NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - #10

[sarx]

Well I thought for a while that maybe he killed himself. However, wouldn't he have mentioned to at least one person he was running out of options hinting of suicide? Would he be going to numerous group activities if he was so down and sad?

No, not necessarily, if he didn't want to be talked out of it he may just keep quiet. Same with going to activities, if you don't want someone to look suspect at you or worry about you, you hold up the facade until you figure things out so nobody thinks anything is wrong.

It may also have been that he wasn't really thinking about it until the last days, maybe the girlfriend thing sent him over the edge.

Off topic of that, but if he died or was dumped right off the end of the exec. airport is it likely that someone from a plane during approach would see him laying down there if he had been there in the beginning? This is a smaller aircraft strip yes? When I've landed/taken off on small private planes you see a whole lot! Just thinking out loud about that area. Those that searched it or know it would have much better insight as to what someone in a plane would see.

 

[RubyRed]

Well I thought for a while that maybe he killed himself. However, wouldn't he have mentioned to at least one person he was running out of options hinting of suicide? Would he be going to numerous group activities if he was so down and sad?

I'll admit, Steve was average at work skills. He was working a lot of crappy jobs that wasn't helping his resume. Employers hire the best and he wasn't what they were looking for. Sometimes to get on your feet in a career you have to move far away.

What about the SLT job? Was that not in his field of work. I saw some of his work where he was "an up close correspondent" for them. That appeared to be a day job. Was he demoted to doing online work at night? I have heard that he left because some people were too " worldly". To be honest I have found that a lame excuse, and I wonder what the real reason was.

 

[laytonian]

Don't go by google maps for driving times.

I drove from St. George to the search site in 1 hour 10 minutes.

You need to meet WSer FastEddy4

From Exit 4 (the most southern St George exit) to the search location (via the directions given by the PI), is 146 miles.

(Using Microsoft Streets & Trips Software)

 

[sarx]

You need to meet WSer FastEddy4

From Exit 4 (the most southern St George exit) to the search location (via the directions given by the PI), is 146 miles.

(Using Microsoft Streets & Trips Software)

LOL, I am not from those parts, but I can say in a trip we took last year, we drove through Utah, SLC and into NV and everyone was driving at least 85 mph and it was in the worst rain/wind/hail thunderstorm I've ever been in. And they say us drivers in Cali are crazy, not even close!!!

 

[laytonian]

What about the SLT job? Was that not in his field of work. I saw some of his work where he was "an up close correspondent" for them. That appeared to be a day job. Was he demoted to doing online work at night? I have heard that he left because some people were too " worldly". To be honest I have found that a lame excuse, and I wonder what the real reason was.

There's the other excuse "tired of the winter weather and smog" in SLC.

BUT....if that's the reason, why didn't he immediately move to St George?
He got another job (with a company associated with his father's employer), matchbin.com, and stuck around until the next spring.

 

[gsmith]

I do not see a job interview on Sunday to be a dark side either. So let's say that is what he did. The next day voicemail is called. Does that mean he was checking to see if he got the job? He was hoping for a call from someone?
He didn't get it and became despondent, and checked his messages one last time? Did he sleep in his car Saturday and Sunday night? That in itself is enough to make you feel like a failure. After the voicemail call if it was him, he has just vanished. A lot of what ifs. The only person that knows the answers, is Steven and for whatever reason he is not here to tell us. There could possibly be one other person or persons that know also, but they are not talking either.

I think the voicemail call is the biggest piece of the case. Which cell tower received the call? The police must know.

It's so crazy how little info we know about the cell phone location. I can go on my phone and see the signal strength of the cell tower I'm using in decibels. From that info I can approximate the distance the tower is away from me.

I guess signal strength isn't recorded?

 

[laytonian]

LOL, I am not from those parts, but I can say in a trip we took last year, we drove through Utah, SLC and into NV and everyone was driving at least 85 mph and it was in the worst rain/wind/hail thunderstorm I've ever been in. And they say us drivers in Cali are crazy, not even close!!!

That's 85mph across the Salt Flats.

But to do that between St George and Vegas (40 miles of it being the winding Virgin River Gorge, heavily patrolled)....you'd have to average 125mph.

I went through lots of that kind of calculations, trying to figure out that Ruby Valley drive and all possible variations.

 

[RubyRed]

There's the other excuse "tired of the winter weather and smog" in SLC.

BUT....if that's the reason, why didn't he immediately move to St George?
He got another job (with a company associated with his father's employer), matchbin.com, and stuck around until the next spring.

That is what I am saying, He left what seemed to be a relatively decent job. To go to Matchbin, that did not work. Then ends up passing out flyers for window washing. Some have referred to it as marketing. That is not what I would call it, however that is the nicest term. What order were those jobs at SLT. The " up close and personal" then the online job, or vice versa. Would he have considered it a demotion? For whatever reason his work history was not stable.

 

[laytonian]

I think the voicemail call is the biggest piece of the case. Which cell tower received the call? The police must know.

It's so crazy how little info we know about the cell phone location. I can go on my phone and see the signal strength of the cell tower I'm using in decibels. From that info I can approximate the distance the tower is away from me.

I guess signal strength isn't recorded?

The way it was explained to me, is that if one tower is busy, your cellphone finds another....and that in an urban area like Vegas, you could be handed on and off to various towers, and not realize it.

The tech I talked to, said it would be pretty easy to "triangulate" a cellphone hit in a rural area, but where there's many towers and lots of usage, hitting a certain tower isn't necessarily telling.

 

[laytonian]

That is what I am saying, He left what seemed to be a relatively decent job. To go to Matchbin, that did not work. Then ends up passing out flyers for window washing. Some have referred to it as marketing. That is not what I would call it, however that is the nicest term. What order were those jobs at SLT. The " up close and personal" then the online job, or vice versa. Would he have considered it a demotion?

The "stringer" job wasn't at the Salt Lake Tribune.

That was at The Davis County Clipper, where his dad is the editor. In fact, most of the stories we've read, are from the Clipper.

His work at The Trib was for the online edition, mostly at night. Sure can't get anything out of his co-workers. I've tried.

Remember when I posted about him using that alternate name online, to do some "news" stories that were really ads?

Steven Thell "Published originally in the Davis County Clipper, January 2006"

 

[RubyRed]

I think the voicemail call is the biggest piece of the case. Which cell tower received the call? The police must know.

It's so crazy how little info we know about the cell phone location. I can go on my phone and see the signal strength of the cell tower I'm using in decibels. From that info I can approximate the distance the tower is away from me.

I guess signal strength isn't recorded?

I am wondering if the last cell ping, was near where they searched recently.
That would be a reliable " tip".

 

[Malini2001]

Well I thought for a while that maybe he killed himself. However, wouldn't he have mentioned to at least one person he was running out of options hinting of suicide? Would he be going to numerous group activities if he was so down and sad?

I'll admit, Steve was average at work skills. He was working a lot of crappy jobs that wasn't helping his resume. Employers hire the best and he wasn't what they were looking for. Sometimes to get on your feet in a career you have to move far away.

I wondered if Steve could have been going to group activities because meals were included. If he was really living on a shoestring - and unfortunately we don't know what income he had from the window washing business but since he wasn't paying his rent we are forced to assume he had no money - maybe he went to the activities for something to eat. I don't know any Mormons but I am supposing there aren't any costs to the gatherings? Everyone just brings something, and since he was a single guy, he probably was off the hook for that.

I admit I don't want to think that he took his own life. I wonder if he was truly depressed if he could even summon the energy to participate in the group activities. But then again, we read all the time about someone who didn't seem withdrawn at all who ended their own life. It's hard to really understand what was going on with him since he didn't seem to have anybody close that he confided in. At least nobody that is talking.

Gsmith, did he seem to like being on his own or did he have a need to be around people? I'm just wondering how alone he felt.

 

[RubyRed]

The "stringer" job wasn't at the Salt Lake Tribune.

That was at The Davis County Clipper, where his dad is the editor. In fact, most of the stories we've read, are from the Clipper.

His work at The Trib was for the online edition, mostly at night. Sure can't get anything out of his co-workers. I've tried.

Remember when I posted about him using that alternate name online, to do some "news" stories that were really ads?

Steven Thell "Published originally in the Davis County Clipper, January 2006"

LOL, I corrected my post to online, when I proof read it. I was correcting as you were responding.

The " up close and personal " was with SLT as was the online . Do you know which he did first? or were they intertwined.

 

[Lato]

I think the voicemail call is the biggest piece of the case. Which cell tower received the call? The police must know.

It's so crazy how little info we know about the cell phone location. I can go on my phone and see the signal strength of the cell tower I'm using in decibels. From that info I can approximate the distance the tower is away from me.

I guess signal strength isn't recorded?

I agree regarding the voicemail. If you have a voicemail call indicator on, someone??? has called that phone and the phone company should be able to tell the date, time, name and number of the caller. Who called Steven and when was the call made and where was it from?

Was there a contact with the voicemail? How long was the contact? When and where did that call occur? Is there any documentation on any of the
calls to and from that phone? Would love to see it.

and gsmith, I know that none of us have the answer, but I also feel that
there is something to that voicemail.

 

[gsmith]

What about the SLT job? Was that not in his field of work. I saw some of his work where he was "an up close correspondent" for them. That appeared to be a day job. Was he demoted to doing online work at night? I have heard that he left because some people were too " worldly". To be honest I have found that a lame excuse, and I wonder what the real reason was.

It is a lame excuse but it's true. I think he made a bad decision but he wasn't happy there and it was his choice.

He hated the weather in northern Utah so St. George was a good decision in that aspect.

 

[Malini2001]

The way it was explained to me, is that if one tower is busy, your cellphone finds another....and that in an urban area like Vegas, you could be handed on and off to various towers, and not realize it.

The tech I talked to, said it would be pretty easy to "triangulate" a cellphone hit in a rural area, but where there's many towers and lots of usage, hitting a certain tower isn't necessarily telling.

The odd thing is that they tracked Casey Anthony's travels all over Orlando for weeks/months when they were trying to figure out what she had done with Caylee. She certainly wasn't in a rural area. I'm no expert in that kind of thing, so maybe there was some other difference involved. It sure would be nice if they could have tracked Steven by his phone the way they tracked Casey. We would not only know where the phone was when it called his voice mail, we would know where he had been for the weeks preceding his disappearance. :banghead:

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

Don't go by google maps for driving times.

I drove from St. George to the search site in 1 hour 10 minutes.

And GW was already started, in fact we know where he was when he talked to Steven...so he would have easily made it to the meeting. And if GW found out that early that Steven as not going to make it, and neither was he, why didn't he call someone else after the 7ish call? He made this great effort to get Steven there by calling him early, but didn't attempt to call anyone else? Or tell the guys that he would not be there. AND if he did tell the guys, maybe that is how they found out by text or VM, then he wasn't going to be there...surely he would tell them that he nor Steven would be there right? Unless, that was part of the plan, for the men to call Steven.

Does it bother anyone that Steven says LV and not Henderson? I have always thought it was weird that he would say LV, when Henderson would be less "controversial" on a Sunday. Maybe he didn't know "where" the location he was going to was at when he talked to the men on the phone? So that would match up with the theories that he was "waiting" for instructions. I've mentioned this before, but hadn't put it together with the "waiting" theory.

 

[laytonian]

It is a lame excuse but it's true. I think he made a bad decision but he wasn't happy there and it was his choice.

He hated the weather in northern Utah so St. George was a good decision in that aspect.

Unfortunately for Steven, St George's weather wasn't much better. The day he was passing out flyers (Dec 11th, the high temp was 32.

That COULD account for him looking for a job further south, because the high temp in Henderson on Dec 13th was 59.
The walking figure looks hunched up against the cold, though.

 

[laytonian]

And GW was already started, in fact we know where he was when he talked to Steven...so he would have easily made it to the meeting. And if GW found out that early that Steven as not going to make it, and neither was he, why didn't he call someone else after the 7ish call? He made this great effort to get Steven there by calling him early, but didn't attempt to call anyone else? Or tell the guys that he would not be there. AND if he did tell the guys, maybe that is how they found out by text or VM, then he wasn't going to be there...surely he would tell them that he nor Steven would be there right? Unless, that was part of the plan, for the men to call Steven.

Does it bother anyone that Steven says LV and not Henderson? I have always thought it was weird that he would say LV, when Henderson would be less "controversial" on a Sunday. Maybe he didn't know "where" the location he was going to was at when he talked to the men on the phone? So that would match up with the theories that he was "waiting" for instructions. I've mentioned this before, but hadn't put it together with the "waiting" theory.

I'd call it "Vegas".
My husband tells people we live in Salt Lake City.

Until this case, I thought Henderson was nothing but the ugly industrial area we'd visited (years after that destructive PEPCON blast dropped ammonium perchlorates into the soils). I didn't realize how much it had grown, due to the building boom of the mid-2000s and that cheap land out that way.

But I don't think anyone's averaging 125 mph between St George and Vegas. The time zone change occurs halfway through.

 

[laytonian]

I agree regarding the voicemail. If you have a voicemail call indicator on, someone??? has called that phone and the phone company should be able to tell the date, time, name and number of the caller. Who called Steven and when was the call made and where was it from?

Was there a contact with the voicemail? How long was the contact? When and where did that call occur? Is there any documentation on any of the
calls to and from that phone? Would love to see it.

and gsmith, I know that none of us have the answer, but I also feel that
there is something to that voicemail.

I suspect his phone was "off" and that he turned it on only to check voicemail to see if someone had called.
Remember, he was receiving calls from Tommy U that last week - and didn't return them. He was being very selective.

I'm going to speculate that he was still trying to reach a certain girl and was checking voicemail to see if she'd responded.