NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - # 9

[laytonian]

I'll let Sin City verify this when she comes back, but she did say she pointed it out and was told it looked too "old." Heck, if I'd been lying in the desert for the last 4 months, I'd look old too!

The 3-ring binder part does look super-rusted, but I'm no expert on rust. Maybe it's a good thing I wasn't there; that desert would look like a sprinkling system was being installed the next day, with the flags I'd planted.

 

[Fairy1]

I also want to point out that I saw a lot of beer bottles in the areas I searched. I saw a lot of plastic bottles too, but those could have blown in, unlike the beer bottles. That leads me to believe people do maybe hang out there sometimes. Plus, the ATV trail. So it's not totally deserted. Seems to me if a body had been laying above ground, someone would have seen it.

 

[laytonian]

I also want to point out that I saw a lot of beer bottles in the areas I searched. I saw a lot of plastic bottles too, but those could have blown in, unlike the beer bottles. That leads me to believe people do maybe hang out there sometimes. Plus, the ATV trail. So it's not totally deserted. Seems to me if a body had been laying above ground, someone would have seen it.

With all of the shotgun casings, it looks like a "get drunk and shoot 'em up" area.

That dirt trail likely gives access to the run-off channel.

 

[Fairy1]

The 3-ring binder part does look super-rusted, but I'm no expert on rust. Maybe it's a good thing I wasn't there; that desert would look like a sprinkling system was being installed the next day, with the flags I'd planted.

Me too! But I didn't have any flags.

I'm no expert searcher and I thought there were a lot of things that should have been looked at further. We were instructed not to touch anything that looked suspicious, so we couldn't very well start digging up the big piles of cinder blocks we found.

I do hope that if the tip that led us there yesterday is really legitimate, it will be searched again - more thoroughly. And by more experienced searchers.

The thing is, we were looking for skeletal remains, so why would a rusty binder be dismissed? KWIM?

 

[Fairy1]

Now that I think about it, I wish they would have rounded up all of us after the search to compare notes. Looking at the pics Sin City took tells me that her search area was much different than mine. She took that pic of the little cave - I didn't see anything like that on my side.

The west side, where I started was, in comparison, a lot flatter and even than the east side, which was a lot rockier. I also saw a large, very rocky ravine below the eastern edge. I saw other searchers in that area, so I left it alone. But it just didn't seem like something that should be gone through quickly. I don't know if anything of interest was found there or how many searchers went through the area.

 

[laytonian]

They can do DNA and find out for sure if they are his can't they?

Yes, they can. IF they're considered suspicious. I hope they at least picked them up and bagged them.

The PI just posted on FB.

 

[Fairy1]

Just want to say, I hope the family and all the Utah searchers made it home safely.

 

[webrocket]

The email or web traces might also be far enough back that nobody noticed them. He moves so quickly and confidently through the area that I don't think he was following new directions. He looks like he's been there before.

I have said on a number of occasions that there is something on the hard drive that will guide the family to an answer. Maybe not THE answer of what happened that day, but a pretty good idea of what he was up to.

However, nothing has been shared with the public so we are left to speculate or worse yet, keep repeating ourselves hoping someone listens.

 

[sbakker]

I have said on a number of occasions that there is something on the hard drive that will guide the family to an answer. Maybe not THE answer of what happened that day, but a pretty good idea of what he was up to.

However, nothing has been shared with the public so we are left to speculate or worse yet, keep repeating ourselves hoping someone listens.

The hard drive idea is a good thought. But I think Steven knew somebody that he talked to through his work, church, or met someone door that led him to his fate. That person was smart enogh not to call or corespond on e-mail.

Someone who made their FB private had written that "he was a t his lowest point" and someone wrote backand asked if he had been to Wendover again. maybe this person and Steven had been to wendover, mesquite, and Steven felt guilty about it, and was going to talk to the bishop. The other person did NOT want that to happen. So he tried to reason with Steven about it, and well...who knows what happened next?

 

[laytonian]

I have said on a number of occasions that there is something on the hard drive that will guide the family to an answer. Maybe not THE answer of what happened that day, but a pretty good idea of what he was up to.

However, nothing has been shared with the public so we are left to speculate or worse yet, keep repeating ourselves hoping someone listens.

WE who depend on our computers for almost everything, see it that way.

But if online communication was important to SK, wouldn't he have rented a place that had internet availability -- or arranged for it at the apartment?

If I were looking for clues, I'd go through journals/diaries, scraps of paper left in the apartment, the folders that KCN mentioned a few times, AND the stack of unsent job applications he left behind.

I think a lot more is known about what was going on, than we are privy to.

So we speculate. That's what we do here.

 

[webrocket]

WE who depend on our computers for almost everything, see it that way.

But if online communication was important to SK, wouldn't he have rented a place that had internet availability -- or arranged for it at the apartment?

If I were looking for clues, I'd go through journals/diaries, scraps of paper left in the apartment, the folders that KCN mentioned a few times, AND the stack of unsent job applications he left behind.

I think a lot more is known about what was going on, than we are privy to.

So we speculate. That's what we do here.

nowadays it is easy to pick up someone else's wireless signal and also wifi hotspots are usually free. I had asked here when he last used the laptop but no one provided an answer.

 

[Fairy1]

nowadays it is easy to pick up someone else's wireless signal and also wifi hotspots are usually free. I had asked here when he last used the laptop but no one provided an answer.

That's just because WE don't know the answer, web. But I'm sure someone does. Same with the phone pings. Laytonian is right, there's much more going on than we know.

 

[laytonian]

nowadays it is easy to pick up someone else's wireless signal and also wifi hotspots are usually free. I had asked here when he last used the laptop but no one provided an answer.

We've already been told where the nearest open network connection is: down the street, walk around the corner.

Yes, wifi is free everywhere...but it doesn't look like Steven was in the habit of taking his laptop with him. Otherwise, traces of those travels would have been found on it - and he could have used it in SCA.

No reason to leave it behind, unless you don't use it much (or it's locked in your apartment).

It'd be the communications using the St George library that would be interesting.

 

[Fairy1]

I have to say, I'm very happy this new PI is on the case. I have a lot of confidence in him and he does seem very determined.

Also, he can question certain people who we're not sure have been properly questioned up to now. KWIM?

 

[guitar3]

Getting back to the search i'm no expert but we all got off the path when we came across something and started searching other area's. The area should definitely be searched again. If and when we do my suggestion to have a complete search we should walk shoulder to shoulder approximately 15-20 ft. apart have our specialist behind us (perhaps 1 per 10 ppl.) and when we come across something flag it and let our specialist take care of what we find so we can continue our search with our peers and this way everything and all ground gets covered. At the end of our search have a briefing like Fairy1 mentioned so whatever anyone found they can ask questions at that time to get updated. It only makes sense to conduct a thorough search. If this was the right location for the reliable lead, hopefully we'll be back to conduct another search before our Las Vegas temperatures really start to soar!

 

[laytonian]

Hello,

Never posted here before but have been reading over the last few day as I learned of Stevens case from the local papers here in Vegas. I live in the area where his car was found, and I drove through the neighborhood today since I was passing. Didn't want to be a nuisance, so just drove around and out. But 2 things stuck me about it.....

Thanks for posting - I hope you come back. I've been thinking about what you wrote and have some questions.

1. It makes sense to me that if visiting any house in the neighborhood, you would park there. There were no other cars parked on the street in front of houses. Also, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it just doesn't look like you should park on the curbs. Low graded curbs, nice yards, etc. Had I been visiting a home there, I may well have parked where Steven did.

Do you remember seeing his car there, between Dec 13th and 18th (when the family went down to check it out)?

2. I feel confident Steven knew exactly where he was going. I also feel he had been there before at some point in time. Why? Well, the aforementioned randomness of the neighborhood, it really is a "knot" of streets as I've heard it described. And, not only his seemingly determined walk from the car, but also the way he drove to his parking spot. He's moving at a good speed. He drives, just as he walks away, with purpose. It's a small loop of neighborhood, and he knew exactly where to park as soon as he pulled in. No hesitation. he knew where he was going with a familiarity only available to someone who had been there before.

The interesting thing about the parking spot, is that although there are no homes in that cul de sac, the car would have been visible to anyone driving west on Savannah Springs, east on Foxtail Creek or north on Hardin Ridge.

That's (potentially) a lot of traffic passing by that location for the days that Steven's car sat there.

IF you're familiar with that parking spot: Do you remember seeing the car parked there before?

3. I've read that the neighborhood was "canvassed", but I remain convinced that the answers to all of our questions lie in on of those houses. We even know which side of the street it's on, as Steven crosses the street in tape 2, again, with obvious purpose. Ever been looking for a specific house you never visited? Remember how you drive slow, braking from time to time to look at street names and house numbers? There's none of that here. He drives in, walks away, and across the street, all with obvious purpose. If canvassing simply means knocking on doors, "have you seen this guy?" someone just said "No", but knows something.

VERY true. We know if people were asked about Steven, but we don't know what kinds of questions were asked about his car.

If he'd been there before, it seems he'd have parked there before -- and whoever told him to park there, may have told others to park there before or since.

So...I guess there's another question: IF you're familiar with that spot, have you seen cars parked there before?

Do you know anyone who lives in the immediate area of where the car was parked, who could have seen it sitting there at any time -- or even other cars?

(We know the family talked to the letter carrier, who remembered the car -- but we don't know if it was remembered for just those four days, or for previous visits.)

It's been speculated that maybe someone was "squatting" in a vacant home; is that possible in SCA or does the patrol keep a tight watch on things?

Anyway, that's just some thoughts I wanted to share. I wish Stevens family the best of luck, and hopefully some peace of mind one day soon.

regards,

-N.

We all do.

Thank you - and we really appreciate any insights on the neighborhood you may have.

 

[laytonian]

Getting back to the search i'm no expert but we all got off the path when we came across something and started searching other area's. The area should definitely be searched again. If and when we do my suggestion to have a complete search we should walk shoulder to shoulder approximately 15-20 ft. apart have our specialist behind us (perhaps 1 per 10 ppl.) and when we come across something flag it and let our specialist take care of what we find so we can continue our search with our peers and this way everything and all ground gets covered. At the end of our search have a briefing like Fairy1 mentioned so whatever anyone found they can ask questions at that time to get updated. It only makes sense to conduct a thorough search. If this was the right location for the reliable lead, hopefully we'll be back to conduct another search before our Las Vegas temperatures really start to soar!

I think you should contact Craig and mention that. He's asking people to contact him via the FB page.

I don't know the widest point of the search, but if people could stand 10 feet apart and just kinda move as one unit (even if NOT covering it all in one day), maybe it would help?

But I think what was being searched for, would be fairly large. The little pieces of bone, human or animal, would seem to have been there for much longer - and if human, why not larger pieces.

Unless the creek rises (ie, family obligations I've mentioned to some here), I'll be at the next search. In hiking boots that I had better buy NOW and get used to quickly!

 

[hollyblue]

A question to anyone who attended the search:

Why were they digging in some spots? What type of things would require this further digging in a spot, besides bones? Were the pet graves dug up to be sure they were animal?

Dumb question...but I have never been to a search before.

TIA

 

[Fairy1]

I think you should contact Craig and mention that. He's asking people to contact him via the FB page.

I don't know the widest point of the search, but if people could stand 10 feet apart and just kinda move as one unit (even if NOT covering it all in one day), maybe it would help?

But I think what was being searched for, would be fairly large. The little pieces of bone, human or animal, would seem to have been there for much longer - and if human, why not larger pieces.

Unless the creek rises (ie, family obligations I've mentioned to some here), I'll be at the next search. In hiking boots that I had better buy NOW and get used to quickly!

Yep - you better get busy!

guitar3 is 100% right on every count. I could see sizeable areas being missed just minutes after we started. Other than the personal effects (wallet, keys, notebook, clothing) I had no idea what to really look for. I heard the bones found were very small. I was out there looking for a skull or a femur (sorry about that!).

And it will be HOT here very soon.

 

[Fairy1]

A question to anyone who attended the search:

Why were they digging in some spots? What type of things would require this further digging in a spot, besides bones? Were the pet graves dug up to be sure they were animal?

Dumb question...but I have never been to a search before.

TIA

As I understand it, that spot they were digging up was where the bones were found. It was very close to where the search was started. I was still out in the field when all that began, but I believe one of the detectives from the HPD and a CSI officer were there by the time they started digging.

As far as I know, the only pet grave was the one fasteddy4 found. I think it should be dug up too, but I'm not the boss. It's very easy to spot, though, and pretty elaborate. Just because it looked like a pet grave doesn't mean it was one!