NV NV - Steven Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - #22

[Sleuthster]

This "theory" begin long ago because there was a meeting of a group that helps gay members leave the LDS church in LV the day he disappeared from there near the area where he disappeared from. It was pure speculation but ws members where covering every avenue that was a possibility. It was discussed many threads ago.

 

[cats5vegas]

From the Red Rock Search And Rescue (RRSAR) Facebook page. (Their website is www.redrocksar.org) I'm not sure how to link to the Facebook post.

This Saturday RRSAR will deploy a few teams into the mountains behind Anthem to search for Steven Koecher missing since December of 2009. Search teams worked the area back then and found nothing. We are working another theory and will begin a mission that may include up to 4 deployments.

I found Steven's threads here many years ago and have pondered many theories. Partly because of this, I have actually joined the Red Rock Search And Rescue team. And of all of the coincidences of bad timing, I'm moving this weekend and won't be able to join in the search. But if there are more searches after this, I'll plan to be there. I volunteered to participate in their new group to work on some cold cases and also a new metal detecting team. There are many families out there who need answers to help find some resolution.

 

[Fairy1]

From the Red Rock Search And Rescue (RRSAR) Facebook page. (Their website is www.redrocksar.org) I'm not sure how to link to the Facebook post.

This Saturday RRSAR will deploy a few teams into the mountains behind Anthem to search for Steven Koecher missing since December of 2009. Search teams worked the area back then and found nothing. We are working another theory and will begin a mission that may include up to 4 deployments.

I found Steven's threads here many years ago and have pondered many theories. Partly because of this, I have actually joined the Red Rock Search And Rescue team. And of all of the coincidences of bad timing, I'm moving this weekend and won't be able to join in the search. But if there are more searches after this, I'll plan to be there. I volunteered to participate in their new group to work on some cold cases and also a new metal detecting team. There are many families out there who need answers to help find some resolution.

Thanks so much, cats! This is great news. So sorry you can't be there.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Here are two articles about the upcoming search.

http://www.news3lv.com/mostpopular/story/Search-renewed-six-years-after-Utah-man/4Zg2TMmFoECAKWxN73RgyA.cspx

Red Rock Search and Rescue will deploy about 30 volunteers beginning Saturday morning in the hills above Henderson, on a theory that Koecher ventured deeper into the mountains than originally thought.

http://www.onenewspage.com/video/20150513/2861036/Rescue-teams-renew-search-for-missing-Utah-man.htm

 

[Lato]

http://fox13now.com/2015/05/15/new-...sing-since-2009-sparks-renewed-search-effort/

This article speaks to the renewed search effort which will take place tomorrow.
Quote from article...."Saturday, 50 people will comb the hills above the Henderson, Nevada subdivision where he was last seen. The search area consists of 25 square miles of wilderness."

I wish them all good luck.

 

[AngelaH]

I really hope they find something today. Red Rock Search and Rescue is really good at good at what they do. They won't give up easily.
From the article:
"Red Rock Search and Rescue specializes in missing persons. Public Information Officer Olivia Niziolek said Steven’s case has been high on their priority list."

 

[neverletgo]

More here:

Search for missing St. George man is renewed almost 6 years later
Written by Cami Cox Jim on May 15, 2015

Snipped:

Cummings said his team is operating on the belief that Koecher traveled from St. George to the Las Vegas area to do harm to himself, and they are treating their efforts as a search for someone who committed suicide, which involves a different mindset and different probabilities as to where he would have gone and what he would have done.

Previous searches for Steven Koecher probed only some of the desert area near where he disappeared, Cummings said, but not a lot of it. The Red Rock team is going to begin working deep into the canyons and into some mountaintop areas.

https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/a...t-george-man-is-renewed-almost-6-years-later/

 

[carbuff]

They'll be looking in the area where I thought he might have gone. At this point I don't know whether to hope they find something or not. Because if not, it's always possible he's alive and happy somewhere.

 

[Sulamith]

So, suicide was not considered in the first place? I am curious to know what happened to make the family think that now so many years later.

 

[carbuff]

Some of us (ahem) thought suicide was likely, but neither the family nor LE seemed to take that very seriously. I don't know why. I don't know why they might have changed their mind now -- maybe just that enough time has passed that they can consider what once seemed inconceivable.

 

[Fairy1]

I'm not quite sure what to hope for with this search. I'm happy to see SOMETHING happening. My issue with the search area is that it's in the opposite direction from that which Steven was headed in the surveillance video. There are also other neighborhoods located much closer to those mountains than the one where Steven parked his car.

 

[Fairy1]

I should also say - I've never been on the suicide bandwagon. And I'm still not, TBH. There were dozens upon dozens of areas where Steven could've ended his life much closer to where he was living. Why come to Vegas for that? Why park there?

 

[ScorpioRising]

I agree. The location is much too specific and he looks too focused on the video. He is even crossing the street when he walks past the house on the corner as if he knows where he is going. Don't think it was suicide but glad there is a search effort.

 

[JerseyGirl]

UPDATE: Searchers were out looking for Steven Koecher this weekend but did not find anything, see the first video for details on the search and the second for background on the man’s disappearance.

http://fox13now.com/2015/05/15/new-...sing-since-2009-sparks-renewed-search-effort/

 

[Damaged]

I should also say - I've never been on the suicide bandwagon. And I'm still not, TBH. There were dozens upon dozens of areas where Steven could've ended his life much closer to where he was living. Why come to Vegas for that? Why park there?

I'm new and will admit that I have not read through all of the postings, so this may have been discussed already... Please forgive me if it has been. I have never really bought the whole suicide thing either, it just does not make sense to drive that far for that. I know there has been a lot of talk about the fact that he was parked in a 55+ community. Has anyone looked into the possibility that there was some sort of scam with elderly people as the targets going on? Steven does not seem like the most street wise person, so I can totally see him getting involved with something nefarious and not even knowing it. There are news stories about scams against the elderly at least every other month.

 

[fridaybaker]

I don't understand the suicide theory either, except as a remote possibility. Didn't SK say to his friend who'd called and asked him to lead the meeting in St. George that he was in Vegas but "could come back early if need be"? That doesn't really fit with suicide. Also, as mentioned up-thread, he seemed "focused" as he strode down the rode, carrying what looks like a portfolio or something in him arm. I don't think it fits. In my book, he was going to an appointment.

 

[fridaybaker]

I'm new and will admit that I have not read through all of the postings, so this may have been discussed already... Please forgive me if it has been. I have never really bought the whole suicide thing either, it just does not make sense to drive that far for that. I know there has been a lot of talk about the fact that he was parked in a 55+ community. Has anyone looked into the possibility that there was some sort of scam with elderly people as the targets going on? Steven does not seem like the most street wise person, so I can totally see him getting involved with something nefarious and not even knowing it. There are news stories about scams against the elderly at least every other month.

The concept that SK was not "street wise" and could easily have been caught up, inadvertently, in something nefarious, has been a fairly prevalent idea here. The "elderly scam" aspect in particular may have been as well, but there was a canvassing, I believe, of the neighborhood by police, but nothing came of it. Also, there were at least a couple members here who did some research years ago into who lived on the street where SK was seen walking at the time, changes in ownership, ads in Craigslist, etc. I think an "elder scam" would likely have come up, but I can't recall anyone coming up over the years with anything like that in the neighborhood. All from my recollection, as there are so many posts -hard to look through them all.

 

[fridaybaker]

I guess I would like to know what prompted the "different theory" that leads the searchers in a suicide direction: New information vs. the fact that it just wasn't considered very plausible originally and, sans anything new, the decision was made to go down that road.

 

[CONCRNED CTZN]

Could not agree more with you. If I remember correctly the call length was so short too that I can't imagine much was talked other than maybe "on my way" or some other short message that would not include a conversation about the two in Vegas (what a surprise etc.) Let's face it.. the last person to contact the missing person should be looked at closely.

Long time lurker here...

I was reading over some of the old threads last night, and something still does not sit right with me with regards to the church president friend (GW) who was also in Vegas at the time of SK's disappearance. The phone call situation does not make sense to me for a couple of reasons:

- He reportedly calls SK to ask him to take his place at a meeting. SK says he would if necessary, but then GW says "nevermind, I'm already on my way." Oddly enough, they are both in LV for reasons that aren't clear and they don't discuss with each other.

- Later on, SK receives another call from someone attending the meeting asking him if he could stand in for GW, who was supposed to have been on the road earlier. This is where I get tripped up, and start to wonder if GW is even being truthful about what he and SK discussed on the phone. It doesn't make sense to me that GW would be on the road with plenty of time to make the meeting, yet SK still receives a second call from someone at the meeting this time asking if he can stand in for GW. The second call to SK from the person at the meeting makes it seem like GW was either a no-show, or that he perhaps called to say he'd be late but did not mention talking to SK earlier. I find this odd, because it sounds like there were only a few people who were qualified to stand in for GW at the meeting, so mentioning that he had already talked to SK and that he was was busy in Vegas seems like it would have been a no-brainer. I would be inclined to believe that GW would have called the meeting if he couldn't make it since he says he made an effort to call SK to ask him to stand in for him, so if he did call, then why wouldn't he mention that SK was already busy? If he didn't call and just didn't show, why would he do that and where was he that whole time?

I'm not sure if this angle has been completely ruled out yet, but something about this friend seems suspicious to me. The content of the conversation he had with SK has no way to be proven, and it doesn't seem to make sense considering the other communication SK had with church members that day. Sorry if I've missed something and this whole angle has been debunked, but the other calls SK received regarding the meeting do not make sense to me if I take GW's word for what he and SK supposedly discussed that day.

I said from the beginning that there was something wrong with GW's story, especially since their phones pinged from the same (or very close) area at one point. And GW made sure he was sitting in church at 12, when Steven went missing.

 

[fridaybaker]

Could not agree more with you. If I remember correctly the call length was so short too that I can't imagine much was talked other than maybe "on my way" or some other short message that would not include a conversation about the two in Vegas (what a surprise etc.) Let's face it.. the last person to contact the missing person should be looked at closely.

BBM: The McStay case, anyone?