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

[Fairy1]

Off the rails. IMO.

 

[Fairy1]

That’s weird, the Google ping map states that particular call pinged near Nellis Airforce Base in North Las Vegas. I wonder who put out that info.

It's not weird. A good portion of Nellis AFB runs concurrent to the I15. If that's where Steven's phone pinged, it was because it was the closest tower.

Wasn't there a promise of more accurate cell phone records some time ago?

 

[Fairy1]

Has anyone ever looked closely at Steven’s Facebook page? There are some pics from May 2009 that he uploaded from his cell phone, a couple of them are of a building imploding, it looks like they were taken from an adjacent building. I’d like to know where those pics are from. Vegas is known for imploding buildings, I’d be curious to know if that’s where he took the pics. If so, that means he was travelling there long before he disappeared, he may have known Vegas better than anyone would’ve guessed. A relative comments on one of the photos asking where it was taken but Steven did not respond.

Do you have a credible source for this information?

 

[Sleuthster]

Do you have a credible source for this information?

I've already touched on this where it was disussed by this member on FB group. There are websites that list the implosions of hotels in LV. The only one to happen in 2009 was in Nov or Dec if I remember right. The image is of a pile of rubble on a roof top. It is not an implosion IMO. The other photos uploaded on that date are not LV IMO the waterfall and topography are more similar to what you'd see in Northern California or Nevada area near Tahoe.

 

[Laughing]

I think you make a lot of sense Hasheem and it's all facinating, what you are saying. How do you know Steven? Does his wife know about his past? We all want to know that he is alive. Is there something that people don't know about him that only his family would know that would verify he's ok?

Definitely! Although most of us never knew Steven, we are a genuinely caring group of people who certainly care about Steven, his safety, his desires, his choices, his concerns, and his family.

If he desires anonymity we'll respect that.

 

[Moonbeam456]

It's not weird. A good portion of Nellis AFB runs concurrent to the I15. If that's where Steven's phone pinged, it was because it was the closest tower.

Wasn't there a promise of more accurate cell phone records some time ago?

Yes it is weird, Nellis is hundreds of miles from the remote California town where the ping took place supposedly.

 

[Moonbeam456]

Do you have a credible source for this information?

His Facebook page is public, you can go look at the pics yourself.

 

[Moonbeam456]

That’s weird, the Google ping map states that particular call pinged near Nellis Airforce Base in North Las Vegas. I wonder who put out that info.

Hey Glovey, why did you delete your post about the California ping???

 

[Suglo]

Hey Glovey, why did you delete your post about the California ping???

Only moderators can delete posts. By the way, the ghost town Hart, CA is 68 miles from Henderson, NV according to google maps.

 

[PeriwinkleE]

Only moderators can delete posts. By the way, the ghost town Hart, CA is 68 miles from Henderson, NV according to google maps.

Nellis afb is at the very northeastern end of the Las Vegas valley. Henderson is at the southeastern end. A good 25 miles from each other. I15 is about 20 miles west of Henderson, as the crow flies. Lived in the area for a serious long time. Everything is far from everything. lol

 

[leomoon]

If Steven is still alive, I wonder if he realizes his father passed on, brokenheartedly.

 

[Moonbeam456]

Nellis afb is at the very northeastern end of the Las Vegas valley. Henderson is at the southeastern end. A good 25 miles from each other. I15 is about 20 miles west of Henderson, as the crow flies. Lived in the area for a serious long time. Everything is far from everything. lol

So Hart isn’t that far off from Henderson but why on earth would Steven be there or why would someone with his phone be there, it’s not even a town, you literally have to drive a dirt road to get there. I’m still confused as to why all these years it’s been reported that particular ping was up by Nellis AFB and now someone is saying the ping was actually almost 90 miles in Hart. Some of this info has to be incorrect.

 

[fridaybaker]

Koecher did not walk away from his life and become a homosexual lol. Perhaps he reverted to Islam, is married with 2 daughters, and lives in San Francisco.

Huh?

In order to have a constructive conversation here, or any conversation at all, it helps if one offers some sort of support for his/her theories.

If you believe this is a real possibility, what is it that points you in this direction?

I could just as well posit that he converted to Roman Catholicism and is living as a Carthusian monk, spending his days harvesting the daintiest posies the French Alps have to offer, to go into that excellent Chartreuse. It would help, though, if I offered a bit of evidence of this, such as: A photo of Mr. Koecher in hooded habit, bending down to examine a delicate floral specimen; a newish-looking Crucifix hanging off the rear view mirror; phone pings at McCarron International and perhaps a computer search about, well, at least the Chartreuse.... You get the idea.

Come now, if Mr. Koecher "reverted" to Islam, I'm sure his family would like to know. Please give us some of your insight into this wildly plausible theory.

 

[fridaybaker]

Why was SK struggling so in his life in general and economically, specifically? He was a nice- enough looking man, from a stable- seeming family, who had completed a mission, which is a very positive thing in the LDS church -Those men are usually quite sought-after as husbands.

Also, he did a foreign mission, which is always thought to go to the best LDS young man with the best family connections as well, IMO. I think it's very reasonable and true that he wasn't married because he wasn't in a position financially to, and I believe this, but -- Why? This has always bothered me: He complained to friends/family that his job in SLC with the SLC Tribune online kept him from having any time with friends and family (he worked evenings or weekends) but then he quits it and moves to St. George, which is a much smaller job market, takes a job with whatever matchbin.com is or was, and this move puts him AWAY from friends and family and I'd say way down the earnings ladder and also on a dead end to a career path. Apparently, he knew few people there as far as friendships and networking would go, too..

What I can find out about his job history shows what I believe is a disturbing trend of a downward progression from promising jobs which could have turned into his profession to a hand to mouth type situation handing out fliers ( or is it flyers?)

Why did this happen to someone with really strong multi-generational LDS connections ( LDS help their own more than any other people on the earth with a pure common cause of loving their church and brothers and sisters, let me tell you!!) This was all happening to him at a time when my husband was getting promoted left and right and was extremely successful. Don't tell me the " job market was depressed". It might have been for unskilled laborers, but this young man had 1) His family and their connections. 2) A very positive history of being a helper and good young man. 3) A good education and a nice appearance and conduct as far as is known. 4) The LDS church, which has tons and tons of people working and networking full time to get jobs for their members if all else failed him.

Steven was on top with the best people in the world ( if Utah LDS culture is like eastern seaboard LDS culture) to help him and apparently, he didn't ask or someone betrayed him horribly in his last known days. ( referencing the phone call in LV between G.W. and him. I think G.W. is way high on the hinky meter in what he said and replied and asked, then did himself.)

IDK, it's strange to me that Steven couldn't get a break unless it was his arm. Was he hiding an impairment like dyslexia or high- functioning autism ( which usually has the feature of the affected being unaware unless they were given the diagnosis personally)?

This is a young man who worked at the offices of the governor as an intern in 2003-2004 ( partial years for both dates). Still, it shows he had abilities and ambitions as a young adult, I'd say.
Steven was a college graduate ( I don't recall where he went to college off the top of my head) and desired a career in either public relations or communications. I have no clue what his major was.
He worked for his father at a newspaper where his father was the editor when he was just out of HS, using a nom de plume of "Steven Threll" - his legal first and middle names.
Might he have reverted to this name if he's still alive?

His job history as I've been able to find is:
- March 2007, employed in some position of online version of the Salt Lake City Tribune. Laid off in July 2008. Reason-?

- Sales with MatchBin.com , Salt Lake City in October 2008. Moved to St. George, UT because of " cold winters" in SLC area, he said. Was fired from Matchbin.com 4/ 2009.

-12/ 2009- part-time job for Travis Window and Blind Cleaning Company, distributing flyers. Also during the month of December, Steven was subcontracting to put up Christmas decorations to earn extra money.

How does it make sense that a guy with a college degree and a father in the newspaper business for many years ( he was an editor when Steven worked for him) could not get and keep a job with a newspaper that wasn't owned or managed by his dad? His degree was likely in the PR field, as it's said that and Communications were his major interests post- graduation.

How does a guy with the drive for success, marriage and family life that LDS who are born into the lifestyle have instilled in them for all their lives go from writing ( or otherwise working for) the SLC Tribune to handing out window washing fliers in two years' time? Unless the economy was a lot worse in his area of the country than it was here, he should have been able to go to his Bishop and gotten true, concrete assistance almost immediately for free or almost free housing, food from the storehouse, clothing. This would help him get all his daily living needs met, then the Bishop and Elders would most likely have been very helpful and gotten him into a workforce that had extreme potential and many fellow LDS members who should have supported him and mentored him until he was secure and not worried about STUPID childish things like cold winters, or missing his family or that. He didn't seem to grow up emotionally in the career world OR to do what most LDS members will do automatically, as we are commanded- turn to his church leaders for help regionally, if not locally. Or in the region he wanted to be in, let's say. Maybe he wanted to move to warm and sunny Miami , since he quit one job because " it was colder in the northern part of the state". RME. Bishop to bishop networking with Steven could have seen him with a job lined up in Miami before he ever reached the FL state line. I know this is true.

I want to know what this is about:
His family says he had/ has a quirk of taking a very long time to answer in a conversation. Is he a person with a form of autism which was never diagnosed or treated? Did he have this lag time from childhood or only as an adult?
Could he have been prescribed a medication like an anti-depressant that made him mentally lethargic? ( sometimes, the type of medication has no relationship to a narcotic and the lethargy is specific to the individual's reaction).

I have read in a physical description that he has bilateral scars behind his ears. Was this for tubes as a child, or cosmetic ear pinning or what? Did it affect his hearing at some point in his developmental phases of language processing, perhaps if related to chronic ear infections?

In summary, IMO, the " largest" things he seems to have done in his entire lifetime were to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, which in my years in the LDS culture was almost a given for a male teen and then to go on an International mission which he apparently completed successfully. He kind of " peaked" achievement wise after his mission to Brazil. That is not a typical pattern of living for a person with his upbringing and teaching, to put it mildly. He did have short stints with 2 probably " good" starter jobs in the newspaper business...

If you aren't LDS and don't know, the wards ( specific LDS church building for you in your zip code or designated area) had Eagle Scout recognition ceremonies, with the guys in those long shorts and long socks and there were always some LDS elders ( men who held positions of authority) who were Scout leaders.
Anyway, I think this guy was so sheltered and naive that 1001 different things could have started happening in his life and he would have been too ashamed and shy to tell his parents. I also think he missed making the connection between the church's benefit programs due to real need like he had, and himself. He knew what he fasted for- it was for the tithe given for aid to LDS members who find themselves in financial disadvantage, which he became himself.
I think his parents were coming down on him pretty hard about 1) Lack of money for things like rent and food and 2) Not getting stabilized in a good career which comes WAY BEFORE a strict LDS man should be getting a girlfriend and marrying. LDS traditionally do not owe a lot of money, but make higher than average wages. Maybe one of the reasons his currently living and active in the case family members can't accept most of the theories about what happened to him is because of a sense of guilt, whether justified or not.

That's why I think it's very wrong of anyone to say anything about him not being married already. He had NOT accomplished goal #3 . The life goals for LDS men are, in this order: 1) Mission. 2) College degree. 3) Lifelong career which is stable and with very good earning potential, and 4) Marriage in a Temple to a devout LDS woman and to provide a very large and happy life for as many children as God gives, while remaining faithful to the promises made at the time of baptism and re-affirmed in the Temple ceremony to be a leader in the church as best as possible and to raise children in the church.

In my major former city of residence, LDS men helped younger LDS men get a job and keep it. There are all kinds of job training centers and job search centers within the LDS wards or stakes ( several churches or wards in a city form a stake), at least in the Atlantic coastal states.

Where to begin? I've followed this case for many years, and I've always wondered about Steven's complaints about not having time for "family and friends" (paraphrasing here), then moving to a smaller city with a much smaller job market, away from....family and friends. However, this post is the first thing that's really cemented a fairly good reason, in my mind, for his decision:

1. BBM: The life goals for LDS men are, in this order: 1) Mission. 2) College degree. 3) Lifelong career which is stable and with very good earning potential, and 4) Marriage in a Temple to a devout LDS woman and to provide a very large and happy life for as many children as God gives, while remaining faithful to the promises made at the time of baptism and re-affirmed in the Temple ceremony to be a leader in the church as best as possible and to raise children in the church.

2. And: "How does a guy with the drive for success..." May I inquire how you know Steven had a "drive for success" and what that "success" looked like? Because if it looked like the above, I can assure you I wouldn't want it. Not everyone born into the LDS church aspires to this incredibly structured and planned existence, or finds it easy, despite all the "help" of bishops and other members.

And, many of us sort of eschew what that "success" seems to entail, which you mentioned in your post: "very good earning potential", which to many seems a very materialist approach to life. If I may, I think that cultures, religions, etc. that instill aspirations to financial success, however couched in terms of "provision for family, church, etc." seem empty and unsatisfying. Financial success, of course, isn't bad per se, but never satisfies the soul-yearning which everyone possesses within. Many of us are looking for the opposite: An ascetic life, free of the trapping of "success"; the career ladder; the material expectations of our friends and family.

Of course I don't know with any certainty how Steven felt about all this, but I see no evidence whatsoever that he embraced it all. Maybe the whole reason he was an "outlier" for his age/mission and college status group, is simply that he didn't embrace it. Maybe he was rejecting it. The structure; the pressure to "fit in"; to have the "right" kind of job...

Heck -it's all in perfect order for him, though, even laid out in numerics!

MO

 

[SeekingJana]

Where to begin? I've followed this case for many years, and I've always wondered about Steven's complaints about not having time for "family and friends" (paraphrasing here), then moving to a smaller city with a much smaller job market, away from....family and friends. However, this post is the first thing that's really cemented a fairly good reason, in my mind, for his decision:

1. BBM: The life goals for LDS men are, in this order: 1) Mission. 2) College degree. 3) Lifelong career which is stable and with very good earning potential, and 4) Marriage in a Temple to a devout LDS woman and to provide a very large and happy life for as many children as God gives, while remaining faithful to the promises made at the time of baptism and re-affirmed in the Temple ceremony to be a leader in the church as best as possible and to raise children in the church.

2. And: "How does a guy with the drive for success..." May I inquire how you know Steven had a "drive for success" and what that "success" looked like? Because if it looked like the above, I can assure you I wouldn't want it. Not everyone born into the LDS church aspires to this incredibly structured and planned existence, or finds it easy, despite all the "help" of bishops and other members.

And, many of us sort of eschew what that "success" seems to entail, which you mentioned in your post: "very good earning potential", which to many seems a very materialist approach to life. If I may, I think that cultures, religions, etc. that instill aspirations to financial success, however couched in terms of "provision for family, church, etc." seem empty and unsatisfying. Financial success, of course, isn't bad per se, but never satisfies the soul-yearning which everyone possesses within. Many of us are looking for the opposite: An ascetic life, free of the trapping of "success"; the career ladder; the material expectations of our friends and family.

Of course I don't know with any certainty how Steven felt about all this, but I see no evidence whatsoever that he embraced it all. Maybe the whole reason he was an "outlier" for his age/mission and college status group, is simply that he didn't embrace it. Maybe he was rejecting it. The structure; the pressure to "fit in"; to have the "right" kind of job...

Heck -it's all in perfect order for him, though, even laid out in numerics!

MO

I agree that I was wrong to make generalizations based on what I was taught, the doctrine and teachings which were hammered into me two generations ago now.
I am 3 times as old as when I was such a young sponge in a new religion. I realize there are no absolutes and also that I had an extreme need to conform to teachings which were 180 degrees different from what I had grown up believing.

Those who are more modern LDS likely forge their own path of comfort and happiness. I did what I was told to do in all things.
But, then, I rejected the teachings years later after becoming inactive and took drastic measures not to be LDS on the records in SLC, even.
I'm not at all materialistic, and I'm not at all LDS.
I was wrong to suppose that this young man conformed as greatly as I once did before I turned and walked away.

Mostly, I hope he's alive and out there living a life of his choosing with happiness and freedom. I'm not at all sure he's still living, but I hope so in the absence of proof otherwise.
Thanks for reading.

 

[margarita25]

Try NETRonline: Historic Aerials - Viewer

(Marking this resource, thank you.)

 

[Hambe85]

Again it’s all so bizarre, he could have been to Anthem before but why ? A job, something else, it’s a retirement community I just don’t know what would bring him there. We know he needed a job so that could be a reason, but it’s a weird place , day and time to go for a job . But like I said there are people there working from home so it is within the realm of possibilities that he went for a job opportunity, which he could have found through a variety of ways.
Someone could have gone back to the car to remove things it’s a possibility because someone checked his voicemail so it could be a possibility that someone went to the car . And the car keys have never been found either. It would be interesting to know how much camera footage they had, like how many days worth, but if someone did go back to the car and didn’t pass the camera then they would have had to go around from the other way . Again weird.
It does seem like it , that SK and LL were doing a similar thing with sleeping in their car while on “business” .
So many things to ponder

What I don't understand about the drug theory is how do we know so much about so many of his phone calls and communications and cell phone pings but nothing about all these drug stops he made?

We know about his phone calls to friends, visits to acquaintance, stops for gas and food (receipts). Everything we know about can be backed up by paper trail or witness statement with SK. I just don't believe he could be delivering drugs perfectly in a way to cover his trail and leave no evidence.

As far as someone coming back to the car and removing evidence...I find that highly unlikely. I believe the police requested the security footage after spotting the camera shortly after investigating the car. They would have simply hit rewind on the camera as far as they could and that's how they spotted him waking and then his car pulling in. They likely would have reviewed the footage from that point forward and looked closely for anything suspicious.

 

[Hambe85]

Also, I don't know exact details about his phone records but someone mentioned that he had lots of calls with the LL. Could these just be unanswered calls? It would make sense that the LL would call him because bill collectors call when you don't pay and call whoever they can (i.e parents) when you don't answer or are uncooperative. It seemed to me like he was trying to avoid being home in st. george probably to avoid the LL because of the debt. This kind of explains the restlessness and all the driving aimlessly.

 

[fridaybaker]

Also, I don't know exact details about his phone records but someone mentioned that he had lots of calls with the LL. Could these just be unanswered calls? It would make sense that the LL would call him because bill collectors call when you don't pay and call whoever they can (i.e parents) when you don't answer or are uncooperative. It seemed to me like he was trying to avoid being home in st. george probably to avoid the LL because of the debt. This kind of explains the restlessness and all the driving aimlessly.

Hambe, I think people question the calls from the LL because he made a statement to the effect that although Steven was behind in his rent, they had "worked out a plan". This is paraphrasing -can't remember the exact verbiage now.

However, it's been discussed much here over the years that not only was the LL calling him frequently, he was calling him early in the morning, and was one of the last (if not the last one to call SK). Seems odd that they work out a plan, yet LL continues to call him. (Doesn't seem like they had anything in common, other than the LL/tenant relationship.) So, they "work out a plan" for SK to catch up the rent, then LL continues to call him. Maybe that plan was a "working relationship"? Something along the lines of what the LL was known to do, which was the RX delivery job.

What other kind of "plan" is there? Seems like it might be something along the lines of: "Okay, I'll wait until you get paid again on the 15th. Give me this month's rent and 1/2 of last month's rent. Next month, pay me the rest with your full monthly payment for that month". Etc. If something like this is the case, though, why would he continue to call. Seems like a "work for me to pay off your debt" situation since he kept calling.

Add to this the LL's history, and it gives me pause.

Why didn't his phone show calls to clients or such? Simply, this wasn't dealing heroin, but neither was it strictly "legit", as in legal. However, doing some sort of delivery job could certainly explain the phone pinging...all over the place those last few days.

 

[Fairy1]

Isn't possible that Steven had another phone and wasn't savvy enough to turn off his own phone? The LL wasn't getting a response on the burner, so he kept trying Steven's actual cell. The burner phone is with Steven, wherever he is. The LL is the key to solving this. IMO