything IN, so I can't rule anything OUT.

 

[dovebar]

I don't think Steven was involved in massage of the sketchy kind. I just think there might have been sketchy characters in the area drawn by this kind of business and he ran into them or saw something he wasn't supposed to. As I think I said earlier, I think it's more likely he was stopping by someone's house, dropping something off to a genealogy group, making a therapy appointment, meeting a possible songwriting contact, and things went awry from there.

I'm also not convinced, however, that the figure was Steven. The family would be in a better position to know, and it seems more likely to me that a dumped car would be dumped in the desert, and possibly set afire to hide evidence. That's why I think they need a bloodhound search beginning at his apartment in St. George.

I also still have questions about the former roommate. He has drugs in his past, he moves out owing money, and a few weeks later, his roommate is missing. Was Steven meeting him to collect something? Did Steven see something he wasn't supposed to and get followed from St. George, or lured from St. George?

 

[laytonian]

I'm also not convinced, however, that the figure was Steven. The family would be in a better position to know, and it seems more likely to me that a dumped car would be dumped in the desert, and possibly set afire to hide evidence. That's why I think they need a bloodhound search beginning at his apartment in St. George.

I also still have questions about the former roommate. He has drugs in his past, he moves out owing money, and a few weeks later, his roommate is missing. Was Steven meeting him to collect something? Did Steven see something he wasn't supposed to and get followed from St. George, or lured from St. George?

Roomie has two convictions; someone else has the same name as a man with six. I agree with the St George search, concentrated in those hills right behind Steven's home.

 

[carbuff]

The friend who said he recognized Steven's distinctive walk has made me tentatively agree to accept that's him in the video. It doesn't look like him to me, but I'm willing to attribute that to the distortion of the camera lens. A walk is very hard to disguise or fake.

You can count me as one who believes he could have ended up in that cul de sac more or less at random. Or that he had some simple "left on A, right on B" directions jotted on a napkin or the back of a receipt or something.

I also don't think there would necessarily be a complicated scheme involved in the "Eff this" scenario. Go to a city where you're not known -- even Las Vegas might be far enough. Work in the "gray economy," doing day labor, or, more likely, busking or playing one-off gigs by night and picking up temporary work to fill in the gaps. Maybe paying by the week for a cheap room (or sleeping in restaurants). Cash economy. If you're not using a credit card and not giving your social security number, it might be a long time before something happened to call attention to him.

 

[webrocket]

I also don't think there would necessarily be a complicated scheme involved in the "Eff this" scenario. Go to a city where you're not known -- even Las Vegas might be far enough. Work in the "gray economy," doing day labor, or, more likely, busking or playing one-off gigs by night and picking up temporary work to fill in the gaps. Maybe paying by the week for a cheap room (or sleeping in restaurants). Cash economy. If you're not using a credit card and not giving your social security number, it might be a long time before something happened to call attention to him.

Steven was not that ambitious to do what you described. He could not hustle for income in St. George so it is highly unlikely he changed his work habits upon arriving in Vegas.

 

[carbuff]

Steven was not that ambitious to do what you described. He could not hustle for income in St. George so it is highly unlikely he changed his work habits upon arriving in Vegas.

I dunno. I thought he seemed pretty good at scraping by with minimal needs and minimal income.

And I'm not saying it's likely. Just that it's not nearly as impossible as it sounds at first.

 

[laytonian]

Steven was not that ambitious to do what you described. He could not hustle for income in St. George so it is highly unlikely he changed his work habits upon arriving in Vegas.

I'll bet he was ambitious when it was something *he* wanted to do.

Look at the ambition it took to do all of that driving, those last few days. Just think what could have been, if he'd have applied that effort and concentration to the Tribune job (rather than being apparently distracted by those around him and the forum posters).

 

[Canyon1]

Every time I watch the first video, I see the walking figure (wearing something on his head) look down as the SUV approaches. Like they're trying to avoid recognition or identification,

After it passes, he raises his head and looks slightly to the right....as if he knows where the SUV is going to end up parking.

Maybe that's Steven, doing the avoidance. But why? No one there knew him.

I know.
Everyone else is sure it's Steven.
I'm not convinced.
Maybe just because I can't rule anything IN, so I can't rule anything OUT.

It could be. I honestly can't tell from the video. It could also be that he's chilly and has his head down against a breeze. The looking to the right could be his knowing where the SUV is going to park or just a subconscious turning toward the noise of it going by. I have a hard time with the "someone bumped Steven off because he inadvertently saw something" theory because it is mid-day...high noon. Doesn't that kind of stuff happen after dark or at very least in a seedy back alley? :waitasec:

 

[dovebar]

Sadly, no, crime does not confine itself to back alleys or nighttime and most abductions occur in the middle of the day or afternoon.

 

[carbuff]

I'll bet he was ambitious when it was something *he* wanted to do.

Look at the ambition it took to do all of that driving, those last few days. Just think what could have been, if he'd have applied that effort and concentration to the Tribune job (rather than being apparently distracted by those around him and the forum posters).

This is in the "takes one to know one" category...so maybe I'm projecting. But it seems like he's got an awful lot of symptoms of adult ADHD. Probably didn't realize it, either -- just spent a lot of time kicking himself for not being able to focus and get ahead.

 

[laytonian]

It could be. I honestly can't tell from the video. It could also be that he's chilly and has his head down against a breeze. The looking to the right could be his knowing where the SUV is going to park or just a subconscious turning toward the noise of it going by. I have a hard time with the "someone bumped Steven off because he inadvertently saw something" theory because it is mid-day...high noon. Doesn't that kind of stuff happen after dark or at very least in a seedy back alley? :waitasec:

The "got bumped off because he saw something" isn't one of my theories; I'd be more likely to believe a confrontation took place, and things got ugly.

 

[Canyon1]

The "got bumped off because he saw something" isn't one of my theories; I'd be more likely to believe a confrontation took place, and things got ugly.

That makes a lot more sense to me. Well, as much sense as anything does.

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

Something that came to mind after re-reading what his "best" friend from Texas wrote, and what GS has shared with us recently...Steven basically stopped answering calls and texts from his friends that were married and had gone on with their lives.

This was not just in the last month, but one for sure was. Still took calls from his family, GW and other men in his ward. I wonder if there are any other friends from his past that had tried to get ahold him and were not able to.

Both of the men mentioned above, appeared to have been genuine and close friends of Steven, both of whom he discussed other women, school and career decisions with. The one thing that bothers me, is no one ever met these women. Unless, GS I missed something...had you ever met any of the girls he was upset over?

 

[renn3434]

I wonder if Steven wasn't returning calls because he couldn't. I have a friend who gets behind on his cell phone bill and they allow him to receive calls but he cant place any calls until he gets caught back up. So if Steven missed the call he wouldn't be able to call back. Maybe he also knew it was a good friend calling and thought it would use up quite a few minutes to talk them and "catch up" and he didn't want to use up the few minutes he had. just a thought

 

[Canyon1]

Do we know what time Steven's phone was accessed for the last time? Anything I can find says "early morning," but is that "shortly after midnight" early or say, "5 in the morning" early?