NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - #17

[sbakker]

I wanted you to know, I checked with someone fron sk's ward, about who sk's home teaching partner might have been, and they did not know.

Also, I found out, they are dissolving the singles ward he was in.

About the home teaching, I know someone else said they always are supposed to go as partners, BUT..that does NOT always happen.

I am wondering, if sk was not a regular home teacher,since he was in the E.Q. presidency, but filled in for others that could not do it?

Someone told me , that they went with occasionally.

I will try to look a little more.

 

[Sin City]

I'm so sorry. What are your thoughts on the library angle? I see a lot of questionalble characters near the library on Flamingo/Maryland Parkway every day.

Thoughts?

IMO I think that putting the cards at the library is a great idea, as people would see them. Plus, the homeless hang out in libraries. I think that the Flamingo/Maryland Parkway location would be a great place for a poster or cards.

I wonder if the university library has a community board that would allow a poster to be placed? Or anywhere on UNLV campus? It's been ages since I've been there.

 

[carbuff]

Naegle, I'm so sorry for all the pain you and your family are going through. I wish we could find Steven for you...

 

[laytonian]

My cards were removed from the community information area at the entrance to the local Henderson library. I was so upset when I saw this today that I couldn't have asked the librarians in a mature manner, so I didn't ask.

Oh, but there was a general computer generated flier for signing up for the local Henderson car show coming up. grrrrr

Do you know for sure that the library removed them, or (on the bright side) maybe people did what we wanted them to do -- they took them until they were all gone?

ETA: I just had a strange thought.
If I were a missing person, and I saw those cards with my face on them, I'd make sure they "disappeared".
Any thoughts on that being our "target"???

 

[laytonian]

A lot of times EQ Pres and Counselor are partners. But according to the rules they never go alone, to men or women. Period.

On the same note of Home Teaching...remember GW said he found Home Teaching stuff in SK's apartment when he and the family went there? And I got the impression he didn't know SK was working on it. But with that said...it would generally be GW's responsibility to make partnerships and decide who they were to visit. Its like SK was doing something "special" for GW??

Good thinking.

From the Deseret News, April 5, 2010:
"Greg Webb, who served with Steven in the 7th Ward's elders quorum, remembered searching Steve's apartment after he'd gone missing and finding notebooks full of plans to reorganize their home teaching visits."

Interesting that it was "notebooks full" -- that's a lot of revising. I always thought the lessons themselves came from Church Hq, with some basic latitude in the individual wards.

This is one of the responsibilities given to the EQ Pres. Until my husband became Ward Mission Leader he was 2nd Counslor to the EQ Pres, so my knowledge is first hand of how is "should" work.

 

[seekingsusan]

Ugh, I feel so bad for Naegle! I don't want her to come here and be upset by what we are saying. I hope she realizes that we have good intentions and we want nothing more than to see Steven reunited with his family.

I'm so sorry Naegle, we are doing our best to help.

 

[laytonian]

Ugh, I feel so bad for Naegle! I don't want her to come here and be upset by what we are saying. I hope she realizes that we have good intentions and we want nothing more than to see Steven reunited with his family.

I'm so sorry Naegle, we are doing our best to help.

She knows that; she wants us to keep thinking and posting.

I just got another email from her, where she said that she usually reads after they've done something that's been publicized....just to see the reaction and if we get more ideas from it.

It was nice to know that her Dad was the one who thought of the bus search. That shows they're all working together and brainstorming. I don't think they have any more info than we know.

She really doesn't have any insight/details into the GW and home teaching things we've been talking about -- which is understandable.

But yeah. If I were her, I'd be occasionally upset by some of the comments -- and I'd be upset by things that I've posted myself.

It's just part of boiling down the speculation.

 

[gaia227]

I am sorry if this question has been answered previously. I have been a little out of touch the last couple months and am trying to catch up. Has anyone tried to contact SS personally through FB to ask her to elaborate on her relationship with SK and the home visits?

 

[seekingsusan]

She knows that; she wants us to keep thinking and posting.

I just got another email from her, where she said that she usually reads after they've done something that's been publicized....just to see the reaction and if we get more ideas from it.

It was nice to know that her Dad was the one who thought of the bus search. That shows they're all working together and brainstorming. I don't think they have any more info than we know.

She really doesn't have any insight/details into the GW and home teaching things we've been talking about -- which is understandable.

But yeah. If I were her, I'd be occasionally upset by some of the comments -- and I'd be upset by things that I've posted myself.

It's just part of boiling down the speculation.

I agree, that makes sense and it makes me feel a little better. On one hand, I'm glad she occasionally comes by WS, because I think we come up with some good ideas. But on the other hand, I can see how some of the things we say could be hurtful. I don't believe the family knows any more than the rest of us and I'm disappointed Craig has kinda disappeared. It's clear everyone is in a funk at this point. None of us could have imagined how few answer we would have 9 months later......

 

[laytonian]

I am sorry if this question has been answered previously. I have been a little out of touch the last couple months and am trying to catch up. Has anyone tried to contact SS personally through FB to ask her to elaborate on her relationship with SK and the home visits?

I've tried twice with her, and with others who have posted. But even though I gently explained that I wasn't being intrusive and just hoped to help find Steven, I got no response.

Remember, Naegle even went down a few months ago and didn't turn up anything that answered her own questions, either.

I think the problem is that we all need details about events that weren't very memorable at the time -- and the FB comments were posted by people trying to remember those not-so-memorable events, two or more weeks later.

 

[laytonian]

I agree, that makes sense and it makes me feel a little better. On one hand, I'm glad she occasionally comes by WS, because I think we come up with some good ideas. But on the other hand, I can see how some of the things we say could be hurtful. I don't believe the family knows any more than the rest of us and I'm disappointed Craig has kinda disappeared. It's clear everyone is in a funk at this point. None of us could have imagined how few answer we would have 9 months later......

I think Craig's been looking at the criminal angle, and there just hasn't been anything to show that a crime occurred.

If whatever happened was due to Steven acting totally on his own accord, without communicating his intent to anyone else, there's no trail to follow. :banghead:

 

[carbuff]

I've tried twice with her, and with others who have posted. But even though I gently explained that I wasn't being intrusive and just hoped to help find Steven, I got no response.

Remember, Naegle even went down a few months ago and didn't turn up anything that answered her own questions, either.

I think the problem is that we all need details about events that weren't very memorable at the time -- and the FB comments were posted by people trying to remember those not-so-memorable events, two or more weeks later.

I think you're right about the not-so-memorable events. Even the things that seem a bit strange to us, like the drive to Ruby Valley, don't seem to have struck the people who know him as particularly unusual -- maybe a bit out of the ordinary, but not so much as to make anybody worried or curious.

Steven seems to be a lighthearted person, a bit of a flake, maybe not very organized but well-liked by everyone. Not the kind to do any scheming or much in the way of planning.

Which makes me think that whatever happened in Henderson was either accidental or impulsive.

 

[seekingsusan]

I'm beginning to agree with you Laytonian....the worst part of this whole scenario was Steven being caught on camera. Our thinking, and the investigation, has been tarnished by Steven's purposeful walk away from his vehicle. It prevented LE from ever treating the car or the neighborhood as a crime scene. It gave us all enough evidence to conclude Steven walked away; a conclusion we never could have made without the video.

And no matter how hard I try, I can't let the location of the car rest. There HAS to be something special about SCA:
- Steven knew someone there/had an appointment
- Steven went there specifically because he DIDN'T know anyone there
- Steven randomly ended up there (just parked in the nearest neighborhood, I think this is less likely)

Frankly, I'd rather focus on 200 houses in SCA than all of Las Vegas and St. George. Can't Craig do that?

 

[laytonian]

I'm beginning to agree with you Laytonian....the worst part of this whole scenario was Steven being caught on camera. Our thinking, and the investigation, has been tarnished by Steven's purposeful walk away from his vehicle. It prevented LE from ever treating the car or the neighborhood as a crime scene. It gave us all enough evidence to conclude Steven walked away; a conclusion we never could have made without the video.

And no matter how hard I try, I can't let the location of the car rest. There HAS to be something special about SCA:
- Steven knew someone there/had an appointment
- Steven went there specifically because he DIDN'T know anyone there
- Steven randomly ended up there (just parked in the nearest neighborhood, I think this is less likely)

Frankly, I'd rather focus on 200 houses in SCA than all of Las Vegas and St. George. Can't Craig do that?

He said he went through Overlook Village (how much?) - and even found people who hadn't been contacted before. I know that nearly everyone on EL was, at one time or another, turned in to Craig and/or LE as "a suspect". Nothing came of that, either.

The reason for also looking in the east portion of Vegas (Whitney Ranch, old Henderson) is because that's the direction his cell phone travelled. The map is very definite that the last incoming calls, before the phone went dead, hit cell towers in that area.
I know Craig said that the phone could ping "everywhere"....but that didn't happen. Those last towers look clustered in one area.

St George is still suspicious to some of us, because it's logical that IF Steven went to Vegas on someone's recommendation/suggestion, it almost had to be a face-to-face conversation. Plus, he was out in the town in previous days, handing out those flyers. If we can get a business card into the hands of ANYONE who saw him, maybe we can get a new tip.

But yeah....the car's location is the key.

My original thought about the car's location, was that it was a "safe haven" for the car itself.

After seeing the phone records, and Googling the phone number that's connected with the incoming calls early on Dec 12th, I'm wondering if it's a bill collector. The phone number pops up on those "are you being bugged" websites. IF he was behind on his car payments, it kinda fits together: hide the car from the bill collector, far from where they expect it to be.

...and I'd still like to parade ten men past Mr Security's cameras, and see if we can identify them from the videos

 

[Fairy1]

I still believe the key will be to determine WHY Steven was here at all. I agree that someone in St. George knows the answer.

I will never be able to make myself believe he came here specifically to dump his car in a safe neighborhood and walk off into the sunset.

 

[laytonian]

I still believe the key will be to determine WHY Steven was here at all. I agree that someone in St. George knows the answer.

I will never be able to make myself believe he came here specifically to dump his car in a safe neighborhood and walk off into the sunset.

Like carbuff said, maybe he didn't intend to.

What if the entire ploy was to report the car stolen, catch a ride back to St George, and someone took advantage of him?

 

[Fairy1]

Like carbuff said, maybe he didn't intend to.

What if the entire ploy was to report the car stolen, catch a ride back to St George, and someone took advantage of him?

That would certainly explain the secrecy, but there would still be at least one other person in this world who knows.

You know what, though? If that was his plan, why would he do it on a Sunday - when he WAS supposed to be elsewhere and had to have known he'd be missed and have to explain his absence? Why not do it on Saturday or Tuesday, when no one would KNOW he wasn't where he was supposed to be?

 

[laytonian]

That would certainly explain the secrecy, but there would still be at least one other person in this world who knows.

You know what, though? If that was his plan, why would he do it on a Sunday - when he WAS supposed to be elsewhere and had to have known he'd be missed and have to explain his absence? Why not do it on Saturday or Tuesday, when no one would KNOW he wasn't where he was supposed to be?

Because he'd got a call from the collection agency (?) the day before, while he was still in St George?

The other person, who'd have had to know about the plan, might have strong-armed him and threatened to reveal.

I dunno. I'm just trying to put more pieces together.

We've got LOTS of pieces; maybe we need to stick some into some theories, and then see what's left?

 

[Fairy1]

Because he'd got a call from the collection agency (?) the day before, while he was still in St George?

The other person, who'd have had to know about the plan, might have strong-armed him and threatened to reveal.

I dunno. I'm just trying to put more pieces together.

We've got LOTS of pieces; maybe we need to stick some into some theories, and then see what's left?

Ok. I'm an idiot when it comes to this theory - so please humor me. If this was the way it went down, you are saying the other person's intention was to harm Steven, not to profit from the insurance fraud, right?

Do you still feel that Steven's contact with this other person would have originated in St. George?

 

[laytonian]

Ok. I'm an idiot when it comes to this theory - so please humor me. If this was the way it went down, you are saying the other person's intention was to harm Steven, not to profit from the insurance fraud, right?

To profit. No one's going to aid and abet a felony (which insurance fraud would be) unless they got a cut of the action. BUT....because SK wouldn't have anything to give until *after* the insurance came through, the partner may have been angered and threatened to expose the scheme. Argument or other harm ensues.

Do you still feel that Steven's contact with this other person would have originated in St. George?

Absolutely. But IF something like this took place, I doubt it involved anyone we've heard about.