Found Deceased AL - Zach Koch, 25, Tuscaloosa, 20 March 2016

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Zach Koch, 25, was last seen late Saturday night or early Sunday morning in the Forest Lake area. A missing person's report was filed with the Tuscaloosa agency at 11:22 p.m. Sunday after friends went to his home and were unable to find him. Friends have posted on Facebook that they have tried to call him repeatedly but his phone is dead. They have not been able to find him at any hospital or jail in Alabama.

Koch drives a gray Mustang. He is the director of publications at the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama. Koch graduated from UA in December and was now working for a technology company.

He had been at some bars in downtown Tuscaloosa Saturday night and got a ride home. He then texted his girlfriend at 2:30 a.m. Sunday and was going to see her at a friend's house on Union Chapel Road. He was having trouble finding the home, so his girlfriend texted him a map.

Koch never showed up at the friend's house. His girlfriend called him repeatedly beginning at 5 a.m. and the phone kept ringing. By 9 a.m., Koch's phone was dead.

Koch's car was spotted on Sunday along Rice Mine Road at or near an assisted living facility. A police officer saw it, and said it looked abandoned, but there had been no report filed on Koch yet. The officer checked on the car later, and it was gone.


http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/03/search_underway_for_missing_un.html

19990038-mmmain.jpg
 
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20160321/news/160329980
A police officer may have seen his car parked at the intersection of Snows Mill Ave and Rice Mine Road near Morning Pointe Assisted Living on Sunday afternoon, his sister-in-law Charlee Koch said Monday morning. he officer The officer thought the vehicle had been abandoned because the missing persons report hadn't yet been filed, she said. The vehicle was no longer there on Monday.
 
Another friend said that Zach called him at 3:14 a.m., saying that he wanted to go to River's Edge Bingo Barn in Greene County. "He convinced him to just go home and he agreed," Zach's sister-in-law said. "He told him that he was going to stop at the store and go home."

Friends entered his number in a phone tracking app, which placed him in the middle of a field in Fosters. Zach's sister-in-law is unsure how reliable the app is - it also showed that another friend who is helping with the search was at the same location when he wasn't. Searchers went to the field anyway, but found no sign of Koch, his phone or his gray Mustang.

Koch grew up in Tuscaloosa and graduated from the University of Alabama in December. He plays guitar and performs at several Tuscaloosa night spots.


http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20160321/NEWS/160329980?p=2&tc=pg
 
So no one has actually seen him since he "got a ride" from the bar?

Who did he get a ride from, does anyone know? He texted his girlfriend but didn't ever speak with her?

Prayers he's found.
 
trying to put a timeline together:

Says he got a ride home from a friend at 2:30 a.m.

He then texted his girlfriend at 2:30 a.m. Sunday and was going to see her at a friend's house on Union Chapel Road. He was having trouble finding the home, so his girlfriend texted him a map.

Zach called a friend at 3:14 a.m., saying that he wanted to go to River's Edge Bingo Barn in Greene County. "He convinced him to just go home and he agreed," Zach's sister-in-law said. "He told him that he was going to stop at the store and go home."

By 9:00 a.m., his phone was dead.

Koch's car was spotted on Sunday along Rice Mine Road at or near an assisted living facility. A police officer saw it, and said it looked abandoned, but there had been no report filed on Koch yet. The officer checked on the car later, and it was gone.
 
RSBM. Very near water. Unfortunately, that's always troubling.

The Black Warrior River is huge. It's the first thing I thought about. I'm local. Sad to say, too, but the area between Tuscaloosa and Fosters is rough. Drugs, crime. I don't drive through there at night. There was a body found in that area in recent years from a drug deal gone bad. Not saying Koch was involved in any of this, but if he stumbled upon the wrong person in the middle of the night...

I've been tempted to go drive around today. It's also the first day after Spring Break, so most college kids were out of town for the week/weekend.
 
Rice Mine is also no where near Union Chapel Road, so I don't know why he would be there if he was looking for this house that his girlfriend was at. I'm trying to attach a map. I dropped a pin where his car was seen at the assisted living place. I drew a red path line along Union Chapel Road to the north. Fosters is way over in the southwest corner.... a couple of miles from where his car was last seen.
 

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Zoomed in. This one shows the massive Black Warrior River and I drew a yellow line along a paved walking trail that many people utilize....although more often during daytime hours, but it is partially lit in places and you could walk/run at night.

Probably totally unrelated, but interesting to note: Zach's car was found only 4 blocks from where Heaven LaShae Ross was abducted/murdered.
 

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His brother posted this about his car, which is confusing. It's a public FB post, but I think it's pertinent information to his case.

"ALSO NOTE THAT HIS CAR HAS STILL NOT BEEN SEEN. YOU CAN LOOK FOR DETAILS LIKE A DISCOLORED HOOD WITH FLAKING CLEARCOAT, BIG CHROME DUAL EXHAUST, HIS THIRD BRAKE LIGHT ONTOP OF HIS TRUNK HAS BEEN PAINTED BLACK, SEQUENTIAL TURN SIGNALS."
 
Koch was last seen leaving his home in the Forest Lake area around 2:30 Sunday morning.

He was supposed to be going to a friend's house near Northwood Lake. Koch never made it there.

A friend reported talking to Koch around 3:15 Sunday morning and he had discussed going to a bingo hall in Greene County.


http://abc3340.com/news/local/search-underway-for-missing-man-in-tuscaloosa
 
ugh.... I think they are all really confused about when/where he was last physically seen. Someone said he was physically seen when his friends dropped him off after a night out. Then he spoke with/texted/had some communication with a girlfriend and was headed to Union Chapel Road where she was staying with a friend and he never showed.
 
From the brother:

POLICE UPDATE AND CAR DESCRIPTION:

PD has just informed us that they are currently working to get credit card information and track his cell phone. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MUSTANG SIGHTING AT MORNING POINTE ASSISTED LIVING WAS OF A DIFFERENT VEHICLE.

Please be on the look out for a gray mustang with the license plate # 63D06B2. It has a discolored hood with flaking clearcoat, big chrome exhaust pipes, the third brake light was painted black, and sequential turn signals.
 
I do wonder if he was ok enough to drive? Meaning how many drinks he had. Is it possible that he could end up in the water with his car? This doesn't sound good.
 
I do wonder if he was ok enough to drive? Meaning how many drinks he had. Is it possible that he could end up in the water with his car? This doesn't sound good.

The road out to Fosters has pretty steep ditches with swamps down them. If I were them, I'd get out and walk that road to see if I see any marks, etc. I'm home alone with 5 kids so I can't right now, but hoping to when DH gets home.
 
As far as I can tell, Zach has lived here for a really long time. He should know the area, but I'm wondering if maybe the directions got crossed up somehow. I'm attaching a map that shows two separate Hwy 43s, one north and one south. The north one would be headed to the location of the girlfriend. The south one would be headed towards Fosters. Maybe he just tried to plug something in GPS, maybe misunderstanding?
 

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