NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - # 9

[gsmith]

Yes. They should have been employed yesterday as well. IMO.

At the search I asked the PI about that. He said that after 60 days in that climate the dogs wouldn't pick up a scent.

After that trip and talking with his parents for over an hour I got more of a feeling a crime was committed. His parents read his journal and knew he was a little sad but he never mentioned to anyone even in passing that ending his life was an option.

I don't think he was escaping from anyone either. I heard someone at the search, it might have been the bishop, saying he attended most church activities. There were a couple community service activities that he was one of the few that showed up.

His parents are some of the nicest people I've met. They reminded me of Steve. Believe it. He didn't have a dark side.

I talked to his dad and he certainly doesn't have his head buried in the sand. Some of his theories seemed very reasonable. He sounded like a Websluether.

 

[gsmith]

I really think he was there either helping someone or trying to get a job. I drove to Vegas that morning and kept track of driving times. Cruising 8 mph over the speed limit it only took 1 hour to get to Vegas. It's not a big trip.

He wouldn't answer the phone if he was trying to disappear especially so close to St George. He could have been in San Diego by noon.

 

[gsmith]

STEVE KNOWS SO MANY PEOPLE. I'm sure there is a friend or an acquaintance that knows someone in that area.

The only reason I know he's missing is because of my mom and wife. I don't have a Facebook account and I don't know anyone of his family or other friends. I bet there is someone out there unaware of this case that knows him.

He's been there before. The video shows he didn't look lost. He could have been there many times.

 

[gsmith]

Oh yeah. I observed GW's behavior and he seemed like one of the family members. He was calm and talking to people. My wife listened in on his conversations and we both believe he is innocent and trying to help.

Another note. The area was rocky but I found a few places with dirt so soft that I could push my flag 6 inches in the ground.

 

[pudd]

I talked to his dad and he certainly doesn't have his head buried in the sand. Some of his theories seemed very reasonable. He sounded like a Websluether.

In the words of a certain Mr Burns: excellent!

Thanks so much gsmith, that was great to hear, and I appreciated your detailed information.

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

Gsmith-

Thank you for your informative and first hand posts. I thought I would post of few questions that came to mind after reading your posts.

Did Mr. Koecher, in his theories, propose a reason for all the driving SK had recently been doing? Is there a connection between the events in his theories?

Are you willing to share any of his theories?

I think you may have been the one to mention medication...at one point. Didn't SK say he didn't like the medicine he had tried...and was no longer on it as of a few years ago?

Had SK's parents met GW before all this happened?

 

[Pondering Mind]

He had apparently mentioned to someone he was taking something that seemed to help. What in the world was it?

This has probably been mentioned, if so I apologize in advance if it has. But, as someone who takes an antidepressant, what scares me about that is that if he was just starting on an antidepressant or had just upped a dosage, they can and do make some people either suicidal or much more prone to suicide. That would put a whole new spin on that angle for me.

Regarding Stevens speech, I could have sworn gsmith mentioned Steven doing that in a conversation they had. Then again, I could be mis-remembering. :angel:

 

[gsmith]

If Steve could have driven to anthem in about an hour and a half or less, why would he have left the night before for a noon appointment?

I talked to a few people that have seen the Steve's phone logs of cell towers and they said his cell was picked up by a number of towers. They told me that Vegas has towers around the bowl shaped valley and his cell was picked up by many of them at different times. They said the frequent change of towers makes it difficult to position where he was. It tells me he was all over that valley.

Maybe he was told to go to a very prominent place in Vegas. A place where directions wouldn't be needed. Whoever he met told him they didn't have a phone nor did he they have an exact address but they'd give it to him later. Steve meets this person. They have breakfast. It's all part of the interview. The bad guy tell's him to fill out an application. The application has the directions included. Steve is to bring the application with him for the interview with another guy.

These guys know how to stay off the books.

Why didn't Steve sleep in his own bed that night, wake up at 9 am and then go to Vegas?

 

[gsmith]

Gsmith-

Thank you for your informative and first hand posts. I thought I would post of few questions that came to mind after reading your posts.

Did Mr. Koecher, in his theories, propose a reason for all the driving SK had recently been doing? Is there a connection between the events in his theories?

Are you willing to share any of his theories?

I think you may have been the one to mention medication...at one point. Didn't SK say he didn't like the medicine he had tried...and was no longer on it as of a few years ago?

Had SK's parents met GW before all this happened?

Well Steve's mom said that he was expecting to see A.M. up in ruby valley but she wasn't there because of a last minute change in plans. He liked her but she didn't reciprocate the same. They think Steve tried to save face with the parents by saying he was on his way to California. Going all that way for a girl that doesn't like you can come across desperate.

Steve's dad's theory was more a private thing because he doesn't want to hurt the investigation. He thinks it was a criminal act by a particular group and he thinks the police are investigating. I can tell you privately if you message me.

Steve mentioned it a year ago when he was really down. I think he had just started whatever he was taking. Steve's mom mentioned that time period as being his roughest. She said he was happier in St. George and the better weather helped. It also sounded like he was involved in many group activities. I thought he was lonely down here but it really sounds like he was getting back up on his feet socially.

I now don't think he committed suicide.

I don't know when his family met GW but they now seem like good friends. He looks to be quite involved.

 

[gsmith]

This has probably been mentioned, if so I apologize in advance if it has. But, as someone who takes an antidepressant, what scares me about that is that if he was just starting on an antidepressant or had just upped a dosage, they can and do make some people either suicidal or much more prone to suicide. That would put a whole new spin on that angle for me.

Regarding Stevens speech, I could have sworn gsmith mentioned Steven doing that in a conversation they had. Then again, I could be mis-remembering. :angel:

He lost his train of thought quite a bit in the middle of a sentence. I mentioned it so everyone could get a feel for who he was and perhaps diagnose something no one had ever diagnosed.

I have had day's where my words come out twisted. He could have been nervous or just uncomfortable.

I know meds can do some crazy things but he had it quite rough a year ago. The weather in northern Utah was affecting him, he disliked his job, he just broke up with a girl and he was lonely.

I got a sense from those there at the search that he was doing better socially. A couple years ago he was very happy and he had a good sized group of friends.

I just wonder how many people he knew that no one in this investigation knows about. No one at the search knew me including his family and I've been his friend for years.

I think they should be posting his face everywhere in St. George. Someone there knows why he went to Vegas. Who did he meet there that had ties to Vegas?

 

[hollyblue]

If Steve could have driven to anthem in about an hour and a half or less, why would he have left the night before for a noon appointment?

I talked to a few people that have seen the Steve's phone logs of cell towers and they said his cell was picked up by a number of towers. They told me that Vegas has towers around the bowl shaped valley and his cell was picked up by many of them at different times. They said the frequent change of towers makes it difficult to position where he was. It tells me he was all over that valley.

Maybe he was told to go to a very prominent place in Vegas. A place where directions wouldn't be needed. Whoever he met told him they didn't have a phone nor did he they have an exact address but they'd give it to him later. Steve meets this person. They have breakfast. It's all part of the interview. The bad guy tell's him to fill out an application. The application has the directions included. Steve is to bring the application with him for the interview with another guy.

These guys know how to stay off the books.

Why didn't Steve sleep in his own bed that night, wake up at 9 am and then go to Vegas?

Thank you for the post. It leaves many a question. Do you know if the pings (majority) were from Saturday or Sunday---or both? TIA

 

[gsmith]

I don't know when the pings were. One person said that an expert looked at the logs and said it was impossible to pinpoint where he was.

At the search site I had 4 bars out of 5 and had no problem sending emails and texts if that info means anything.

 

[webrocket]

Maybe the directions didn't come from MapQuest or any website. Maybe they were given to Steven personally, verbally.

We just need to figure out by whom.

with all those twists and turns, verbal instructions would have been very difficult to get right and it would have been very easy to make mistakes. I still think SOMEONE ran addresses through a site like Mapquest.

 

[webrocket]

True -- PLUS we need to look at that map of Sun City Anthem again.

If LE were to somehow subpoena MapQuest/Google/Bing/et al to produce the IP records of all requests for navigation to addresses in SCA's Overlook Village, it would likely turn out to number in the thousands.

Even if only one person per month looked for directions to a particular Overlook Village address, that would be about 2400 requests in a year.

The directions started in St. George. Granted we have no way of knowing for sure what starting point someone used, what is the harm in LE obtaining a subpoena to find out if there were any requests from St. George to Henderson? If too many, then narrow down to SCA.

I personally see this as a no-brainer.

 

[grayjay]

Another possibility that wouldn't show up on the video, might be he followed a resident home and the resident pulled into his garage and SK just found the parking space that seemed right and walked back to the person's home.

 

[Lato]

News Article on Search

Search for missing man comes up empty
BY SCOTT KERBS • skerbs@thespectrum.com • April 11, 2010

ST. GEORGE — The family of a missing St. George man was aided by about 70 volunteers Saturday as the group searched for signs of the man in an area of Henderson, Nev., but the effort yielded little concrete evidence of his whereabouts.

Article continues here.....
http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20100411/NEWS05/100411004/Search-for-missing-man-comes-up-empty

 

[Lato]

Search News

New leads in seach for Steven Koecher

Last Update: 4/11 9:42 pm


Steven Koecher search
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Parents of a St. George man who has been missing since December say they now have new leads in the search for their son Steven Koecher.


Article continues here....
http://www.abc4.com/content/news/to...or-Steven-Koecher/TZCiDFTSYE2nP5k9f99GpQ.cspx

 

[Lato]

Search Article by same reporter includes pictures and states it is updated about an hour ago

http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20100412/NEWS01/4120323

 

[carbuff]

The directions started in St. George. Granted we have no way of knowing for sure what starting point someone used, what is the harm in LE obtaining a subpoena to find out if there were any requests from St. George to Henderson? If too many, then narrow down to SCA.

I personally see this as a no-brainer.

Unless they have a specific evidence a crime was committed and that the directions were involved, they don't have any grounds for a subpoena. A judge normally won't grant a subpoena for a fishing expedition, which is what this would be.

The directions wouldn't have to start in St. George. "Here, this sheet has directions for driving from SLC. Just follow from step 5."

 

[carbuff]

It is conceivable that someone offered to put him up at their house, as a ruse to get him there. I don't think he had $$$ for a hotel and he was eating fast food. Or, offered to cook him lunch & have a swim or a shower. Maybe this person said they were interested in Mormonism & would Steven like to come over and talk about religion.

I'm sure we could think of more scenarios that a killer could use to lure a victim to their house. Look at John Wayne Gacy. He had many people buried under his floor.

Steven was probably gullible, he looks it in his pictures. A nice, helpful, clean-cut man. Those are the kind of people some perps look for, not the hardbitten street person that might make a fuss.

He never made it out of Anthem alive. He's either there, or taken away in someones' car or a dumpster. He would never leave his car & run off, he had presents in his car & church duties. He was religious, he wouldn't kill himself.

The depression/medication/erratic behavior issues won't let me take suicide off the board, but otherwise I agree with you.

One possibility that came to mind reading your ideas: somebody he met (probably through the church) said, "There are lots of job opportunities down here for a bright young man willing to work hard. Come down Sunday and have dinner with us, I'll go over the job listings with you and give you some referrals, and Monday morning you can go apply."

All the evidence we have is that everything was pretty much normal with him right up to the moment he walks out of that video. We might not know the reason he was in that part of Henderson, but he acts as though it's normal and his friends at the ward don't seem to think it was that unusual. And the way he tells them he can come back if they need him makes it sound as though whatever it was, could have been put off.