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

[Fairy1]

I know very little about IK. Does SK fit his victim profile/MO?

I don't believe IK really adhered to any profile - or specific crime, for that matter. There's really no way to know how many victims he had at this point. IMO

 

[velvta]

It looks like Google Maps removed the Street View from the neighborhood where SK parked his car. I used to be able to view the dead end and the house where the cameras were, but you can't view any of the streets anymore.

 

[carbuff]

Probably too many online idiots harassing the residents.

 

[Seratonin]

 

[kharismatic1]

A few weeks ago I revisited this case because I'm a Vegas local and it drives me crazy. I tried to take another look at the video of SK walking away from his car to determine if I could point out any key identifiers that might resemble Keyes. I even searched for a video of Keyes walking. Other than the choppy Samantha K video I can't find any.
If anyone knows of a video that would show his walk/gape that could be helpful in ruling him out.

My thought is that Keyes flew into SLC and met with SK. I'm not 100% on how in my mind yet. I think they traveled together to Las Vegas because SK is answering his phone and talking to people he knows. I think Keyes finds a locale, kills SK and finds a place for his body. I think he then drove SK's car to the Henderson neighborhood and walks away.

There were bus routes that could have taken Keyes to where SK's phone last pinged. I think Keyes dumped the phone there. Most likely no where near where he would have placed his body.

I'd love to here all of your thoughts on this. I'm just glad to see that other's are still thinking about this case and that someone else had the same train of thought I did with IK.

 

[findgarymathias]

Keyes grew up in weird religious/abusive family situation in extremely rural areas. Way upstate NY & then lived in Alaska. I realize you cannot believe serial killers about much, but I actually lived in the area when he robbed the Tupper Lake bank in '09 (and am up here now, actually, have family here still) and I kinda believe him when he says he wasn't comfortable in cities. He stood out, he was a rural man, a carpenter. He said he liked victims generally to come to him, hinted at rural areas & trailheads, that sort of thing.

 

[kharismatic1]

He was born in Utah and was raised in an FLDS family I believe but his mother changed her religion/cults frequently. I think that Keyes was too good hiding things to have only done this a few times. I wonder if there are any missing people from the Tupper Lake area around the time he was there.

 

[dodgerchick]

I’ve followed this story since it was made public. It’s close to home, being LDS myself. I don’t think IK had anything to do with it. I don’t think he was gay, I don’t think he’s secretly living off the grid. I do wonder if he was beaten at whatever location he was going to and is wandering around Las Vegas with amnesia. I also wonder if he had some kind of mental breakdown and is wandering around Las Vegas. I guess it’s a stretch but I’m truly at a loss. The LL theory in interesting; LL could have sent him on some “errands”to pay back some of The owed rent; they could have been sketchy and Steven didn’t know what he was getting into and met with foul play. One thing I noticed is that he’s not listed in Nameus as a missing person. I was looking at unidentified’s for comparisons but there was no record of him as missing.

 

[kharismatic1]

I’ve followed this story since it was made public. It’s close to home, being LDS myself. I don’t think IK had anything to do with it. I don’t think he was gay, I don’t think he’s secretly living off the grid. I do wonder if he was beaten at whatever location he was going to and is wandering around Las Vegas with amnesia. I also wonder if he had some kind of mental breakdown and is wandering around Las Vegas. I guess it’s a stretch but I’m truly at a loss. The LL theory in interesting; LL could have sent him on some “errands”to pay back some of The owed rent; they could have been sketchy and Steven didn’t know what he was getting into and met with foul play. One thing I noticed is that he’s not listed in Nameus as a missing person. I was looking at unidentified’s for comparisons but there was no record of him as missing.

He is listed in Namus as a missing person. I was looking at his at his profile yesterday: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Evilxelvis138]

I did a pretty vague search and not many come up (unless you include weight unknown and found in Arizona). Here area few that may match, last one has an artist rendering.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[dodgerchick]

Oh. maybe I misspelled it. Lol good to know he’s there I was stunned when I couldn’t find him. Lol

 

[Moonbeam456]

A few weeks ago I revisited this case because I'm a Vegas local and it drives me crazy. I tried to take another look at the video of SK walking away from his car to determine if I could point out any key identifiers that might resemble Keyes. I even searched for a video of Keyes walking. Other than the choppy Samantha K video I can't find any.
If anyone knows of a video that would show his walk/gape that could be helpful in ruling him out.

My thought is that Keyes flew into SLC and met with SK. I'm not 100% on how in my mind yet. I think they traveled together to Las Vegas because SK is answering his phone and talking to people he knows. I think Keyes finds a locale, kills SK and finds a place for his body. I think he then drove SK's car to the Henderson neighborhood and walks away.

There were bus routes that could have taken Keyes to where SK's phone last pinged. I think Keyes dumped the phone there. Most likely no where near where he would have placed his body.

I'd love to here all of your thoughts on this. I'm just glad to see that other's are still thinking about this case and that someone else had the same train of thought I did with IK.

Israel Keyes lived in my hometown for a while when he was a teenager and he was in my brother’s class. While I did not know him personally my brother was terrorized by him in school, IK even threatened to kill my entire family at one point. From what I know he was not a personable guy at all and didn’t get along with anyone, even in his younger years. I have a hard time imagining that he would befriend Steven in some way and then harmed him.

 

[Evilxelvis138]

I did a pretty vague search and not many come up (unless you include weight unknown and found in Arizona). Here area few that may match, last one has an artist rendering.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Here is the composite model of the deceased from the last link. He looks possibly not Caucasian but if he was I could see a few similarities, maybe if he was a vagrant. This guy died about 2.5 years after Steven went missing, and the area is a 10 min drive from Whitney Ranch. Wonder if DNA was compared. I don’t remember if I ever saw this possibility.

 

[ekardh]

Delivering drugs for the landlord. Deal went sour and Steven was murdered for it.

Israel Keyes is a complete non-starter imo.

 

[kharismatic1]

Does anyone know if the family has given their DNA to codis or GedMatch because they would be ruling these unidentified people out.

 

[Evilxelvis138]

Does anyone know if the family has given their DNA to codis or GedMatch because they would be ruling these unidentified people out.

I wonder how often unidentified people are entered into this.

 

[Laughing]

Does anyone know if the family has given their DNA to codis or GedMatch because they would be ruling these unidentified people out.

Most (if not all) LDS families already have really solid genealogy information, so may not utilize these services much?

 

[kharismatic1]

Most (if not all) LDS families already have really solid genealogy information, so may not utilize these services much?

True. I would hope that investigators just do that now to help identify bodies.

 

[kharismatic1]

I wonder how often unidentified people are entered into this.

I wonder this too. I'm sure that extracting DNA and testing it is costly so I'm thinking it doesn't happen as frequently as it should.

 

[Laughing]

Re: DNA testing.

I'm no expert & do not have a link. (I'm also rather wordy.)

Apparently, the results produced by an LE DNA test are in a completely different format than that used by the commercial DNA companies, including Ancestry and 23&Me.

Apparently 2 different samples from an unidentified decedent would need to be collected and processed to produce both formats. LE hasn't asked the taxpayers to fund this for all unidentified decedents. (I generally agree -- I need my paycheck.)

I do believe that in some cases, fundraising was held to pay for collecting a sample & submitting that sample to a commercial DNA-match company.

If LE collected DNA samples from Steve's family, unidentified decedents will be compared to those samples.

I hope this helps, and isn't merely more confusing!