NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - #21

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Sleuthster said:
I received an email today from another WS member that directed me to a website called postmoron and a post on their forum regarding meetings in Las Vegas. Apparently this group is for people who have left or want to leave the Moron church, ironically they had a meeting at a secret location (a members house) in Las Vegas Nov 15th 2009. No posts for a meeting in December. Looking through some other posts now. Interesting stuff mostly about how these former members feel "free" and that they "escaped" the church but dont know if they're ever really free from the church and their families.

Thank you for the link!

I wonder where SK was on Nov 15th 2009 just weeks before he disappeared. Did he attend this meeting? Is this why he went on the long drive and visited the former gf parents in N. Nevada? He wanted to make sure he wanted to leave the church and knew it meant leaving his family too?? This would make sense why he left the car there, a safe neighborhood near where one of these postmormon members lived or could pick him up. This scenario actually makes sense to me.
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Kudos to the person that emailed you the link. This theory sounds more plausible than anything I've heard or been able to come up with in a long time. :waitasec:
 
Sleuthster said:
I received an email today from another WS member that directed me to a website called postmoron and a post on their forum regarding meetings in Las Vegas. Apparently this group is for people who have left or want to leave the Moron church, ironically they had a meeting at a secret location (a members house) in Las Vegas Nov 15th 2009. No posts for a meeting in December. Looking through some other posts now. Interesting stuff mostly about how these former members feel "free" and that they "escaped" the church but dont know if they're ever really free from the church and their families.

Thank you for the link!

I wonder where SK was on Nov 15th 2009 just weeks before he disappeared. Did he attend this meeting? Is this why he went on the long drive and visited the former gf parents in N. Nevada? He wanted to make sure he wanted to leave the church and knew it meant leaving his family too?? This would make sense why he left the car there, a safe neighborhood near where one of these postmormon members lived or could pick him up. This scenario actually makes sense to me.
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One of these postmormon groups is in Sacramento. If Steven was involved with this group, perhaps this was what he was referring to when he mentioned he may go to Sacramento while he was visiting his ex-girlfriend’s parents. I haven’t had a chance yet to compare Steven’s erratic car driving to the map that shows the location of these groups, but it from a quick glance at map on the postmormon.org site, it does seem to be in the same areas. Maybe he wanted to see the ex-gf once more before he fled.
 
Sulamith said:
I am an Ex-Mormon. I am not a member of Post Mormon but I belong to another Ex-Mormon forum.
I have attended three Ex-Mormon Meet Ups. Two were in public places and I attended a BBQ at a private residence. In regards to the BBQ, the location was not secret but as far as I know, all the attendees were posters on the forum so we all kind of "knew" each other before the event. In all three cases, I knew of the meet ups because I frequented the forum.

If Steven attended the Post Mormon meet up in LV, I wonder if he was a member/poster of that forum. I have a feeling his parents would not have made it public that he was logging onto "anti-Mormon" websites when his computer was checked. He could have logged on from a library. I would imagine that he would have posted on the forum/introducing himself before he attended a meeting.

Not speaking of the Post Mormon group, but it would not surprise me if an Ex-Mormon helped him , maybe giving him a job. I have heard of ex-Mormons helping missionaries that wanted to leave their missions but did not have the funds/support to do so. It is pretty shameful in the LDS religion for a missionary to leave their mission. They did not "return with honor" in the LDS mindset. Of course, Steven was not a young missionary but I think there might have been a slight possibility that he received help from a non-Mormon. That makes more sense to me than a drug runner scenario.
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Thank you for your insight on this!
What you're saying makes me wonder more about that comment on the post mormon thread for the 11/15/09 meet up. Someone had asked where it was going to be held and they commented back that the location would not be posted on there but they could send an email to them and they would send the info back. Very strange, because I didnt see this on any other meet up threads for other dates.

BTW, there is a meet up group in St George also but members seem to prefer posting on the LV threads because there is not as much activity on the SG threads according to some of the posts I read on there. You can go to their website and search for Las Vegas in the search window and find the posts FYI. Anyways, I wonder if they prefer to post on LV because SG is in Utah and they where afraid of being discovered. Just a thought.
 
SassyBenton said:
One of these postmormon groups is in Sacramento. If Steven was involved with this group, perhaps this was what he was referring to when he mentioned he may go to Sacramento while he was visiting his ex-girlfriend’s parents. I haven’t had a chance yet to compare Steven’s erratic car driving to the map that shows the location of these groups, but it from a quick glance at map on the postmormon.org site, it does seem to be in the same areas. Maybe he wanted to see the ex-gf once more before he fled.
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Great thought!
 
I was thinking tonight about the flyers being found on the dash board of his car. They could have been in the folder and then he took them out to put other papers in the folder. But what was in the folder??? That's the big question. With this new scenario it would not be out of the ordinary that he was dressed nicely as he was to rendevu's with a member of this group.

One more thing....the fb group on behalf of the family, when I have posted possibilties that he is alive they respond why would he do that to his parents?? Basically, that would make him a horrible person and they have rules on the page that it's become more of a support page for the family they dont really want to hear any thoughts or ideas on where he could be or what happened to him, it is not open for discussion on there apparently.
 
Sleuthster said:
I was thinking tonight about the flyers being found on the dash board of his car. They could have been in the folder and then he took them out to put other papers in the folder. But what was in the folder??? That's the big question. With this new scenario it would not be out of the ordinary that he was dressed nicely as he was to rendevu's with a member of this group.

One more thing....the fb group on behalf of the family, when I have posted possibilties that he is alive they respond why would he do that to his parents?? Basically, that would make him a horrible person and they have rules on the page that it's become more of a support page for the family they dont really want to hear any thoughts or ideas on where he could be or what happened to him, it is not open for discussion on there apparently.
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I thought that FB group was kind of strange since it seems they only want support. If that FB page for Steven was open for discussion, maybe they/we could find out what happened to Steven. OTOH, he is a grown man and he can go off into the sunset if he wishes.
 
There is another FB page where discussion about what happened to Steven is encouraged - I don't know if I am allowed to link but search for Steven Koecher (Discussion).
 
There are 2 fb groups that are for Steven, one is family and the other is a discussion page.

On the other (nonfamily) fb there is alot of negativity IMO about the family's intentions so I hope we dont start doing that too. But my only point is that I too believe that they have not released anything about SK's disappearance that would be negative to their family and the LDS. It's pretty apparent when they dont want anyone posting about suggestions or ideas, just support for "the family" that they have a pretty good idea about what has happened to Steven or it could be that in their hearts they have accepted he's not with us anymore. I still believe he is and they know something that could help and we'll leave it at that.
 
Sleuthster said:
I still believe he is and they know something that could help and we'll leave it at that.
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I'm always curious about this position. If they knew something that could help and are hiding it, why would they spend the last 2.5 years soliciting media attention trying to find their loved one?
 
swjaxon said:
I'm always curious about this position. If they knew something that could help and are hiding it, why would they spend the last 2.5 years soliciting media attention trying to find their loved one?
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Why arent they trying to find him anymore?? On their fb page they diliberately are deleting any post with ideas to find him or thoughts directed in any manner other then words of support towards the family.

This is a snipit of their main post on the fb "find Steven Koecher" page.

This Facebook page was established by Steven's family, as a place to welcome him home alive and well. If you want to investigate and speculate, this is not the place. There are many appropriate websites (Websleuths.com is excellent, and Steven's case has been discussed there for over two years in thousands of posts.)The Q&As were developed by several people, who have deep knowledge of the case.
STEVEN, YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME HOME. YOU ARE LOVED, RESPECTED AND WHATEVER HAS GONE ON, YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHARE. Just come home. Your Mom needs you now more than ever.
 
swjaxon said:
I'm always curious about this position. If they knew something that could help and are hiding it, why would they spend the last 2.5 years soliciting media attention trying to find their loved one?
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According to Steven’s cousin, who used to come to this forum, the family did in fact state that they do know something that isn’t known to the public. Here is the link: Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - #2


Also, in my opinion, I don’t think the Koechers sought out the media that much except in the beginning. Steven’s case has been brought up in the media over the past couple of years but it doesn’t seem like it was because of a big push from the family, it was more like updates noting that Steven still hasn’t been found. I’m unsure if his case appeared on the tv show Disappeared because of a request by the family or the creators of the show just decided it was a good case to profile. Other than that show, I’ve never seen his case profiled on any big mainstream shows like 20/20 or 48 Hours Mystery. Compared to some other missing persons cases in the news, in my opinion, the family has been relatively quiet. This could mean many things: they are very private, they don’t think media attention will help or perhaps they have an idea of what may have happened and do not wish to share that info with the public. My guess is that if Steven’s disappearance had anything to do with escaping his religion or being homosexual, the family would not want that publicized, especially if they are devout Mormons.
 
Sleuthster said:
Why arent they trying to find him anymore?? On their fb page they diliberately are deleting any post with ideas to find him or thoughts directed in any manner other then words of support towards the family.

This is a snipit of their main post on the fb "find Steven Koecher" page.

This Facebook page was established by Steven's family, as a place to welcome him home alive and well. If you want to investigate and speculate, this is not the place. There are many appropriate websites (Websleuths.com is excellent, and Steven's case has been discussed there for over two years in thousands of posts.)The Q&As were developed by several people, who have deep knowledge of the case.
STEVEN, YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME HOME. YOU ARE LOVED, RESPECTED AND WHATEVER HAS GONE ON, YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHARE. Just come home. Your Mom needs you now more than ever.
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Yes, they are fiercely protective on that fb page. I once confused that fb page with other one for Steven and posted a theory on there. I cannot even tell you how many people jumped down my throat within a matter of minutes and I received a couple of threatening messages from people who frequent the page. The message across the board was that any theory was unwelcome, don’t you DARE come here for any other reason. I understand wanting a page to leave supportive messages for the family but if that’s all that is wanted then it shouldn’t be a public page where anyone is free to post, it should be private. I quickly took down my post and apologized for my confusion over the two fb pages and even after that still received a few rather unfriendly private messages and finally ended up having to block those people. I don’t know if the people contacting me via private message where relatives of the Koechers or people who have been following the case but they were extremely hostile even after I apologized and took my post down.
 
SassyBenton said:
According to Steven’s cousin, who used to come to this forum, the family did in fact state that they do know something that isn’t known to the public. Here is the link: Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - #2
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If I'm not mistaken, that fact was that he took his passport with him, which was later found to be an error.

SassyBenton said:
I don’t think the Koechers sought out the media that much except in the beginning. Steven’s case has been brought up in the media over the past couple of years but it doesn’t seem like it was because of a big push from the family, it was more like updates noting that Steven still hasn’t been found. I’m unsure if his case appeared on the tv show Disappeared because of a request by the family or the creators of the show just decided it was a good case to profile. Other than that show, I’ve never seen his case profiled on any big mainstream shows like 20/20 or 48 Hours Mystery.
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In my experience, the family has offered unprecedented access to the case. I've been working in journalism for 12 years and have never had access to a family like I've had with the Koecher's. Steven's dad was a newspaper man, and understood the difficulty of keeping a case on the media's radar. Aside from a year and a half of public actions, he made himself available night and day via phone and email. That's virtually unheard of.

Lastly, getting a case on ANY show is nearly impossible. Think about it, there are about 35,000 unsolved missing persons nationwide each year. The fact that they got the case on one show is practically a miracle.
 
Sleuthster said:
Why arent they trying to find him anymore?? On their fb page they diliberately are deleting any post with ideas to find him or thoughts directed in any manner other then words of support towards the family.
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The family dynamic is interesting -- Steven's father really led the charge in finding him. When he died, they describe the wind being sucked out of the sails.

From what I understand, Steven's mother decided she could not deal with the stress of the search and the results it may uncover. I can respect that. As a result, the Facebook page was turned into a support for the family page, rather than getting shut down.

That said, many of his family members are still plowing away, trying to find the guy. I'm in regular contact with them. Sadly, the case is at a place where there's not much else that can be done without a major find.
 
SassyBenton said:
Yes, they are fiercely protective on that fb page. I once confused that fb page with other one for Steven and posted a theory on there. I cannot even tell you how many people jumped down my throat within a matter of minutes and I received a couple of threatening messages from people who frequent the page. The message across the board was that any theory was unwelcome, don’t you DARE come here for any other reason. I understand wanting a page to leave supportive messages for the family but if that’s all that is wanted then it shouldn’t be a public page where anyone is free to post, it should be private. I quickly took down my post and apologized for my confusion over the two fb pages and even after that still received a few rather unfriendly private messages and finally ended up having to block those people. I don’t know if the people contacting me via private message where relatives of the Koechers or people who have been following the case but they were extremely hostile even after I apologized and took my post down.
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Yes, that page gets a little crazy. Because of it's size, the family had a hard time managing it and brought in outside help. I can't remember the last time I looked at it.
 
swjaxon said:
If I'm not mistaken, that fact was that he took his passport with him, which was later found to be an error.



In my experience, the family has offered unprecedented access to the case. I've been working in journalism for 12 years and have never had access to a family like I've had with the Koecher's. Steven's dad was a newspaper man, and understood the difficulty of keeping a case on the media's radar. Aside from a year and a half of public actions, he made himself available night and day via phone and email. That's virtually unheard of.

Lastly, getting a case on ANY show is nearly impossible. Think about it, there are about 35,000 unsolved missing persons nationwide each year. The fact that they got the case on one show is practically a miracle.
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Thanks for the info, I never saw her clarify that is was the passport, but I remember hearing that they found it later. I only saw the family speak out on the news once and saw very little national coverage of his disappearance, so it appeared to me that the family wasn’t really involving the media. I guess I’m thinking about other missing persons cases where the families have been on the news constantly pleading for info about their missing loved one, I didn’t see that level of intensity coming from Steven’s family or maybe I missed it. As posted above, I can understand it being too much for Steven’s mother, I think my mom would probably do the same.
 
Under the circumstances, I believe Steven's family has done an outstanding job of keeping his story on the radar. We all get frustrated here when we see LE brushing off missing teens as "runaways." Imagine how difficult it is for a family to get attention on the case of a 30-year-old man who had a very, by all accounts, benign life.

I don't feel all of the LE agencies involved in Steven's case have been overly enthusiastic. Same with the PI. I know of one lead that doesn't seem to have been thoroughly investigated (if at all). It is, IMO, the most logical direction for the investigation to take, but it seems to have died on the vine. :(
 
Sulamith said:
I thought that FB group was kind of strange since it seems they only want support. If that FB page for Steven was open for discussion, maybe they/we could find out what happened to Steven. OTOH, he is a grown man and he can go off into the sunset if he wishes.
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the FB page has a good FAQ page.

Kelly
 
Any Las Vegas locals on here? If so, can you tell me if there has been construction on the "spaghetti bowl" aka the freeway interchange near downtown Las Vegas in the past few years? Does the area around/under the interchange have shrubs, trees, rocks, etc. or is it all concrete?
 
SassyBenton said:
Any Las Vegas locals on here? If so, can you tell me if there has been construction on the "spaghetti bowl" aka the freeway interchange near downtown Las Vegas in the past few years? Does the area around/under the interchange have shrubs, trees, rocks, etc. or is it all concrete?
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The US-95 part of the spaghetti bowl was redone a few years ago. I think it was completed in November 2007 (the week before I started seeing my boyfriend. I was so happy it was finished when I was driving to his place.) I think it is just desert landscape. I drive through there about once a month but never really paid much attention. I may be going that way on Saturday. If so, I'll try to remember to see what the landscape looks like.
 
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