NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - # 7

[dovebar]

It's likely that the police and even the family investigators know more than we do on some of these questions but aren't choosing to make the information public. Police do that all the time so as to withhold info that only the perpetrators would know. Maybe they are investigating the SUV further or talking to the owners of the Chasma house. We don't know that they haven't interviewed them.

But I agree on these points,
- that the SUV looks like it follows him. This could be a coincidence and just the way it looks now
- one of the more common crimes in this neighborhood seems to be burglary, which is typical for vegas where a lot of people are looking to score quick items they can fence for gambling or drug money. Burglars aren't always violent, which is why they like a non-violent crime. But a likely time to hit a neighborhood like this would be when the seniors were at church or at brunch at the country club. Steven might have surprised someone or walked into something

- having the car sniffed by a SLC police dog isn't really convincing, since these dogs aren't always specialists in finding cadavers, or even in tracking people, as opposed to finding drugs. If I were the family, I would find a special service with dogs, perhaps bloodhounds, and do another search of the area, starting at his St. George apartment, and including the entire Anthem area of streets

- hopefully, the police have looked further into the roommate. Did the roommate owe Steven money, or did he owe it to the landlords? Was Steven trying to get him to pay the back rent he owed? Is it possible that after a stop to visit the N's, Steven was meeting him?

 

[Mia]

I really like Laytonian's idea of Steven actually looking for Evening Twilight (was that it?) Avenue, but ending up on Evening Lights instead. Not that I would blame him if this is what happened. That area looks super confusing to begin with, and then when you add in street names that are so similar...it's almost like the designers of SCA made it that way on purpose to confuse outsiders and 'keep them out'.

But let's say he was accidentally witness to something like a drug deal or a burglary. I just can't see drug dealers or burglars kidnapping and killing a regular guy just for 'seeing something'. Unless they mistook Steven for a narc or informant, or unless Steven said something like, "I see what you're doing there! I'm going to tell!" or unless he tried to make a citizen's arrest, none of which sound like something Steven would do, I just can't see non-violent criminals suddenly turning violent/murderous on a regular guy. That said, I guess it's possible he stumbled onto a VIOLENT crime, in which case it would be more believable, but I think we would have heard of any violent crimes occurring in or around SCA the same day Steven went missing.

I think part of the reason this case is so baffling is because Steven was said to be blue/depressed/unsatisfied with his life at 30 (and as someone who's inching closer and closer to 30, I totally understand this). If he were married or had a girlfriend and a great job, and seemed generally satisfied with his existence, all signs would obviously point to foul play. But add in his supposed depression, and that door opens to suicide and/or running away as well. There's just so many reasons he could have disappeared, yet because he happened to be caught on video, at the same time none of them make sense.

 

[RubyRed]

I really like Laytonian's idea of Steven actually looking for Evening Twilight (was that it?) Avenue, but ending up on Evening Lights instead. Not that I would blame him if this is what happened. That area looks super confusing to begin with, and then when you add in street names that are so similar...it's almost like the designers of SCA made it that way on purpose to confuse outsiders and 'keep them out'.

But let's say he was accidentally witness to something like a drug deal or a burglary. I just can't see drug dealers or burglars kidnapping and killing a regular guy just for 'seeing something'. Unless they mistook Steven for a narc or informant, or unless Steven said something like, "I see what you're doing there! I'm going to tell!" or unless he tried to make a citizen's arrest, none of which sound like something Steven would do, I just can't see non-violent criminals suddenly turning violent/murderous on a regular guy. That said, I guess it's possible he stumbled onto a VIOLENT crime, in which case it would be more believable, but I think we would have heard of any violent crimes occurring in or around SCA the same day Steven went missing.

I think part of the reason this case is so baffling is because Steven was said to be blue/depressed/unsatisfied with his life at 30 (and as someone who's inching closer and closer to 30, I totally understand this). If he were married or had a girlfriend and a great job, and seemed generally satisfied with his existence, all signs would obviously point to foul play. But add in his supposed depression, and that door opens to suicide and/or running away as well. There's just so many reasons he could have disappeared, yet because he happened to be caught on video, at the same time none of them make sense.

It happens. This guy was coming out of his apartment , and saw what he shouldn't have . They said he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Not saying that happened to Steven , but who knows.

Also was it an individual showing of the house or open house say 2-4 pm.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=68f1f25e-45be-43e9-91d3-1a78c90bae65

 

[dovebar]

People are being murdered daily in Arizona, Texas, Nevada, and CA for merely witnessing something. The new wave of drug war in Mexico has spread across the border in a fierce way and is getting a lot of attention here for how much shocking violence cops are seeing - whole families murdered in their homes in professional hits, in quiet cul-de-sacs, no witnesses, no one sees anything.

Add to that the meth trade, which is mostly domestic and run by streets gangs like the Aryan brotherhood.

Look at the current case in Utah where a white supremacist, meth dealing gang is also involved in the stealing of Native American artifacts, with the suspects caught and the investigator apparently so afraid of the ramifications that three people have killed themselves.

We need to appreciate just how rough this corner of wide open spaces is, and how much is going down in Las Vegas and the surrounding area, under cover of all these bungalows, a huge percentage of which are empty on a daily basis because they are second homes or investment properties.

Plus, Steven was a guy who could barely organize his life from day to day.
It's very unlikely that he could pull off a disappearance that would elude police and private detectives, and no evidence that he would put his family and friends through that.

And there's no evidence that he was suicidal just because he was looking for work. And if he had been suicidal, there would be easy ways to do it - drive up a canyon and drive into a river, get a prescription, get a gun on the Strip.

EDIT: has it even been confirmed that there WAS a house for sale right where the SUV stopped, or nearby?

 

[RubyRed]

Henderson, NV Crime Information and Alerts

http://spotcrime.com/nv/henderson

 

[RubyRed]

Or come across one of these loons, yikes, there is 2 on the same street (73 total)

http://www.city-data.com/so/so-Henderson-Nevada.html

 

[gsmith]

Here is a podcast that steve did with me Jan 2007. It's so you can hear his voice and hear his personality. He was a really fun guy. I edited the interview from 25 min to about 4 so all you hear is him and not my stuff. A friend of his, matt, came also to help with the interview.

http://rapidshare.com/files/359417827/edited_steve_k_podcast.mp3

 

[dovebar]

From the map, it looks like 4 burglaries in December in the immediate vicinity of where he parked his car, plus a narcotics arrest.

The sex offenders possibility should also be taken seriously. Steven was said to look young. Blond, naive, eager to help people.

If I were his friends in St. George or family in Vegas, in addition to a better dog search, I would be organizing a ground search of the open land near Anthem. There is so much of it that news reports said the neighborhood had to organize to prevent a mining operation from coming in.

A better dog search, and a ground search in Anthem between Chasma and Palatine Terrace might find him if he tried to walk from one neighborhood to the other to see family. It was December and not too hot, but he might have fallen in a gulley, gotten bit by a snake.

If someone like a drug dealer or sex predator snatched him with premeditation, they probably didn't take him very far if there was remote open space nearby. In San Diego, they just found the missing jogger right in the park where she was taken.

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

Maybe if some of the houses had the same number, I could see him getting the wrong address by GPS or directions. But the ones on EL start with 22 and the ones on ET start with 24 and 25. I feel like we are not giving Steven ANY credit here for being a halfway normal human being. Even if he was distressed to the point that he was just walking around (which he doesn't look it in the video IMO), he was "together" enough to park his car, walk in a straigh line, cross the street and let's not forget tell what time it was. And remember, everyone on the phone said he sounded "NORMAL".

And if he was just going to visit a family member or a family member of a friend who didn't know he was coming, why wait until noon?

 

[dovebar]

I agree that on the video, he does not look like he is wandering or lost.

We don't know that he waited until noon, IIRC. We don't know where he was that morning. He might have slept in his car, paid cash for breakfast at a McDonald's, and shown up here at noon. We don't know a lot about his other activities that morning. It looks like he went by because he expected them to be back from church, or he had an appointment.

Have the owners of the Chasma Drive place said anything publicly? Were they expecting him? Did they see him that morning? I am guessing they did not see him or Webb wouldn't be being described in the press as the last person to talk to him.

One other thing is that the records for that address list another person living there in addition to EN and UN. This could be a housekeeper, as the person is listed as unemployed but are apparently either from Brazil or of Brazilian descent? Or other South/Central American descent. If they were illegal, they might not give their occupation. It might be a live-in housekeeper. Or it could be a friend or caregiver living in. EN and UN are, from their ages, somewhat elderly.

 

[swjaxon]

KLAS-TV:
"The Koecher family has since tried everything to find their son. They had a Salt Lake City Police drug dog sniff the car for narcotics. Nothing was found. They hired a private investigator to canvass the senior citizen neighborhood. No one saw anything. They tracked down the owner of an SUV seen driving up and down the street in the surveillance video. It turned out to be a real estate agent showing a house. "

SHOWING A HOUSE?

Who to? Where's the people he was showing the home to...or were they in his SUV?

Since I wrote the story, I learned the SUV belongs to the daughter of the homeowner of the house it stops in front of (I think I have this right). The homeowner is a mortgage broker and the daughter is an agent.

ETA: Also, no cell phone pings in Overton on the 13th.

 

[RubyRed]

Here is a podcast that steve did with me Jan 2007. It's so you can hear his voice and hear his personality. He was a really fun guy. I edited the interview from 25 min to about 4 so all you hear is him and not my stuff. A friend of his, matt, came also to help with the interview.

http://rapidshare.com/files/359417827/edited_steve_k_podcast.mp3

Thanks for sharing that.

 

[seekingsusan]

Here is a podcast that steve did with me Jan 2007. It's so you can hear his voice and hear his personality. He was a really fun guy. I edited the interview from 25 min to about 4 so all you hear is him and not my stuff. A friend of his, matt, came also to help with the interview.

http://rapidshare.com/files/359417827/edited_steve_k_podcast.mp3

Wow, in the podcast, Steven casually refers to himself as an "aspiring songwriter" and says he doesn't devout as much time to writing music as he should.

Steven has a nice talking voice and a great sense of humor. He seems like a good guy, I don't understand why he couldn't find a girl, unless his standards were just too high.

Once again gsmith, thank you for sharing.

 

[Canyon1]

Maybe if some of the houses had the same number, I could see him getting the wrong address by GPS or directions. But the ones on EL start with 22 and the ones on ET start with 24 and 25. I feel like we are not giving Steven ANY credit here for being a halfway normal human being. Even if he was distressed to the point that he was just walking around (which he doesn't look it in the video IMO), he was "together" enough to park his car, walk in a straight line, cross the street and let's not forget tell what time it was. And remember, everyone on the phone said he sounded "NORMAL".

And if he was just going to visit a family member or a family member of a friend who didn't know he was coming, why wait until noon?

There is no evidence that he was "waiting until noon" is there? If he was hoping to meet up with someone and had spent the night in his car, he may have just run a comb through his hair, tidied up a bit and headed out. The time may be entirely coincidental. I've personally never put too much stock in the idea that he was there at that specific time on purpose.

I also think we ought to also give SK a little credit for being able to function properly even if he was down, sleep deprived, stressed etc. I've been all of those, and it hasn't incapacitated me. He sounds like even though he was a bit quirky, he was as normal as the next guy. Thanks to Gsmith for the personal insights.

Laytonian, I noticed the Evening Lights/Evening Twilight issue last week but didn't put the pieces together like you have. Nice work! I think it's entirely possible that he got turned around. Who named these streets anyway? :waitasec:

Is there any way of finding out exactly where in the outlying areas the search for Steven was conducted? It's a mile, more or less, from Evening Twilight to the outlying desert area--a good, desolate place to lose someone maybe...

 

[laytonian]

Henderson, NV Crime Information and Alerts

http://spotcrime.com/nv/henderson

No matter how often I check crime in the immediate area of Steven's car parking space, nothing turns up. I wonder if they screen homebuyers before allowing them to purchase homes there.

When there is crime, it's on the very outer edges of the Anthem loop, in the commercial areas. Not within the HOA area....of course.

 

[laytonian]

Laytonian, I noticed the Evening Lights/Evening Twilight issue last week but didn't put the pieces together like you have. Nice work! I think it's entirely possible that he got turned around. Who named these streets anyway? :waitasec:

Is there any way of finding out exactly where in the outlying areas the search for Steven was conducted? It's a mile, more or less, from Evening Twilight to the outlying desert area--a good, desolate place to lose someone maybe...

Three sides of Anthem are surrounded by hills/desert, with the north side showing the Vegas skyline.

I've previously mapped out walking times from where the car was parked, and in nearly any direction, he could have been in the hills within 90 minutes.

Anyone know how we could fine out, what's been searched? At first, I thought the west hills....but if he did take the long way around to get to an address on the other side of the Parkway.....he could be out there.

 

[laytonian]

Wow, in the podcast, Steven casually refers to himself as an "aspiring songwriter" and says he doesn't devout as much time to writing music as he should.

Steven has a nice talking voice and a great sense of humor. He seems like a good guy, I don't understand why he couldn't find a girl, unless his standards were just too high.

Once again gsmith, thank you for sharing.

I haven't had a chance to listen, but I'm struck by the "aspiring songwriter" description.

I'm getting stronger and stronger vibes that the reason there was no perfect job, was because his idea of perfection (music) may not have been acceptable.

Steven, if you're out there: we've heard your music. We like it.

 

[laytonian]

Since I wrote the story, I learned the SUV belongs to the daughter of the homeowner of the house it stops in front of (I think I have this right). The homeowner is a mortgage broker and the daughter is an agent.

ETA: Also, no cell phone pings in Overton on the 13th.

Thanks. That's the first time I've heard the realtor driving the SUV was female.

The one ping we're aware of, was Steven's on the Overton tower, on the 12th.

Do you have access to Steven's cellphone records?

 

[laytonian]

Have the owners of the Chasma Drive place said anything publicly?

We have no reason to believe they have *anything* to do with Steven, at this point.....finding the last name, just opened up a possibility of a wrong turn and seeing a similarly-named street.

You're walking and looking for 22xx and see 24xx -- you might think you're on the right track, if you walk a bit further.

 

[WaitOneMinute]

Sounds like they were good friends a while ago.

http://marriedtojimhalpert.blogspot.com/2010/01/im-trying-as-best-i-can-not-to-break.html