NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - #17

[laytonian]

Fairy1, You are exactly correct in your description of these areas. I took a little road trip today, and drove far east on Sunset, to Sam Boyd Stadium, and to the wetlands area.

The wetlands area is nice for walking dogs, short hikes, or biking. The paths are paved, and there are two large ponds. The water isn't very deep, and it's very much like a marsh. It was hot, but we enjoyed our little hike to the ponds.

Now, if one follows Sunset all the way east, and make a left it leads to the Henderson Water Reclamation facility then turn right this is a dirt road that seemed well traveled. Although, there weren't any other cars on the road. It went quite a ways in, and there seems to be illegal dumping that occurs in this area. Didn't see any water in these washes at this time. IMO a perfect area for hiding something.

Following Sunset east, and turning right (south) is open desert area. Some areas fenced off, and others not.

If one drives east on Russel one will arrive at the park behind Sam Boyd Stadium. There is a dirt road behind this park that leads to an archery range. There are signs posted. Once at the archery range it dead ends. It's a very basic range, with picnic tables, and porta-potties.

Wow. Thank you.

Can you two make a list of these places, for our (hopeful) field trip?

 

[laytonian]

I think it is very possible , that he was hurt by someone at the party. And maybe the driving around, took his mind off of it, and visiting people,and in deep thought trying to figure out what he should do. Then drove to Vegas and thought he would meet up with the person that hurt him. Hmmm, wonder who it could have been?

Are we all converging into a "why"?

All those nice girls in the singles ward, but none are "the right girl".
All those nice girls he's met throughout his life, but none are "the right girl".
"Why can't you meet a nice girl?"

The pressure of something like having to hide one's truth (ie, hiding how you were born), would affect every other iota of one's life.

 

[sbakker]

Are we all converging into a "why"?

All those nice girls in the singles ward, but none are "the right girl".
All those nice girls he's met throughout his life, but none are "the right girl".
"Why can't you meet a nice girl?"

The pressure of something like having to hide one's truth (ie, hiding how you were born), would affect every other iota of one's life.

Who said it was a girl....he was upset about?

 

[laytonian]

Who said it was a girl....he was upset about?

Not I.

The part about the girl, is what other people would have been telling him (and which he continued to say was important, in his "diary").

 

[Fairy1]

Fairy1, You are exactly correct in your description of these areas. I took a little road trip today, and drove far east on Sunset, to Sam Boyd Stadium, and to the wetlands area.

The wetlands area is nice for walking dogs, short hikes, or biking. The paths are paved, and there are two large ponds. The water isn't very deep, and it's very much like a marsh. It was hot, but we enjoyed our little hike to the ponds.

Now, if one follows Sunset all the way east, and make a left it leads to the Henderson Water Reclamation facility then turn right this is a dirt road that seemed well traveled. Although, there weren't any other cars on the road. It went quite a ways in, and there seems to be illegal dumping that occurs in this area. Didn't see any water in these washes at this time. IMO a perfect area for hiding something.

Following Sunset east, and turning right (south) is open desert area. Some areas fenced off, and others not.

If one drives east on Russel one will arrive at the park behind Sam Boyd Stadium. There is a dirt road behind this park that leads to an archery range. There are signs posted. Once at the archery range it dead ends. It's a very basic range, with picnic tables, and porta-potties.

Thanks SC! There is a lot of open desert out there and I agree, would be a good place to hide something.......or yourself.

 

[sbakker]

Not I.

The part about the girl, is what other people would have been telling him (and which he continued to say was important, in his "diary").

Maybe even upset at a guy?

 

[Fairy1]

Are we all converging into a "why"?

All those nice girls in the singles ward, but none are "the right girl".
All those nice girls he's met throughout his life, but none are "the right girl".
"Why can't you meet a nice girl?"

The pressure of something like having to hide one's truth (ie, hiding how you were born), would affect every other iota of one's life.

I think we are. And yes, the pressure would have been terrible, I think.

For the sake of discussion, let's say that Steven was despondent and, for whatever reason, had become suicidal. I've always felt that if he did end his life, he would have been found long before now. And I could never understand why he would have come here to do it. BUT, if the reason he came here was what ultimately caused him to become suicidal, that would make sense.

Does that make sense?

 

[laytonian]

I think we are. And yes, the pressure would have been terrible, I think.

For the sake of discussion, let's say that Steven was despondent and, for whatever reason, had become suicidal. I've always felt that if he did end his life, he would have been found long before now. And I could never understand why he would have come here to do it. BUT, if the reason he came here was what ultimately caused him to become suicidal, that would make sense.

Does that make sense?

Does to me.

He wouldn't necessarily be by the car. If he took his own life in another town, it sounds like he didn't want to be found. Maybe he didn't go there with an intention to harm himself, but something happened that day to tip the scale.

He'd absorbed some tough blows in the week or two before he disappeared, and there may have been a final straw.

Steven, where are you and what happened?

 

[Fairy1]

Does to me.

He wouldn't necessarily be by the car. If he took his own life in another town, it sounds like he didn't want to be found. Maybe he didn't go there with an intention to harm himself, but something happened that day to tip the scale.

He'd absorbed some tough blows in the week or two before he disappeared, and there may have been a final straw.

Steven, where are you and what happened?

You're right. And I had forgotten about him checking his VM the next day. He could have travelled quite a distance on foot by then.

But which way did he go? And why on foot?

 

[Fairy1]

Does a substantially simplified timeline reveal any clues?

• Steven becomes upset at Christmas party and leaves abruptly
• The following days are a mixture of seemingly manic AND normal behavior
• GW calls Steven on his way home from a weekend in Vegas while Steven is on his way to Vegas for reasons unknown to us
• Steven winds up in SCA/Henderson and disappears

Besides Steven, what is the common denominator? Hmmmmm.

 

[laytonian]

Does a substantially simplified timeline reveal any clues?

• Steven becomes upset at Christmas party and leaves abruptly
• The following days are a mixture of seemingly manic AND normal behavior
• GW calls Steven on his way home from a weekend in Vegas while Steven is on his way to Vegas for reasons unknown to us
• Steven winds up in SCA/Henderson and disappears

Besides Steven, what is the common denominator? Hmmmmm.

Lots of calls/texts from LL, TH, a couple from a (probable) bill collector, unsatisfying/demeaning job, the upsetting conversation with his dad.....

Sounds like a recipe for pressure, to me.

 

[Fairy1]

Lots of calls/texts from LL, TH, a couple from a (probable) bill collector, unsatisfying/demeaning job, the upsetting conversation with his dad.....

Sounds like a recipe for pressure, to me.

I'm just not sure he was concerned about the calls/texts from LL and TH at this point. Though I'm sure they played into his overall state of mind.

I think the call/text he had been waiting for never came.

 

[RubyRed]

Would SK crack under all the pressure
and commit suicide, with his whereabouts unknown, and leave his family hurting?
or walk away, and leave his family hurting?
or something criminal happened and it is out of his control that his family is hurting.


Something was important enough to SK for him to bail out of church that day.

 

[carbuff]

People who are pressured and despondent to the point of suicide will often walk and walk. It's no different than driving and driving, really. I have done both under those circumstances.

And in those circumstances, it's really hard to see past the pain. All you want is for it to stop, and you can't see how it can ever stop.

And you don't think of leaving your family hurting. Especially if part of what's eating you is that you're the kind of person they think is bad -- for whatever definition of "bad" applies; I'm sure mine was far different than Steven's -- then you tend to think that they'd be better off if you were gone.

 

[laytonian]

People who are pressured and despondent to the point of suicide will often walk and walk. It's no different than driving and driving, really. I have done both under those circumstances.

And in those circumstances, it's really hard to see past the pain. All you want is for it to stop, and you can't see how it can ever stop.

And you don't think of leaving your family hurting. Especially if part of what's eating you is that you're the kind of person they think is bad -- for whatever definition of "bad" applies; I'm sure mine was far different than Steven's -- then you tend to think that they'd be better off if you were gone.

Well said.

I think we've all had times when we've hurt deeply, and the pain clouds our thinking. I know I have. Fortunately for most of us, the pain lifts or our inner compass is still working - and we come out of it. Some don't.

Not all young LDS in pain use this resource.

 

[rd_jfc]

I'm not posting much these days (anywhere) but I did take a look at the CAM3 and CAM7 videos earlier today.

- With the speed that SK drives up past CAM3 to park at the edge of the cul de sac, I believe it is certain that he knew the location and was driving directly there to park.

- While there is hesitation at Evening Lights before resuming his speed in the cul de sac, in my opinion he was slowing down to look down Evening Lights for a vehicle parked out front that he expected to be there, saw it, and resumed his speed to park his own car. I saw the posts about the bump or depression, but it is where he can look down Evening Lights in the direction he will be walking and I think that's what he was doing when his car slows down.

- He did then wait for 5 minutes or so until noon sharp to walk away, but I believe it was becaue he was supposed to show up at noon. He is going down Evening Lights just before 12:01.

- His walking is the same as his driving. He knows where he is going, there is no uncertainty whatsoever. He is not in a hurry nor is he strolling. He is just ambling across the street as any of us would if we parked a car and were walking across the street to some place we were headed.

- Seeing what he was carrying in motion helped a little bit. It is bigger than a portfolio and smaller than a canvas bag. It appears to be a bedroll or possibly even a sleeping bag rolled up. Everything I see tells me he was parking his car for at least overnight if not one or two days and carrying a bedroll as if he were making a trip with and for someone, say going with someone to drive a car back or making some kind of setup / packup type work trip, roadie work if you will, but there and back.

- Based on the hesitation at Evening Lights, waiting until noon, and the pace of his walk it appears to me that he is essentially walking across the street, perhaps to the house that had the red car / multiple vehicles parked out front in various pictures.

- The CAM7 video shows him walking directly to that side of Evening Lights, his pace steady from CAM3 and turning the corner. He appears headed directly to a house on that side of the street.

- I looked in the reflections of the car windows closely. For the duration of the left portion, the middle portion, and into the right portion he is continuing to walk steadily down the other side of the street. However, at the extreme right edge of the car window it appears that he didn't traverse all the reflected roadside, just a tiny portion in the edge. Instead, a dark shadow is created. It could be the optics, but it is a long low shadow across the windows up to that point, same as when he is walking down the street prior to being reflected. It appears he may have turned toward a house at that point causing a change in the shadow, and the location would be about where the house with the red car was. Otherwise I would expect the same low shadow exiting out the right side in that little angle of the window along with him, but instead of seeing him hit the last bit of reflected roadside I see a dark shadow form just short of it, then nothing.

- I don't know when he got to know the area and arranged this rendevous, but as far as I know he could have been there the day before but parked out front of the house, not in the cul de sac. And of course he was in the SCA area for hours prior to noon based on tower pings.

- It is my impression he had every intention of returning to his car after the trip and taking those small presents to his nephew and niece when he went home for Christmas. I think it is possible that he couldn't return calls from LL and TH because of costs, minutes remaining, that type of thing, and didn't have any good news for them anyway.

- I personally think that he then met with misfortune on the trip, and based on what he was probably unknowingly supposed to deliver, I can see scenarios for that, but just my opinion.

rd

 

[sbakker]

I'm not posting much these days (anywhere) but I did take a look at the CAM3 and CAM7 videos earlier today.

- With the speed that SK drives up past CAM3 to park at the edge of the cul de sac, I believe it is certain that he knew the location and was driving directly there to park.

- While there is hesitation at Evening Lights before resuming his speed in the cul de sac, in my opinion he was slowing down to look down Evening Lights for a vehicle parked out front that he expected to be there, saw it, and resumed his speed to park his own car. I saw the posts about the bump or depression, but it is where he can look down Evening Lights in the direction he will be walking and I think that's what he was doing when his car slows down.

- He did then wait for 5 minutes or so until noon sharp to walk away, but I believe it was becaue he was supposed to show up at noon. He is going down Evening Lights just before 12:01.

- His walking is the same as his driving. He knows where he is going, there is no uncertainty whatsoever. He is not in a hurry nor is he strolling. He is just ambling across the street as any of us would if we parked a car and were walking across the street to some place we were headed.

- Seeing what he was carrying in motion helped a little bit. It is bigger than a portfolio and smaller than a canvas bag. It appears to be a bedroll or possibly even a sleeping bag rolled up. Everything I see tells me he was parking his car for at least overnight if not one or two days and carrying a bedroll as if he were making a trip with and for someone, say going with someone to drive a car back or making some kind of setup / packup type work trip, roadie work if you will, but there and back.

- Based on the hesitation at Evening Lights, waiting until noon, and the pace of his walk it appears to me that he is essentially walking across the street, perhaps to the house that had the red car / multiple vehicles parked out front in various pictures.

- The CAM7 video shows him walking directly to that side of Evening Lights, his pace steady from CAM3 and turning the corner. He appears headed directly to a house on that side of the street.

- I looked in the reflections of the car windows closely. For the duration of the left portion, the middle portion, and into the right portion he is continuing to walk steadily down the other side of the street. However, at the extreme right edge of the car window it appears that he didn't traverse all the reflected roadside, just a tiny portion in the edge. Instead, a dark shadow is created. It could be the optics, but it is a long low shadow across the windows up to that point, same as when he is walking down the street prior to being reflected. It appears he may have turned toward a house at that point causing a change in the shadow, and the location would be about where the house with the red car was. Otherwise I would expect the same low shadow exiting out the right side in that little angle of the window along with him, but instead of seeing him hit the last bit of reflected roadside I see a dark shadow form just short of it, then nothing.

- I don't know when he got to know the area and arranged this rendevous, but as far as I know he could have been there the day before but parked out front of the house, not in the cul de sac. And of course he was in the SCA area for hours prior to noon based on tower pings.

- It is my impression he had every intention of returning to his car after the trip and taking those small presents to his nephew and niece when he went home for Christmas. I think it is possible that he couldn't return calls from LL and TH because of costs, minutes remaining, that type of thing, and didn't have any good news for them anyway.

- I personally think that he then met with misfortune on the trip, and based on what he was probably unknowingly supposed to deliver, I can see scenarios for that, but just my opinion.

rd

I believe I agree with everything you said. From the beginning, my thought was that Sk was delivering something. Maybe a job on the side, maybe a employer from St. George, maybe for a friend who owned a business in st George.

I wondered also if he was meeting up with a friend who was staying with his friends in LV, and that they invited Sk to come stay over with them. That friend might have had him deliver medical supplies to someone on Evening lights?

Do you have a gut feeling of who may have been involved with SK. Do you think it started in St. George? With someone he knew? Do you think he may have been delivering something illegal, and he did not know it was illegal?

I also believe Sk had intentions of bringing the gifts back to his loved ones.

Thank-you for your thoughts, we need to keep focused on this case, and bring peace to his family.

 

[rd_jfc]

My guess is that he was being used as a mule who wasn't even given a phone number or any contact info if he had an encounter with law enforcement.

He may have had to be silenced because he saw more than he was supposed to.

I don't know if this were his first mule trip or if the driving the previous week was related (even a test?), but I don't believe he had a separate disposable phone and segregated his calls so that no calls related to this showed up on his regular cell phone. If he had a phone number to call that's something police can investigate should the contraband be discovered.

I'm not knowledgeable in this area but I can see where it would be useful to have someone unknowingly transport a vehicle from point A to point B with contraband hidden inside.

rd

 

[carbuff]

I think if Steven had been acting as a mule, he wouldn't have been behind on his rent and his car payments.

 

[RubyRed]

My guess is that he was being used as a mule who wasn't even given a phone number or any contact info if he had an encounter with law enforcement.

He may have had to be silenced because he saw more than he was supposed to.

I don't know if this were his first mule trip or if the driving the previous week was related (even a test?), but I don't believe he had a separate disposable phone and segregated his calls so that no calls related to this showed up on his regular cell phone. If he had a phone number to call that's something police can investigate should the contraband be discovered.

I'm not knowledgeable in this area but I can see where it would be useful to have someone unknowingly transport a vehicle from point A to point B with contraband hidden inside.

rd

bbm

This is possible maybe that is why he thought he could pay rent by January.

We also discussed this semi- legit courier service a while ago.


in Cedar City, Utah---a town of roughly 28,000 people---reported that a routine traffic stop of three men led to a bizarre tale of prescription narcotics, illegal couriers, a Las Vegas drug supplier, and the world's largest retailer.


The men claim they were hired to deliver prescription drugs to at least three Wal-Mart stores, including the superstore on South Providence Drive in Cedar City, Utah, which has an in-store pharmacy. The three men reportedly had already been to the Wal-Mart supercenter in St. George, Utah, which is south of Cedar City on Route 15, and the Wal-Mart superstore on Route 15 further south in Mesquite, Nevada, on the border with Arizona.

The men claimed they had been retained by a company called Nevada Courier, given $150 and a tank of gas to "drive these medications down here and drop them off."

The three suspects arrested are all reportedly from Las Vegas. The police verified their story by checking with the retailer. "I called Wal-Mart," one police spokesman told ABC news, "and they said yeah they were expecting a delivery and the driver was late."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-norman/wal-marts-frightening-nar_b_191405.html