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

[jmarple]

I had hoped the ping information would lead the discussion forward, such as at least providing very strong evidence that he was alive and in the Whitney Ranch area of Vegas at least until the morning after the videotape.

It could be just my impression, but a large majority of the LDS people on this site believe that Steven was killed in SCA before the ping data came to light and that they still cling to that belief despite the fact his phone was on up until the morning after in another part of Vegas.

Is it that difficult to accept that this guy just wanted to leave his family, church and failed career(s) behind?

It is difficult, however, I am now leaning toward the idea that is exactly what he did (left family, church, and failed career).

 

[carbuff]

The LDS do not hold church-sponsored social events on Sundays; that's the day for ward and stake meetings. Even the temples are closed on Sunday.

Okay, thanks. That's interesting -- around here, Sunday afternoon is prime social time. Church teas, youth group barbecues, congregation softball games, charity bingo, you name it. Especially popular time for extended family dinners, graduation parties, etc.

 

[believe09]

I dont find it difficult to believe that he walked away, WR. Not at all. But I am not LDS. If he stayed in Vegas what might he be driven to do given his new found freedom, so to speak? Would he find a job, become a roadie, go back to school, deal black jack?

If he did not decide to stay, where would he head? I was checking schedules for Greyhound buses and the costs of tickets, fwiw. I looked into San Antonio and San Diego based upon what I thought he might be carrying for cash...but really who knows what he was carrying for cash since we do not know what he was paid....we know what he was not spending money on...rent, for example.

 

[laytonian]

It is difficult, however, I am now leaning toward the idea that is exactly what he did (left family, church, and failed career).

I hear you. It's the most comforting scenario.

I just don't see him having the resolute tenacity or perseverance to carry off something like this. He quit his only career-type job in LDS-friendly Utah, where the handshake can take you places.

If he didn't have the drive to succeed here, how would he survive somewhere else? I really don't even see him capable of living on the streets; he was spinning his wheels in St George (creating a stack of job apps, but never sending them out).

Why didn't he just drive to where he was going?
He had half a tank of gas in the car, snack food, pillows, blanket, coats.

Unless he had a secret stash of cash, I don't see how he could have gone far on his own -- and what other person would want to babysit someone who couldn't keep a job?

 

[laytonian]

Okay, thanks. That's interesting -- around here, Sunday afternoon is prime social time. Church teas, youth group barbecues, congregation softball games, charity bingo, you name it. Especially popular time for extended family dinners, graduation parties, etc.

Same here, with other religions. But Sunday for the LDS is generally a long day full of various kinds of meetings.

We know that Steven had arranged a home-teaching visit with SS for Sunday evening, but that's not considered a social event.

 

[laytonian]

If you have a non-legit business, you would NOT tell them what the business is. But if the person they hire, gets a hint, and the business owner finds out,then they will gey rid of their employee. We have discussed here before, about drug businesses. If business owners find someone to deliver, and pick-up drugs and money, and if the employee gets caught, the business owner is out of trouble. It would be hard for the employee to prove he was not at fault. This does go on. Just another way to smuggle drugs.

Very true. But I don't think that happened via a stranger connection; I think, if he was hired to deliver ANYTHING (legal or not), it was an assignment that started with someone he knew.

If you've got a stash of high-value drugs, do you really pick some stranger from craigslist, a newspaper ad, and hand the drugs over to them? No, I think you use an associate who you can hold something over their head about. Someone you have "the goods" on, and know. Someone you know well enough to know they'll bring back the money, after they've delivered the drugs.

(I'm using drugs as an example only.)

After all these months, there's not been a trace of a connection to anything else (that we are aware of). Nor any means of communication we're unaware of.

I think it's possible SK would have *willingly* done something illegal, just to keep out of trouble with someone who may have been a threatening presence.

 

[rd_jfc]

I took a look at the video still again with latest info in mind. I posted that what he was carrying under his arm is bulky. Definitely a canvas bag of some sort or something equally bulky, certainly not a portfolio in my opinion.

One thing that has thrown me off is that multiple coats and blankets were left in car, and that walking off was like suicide by hypothermia. But did he leave every coat in his car?

At this point my thinking is that he is either delivering a bag to a nearby house or that is a coat under his arm. And the conclusion is that he was taken north with the delivery or that he walked north with a coat. And he wouldn't need shaving kit left in car if he is growing a beard as part of hiding or just knows it will be too hard to try to stay clean shaven on the road.

Is there a coat of his known to be missing, or all are accounted for in his car? It might be a bag with a change of clothes and a coat, but it isn't all that big, just bulky under his arm and up to front of his chest.

rd

 

[Paulette]

It is difficult, however, I am now leaning toward the idea that is exactly what he did (left family, church, and failed career).

Would he never contact his family? That's the bit that is over the top for me. In order to have no conscience toward his families pain & suffering he would have to hate them or feel jeopardized in his current situation. What on earth could that be? He's not a low-life drug dealer or an axe murderer..

Not even one phone call or letter or e-mail? 5 months, nothing.

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

Would he never contact his family? That's the bit that is over the top for me. In order to have no conscience toward his families pain & suffering he would have to hate them or feel jeopardized in his current situation. What on earth could that be? He's not a low-life drug dealer or an axe murderer..

Not even one phone call or letter or e-mail? 5 months, nothing.

Well if he reads our posts...he might think the same thing a lot of people on here do, that the family doesn't seem to care enough. And especially not being married, having kids and a full-time job to speak of, he wouldn't understand everyone having to go on with their lives at some point.

If he ever googles his own name he'd know about WS that's for sure.

Just a thought...

 

[laytonian]

Well if he reads our posts...he might think the same thing a lot of people on here do, that the family doesn't seem to care enough. And especially not being married, having kids and a full-time job to speak of, he wouldn't understand everyone having to go on with their lives at some point.

If he ever googles his own name he'd know about WS that's for sure.

Just a thought...

But if he read our posts, he'd also see the timeline -- and if he read that, he'd read about the MANY times family members have gone to Vegas, searched, gave interviews, gave a press conference, announced a reward, answered questions.

No one has beatified his family, but that might be to his pleasure. We all know our family's quirks AND IF he left on his own accord, maybe the things we've mentioned are the things that explain his leaving.

I think Steven's family is quite well represented here

Steven would also read comments from people he doesn't even know, who he may even reject as "too worldly" in real life -- but all of us coming together out of concern for him.

If I were Steven, I couldn't keep quiet. If I were reading, I'd have to occasionally make the odd post.

 

[carbuff]

Gotta say -- there were a couple a while back (around the time of the search) that I wondered about.

 

[rd_jfc]

well the key is he was spending a lot of time somewhere out of touch with family, had to be pulling in some money from somewhere also kept quiet about, there is no way in my opinion that he made that much money from fliers for a window washing business to get around for more than half a year, and venture before that didn't sound like much of a money maker either.

Then he's out of touch Saturday, in Henderson Sunday morning at 8am and who knows how much before that, and his cell phone is 10 miles north in a heavily populated junction with an interstate that evening.

Also had issues with his family, refusing help and money even though he clearly needed some. He would have had to come up with a thousand dollars plus in next two weeks or almost certainly be evicted, and he didn't act like returning home was an option to him.

So it's not like there isn't a whole lot of disappearing that's been going on for months prior. He's incommunicado, getting some money from somewhere, angry at his family for trying to help for some reason, and on the verge of having nowhere to go but back with his family. Which is hard to understand why that would be such a problem.

I just don't see this as everything hunky dory and he disappears one day. Where was he Saturday day, Saturday evening, Saturday night, and where in Henderson was he Sunday morning? That's a whole lot of disappearing right there before he disappeared.

rd

 

[Fairy1]

I hear you. It's the most comforting scenario.

I just don't see him having the resolute tenacity or perseverance to carry off something like this. He quit his only career-type job in LDS-friendly Utah, where the handshake can take you places.

We can only "see" Steven through the eyes of those who know - or thought they knew him. We have created our own perception from what we've been told. Maybe we're all wrong? When people go missing, their loved ones rarely say they expected it. It's always, "Oh he/she would never walk away without contacting us." Why would Steven be any different?

If he didn't have the drive to succeed here, how would he survive somewhere else? I really don't even see him capable of living on the streets; he was spinning his wheels in St George (creating a stack of job apps, but never sending them out).

I thinks it's possible he realized he didn't have any desire to succeed in that world and left to find another where he felt more comfortable.

Why didn't he just drive to where he was going? He had half a tank of gas in the car, snack food, pillows, blanket, coats.

Why DID he drive all over the place - for no apparent reason - the week before?

Unless he had a secret stash of cash, I don't see how he could have gone far on his own -- and what other person would want to babysit someone who couldn't keep a job?

I have always believed it was possible he had a secret stash of cash. Maybe not a lot, but he WAS working (such as it was) and he WASN'T paying his rent - arguably, his largest expense. He could have been socking his money away so he could take off and start over.

 

[laytonian]

well the key is he was spending a lot of time somewhere out of touch with family, had to be pulling in some money from somewhere also kept quiet about, there is no way in my opinion that he made that much money from fliers for a window washing business to get around for more than half a year, and venture before that didn't sound like much of a money maker either.

(snipped)

I keep thinking about what you relayed from TH: that SK was passing out the flyers TO HELP PAY the rent. Not "TO pay"...but "to HELP".

To me, that indicates there was something else -- or recently had been. I can't believe he was working for TH consistently since he left matchbin.com

Sure wish we knew if he'd worked elsewhere in St George; that would broaden his circle of contacts.

 

[believe09]

Would he never contact his family? That's the bit that is over the top for me. In order to have no conscience toward his families pain & suffering he would have to hate them or feel jeopardized in his current situation. What on earth could that be? He's not a low-life drug dealer or an axe murderer..

Not even one phone call or letter or e-mail? 5 months, nothing.

It happens every day....and from what I have heard it is not hate that keeps them from contacting the loved ones left behind, but shame and guilt. After a while, it is easier just to stay away until something happens or there is a reason to surface. I knew of a case where the guy disappeared, his family was sure it was foul play and he surfaced more than three years later because he wanted to start collecting his SS and pension.

 

[RubyRed]

There are no communications on his cell phone and nothing noted anywhere, not a scrap of info about any activity. That means he was hiding whatever he was into, if he was into anything that people think got him killed.

Would be interesting to know for example if anyone tried to call him all day Saturday. Not a ping, and it looks like he was down LV way again with only ping being in Overton later.

And jack in the box and every other kind of random purchase receipts in his car but not one hint of this activity? That's pretty hard to do. Sloppy one second, oh so discriminate the next. Sorry, doesn't work that way.

And murderer takes 4 1/2 hours to get his cell phone to Whitney Ranch area, exactly the same amouint of time it takes to walk there with a break or two, and then waits to checks his voice mail till the next morning. Please.

Now I don't think it's reasonable to walk away from his car, in an area he had been all morning for some reason, and start hiking north to the interstate. But if was into something he was hiding it, and he may still be hiding. That's the only thing the information points to.

rd

Do you think he met up with someone in SCA and drove with them to Whitney Ranch? Spent the night there then got up in the morning and checked voicemail? Then chucked the phone?

 

[rd_jfc]

(snipped)

I keep thinking about what you relayed from TH: that SK was passing out the flyers TO HELP PAY the rent. Not "TO pay"...but "to HELP".

To me, that indicates there was something else -- or recently had been. I can't believe he was working for TH consistently since he left matchbin.com

Sure wish we knew if he'd worked elsewhere in St George; that would broaden his circle of contacts.

yeah, exactly, laytonian. And whatever he was doing ran dry in September or so? Quit paying most of his rent and utilities for October and on. I've wondered about unemployment, maybe his eligibility ran out in September?

Well, I guess lots of people's did, then restored, etc. as covered in news. Not even sure he was eligible at all, but was getting money somewhere.

 

[rd_jfc]

Do you think he met up with someone in SCA and drove with them to Whitney Ranch? Spent the night there then got up in the morning and checked voicemail? Then chucked the phone?

Chucked when battery ran out, Ruby. I would have to say yes. If he was sitting in his car in Henderson early Sunday morning waiting till noon to see someone or deliver something, acting like for some reason he couldn't stand being in the room he was renting even though no one was else was there, would have been in his car Saturday, then KMart, then Saturday evening, I wouldn't consider walking away any less rational.

Also whether there was supposed to be some understanding with landlords about catching up in January, for them to start calling that evening and call ten times over next two days shows that there were till some issue to resolve. I'm pretty sure that's why they showed up Monday night and checked his room now.

He was acting like he had already checked out and couldn't stand to go back, ever since the roommate he didn't like left a month earlier? You would think he'd be happy having the house to himself.

Or unhappy about being there once his landlord called his dad and dad called him. And he refused to acknowledge to his dad that he owed three months rent. I don't know, the behavior before he disappeared doesn't make much sense either.

rd

 

[gsmith]

I know there are a ton of what ifs but I think this is interesting:

Get the ping map and add 450 North Water St, Henderson, NV.

It is a greyhound bus station.

Closed on Sundays.
Opens at 6 am Mondays.
Steve's last recorded phone record was Monday 6am.

Some coaches require passengers to turn off phones.


I think he left his car, walked northward, waited till Monday morning to ride a greyhound bus. He then checked his messages before leaving.

No?

 

[carbuff]

It happens every day....and from what I have heard it is not hate that keeps them from contacting the loved ones left behind, but shame and guilt. After a while, it is easier just to stay away until something happens or there is a reason to surface. I knew of a case where the guy disappeared, his family was sure it was foul play and he surfaced more than three years later because he wanted to start collecting his SS and pension.

Yes. And if depression is involved, another factor is often "they won't even miss me, they'll be glad I'm gone and they don't have to deal with my stupid problems any more. They're better off without me."