Found Deceased PA - Paul Kochu, 22, Allegheny County, 17 Dec 2014 - #2

[LaborDayRN]

Alrighty then.

In this video at 41 seconds you see Paul Kochu's apartment.

It is identical to 2115 Wharton on the google map.

In the video the reporter states "Paul was last seen early Tuesday in his southside apartment."

http://ncpanews.com/search-for-missing-nurse-continues-on-south-side/

Thank you! Perfect! I can read the street number on the mail box.

 

[Ghostwheel]

So here's what I have. It is at the intersection where Paul was last captured on camera (The Giant Eagle 20th st) . The second picture is the camera screen capture from the same area.




He appears to be heading in the direction of 19th and Wharton and away from 2115 Wharton.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Adding this because my computer is not quite right today.

Picture of Google maps 2115 Wharton

Picture of zoomed in address on house

Picture of Pauls house on Video at http://ncpanews.com/search-for-missing-nurse-continues-on-south-side/


Conclusion: Paul is walking away from his house in the Camera footage from the night he disappeared.

 

[Miss Muffet]

I'm focusing on something else here. This is along the lines of how witnesses don't reveal all details at first, and as the investigation continues, more information comes out.

Look at all of the flyers from the very beginning that are on the find Paul facebook page.

This one posted on December 22nd says,

"Paul was last seen leaving Smokin' Joes on Monday Dec. 15th. Phone contact was approx. 1:49 am Tues. December 16th at his home."

No mention whatsoever that his roommates last saw him at their home. The last location and time a missing person is seen a key point when distributing flyers. How could this not be accurate seven days after he disappeared?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...6&set=a.1498916626837.65790.1051772195&type=1

Then this flyer posted on December 28th says,

"...last seen at his Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania residence around 1:30 a.m. on December 16th, 2014. Kochu spent the night at the bar watching Monday Night Football with his roommates. Around midnight, he went back to his apartment after cutting his hand on a glass of water. His roommates returned home to help him, then left to grab food. When they returned, Kochu had vanished."

Now they admit to seeing him at the apartment at 1:30 am on the 16th instead of last seeing him when he was leaving the bar before midnight on the 15th. Notice how the cutting his hand is given as the reason he left the bar. No mention of last phone contact at 1:49 am.

https://www.facebook.com/missingcas...865135400495/1015927528427581/?type=1&theater

These discrepancies always make me suspicious of witnesses. It seems the roommates didn't initially claim to have seen him after he left the bar.

 

[Miss Muffet]

Does anyone know the reason PK's parents believe PK might have had a head injury?

 

[AMWord]

Does anyone know the reason PK's parents believe PK might have had a head injury?

I have been wondering this myself. I sadly cannot supply a link because I don't recall where I read it. I did read somewhere that they had a Concussion Specialist/Neurologist view the surveillance video to determine if he may have had a head injury and they agreed that it seems that way based on his gait but nothing else was said about it.

Not sure if that helps at all...

 

[momthebomb]

Does anyone know the reason PK's parents believe PK might have had a head injury?

Yes from the video and the way he was walking. Besides the fact that it was obvious he was favoring his hand, his gait and appearance to them looked as though he may of had a head injury, and it wasn't an intoxicated type of walking. They also (his parents) said that they showed the video to someone in the medical field, and they also agreed with the head injury theory

 

[carbuff]

That bit about cutting his hand at the bar doesn't match other reports, either.

 

[momthebomb]

I have been wondering this myself. I sadly cannot supply a link because I don't recall where I read it. I did read somewhere that they had a Concussion Specialist/Neurologist view the surveillance video to determine if he may have had a head injury and they agreed that it seems that way based on his gait but nothing else was said about it.

Not sure if that helps at all...

Agreed, although I do not think they actually said neurologist. I believe they just called them someone with a medical background, although I could be wrong, I'm pretty sure of this

 

[Miss Muffet]

You guys are the greatest! Thanks for the responses.

While looking for info on the head injury, I found this, and I think it's insightful for other reasons:

Paul Kochu’s family is glad to see that Paul was alive after he left the apartment, but it has also made them worried because it appears that he is hurt in the video.

“By the way he is walking, it looks like something is injured,” Paul’s father, Jack Kochu said. “It may be his shoulder, back or head, but there is some other injury that Paul sustained before this video was captured.”

The surveillance footage has left the Kochu family confused as to what really happened to Paul that night between the time he was seen leaving the Smoking Joes bar and when he was seen staggering around outside.

“The problem is that there is two hours and forty six minutes that we know absolutely nothing about,” Jack Kochu said.

Read more: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...-Video-Surfaces--287674491.html#ixzz3U2B0glOy
Follow us: @nbcphiladelphia on Twitter | nbcphiladelphia on Facebook

Seems to me, some of us here aren't the only ones questioning what the roommates said happened.

I do agree he looks injured. The left arm being straight and held close to his side looks like a shoulder injury. There may be other injuries as well.

The roommates' stories change significantly in December based on the information in the flyers. I wonder at what point in the investigation the father learned there was a disagreement. Did this discovery of this video change the roommates stories?

PK's father mentions the expanse of time since his leaving the bar and being seen on the video. I'm wondering about the time the roommates left the house until the video. If they left at 1:00 am as many sources state, the video is 1 hour and 47 minutes after that. If they left at 1:30 am as some sources state, it was 1 hour and 17 minutes later. Is there a receipt or anything proving what time they were at McDonalds? It doesn't take long to drive there that late at night with zero without traffic. Also, is there any proof of what time the returned to the apartment from the bar?

 

[heartgoesout]

Muffet, you think like I do, out of the box. I like that. You are most definitely welcome here.

 

[Miss Muffet]

That bit about cutting his hand at the bar doesn't match other reports, either.

Agreed. But that flyer picture was posted on the Find Paul facebook page on December 28th. Any subsequent flyers mentioning his cut hand includes the same information.

Where did we read/hear that the cut happened after he returned home from the bar? I know I read that here on Websleuths. Did someone just come to the conclusion he cut his hand at home, or did they read it elsewhere? If it happened at home, why do the family's flyers continue to state it happened at the bar? I'm going to try to figure that out because when PK cut his hand is very important information.

If the story the cut happened at home originated here in these threads, that's one good reason to not start with the threads when approaching cases with fresh eyes. As a result, I'm going to focus on collecting all newspaper articles and blogs, televised news reports and police statements, and any other information with an official source. I'll input all the information into a spreadsheet to see where that takes me.

All of you really helped me get an idea of where to start my research and how to analyze it. I'm sure I'll end up finding more questions than answers though, but at least I've figured out somewhere to start.

My thanks to you all!

 

[Miss Muffet]

Muffet, you think like I do, out of the box. I like that. You are most definitely welcome here.

Thanks! It's good to know there are other out-of-the-box thinkers here!

 

[cluciano63]

I think LE probably quizzed the other men and asked about receipts, times etc...
I do not suspect them of anything at this point, unless new info surfaces.
Imo Paul being out and about on the video indicates he was distressed, either heading somewhere or walking in despair of some kind. Maybe his roommates are guilty of underestimating his distress, if anything.

 

[momthebomb]

Agreed. But that flyer picture was posted on the Find Paul facebook page on December 28th. Any subsequent flyers mentioning his cut hand includes the same information.

Where did we read/hear that the cut happened after he returned home from the bar? I know I read that here on Websleuths. Did someone just come to the conclusion he cut his hand at home, or did they read it elsewhere? If it happened at home, why do the family's flyers continue to state it happened at the bar? I'm going to try to figure that out because when PK cut his hand is very important information.

If the story the cut happened at home originated here in these threads, that's one good reason to not start with the threads when approaching cases with fresh eyes. As a result, I'm going to focus on collecting all newspaper articles and blogs, televised news reports and police statements, and any other information with an official source. I'll input all the information into a spreadsheet to see where that takes me.

All of you really helped me get an idea of where to start my research and how to analyze it. I'm sure I'll end up finding more questions than answers though, but at least I've figured out somewhere to start.

My thanks to you all!

There is a news clip interviewing the room mate in the living room. On the video the roomie is standing where Paul was when they supposedly got home from the bar after he called for help. The roomie then showed on video whereon his hand he was cut. I cannot find the clip now, but I'm sure you will be able to. It was in the very beginning and I'm sure there are links on the first thread to it

 

[Aunt_Tulip]

Post #1 on this thread has the quotes and links to Paul's roommate talking about when he left the bar, cut his hand, etc. Not trying to be snippy at all, just hoping to save you some searching time on things that have already been found and shared here.

 

[Miss Muffet]

I think LE probably quizzed the other men and asked about receipts, times etc...

Then why do the times not match up? Why are there different times for when he was last seen at the house by his roommates? Right now, there are two different flyer on the Find Paul website dated two days apart with two different times: 1:00 and 1:30. If LE narrowed all of that down, you'd think there'd be consistency in this information facts after 2-1/2 months.

I do not suspect them of anything at this point, unless new info surfaces.

What are you basing this on specifically?

Imo Paul being out and about on the video indicates he was distressed, either heading somewhere or walking in despair of some kind. Maybe his roommates are guilty of underestimating his distress, if anything.

That means you're leaning towards suicide, right? What makes you think he's distressed? Because his friends stating he was "emotional?" If so, what caused him to be "emotional?" Whatever you think is cool, but I'd love an elaboration.

 

[volcarm]

Newspaper articles state the roommates are not suspects. Perhaps LE isn't releasing that PK was last seen a block away from his home heading towards it because LE doesn't want to tip off the roommates that they are person's of interest. I'll bet LE is waiting for a body before laying in hard on the roommates.

.

What motive would the roommates have?

 

[Miss Muffet]

Post #1 on this thread has the quotes and links to Paul's roommate talking about when he left the bar, cut his hand, etc. Not trying to be snippy at all, just hoping to save you some searching time on things that have already been found and shared here.

Thanks!

Just an FYI for everyone. Most of the links at the start of this thread are no longer valid. I had to go through quite a few that weren't valid before finding it.

The first link saying the video is of Day 4, December 19th, takes me to a video about it being 6 weeks since his disappearance.

There's a sentence that says, "Includes Roommate Ben Interview Video:" but there's no link following the colon.

The video that's titled in that post as December 18th, says they all returned to the house together and then PK stayed behind when the others went to get something to eat.

This one dated December 19th says PK left the bar alone and called shortly afterwards because he cut his hand on glass. It briefly shows the roommates in the apartment showing where he dropped the glass. So this one is it: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/12/19/search-continues-for-missing-south-side-man/

That video explains why people here believed it happened at home while he was alone, but it sure doesn't explain why most flyers have been saying ever since December 28th that he left the bar because he cut his hand, does it? Is that because the roommates story was subsequently determined to be inaccurate? Lots of questions turn up when looking at stuff from the beginning.

Unrelated, but interesting, this video link says that Pittsburgh police said a cadaver dog picked up a scent that lead them to search in the river.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/police-missing-22-year-old-last-seen-south-side/njWYJ/

That must be the reason the Pittsburgh police have focused their efforts on the river since then. So sad.

 

[cluciano63]

Because Paul was seen alone, quite a while after roommates left him, I think whatever happened, happened then or soon after. I do not think the roommates found him again and "did away" with him. Jmo but I do not think it is allowed to even hint that the roommates are guilty of anything, as they have not been names named by police as PO.i's.