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

[Mia]

Just a reminder that I will be talking to my psychologist friends tomorrow. Will try to post the results tomorrow afternoon, probably around 4pm Pacific time. It will probably be a LONG post. . .but nothing new about that when my posts are concerned.

Looking forward to it! I love your long posts!

 

[Mia]

OK, just read FastEddy's theory about the hook-up gone wrong and I'm thinking it's definitely a possibility. According to your theory, FastEddy, do you think this girl/guy posing as a girl lives in SCA? Was using a friend's or family's place there? Or just picked Steven up there in a car? I'm also just trying to imagine what could have gone wrong with a hook-up like that which would result in Steven ending up dead. Would a pimp really murder a john if he couldn't pay the fee??? That seems a bit extreme, and like more trouble than a pimp would want to get into. I can see Steven getting beat up for not paying the fee, but murdered??? Unless it was accidental - someone set out to beat him up and it just went too far. Ugh, horrible image to think of, someone purposely hurting/injuring a gentle soul like Steven.

 

[laytonian]

Fire captain charged

According to an arrest report, Vohwinkel posted in his ad that he was "looking for a very young girl" in the casual encounter section of Craigslist. An undercover officer responded to Vohwinkel's ad and posed as a 14 year old girl. The report says Vohwinkel sent over a naked picture of himself and a picture of himself in firefighter uniform.

http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12065646

Speaking of craiglist and in Henderson too.

Henderson's a large town of 250,000...and it actually looks like Vohwinkel lives on the northeastern edge of Las Vegas. The only computer he was worried about, was his one inside the fire station.

Now we're back to computers.....and apparently LE found nothing suspicious on Steven's. Naegle says he has no iPod touch...so he'd have had to been surfing craigslist at the library?

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

heres another possible twist:
whats someones definition of MY SON IS MISSING?
given this case and all i know - if i it was my son then yes i would consider him MISSING
but also if:
given this case and ONLY I KNEW that my son left a note in his car saying that he didnt want to be considered a failure by his friends and family and wanted to make a clean break and start over on his own and felt that he had to make a clean break and BLAH BLAH BLAH - I WOULD CONSIDER HIM MISSING but not dead AND WOULD STILL HAVE REPORTED HIM MISSING in the hope that he would contact me once in a while to say how he was doing THEN I WOULD REPORT HIM MISSING but not with the same sense of urgency if he had threatened suicide. the resulting media attention would also hopefully get my message out to him that i was concerned about him.
and as time went by i would draw less and less attention to the case and just hope and pray that he was okay after all he is 30 years old and his own man now and i would at least respect his decision although it would definitely still make me ache for him especially during his birthday and the holidays and evrytime i thought about him which would be evry waking hour

This would make sense why the family has not insisted on more searches...maybe there is something that they know.

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

OK, just read FastEddy's theory about the hook-up gone wrong and I'm thinking it's definitely a possibility. According to your theory, FastEddy, do you think this girl/guy posing as a girl lives in SCA? Was using a friend's or family's place there? Or just picked Steven up there in a car? I'm also just trying to imagine what could have gone wrong with a hook-up like that which would result in Steven ending up dead. Would a pimp really murder a john if he couldn't pay the fee??? That seems a bit extreme, and like more trouble than a pimp would want to get into. I can see Steven getting beat up for not paying the fee, but murdered??? Unless it was accidental - someone set out to beat him up and it just went too far. Ugh, horrible image to think of, someone purposely hurting/injuring a gentle soul like Steven.

My problem with this...why would he take a "portfolio" to a hook-up? And I would leave my wallet in the car also, in case it went bad and put cash in my pocket.

 

[laytonian]

Um, if I wanted to disappear and start anew and had left my parents, at my age of 27, a note when I left saying as much and they STILL reported me missing, contacted LE, gave interviews to the media about my 'disappearance', and conveniently left out that I had WRITTEN A NOTE(!) then I would certainly never want anything to do with my parents ever again. Even if I had been planning on contacting them maybe one day in the future, I certainly wouldn't now. Anyway, I seriously doubt this is what happened with Steven. His parents would potentially be in serious trouble with the law if he had left a note and they had withheld that information from LE, they'd know better.

Unless there was a note and they did share it with LE. The presence of a note doesn't necessary predict an outcome, and there still could be a search.

I'm curious what the current consensus, if there is one, is on what happened to Steven. With the information we now have, and at this point in time, are people leaning toward that he ran off? Or are we still split on this?

I don't believe he went there to disappear. Too convoluted, when he could have "disappeared" from St George just as easily.

I also don't think he went there looking for love, because it would have been easily available to him in St George. Any kind of love you want, it's there.

I'm still with my two basic theories:
He either went there to harm himself, or was a crime victim before the car was parked.

 

[laytonian]

My problem with this...why would he take a "portfolio" to a hook-up? And I would leave my wallet in the car also, in case it went bad and put cash in my pocket.

Sudden thought:
Maybe it's not a portfolio/netbook/folder?

What if it's simply a folded-up jacket?

 

[seekingsusan]

I don't think Steven would go looking for love on a Sunday; and i don't think Steven would "hookup" period. This is an extremely devote Mormon man. Steven would have been "turned off" by a girl who wasn't equally devote and committed to being in church herself on a Sunday. I agree that Steven wanted love and affection, but I think his history suggests he wanted the whole package, not just sex. And the whole package for him would include a good Mormon girl, who would have been in church on Sunday. If someone suggested Steven was meeting a girl to join her at church, that I would believe. But Steven wouldn't miss church for a girl, and certainly not for sex. IMO

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

My final three theories:

1- Someone helped him plan this whole thing out AND SK WANTED to disappear. The person who helped him knew of the cameras...and that was a way to show the family that he was not dead. He left clues for his family of this, but they are not sharing and are in denial that he would do this. The driving around was all part of this.

2- GW knows what happened to SK that day, even if he was not directly involved. He is too scared or embarrassed to share.

3- SK went to Henderson to get help with a "problem" (money, sexuality, demons of some sort....) and for some reason it went bad. Maybe it was not supposed to go bad, but it did. The person either did not know where SK parked and/or did not want to be seen near the car for fear of being discovered.

With any three of these "theories", I think we would be able to complete the investigation if we were allowed "access". However, given the current lack of information (cell phone pings, GW's friends saying he was with them, GW being questioned, SK's bank records, SK's boss telling us is real job "duties and expectations", SK's boss telling us how much he had paid Steven over the course of their contract employment agreement, solid confirmation on when Steven went to Rubi..., SK's cell phone records, etc., etc.), I know it won't be. SOOO...that would lead me to the conclusion that someone on the "good" side of the law who has access to this information, doesn't really want this case solved or knows it will lead to an answer they don’t want to accept. Even if LE was the one holding back information, I know they would have said by now that they have leads, but cannot release information at this time. Just saying...

Seems like pleading for more information, just falls on “denial” ears.

 

[carbuff]

If Steven were planning to kill himself, perhaps he would have chosen Sunday because that would take him closest to God, and he was trusting God and the recent sealing to take him home and return him to his loved ones? Perhaps wanting to end his life before he could fall into what he saw as serious sin?

 

[seekingsusan]

If Steven were planning to kill himself, perhaps he would have chosen Sunday because that would take him closest to God, and he was trusting God and the recent sealing to take him home and return him to his loved ones? Perhaps wanting to end his life before he could fall into what he saw as serious sin?

I think Steven being suicidal would also explain all the driving. He wanted to go somewhere his family wouldn't find him, maybe forever. But he chickened out the first few times. It might also explain his reference to Sacramento - he was planning on dying, but wanted his family to think he had fled to Cali. This would explain his dropping in at Ruby Valley; he was setting up an alibi knowing that ANs family would pass that information along.

 

[carbuff]

My final three theories:
<snipped>

2- GW knows what happened to SK that day, even if he was not directly involved. He is too scared or embarrassed to share.
<snipped>

Yes, whatever happened, I think GW and perhaps one or two of his other friends at the ward either know or suspect what happened, and are keeping it quiet. Afraid, embarrassed, think it reflects poorly on them or the ward, promised Steven they'd keep quiet...

 

[laytonian]

With any three of these "theories", I think we would be able to complete the investigation if we were allowed "access". However, given the current lack of information (cell phone pings, GW's friends saying he was with them, GW being questioned, SK's bank records, SK's boss telling us is real job "duties and expectations", SK's boss telling us how much he had paid Steven over the course of their contract employment agreement, solid confirmation on when Steven went to Rubi..., SK's cell phone records, etc., etc.), I know it won't be. SOOO...that would lead me to the conclusion that someone on the "good" side of the law who has access to this information, doesn't really want this case solved or knows it will lead to an answer they don’t want to accept. Even if LE was the one holding back information, I know they would have said by now that they have leads, but cannot release information at this time. Just saying...

Seems like pleading for more information, just falls on “denial” ears.

Brava.

....and our intermedia is, I believe, doing the best she can within family dynamics that don't want private information spread on the internet. LE will necessarily keep some things close to the vest, because until there's a suspect, everyone's a POI. It's also tough when your entire social life revolves around your church. Questions are seen as intrusive.

We'd also need a list of the past month's temple and ward activities, and who attended.
Are there any private dinner invitations we don't know about?
Was Steven locked out of the apartment?
How did Steven plan to catch up on his rent?

 

[RubyRed]

I don't think Steven would go looking for love on a Sunday; and i don't think Steven would "hookup" period. This is an extremely devote Mormon man. Steven would have been "turned off" by a girl who wasn't equally devote and committed to being in church herself on a Sunday. I agree that Steven wanted love and affection, but I think his history suggests he wanted the whole package, not just sex. And the whole package for him would include a good Mormon girl, who would have been in church on Sunday. If someone suggested Steven was meeting a girl to join her at church, that I would believe. But Steven wouldn't miss church for a girl, and certainly not for sex. IMO

Perhaps the high expectations of those around him were the reason he went to where it was less judgemental. I am sure a lot of people felt these religious figures, would not be involved in a scandals but they were.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_evangelist_scandals

 

[laytonian]

I don't think Steven would go looking for love on a Sunday; and i don't think Steven would "hookup" period. This is an extremely devote Mormon man. Steven would have been "turned off" by a girl who wasn't equally devote and committed to being in church herself on a Sunday. I agree that Steven wanted love and affection, but I think his history suggests he wanted the whole package, not just sex. And the whole package for him would include a good Mormon girl, who would have been in church on Sunday. If someone suggested Steven was meeting a girl to join her at church, that I would believe. But Steven wouldn't miss church for a girl, and certainly not for sex. IMO

Steven's been described as "devout", but so would I have been described when I was young and church was my social outlet.

We've been told that Steven didn't keep a journal, yet the church's prophets have always urged members to do so. Daily events, who was there, etc, thoughts, facts, church life.

If I were an LDS family, that would be the first thing I'd look for and read through: his personal journals.

I'm kinda surprised a devout LDS man didn't journal his life.
But apparently. He didn't do it. :???

 

[carbuff]

Maybe that's what's in the portfolio.

 

[laytonian]

I think Steven being suicidal would also explain all the driving. He wanted to go somewhere his family wouldn't find him, maybe forever. But he chickened out the first few times. It might also explain his reference to Sacramento - he was planning on dying, but wanted his family to think he had fled to Cali. This would explain his dropping in at Ruby Valley; he was setting up an alibi knowing that ANs family would pass that information along.

I wonder if there were other clues.

He checked out from the library, three items: a book about Pistol Pete Maravich (there's only two books in the St George library by that subject), one on early Southern Utah settlers, and a Lord of the Rings DVD.

While the early settlers book indicates an interest in researching family history (a church requirement), that book would be pre-done history of some families....with almost everyone's family history having been researched several times for baptisms.

The Peter Maravich book? He didn't seem interested in the ward basketball games, yet checked out Maravich.

Maravich was known for "finding himself" after he retired from basketball. Searching for life. Becoming practically a recluse. Vegetarianism. Macrobiotics. Hinduism, yoga, Christianity. Evangelicals.

One of Maravich's favorite books was Seven Storey Mountain, about the clash between the worldly and the heavenly.

 

[laytonian]

Maybe that's what's in the portfolio.

Pretty thin for a life's journal...unless he just started. Generally, a man of Steven's age would have at least ten year-long full binders.

 

[Lato]

Hummm...Google will now show you biking paths. They are noted in green.

 

[gaia227]

Interesting to read about LDS members being encouraged to keep a diary. I was not aware of that. It does not really fit that Steven who appeared devout and seemed to follow most of the LDS customs yet he did not keep a journal, an activity highly recommended by the prophets.

Is journal writing in the LDS seen as a private activity or is it common to see someone writing in their journal during lunch or something? As kids and teens are they given time in school to write in their journals?

Any journal I have ever written in has been kept private - writing when I was alone, keeping it hidden. If he was planning on committing suicide he could have gotten rid of all his journals, burned them or something so no one would find them and read them.