NV NV - Steven Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - #22

[Grandma2016]

This case has bothered me since I saw it on "Disappeared." I've had some extra time on my hands and ithis is one of the cases I know needs answers. It seemed like this gentleman was anything but depressed to me. I don't think he was doing anything illegal or inappropriate. No gambling. It looks to me like when he walked away from his car, he was walking toward something BIG. This was a casual meeting but the spring in his step and all his actions beforehand suggest he was expecting great results. Going to his old firlfriends house, telling them he's may be going to Sacramento, buying the gifts for the children, this sounds to me like Steven was excited about something and he was getting everything positioned to make a change. But not a running away change. I think he was expecting to go home on 12/23/2009 with news of a new job; but because he was considering going to Sacramento, this was no small job, it would have been a career position. I think the reason he didnt want to accept his family's money and the reason he kept secrets and the reason he did the unusual actions he did (the trip to the old girlfriends family and the buying of gifts) his actions in driving to meet his old girlfriends family and the reason he would have considered moving to Sacramento suggest it was a career position he was expecting (he wouldn't have moved to Sacramento for less than s career position). I think he was lured to a meeting by someone who made all kinds of false promises.

Here's the evidence that supports my theory: He didn't have a Manila folder with him. I work in the legal industry. I KNOW what Manila folders look like. They have no clasp. The contents can't be bulky or they'll fall out. I watched the video of Steven walking awa from his car so many times to be sure but in the end I was certain of it. He's carrying one of those brown accordion portfolio files. And something was in it. These arent for carrying flyers or documents. These are for important papers that must be kept nest and clean and well preserved. This was perhaps artwork, graphic, commercial or computerIt was a portfolio case; the dark brown accordion-like file artists/graphic artists put their work in. He was definitely meeting someone for business but not for the temporary business he was doing. This was big. I think he was expecting to make a new deal and he traveled to see his girlfriend because he was so excited.

ive done some research online and got the CC&Rs for the community and have lots of ideas of how to find the resident who Steven was meeting that day but first, what was in the portfolio??? What kind of creative, documents or invention could he have drawn up?

 

[Grandma2016]

A blogger on another site (I want to reference his name but I'm not sure if he'd want me to here or if it's proper) did some business entity research and found exactly the type of business Steven would have been bringing a brown accordion portfolio file to) and got the name of a 33 year old man who's parents own a home in the retirement community. I did some follow-up research and found he apparently lived and ran his business from his parents house from around 2005 until after 2009. He was breaking CCR's by living and working there. His very wealthy family owns a national company. The company has a branch in Henderson Nevada and another office in Sacramento but he and his father don't appear to have the power to offer employment.

This is man lived in Utah, specifically, Kanab and St. George (same town as Steven). I think we've got something to turn over but I've never done this before. My partner is referring our info to the police. I'm contacting the Vegas detective. It looks like the man lured Steven there to get what was in the portfolio. He probably made promises he knew he couldn't keep. That man's father lived there too. I'll bet his dad had an activity that took him out of the home that Sunday at noon and this whole event may have been planned. So sad.

 

[Caffeine]

Excellent points you bring up and this is quite a mystery for sure. I do think there is a chance Steven may have headed for a specific house for a job offer and perhaps went inside and that could have led to his demise. Or they subsequently left in another vehicle and something bad happened along the way.

However I do have a few issues with this because Steven parked his car at a dead end cul de sac. One would assume if you were meeting a prospective employer, you'd simply park in their driveway. If there was a specific address for a meeting, it would be highly unusual to request they park their car at a dead end and walk to the house. At least I would find that strange.

Also, considering it was a community of mostly older folks, I'm surprised no one saw Steven walking and enter a house, no direct neighbors or anyone along the way has seemingly mentioned seeing him that day. With that said, we don't know the distance of his travel. The longer he walked the more of a chance of a witness seeing him, the shorter he walked the less of a chance. Usually older people are attentive to what's going on in the neighborhood, so I've always found it weird he wasn't seen.

So that tells me he either walked a very short distance to a house, or didn't go to a house at all.

We don't have much to go with here but as of now I do think there was a prearranged meeting in that community, likely a job offer of sorts. However, I don't necessarily think he was going to a specific house rather an area to be picked up in a car.

Inviting someone to your house and possibly killing them is an incredibly risky move and I tend to think Steven was lured to that neighborhood because it felt safe, gave the impression that residents there were perhaps well off.

I think he was picked up and taken elsewhere and was likely killed.

It's a very unusual set of circumstances, but random Craigslist type murders have happened before. Either way I think Steven needed money and perhaps he was taken advantage of.

 

[fridaybaker]

A blogger on another site (I want to reference his name but I'm not sure if he'd want me to here or if it's proper) did some business entity research and found exactly the type of business Steven would have been bringing a brown accordion portfolio file to) and got the name of a 33 year old man who's parents own a home in the retirement community. I did some follow-up research and found he apparently lived and ran his business from his parents house from around 2005 until after 2009. He was breaking CCR's by living and working there. His very wealthy family owns a national company. The company has a branch in Henderson Nevada and another office in Sacramento but he and his father don't appear to have the power to offer employment.


This is man lived in Utah, specifically, Kanab and St. George (same town as Steven). I think we've got something to turn over but I've never done this before. My partner is referring our info to the police. I'm contacting the Vegas detective. It looks like the man lured Steven there to get what was in the portfolio. He probably made promises he knew he couldn't keep. That man's father lived there too. I'll bet his dad had an activity that took him out of the home that Sunday at noon and this whole event may have been planned. So sad.

Okay, but you can't tell us what kind of business someone would bring an "accordion portfolio file" to? I've looked at the video many times and it sure looks like a manila envelope to me, but I certainly could be wrong. Anyway, I have several accordion-type files, as well as manila ones, but I can't really see what difference it makes -can you explain?

 

[fridaybaker]

Excellent points you bring up and this is quite a mystery for sure. I do think there is a chance Steven may have headed for a specific house for a job offer and perhaps went inside and that could have led to his demise. Or they subsequently left in another vehicle and something bad happened along the way.

However I do have a few issues with this because Steven parked his car at a dead end cul de sac. One would assume if you were meeting a prospective employer, you'd simply park in their driveway. If there was a specific address for a meeting, it would be highly unusual to request they park their car at a dead end and walk to the house. At least I would find that strange.

Also, considering it was a community of mostly older folks, I'm surprised no one saw Steven walking and enter a house, no direct neighbors or anyone along the way has seemingly mentioned seeing him that day. With that said, we don't know the distance of his travel. The longer he walked the more of a chance of a witness seeing him, the shorter he walked the less of a chance. Usually older people are attentive to what's going on in the neighborhood, so I've always found it weird he wasn't seen.

So that tells me he either walked a very short distance to a house, or didn't go to a house at all.

We don't have much to go with here but as of now I do think there was a prearranged meeting in that community, likely a job offer of sorts. However, I don't necessarily think he was going to a specific house rather an area to be picked up in a car.

Inviting someone to your house and possibly killing them is an incredibly risky move and I tend to think Steven was lured to that neighborhood because it felt safe, gave the impression that residents there were perhaps well off.

I think he was picked up and taken elsewhere and was likely killed.

It's a very unusual set of circumstances, but random Craigslist type murders have happened before. Either way I think Steven needed money and perhaps he was taken advantage of.

There are so many possibilities in this case because there are certainly many things which are within the realm of possibility. That realm, though, leads only to guessing, really. In sticking to the probable, I think we should assume that SK had an appointment -he arrived just before noon and waited in his vehicle until noon (give or take a minute or so.) That's such a common phenomenon, especially with an appointment, such as an interview, in which you need to be prepared. That is also an obvious reason why someone would not park right in front of the house he was headed to: He arrived early enough to make sure that he was on time, could take a couple minutes to make sure that his files were organized/go over potential answers to interview questions/whatever. Toward that end, he parked close to, but not directly in front of, his destination. I'd bet that he wasn't headed out into the desert, being picked up by someone in another vehicle or anything else. I'd bet that this is exactly what it looks like on the video. He had an appointment in the development where he was seen parking his car, waiting until just noon, then walking to the house of his appointment, folder in arm.

 

[Caffeine]

I can understand the idea of being prepared and on time for a meeting, but personally in a neighborhood I'm not familiar with, especially considering some communities with crazy HOAs, I wouldn't necessarily want to leave my car in a cul de sac away from my primary destination. Granted, people react different to that sort of thing but I've lived in developments near folks who'd call the tow company on cars that weren't directly parked by a house.

By all accounts he seemingly went down a dead end and parked between a section of houses on the street and the cul de sac. Obviously, we can't read minds here but personally this isn't something I'd do.

If I was traveling to a house for business and wanted a few minutes of privacy before the meeting, I'd simply park on the edge of their property on the street, away from the general view of the front of the house.

Alternatively, if I invited someone to my house for business, I'd assume they would park in the driveway or in the street. Without seeing a car, I'd be a bit curious as to how they got there, or where they decided to leave their car.

Again, we don't know Steven's mindset but it seems unusual to me that he didn't park adjacent to his destination, considering it was an unfamiliar area.

 

[Essbee]

I'd be interested in seeing a map to see how far the cul de sac is from the possible destination (the address of the business run by the 33 year old man). If it was only 1/2 a block or so, I think it makes perfect sense for SK to park in the empty cul de sac area rather than directly in front of any of the homes. He probably felt self conscious spending ~5 minutes sitting in his car (until noon) in front of anyone's house, especially the house where he had the interview.

I hope that the police look into the interesting tip and I hope you can reveal more at some point.

 

[snowleopard]

A blogger on another site (I want to reference his name but I'm not sure if he'd want me to here or if it's proper) did some business entity research and found exactly the type of business Steven would have been bringing a brown accordion portfolio file to) and got the name of a 33 year old man who's parents own a home in the retirement community. I did some follow-up research and found he apparently lived and ran his business from his parents house from around 2005 until after 2009. He was breaking CCR's by living and working there. His very wealthy family owns a national company. The company has a branch in Henderson Nevada and another office in Sacramento but he and his father don't appear to have the power to offer employment.

This is man lived in Utah, specifically, Kanab and St. George (same town as Steven). I think we've got something to turn over but I've never done this before. My partner is referring our info to the police. I'm contacting the Vegas detective. It looks like the man lured Steven there to get what was in the portfolio. He probably made promises he knew he couldn't keep. That man's father lived there too. I'll bet his dad had an activity that took him out of the home that Sunday at noon and this whole event may have been planned. So sad.

Thanks for the posts Grandma! I just happened onto the site I believe you're referring to. I'm not sure if a link is ok, but it is called 'armchair detective.org'. Pretty good articles on Steven, and good supporting exhibits for his ideas, though I'm not entirely sold on them. Definitely worth a look.

 

[Monkey King]

I am new here but based on my Mormon upbringing, having lived in the South West and similar age as Mr. Koecher (SK) this is what I think happened.
One premises is that the business financial aspect has been played out without success. So I submit that the main motivation in SK's actions is that he was a closeted homosexual.
In the L.D.S. (Mormon) culture homosexuality is often considered the worst possible sin. They continue to believe that it is a matter of choice and encourage homosexuals to marry heterosexually and have families... From listening to many L.D.S. homosexuals they have related that they often do not come out as it would "shame" not only themselves but their families also. For that reason they often distance themselves from their families and leave their communities before coming out. They also often struggle with depression, self-identity and have a suicide rate many time higher than the general public. It is my understanding that the suicide rate among L.D.S. LGBT+ is even higher than the LGBT+ community in general.
This would explains the move to St. George. He was either finding that he was being "tempted" to begin homosexual relationships and wanted to move as an attempt to rid himself of his "evil" desires or he was already preparing to come out. I suspect the former because 1) he did not get internet in his home, which would prevent his being "tempted" with homosexual , 2) he continued to be extremely active in the L.D.S. church. Those are things which Mormon leaders advise for those "struggling" with the "sin" of homosexuality, separate yourself from the other homosexuals, avoid all and spend all your free time serving the Lord...

It also explains the unexplained trip to his former girlfriend. Initially the existence of a girlfriend would tend to make one thing he was hetero. However, in the L.D.S. culture per-marital sexual activity is shunned to the extent that boyfriend-girlfriend relationships are supposed to be non-sexual. In my experience, my L.D.S. friends who are also homosexual had many "girlfriends" before they come out. In his diary he indicated that he was stressed about not-being married. Notice he did not say he was upset about not finding someone to marry and there is no indication that he was actively seeking a female marriage partner. This fits with the feeling out of step with the L.D.S. culture. Whatever he wanted to talk to her about was significant enough to him to justify that long road trip. I think that he was going to tell her that he was coming out. I suspect that she was the only one he felt close enough to divulge it to. Unfortunately she was not there.



Using the time line and map on Laytonian's web site I have put together the following:

The phone ping on 12/12/09 in Overton (which to date no one has explained) was him on his way to the Lake Meade 8 mile road nudist beach which is listed as a popular place to meet other homosexuals. From Utah the most direct route is to take Hwy 169 through Overton to Hwy 167 then to 8 Mile Road. (there is a 5 minute shorter route but it uses private roads which may be restricted) It is about a 2:15 hour drive from St. George. SK probably spent the day there, until he returned to St. George late that night. The blankets in his car could have been from used at the beach.


I think that he met someone at the beach who offered to introduce him to the homosexual community in Las Vegas. That is why he went back to Las Vegas. The person he was meeting lived in that community and told him where to park. Looking at the pictures of the area, there are other cars parked in front of homes yet SK parked in the only place in the neighborhood without a home by it. That is because SK was going to leave it there at least overnight. I suspect that the community had regulations regarding parking on the street and that by parking where he did his car would not get reported as soon as it would had it been in front of a home.


I did a search for hook-up (cruise) spots for gay men in Las Vegas mostly on http://www.cruisinggays.com.

I was able to locate cruise spots at every one of the cell phone ping locations on 12/13 and 12/14, except one.

4:36 p.m. at the Arroyo Sports Complex.

6:56 p.m. and 6:58 p.m. at the Galleria at Sunset mall which indicates multiple cruise spots

6:04 a.m. 12/14 near I-215 and Russell. This location is proximate to multiple cruise spots. The most likely is the Duck Creek Trail and Wetlands Park.

The only unaccounted for ping was about 10:00 am on the 13[SUP]th[/SUP]. But that was before he met whoever he met at about noon so it could really be anything.

The fact that all of the phone pings were at or very near heavily frequented gay cruising spots has to be more than coincidence. The most logical explanation is that someone was showing him around the local hot spots.


What happened after that? I would hope that he met someone who was able to help him transition out of the L.D.S. community and he is living happily in anonymity and his reason for silence all these years is so as to not cause his family any “shame” in the church. Unfortunately there is also a high possibility that he was not emotionally prepared for the transition and he committed suicide. This is tragically the fate of many young homosexuals who have the misfortune to be born into strict L.D.S. families. There is a possibility that he ran into a predator type but I doubt that because there does not seem to be any indication that there is a predator targeting the L.V. gay community.

 

[fridaybaker]

Monkey King, you bring up some interesting points. There was discussion early on re: the homosexual theory. It's always been odd to me that SK complained about having to work hours (he worked evenings or nights at one point) that precluded time with friends/family, then moved away from friends/family and, to a smaller job market. That being said, a huge problem for me, these many years on, is the lack of his surfacing in any way. I think that in this day and age that kind of disappearing is very, very difficult. I wish I could remember who posted about this phenomenon, but I can't right now. It was someone familiar with LE who said that it's virtually undoable these days to vanish so completely off the radar. If he's been found by LE, though, and doesn't want that known to friends/family, they wouldn't still be looking for him, which I think they are.

A point on your Lake Mead comment: Why would anyone go to a nude beach in December????? In Nevada. I know he had blankets with him, but that would seem to me to just be indicative of his traveling so extensively during the previous days (along with the shaving kit.) Seems to me he'd been sleeping in his car.

Interesting points, nonetheless, especially about the "cruising spots." Hmmm.

 

[Monkey King]

I did forget the month. I checked the weather, St., George high temp was 35 and Las Vegas was 52. Perhaps on the cold side. However there are events there even in the cooler months. see the following link:
On March 12 of 2009 there was a BBQ there for the nudists... "Naked BBQ at the nude beach in Lake Mead. We'll set up near the stone chair out there. Jesse knows where it is at and if he can help me mapIt I will add it here. Otherwise we can head out from my place. No one HAS to be naked, if you have seen me out I usually wear a sash around my waist and since the temperature is expected to be decent you can go as far as you like..." http://lasvegas.eventful.com/events/8-mile-bbq-/E0-001-019206674-2

There was some discussion in late November 2009 about the Govt. trying to remove access. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/%228$20mile%22$20$20beach/rec.nude/5fkdNyHeAXA/oAPT21Cw12UJ
Apparently, according to the cruising sites it is still accessible just a linger hike.

There is also the hot spings at several locations around the lake...

 

[fridaybaker]

I am new here but based on my Mormon upbringing, having lived in the South West and similar age as Mr. Koecher (SK) this is what I think happened.
One premises is that the business financial aspect has been played out without success. So I submit that the main motivation in SK's actions is that he was a closeted homosexual.
In the L.D.S. (Mormon) culture homosexuality is often considered the worst possible sin. They continue to believe that it is a matter of choice and encourage homosexuals to marry heterosexually and have families... From listening to many L.D.S. homosexuals they have related that they often do not come out as it would "shame" not only themselves but their families also. For that reason they often distance themselves from their families and leave their communities before coming out. They also often struggle with depression, self-identity and have a suicide rate many time higher than the general public. It is my understanding that the suicide rate among L.D.S. LGBT+ is even higher than the LGBT+ community in general.
This would explains the move to St. George. He was either finding that he was being "tempted" to begin homosexual relationships and wanted to move as an attempt to rid himself of his "evil" desires or he was already preparing to come out. I suspect the former because 1) he did not get internet in his home, which would prevent his being "tempted" with homosexual , 2) he continued to be extremely active in the L.D.S. church. Those are things which Mormon leaders advise for those "struggling" with the "sin" of homosexuality, separate yourself from the other homosexuals, avoid all and spend all your free time serving the Lord...

It also explains the unexplained trip to his former girlfriend. Initially the existence of a girlfriend would tend to make one thing he was hetero. However, in the L.D.S. culture per-marital sexual activity is shunned to the extent that boyfriend-girlfriend relationships are supposed to be non-sexual. In my experience, my L.D.S. friends who are also homosexual had many "girlfriends" before they come out. In his diary he indicated that he was stressed about not-being married. Notice he did not say he was upset about not finding someone to marry and there is no indication that he was actively seeking a female marriage partner. This fits with the feeling out of step with the L.D.S. culture. Whatever he wanted to talk to her about was significant enough to him to justify that long road trip. I think that he was going to tell her that he was coming out. I suspect that she was the only one he felt close enough to divulge it to. Unfortunately she was not there.



Using the time line and map on Laytonian's web site I have put together the following:

The phone ping on 12/12/09 in Overton (which to date no one has explained) was him on his way to the Lake Meade 8 mile road nudist beach which is listed as a popular place to meet other homosexuals. From Utah the most direct route is to take Hwy 169 through Overton to Hwy 167 then to 8 Mile Road. (there is a 5 minute shorter route but it uses private roads which may be restricted) It is about a 2:15 hour drive from St. George. SK probably spent the day there, until he returned to St. George late that night. The blankets in his car could have been from used at the beach.


I think that he met someone at the beach who offered to introduce him to the homosexual community in Las Vegas. That is why he went back to Las Vegas. The person he was meeting lived in that community and told him where to park. Looking at the pictures of the area, there are other cars parked in front of homes yet SK parked in the only place in the neighborhood without a home by it. That is because SK was going to leave it there at least overnight. I suspect that the community had regulations regarding parking on the street and that by parking where he did his car would not get reported as soon as it would had it been in front of a home.


I did a search for hook-up (cruise) spots for gay men in Las Vegas mostly on http://www.cruisinggays.com.

I was able to locate cruise spots at every one of the cell phone ping locations on 12/13 and 12/14, except one.

4:36 p.m. at the Arroyo Sports Complex.

6:56 p.m. and 6:58 p.m. at the Galleria at Sunset mall which indicates multiple cruise spots

6:04 a.m. 12/14 near I-215 and Russell. This location is proximate to multiple cruise spots. The most likely is the Duck Creek Trail and Wetlands Park.

The only unaccounted for ping was about 10:00 am on the 13[SUP]th[/SUP]. But that was before he met whoever he met at about noon so it could really be anything.

The fact that all of the phone pings were at or very near heavily frequented gay cruising spots has to be more than coincidence. The most logical explanation is that someone was showing him around the local hot spots.


What happened after that? I would hope that he met someone who was able to help him transition out of the L.D.S. community and he is living happily in anonymity and his reason for silence all these years is so as to not cause his family any “shame” in the church. Unfortunately there is also a high possibility that he was not emotionally prepared for the transition and he committed suicide. This is tragically the fate of many young homosexuals who have the misfortune to be born into strict L.D.S. families. There is a possibility that he ran into a predator type but I doubt that because there does not seem to be any indication that there is a predator targeting the L.V. gay community.

Okay, I really don't want to go on the cruisinggays website, but can you tell us if these spots were listed in map form? Here is my question: How many of these spots are there? Are there so many that there isn't a way to make a connection with the phone pings or is this information significant in that one can spot the tie-in between the two? (If that makes sense!)

I'm also hesitant to go down this road because no one in his life, that I'm aware of, has even remotely suggested this as a possibility. Also, SK's family, although they indicated early on that they think he would never voluntarily disappear, or would embrace a lifestyle counter to his LDS faith, did make it clear (via their "find Steven website, I believe) that they just wanted SK to come home, no matter the circumstances. I can't find it now, but it was worded such that it was obvious they were referring to the remote possibility that there was a change in lifestyle motivating/involved in the disappearance. SK's family was close from everything I've seen, and while embrace of that lifestyle might be a problem in the LDS church, it sure doesn't seem like it would preclude his remaining part of his family. I can't believe he wouldn't know this about his own family. Just some thoughts.

 

[fridaybaker]

Question: So the search teams were just searching the area around Sun City Anthem because they think he may have gone up there and committed suicide. So how are they explaining his cell phone pings the next morning in the Whitney Ranch area, which is 11 miles from his last known location? Someone had his phone and was in the Whitney Ranch area on the morning of 12/14, who was it and why did they have possession of Steven’s phone if he had committed suicide? Doesn’t make any sense. I don’t think this is a case of suicide. I’ve watched the video of him walking a million times, he had a destination and was carrying some type of folder with him, he wasn’t going to wander off in the desert.

Sassy, I agree with you. (Sorry everyone for bringing up such an old post.) I can't agree with the suicide angle, either, for reasons you've cited. However, does anyone remember the Red Rock search and rescue outfit which organized a new search in 2015 according to some "new information"? The particular information wasn't mentioned, but it seemed that their search was based on the theory that he went high up into the surrounding hills to commit suicide. And: They mention prior to the search, that if they didn't find anything, they'd reorganize and do another search. AFAIK, no other search was done. Wonder why not? Wonder what information led them to believe he may have committed suicide?

We have three basic possibilities: Suicide, voluntary disappearance, and foul play. I'm inclined to think foul play, unfortunately, by process of elimination. There just doesn't seem to be anything to suggest the alternatives. I can't believe that, after all these years, he's able to stay so completely off the radar. If he were going to commit suicide, what, where, how? Nothing indicates it. Just some thoughts.

 

[Caffeine]

The end of the last post brings up some good thoughts...Keep in mind, Steven's dad died a few years later. It would be incredibly uncaring for him not to contact his family at that point. Not impossible, but really unusual, I'd say.

With suicide, you can only hide your body so well. And then there's the issue of why would he walk to a destination instead of driving. It seems like a lot of work for someone who's decided to give up.

Obviously, that makes me lean to foul play. He may have been depressed due to his financial situation, but also he may have ignored several red flags to secure a new job or miscellaneous work.

 

[Fairy1]

Hello everyone. It's nice to see some activity here. I check in all the time but there just hasn't been anything new for so long. I know I've said it ALL before, but I just want to weigh in on a couple of things for those who don't want to read back for a million pages.

I have never believed Steven committed suicide. He wouldn't have needed to come to Vegas for that - even if his desire was to ensure he would never be found. St. George is quite literally surrounded by wilderness where he could easily have accomplished that objective. And as far as the "going off into the hills" of Henderson logic goes, he didn't - he walked in the opposite direction of those hills - towards Las Vegas.

For a long time, I believed (out of hope, really) that he did just walk away and start a new life, for whatever reason. As more facts about Steven and the state of his general life at the time he went missing came out over time, I genuinely thought, who could blame him from walking away? But, unless something happened to him well after his disappearance, that seems unlikely now as well. I believe he would have surfaced by this time - particularly following the death of his father.

And being in SCA for a job interview doesn't sit well with me, either. Mostly because he so readily offered to return to St. George when he got the call from GW asking if he could fill in at church. Which leads me to my next huge question.....

The call with GW happened around 8 AM. Steven is seen on the surveillance video just before noon. Where the heck was he during the hours in between?

 

[cocomod]

I am new here but based on my Mormon upbringing, having lived in the South West and similar age as Mr. Koecher (SK) this is what I think happened.
One premises is that the business financial aspect has been played out without success. So I submit that the main motivation in SK's actions is that he was a closeted homosexual.
In the L.D.S. (Mormon) culture homosexuality is often considered the worst possible sin. They continue to believe that it is a matter of choice and encourage homosexuals to marry heterosexually and have families... From listening to many L.D.S. homosexuals they have related that they often do not come out as it would "shame" not only themselves but their families also. For that reason they often distance themselves from their families and leave their communities before coming out. They also often struggle with depression, self-identity and have a suicide rate many time higher than the general public.

Snipped by me for focus

I just want to clarify that as a member of the LDS faith, being homosexual is not considered a sin - and is definitely not the worst possible sin, The worst possible sin is murder. We are encouraged to love everyone and accept everyone; even if we do not agree with their decisions. Having said that, I do think that there is a stigma and problems in the LDS community with regards to the homosexual lifestyle. I do think that many people from any faith struggle with "coming out"; I do not think it is singular to the LDS faith.

I think that this angle has been thought about often on this thread. It is one theory, but unfortunately, there is little to no evidence that supports any theory. I just wish that his family would be provided answers.

 

[fridaybaker]

Hello everyone. It's nice to see some activity here. I check in all the time but there just hasn't been anything new for so long. I know I've said it ALL before, but I just want to weigh in on a couple of things for those who don't want to read back for a million pages.

I have never believed Steven committed suicide. He wouldn't have needed to come to Vegas for that - even if his desire was to ensure he would never be found. St. George is quite literally surrounded by wilderness where he could easily have accomplished that objective. And as far as the "going off into the hills" of Henderson logic goes, he didn't - he walked in the opposite direction of those hills - towards Las Vegas.

For a long time, I believed (out of hope, really) that he did just walk away and start a new life, for whatever reason. As more facts about Steven and the state of his general life at the time he went missing came out over time, I genuinely thought, who could blame him from walking away? But, unless something happened to him well after his disappearance, that seems unlikely now as well. I believe he would have surfaced by this time - particularly following the death of his father.

And being in SCA for a job interview doesn't sit well with me, either. Mostly because he so readily offered to return to St. George when he got the call from GW asking if he could fill in at church. Which leads me to my next huge question.....

The call with GW happened around 8 AM. Steven is seen on the surveillance video just before noon. Where the heck was he during the hours in between?

Fairy, you make excellent points. Many times over the years you've brought up the issue of SK "so readily offering to return to St. George when he received the call from GW asking if SK could fill in at church". I can say this: Looking back at the times I've had job interviews, I would never have responded the way SK did to the GW call. I would have said "I can come back if you need me to, since your house is burning down and you need all hands on deck", or "I can come back since you've just given me news that my mother has been in a car accident and is dying" or "I can come back because a tornado has just ripped through St. George and entire families are missing". I would not offer to go back and miss the interview for something as trivial as filling in at the church meeting, which obviously wasn't a dire situation since GW went ahead and did it anyway.

Now, I have to say this: When I've had job interviews, they've been JOB interviews. Meaning, they were for full time positions within my professional line of work. Real jobs. Could it be that SK was simply going to meet someone to talk about a very part-time type of thing? Or someone who could give him some advice on his resume? That type of thing?

Here's the question: What do folks here think would be the kind of situation where SK was out of town, but offered to "go back" to fill in at the church meeting so readily?

 

[fridaybaker]

Hello everyone. It's nice to see some activity here. I check in all the time but there just hasn't been anything new for so long. I know I've said it ALL before, but I just want to weigh in on a couple of things for those who don't want to read back for a million pages.

I have never believed Steven committed suicide. He wouldn't have needed to come to Vegas for that - even if his desire was to ensure he would never be found. St. George is quite literally surrounded by wilderness where he could easily have accomplished that objective. And as far as the "going off into the hills" of Henderson logic goes, he didn't - he walked in the opposite direction of those hills - towards Las Vegas.

For a long time, I believed (out of hope, really) that he did just walk away and start a new life, for whatever reason. As more facts about Steven and the state of his general life at the time he went missing came out over time, I genuinely thought, who could blame him from walking away? But, unless something happened to him well after his disappearance, that seems unlikely now as well. I believe he would have surfaced by this time - particularly following the death of his father.

And being in SCA for a job interview doesn't sit well with me, either. Mostly because he so readily offered to return to St. George when he got the call from GW asking if he could fill in at church. Which leads me to my next huge question.....

The call with GW happened around 8 AM. Steven is seen on the surveillance video just before noon. Where the heck was he during the hours in between?

Fairy, just to clarify: If I recall, GW contacted him at around 8am and the meeting GW asked him to fill in for him was scheduled for noon, is that right?

 

[Caffeine]

GW was in the Vegas area at the time, right? So basically he stated that SK offered to return to Utah to help with church business, yes?

So we really don't seem to have any official validation from Steven himself that this is true?

Kind of makes you wonder if there was other business that brought them both to Vegas at the same time.

Part of me wants to think SK himself willingly sought out an opportunity of some sort in the area. One that he came across himself and perhaps against his better judgement pursued something that could have been a bit risky.

However, one has to wonder, with the complete lack of clues and communication, maybe this long road trip was planned with someone he knew in Utah, face to face. What I can't decipher is that was this just a bunch of random driving to kill time before a planned meeting in Henderson or was all of this connected in some way and the final stop there was part of a "route"?

 

[EmiLove832]

Does anyone know if GW asked Steven why he was in Vegas? Seems like it would be a normal thing to ask, especially since they both happened to be there.