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

[dreamweaver]

This is unlikely SK, but be aware:

Man's body found at Desert Breeze Park, Las Vegas. The man is described as being in his 40s, so they may have unreleased ID.

MAP

ETA:
Original map didn't work; link corrected

Link updated:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/police-investigate-after-man-s-body-found-at-park-102275779.html

DRUG OVERDOSE SUSPECTED: Police investigate after man's body found at park

 

[laytonian]

(snip)

It seems to me to about the entrance of the house with the red car / multiple vehicles out front in various pictures,

I found one picture that shows a "red car" -- on a Bing Maps view CLICK HERE TO VIEW.

From what I can see, that satellite image was taken long before Steven disappeared. Note that some of the homes are under construction; they were completed when SK disappeared and all had been owned for quite awhile.

In fact, the neighborhood was so new then, the street had just been paved. Notice how the "house with the red car" has tar tracks on the cement driveway.

I don't see multiple vehicles in front of the house; just one red car and some construction vehicles up the street.
Am I looking at the wrong picture?

Do we have images of EL on the day Steven disappeared, that show a red car (or suspicious vehicles)?

which we know has an interest background, was a rental, and whoever was there is not there any longer.

Which house number is that? I don't remember any rentals on EL.

 

[Fairy1]

That is what I said, carbuff, but I also said he was in the area for hours prior based on tower pings and could have been there prior day. I am certain from way he was driving that he had been to the location prior and was returning to park. That was no random drive around and oh, this looks like a good place to park.

laytonian, that was an extreme reading of what I wrote about speed. Perhaps pace is a better word. Consider the complexities of that cul de sac. Mailboxes, fire hydrant, gate, carve out to one side. He beelined past CAM3, to a dead end. No hesitation whatsoever. There is no way that is the first time he encountered that location and decided to park his car there.

The test is interesting. I just folded up a quilt and tried it. It is just about the exact size of what is seen in the video. The bundle extends up and out at the shoulder area, down to about hip area. A folded up thick quilt fits right under the arm, arm not pushed out at all.

A rolled up sleeping bag would. That's why I said possibly even a sleeping bag. It would have to be a thin one though.

I stick with my impression he's walking across the street for a noon appointment. Yes, it's just prior to 12:01 according to the cameras.

Of more importance to me is that I can't see him traversing the last bit of reflected roadside. A dark shadow forms, and he doesn't just exit on out that last bit. Could be he turned at that point.

The hidden contraband I suggested is a scenario where he had to be silenced because of something he saw and protested.

rd

I have always thought he appeared to know where he was going also - both driving and walking.

Evening Lights isn't a dead-end. At the end where "Steven" was headed, it curves around and becomes another street (Portsmouth-something I think?).

ETA - Portsmouth Creek

 

[rd_jfc]

laytonian, I thought one of the first houses in, past the wall and bushes, as far as identifying it, had a red car out front in one picture and multiple vehicles in the driveway in another. There was a lot of discussion on that and owner info was posted here and posted that the owner didn't live there, it was a rental. The general nature of the posts was that it wouldn't surprise the poster if something hinky was going on.

There was stuff about other houses too but I thought all of the above was about the same house.

rd

 

[laytonian]

laytonian, I thought one of the first houses in, past the wall and bushes, as far as identifying it, had a red car out front in one picture and multiple vehicles in the driveway in another. There was a lot of discussion on that and owner info was posted here and posted that the owner didn't live there, it was a rental. The general nature of the posts was that it wouldn't surprise the poster if something hinky was going on.

There was stuff about other houses too but I thought all of the above was about the same house.

rd

Nope.

There has been some inappropriate sleuthing (against our TOS) of some of the neighbors, and one person walked through private property and jumped a wall onto another property. According to the property records of Clark County, the people who live at the house where the wall was jumped, still own that home (as of today - I just checked). They were not renters.

About the red car:

It was parked there in 2005. I don't know how it could be connected to SK's disappearance, when parked in a neighborhood under construction four years previously.

How do I know when the car was parked?

Because the bing.com map shows 2630 Portsmouth Creek Ave under construction -- and according to property records, that home was built in 2005.

For some reason, people have come to believe that the copyright/watermark on online map photos, represent the date that the image was taken. It's not. Just because something says 2010, doesn't mean the picture is fresh.

 

[Fairy1]

We can't assume that because Steven appears walking down EL that a home there was his destination. It's a fairly short street - especially in comparison to Portsmouth Creek. When I went out there, I parked where Steven's car was found and when we left, I drove down EL onto Portsmouth Creek and back up Laurel Springs. But Portsmouth Creek continues beyond Laurel Springs. Didn't see any cars parked on the street in the neighborhood that day.

 

[webrocket]

I have been largely silent on this site for quite a while although I do check it out from time to time.

I feel compelled to comment on the drug mule theory which has been resurrected here of late.

First of all, assuming for a moment Steven was used as a mule, I don't know what drugs might have been involved. One of the first things the police did was to utilize a drug sniffing dog and the car was clean. So unless we are talking about prescription drugs in original packaging, I doubt there were any drugs in his car.

Second, how does an ordinary law abiding citizen become a drug courier? Many things are advertised on Craigslist, but I doubt someone would be brazen enough to advertise 'help wanted - drug mule'. However, it is possible someone could be offered a job to run a package here or there. That said, who in their right mind (and I am referring to the 'employer') would entrust possibly thousands of dollars in illicit merchandise to a complete stranger? The stranger could run off with the goods, use or sell them himself, or turn them into the police. Not a sound business strategy in my book.

Third, I would think that the drug courier business takes time to build up trust between the parties. start small then build up. IF that had been happening, Steven would have been earning progressively more money as time went on. From all indications his finances were going in reverse - he was basically penniless when he vanished in SCA.

The flipside of this is that if he was so successful at it that he was independently wealthy and avoiding the banking system altogether, I would think that little portfolio would not be enough to hold the hoards of cash one would need to start fresh and leave his life in Utah behind.

I short, I do not see him being a mule/drug courier at all.

 

[Fairy1]

I have been largely silent on this site for quite a while although I do check it out from time to time.

I feel compelled to comment on the drug mule theory which has been resurrected here of late.

First of all, assuming for a moment Steven was used as a mule, I don't know what drugs might have been involved. One of the first things the police did was to utilize a drug sniffing dog and the car was clean. So unless we are talking about prescription drugs in original packaging, I doubt there were any drugs in his car.

Second, how does an ordinary law abiding citizen become a drug courier? Many things are advertised on Craigslist, but I doubt someone would be brazen enough to advertise 'help wanted - drug mule'. However, it is possible someone could be offered a job to run a package here or there. That said, who in their right mind (and I am referring to the 'employer') would entrust possibly thousands of dollars in illicit merchandise to a complete stranger? The stranger could run off with the goods, use or sell them himself, or turn them into the police. Not a sound business strategy in my book.

Third, I would think that the drug courier business takes time to build up trust between the parties. start small then build up. IF that had been happening, Steven would have been earning progressively more money as time went on. From all indications his finances were going in reverse - he was basically penniless when he vanished in SCA.

The flipside of this is that if he was so successful at it that he was independently wealthy and avoiding the banking system altogether, I would think that little portfolio would not be enough to hold the hoards of cash one would need to start fresh and leave his life in Utah behind.

I short, I do not see him being a mule/drug courier at all.

Great to have you back, webrocket!

I have a difficult time supporting this particular theory as well, unless Steven was not aware of what he was transporting.

That said, he may have been "recruited" by someone he knew and someone who knew he would never be suspected of such a thing. We do know that he was in fairly dire financial straits and seemed to want to turn that around on his own, so he might have been an easy mark.

Also, it could have been a fairly new endeavor, explaining why he hadn't yet earned enough to take care of his obligations. Or yes, perhaps he HAD earned enough to finance a new life and had hidden the money somewhere between St. George and Vegas.

I think we'd be talking about prescription drugs, not street drugs.

As you can see, we've made little progress.

 

[laytonian]

I have been largely silent on this site for quite a while although I do check it out from time to time.

I feel compelled to comment on the drug mule theory which has been resurrected here of late.

First of all, assuming for a moment Steven was used as a mule, I don't know what drugs might have been involved. One of the first things the police did was to utilize a drug sniffing dog and the car was clean. So unless we are talking about prescription drugs in original packaging, I doubt there were any drugs in his car.

Second, how does an ordinary law abiding citizen become a drug courier? Many things are advertised on Craigslist, but I doubt someone would be brazen enough to advertise 'help wanted - drug mule'. However, it is possible someone could be offered a job to run a package here or there. That said, who in their right mind (and I am referring to the 'employer') would entrust possibly thousands of dollars in illicit merchandise to a complete stranger? The stranger could run off with the goods, use or sell them himself, or turn them into the police. Not a sound business strategy in my book.

Third, I would think that the drug courier business takes time to build up trust between the parties. start small then build up. IF that had been happening, Steven would have been earning progressively more money as time went on. From all indications his finances were going in reverse - he was basically penniless when he vanished in SCA.

The flipside of this is that if he was so successful at it that he was independently wealthy and avoiding the banking system altogether, I would think that little portfolio would not be enough to hold the hoards of cash one would need to start fresh and leave his life in Utah behind.

I short, I do not see him being a mule/drug courier at all.

Welcome back.

I don't like the theory either. Unless he was doing this for someone he knew (and owed money to), who'd pick someone off the street to do that?

Driving a car to another state? I can see him doing that.

But being used as a "drug mule"?
I think he'd be the WORST person to pick, because if he Ruby Valley trip was part of it, he hinked around and visited people.

 

[Fairy1]

My DH and I went on a field trip yesterday to the area where Sin City went a few days ago. I was hesitant to post what we saw, only because it's so depressing. But it's important because of that last cell phone ping at Russell and the 515 and because of Steven's possible state of mind at the time.

We actually started far east of the actual wetlands park, up on Hollywood Blvd. The wetlands picnic area is up there (I don't know why it's so far from the actual wetlands & park) and paved Hollywood ends just about there.

First, we went further east and wound up behind the mountains. There is a dirt road back there and a lot of rugged terrain, ravines, some caves, etc. But there were also many signs of life. Dumped trash, broken bottles, grafitti, bike/ATV trails. We were thinking maybe a hangout for teens??? (I didn't know about it when I was a teen!) Mostly, I couldn't figure out WHY there was a road back there!

You can't get to the wetlands area from this far east - though you can see it. There are dirt roads, but they're all closed off. So we had to go back north until we found a real road and went west then south to the park that way.

I really had no idea how large the wetlands area is. Not sure how much of it is maintained by the county, but inside the park, we saw a lot of evidence that it gets a lot of attention. During the summer, there are normally several brush fires in the area. There's a LOT of vegetation, but without the monsoon rains, it's very dry. We saw a lot of bushes and brush that had been cut down - and signs of previous fires. Also, there is a housing development that backs right up to the park.

Beyond the wetlands to the east and to the south, there is a huge expanse of desert. Much of it is closed to off-road vehicles - which was disappointing - only because someone on their ATV or dirt bike or 4-wheeler would be the most likely to stumble across remains. The whole area is a bit of a trek from Russell/515, but it would actually be more possible on foot. And there are plenty of areas where a person could stay hidden for a long, long time. Or forever.

A search of the area would have to be massive and professional. Our little group that did the search in April wouldn't even make a dent.

 

[rd_jfc]

laytonian, I don't know how in the world you can think that I thought some vehicles in satellite pictures had anything to do with the day SK disappeared. Holy cow. And the second post I even said again, as far as identifying the house, the red car was in front of a house, multiple vehicles were parked in the driveway of a house in another picture. (As I said, I was thinking it was the same house.)

I remember the commotion about the inappropriate sleuthing on the one house, I'm not talking about that. Some comments were posted about a house in a satellite picture which I remember looking at that had multiple vehicles parked in the driveway, and that it was a rental. I'm pretty sure I'm not hallucinating that.

The mule thing I mentioned at the end of a lengthy post as a scenario I could see where someone who isn't supposed to know a car they're transporting, for example, contains drugs and had to be silenced when he saw something he shouldn't have.

The point is I believe he was making at least an overnight trip if notm one or two days because of where he parked and what he was carrying.

rd

 

[laytonian]

laytonian, I don't know how in the world you can think that I thought some vehicles in satellite pictures had anything to do with the day SK disappeared. Holy cow. And the second post I even said again, as far as identifying the house, the red car was in front of a house, multiple vehicles were parked in the driveway of a house in another picture. (As I said, I was thinking it was the same house.)

I remember the commotion about the inappropriate sleuthing on the one house, I'm not talking about that. Some comments were posted about a house in a satellite picture which I remember looking at that had multiple vehicles parked in the driveway, and that it was a rental. I'm pretty sure I'm not hallucinating that.

The mule thing I mentioned at the end of a lengthy post as a scenario I could see where someone who isn't supposed to know a car they're transporting, for example, contains drugs and had to be silenced when he saw something he shouldn't have.

The point is I believe he was making at least an overnight trip if notm one or two days because of where he parked and what he was carrying.

rd

I'm sorry, but that 1995 bing.com "bird's eye view" is the only picture I can find of a red car.

If you've got a URL (or more than one) to suspicious red cars, please post them. I just don't have any other reference, and without one, I think we get into baseless speculation. I see some people here posting about "what red car" -- and I'm trying to figure it out, too.

 

[rd_jfc]

you're joking, aren't you? After the third time that I posted as identifyiing the house the red car is in front of?

I want to add the only speculation I'm making is that after viewing the CAM3 and CAM7 videos is that as I posted, it looks to me like he has been there before, knows where he's parking, is parking close by to where he's going, and is going to make an overnight or so trip for pay.

Forget I mentioned sattelite pictures, please.

Good luck to you SK, whereever you are.

rd

 

[Fairy1]

you're joking, aren't you? After the third time that I posted as identifyiing the house the red car is in front of?

rd

In what year do you know the "red car" was parked in front of that house? Do you have proof? Do you know if the ownership or rentership of that home has changed hands since that red car was parked there? Is this information directly or even remotely connected to the day Steven went missing in the area?

 

[carbuff]

you're joking, aren't you? After the third time that I posted as identifyiing the house the red car is in front of?

I want to add the only speculation I'm making is that after viewing the CAM3 and CAM7 videos is that as I posted, it looks to me like he has been there before, knows where he's parking, is parking close by to where he's going, and is going to make an overnight or so trip for pay.

Forget I mentioned sattelite pictures, please.

Good luck to you SK, whereever you are.

rd

Are you saying you see this red car in the video????

Because I sure don't.

 

[TechWriter797]

you're joking, aren't you? After the third time that I posted as identifyiing the house the red car is in front of?

I want to add the only speculation I'm making is that after viewing the CAM3 and CAM7 videos is that as I posted, it looks to me like he has been there before, knows where he's parking, is parking close by to where he's going, and is going to make an overnight or so trip for pay.

Forget I mentioned sattelite pictures, please.

Good luck to you SK, whereever you are.

rd

I totally understand what you meant!

 

[seekingsusan]

I totally understand what you meant!

Can you enlighten the rest of us? (With links to photos or previous posts where a red car is confirmed as existing, let alone being involved.)

To Laytonian: Did you say that Steven checked his voicemail at 5:51 pm on the night of the ward Christmas party? Maybe that's our answer.....he wasn't upset about something at the party, he was upset about the voicemail.

On another note, I have never known anyone to check their voicemail so much. Could Steven have been instructed to leave his phone off (no pings) and to "check your voicemail for further instructions?" We know he was going home occasionally, why would his phone be running low on power so much that it had to be off for large portions of the day? It's just weird.

I discount the drug mule theory too....

 

[laytonian]

Can you enlighten the rest of us? (With links to photos or previous posts where a red car is confirmed as existing, let alone being involved.)

Thank you. I've just been trying to get clarification on what the point was.

I think there's been confusion about two homes.

There has been outright speculation about the MW family who lives at 2250 EL; however, the red car in the 2005 satellite view is not parked in front of that house. The MW family still owns their home on EL and were never renters. Did they decide to rent the home out later (April)? Maybe.

The red car is parked in front of 2260 EL, not the MW home. 2260 EL is the house next to the long wall (and which is owned by the people who own another home in the Anthem area, making sense that one house would be rented out). The only suspicion I've seen towards that address, is mine -- because someone else disappeared from the neighborhood they own the other home in.

To Laytonian: Did you say that Steven checked his voicemail at 5:51 pm on the night of the ward Christmas party? Maybe that's our answer.....he wasn't upset about something at the party, he was upset about the voicemail.

Yes. That was a quiet phone day. Two separate texts from LL came in, but SK's only outgoing call was to VM.

On another note, I have never known anyone to check their voicemail so much. Could Steven have been instructed to leave his phone off (no pings) and to "check your voicemail for further instructions?" We know he was going home occasionally, why would his phone be running low on power so much that it had to be off for large portions of the day? It's just weird.

I haven't counted the VM checks before. Here they are:

Dec 7: 1 (5:51pm)
Dec 8: 2 (6:30am, 10:23am) active in/out calls this day
Dec 9: 1 (8:10pm) active in/out calls this day
Dec 10: 2 (12:44am, 12:00pm) active in/out calls, match when he'd be in cell tower range
Dec 11: 2 (11:23am, 11:26am) after lots of back/forth with TH
Dec 12: 1 (9:19am, 9:02pm, 11:02pm) combo phone records/tower records*
Dec 13: 2 (5:36pm, 7:58pm)
Dec 14: 1 (7:04am) after incoming from TH

*There may be a duplicate there. If we get to do our field trip, I'll show everyone why these phone records aren't as easily-interpreted or clear, as one would think.

I discount the drug mule theory too....

What if he was picking hillbilly heroin up for someone, rather than being involved in some heroin/marijuana/meth cartel?

 

[laytonian]

(top posting on purpose)

The body found in Desert Breeze Park, Las Vegas, has been identified as a 48-year-old man. Definitely not our guy.

Fox5 Vegas

This is unlikely SK, but be aware:

Man's body found at Desert Breeze Park, Las Vegas. The man is described as being in his 40s, so they may have unreleased ID.

MAP

ETA:
Original map didn't work; link corrected

 

[laytonian]

I haven't counted the VM checks before. Here they are:

Dec 7: 1 (5:51pm)
Dec 8: 2 (6:30am, 10:23am) active in/out calls this day
Dec 9: 1 (8:10pm) active in/out calls this day
Dec 10: 2 (12:44am, 12:00pm) active in/out calls, match when he'd be in cell tower range
Dec 11: 2 (11:23am, 11:26am) after lots of back/forth with TH
Dec 12: 1 (9:19am, 9:02pm, 11:02pm) combo phone records/tower records*
Dec 13: 2 (5:36pm, 7:58pm)
Dec 14: 1 (7:04am) following two incoming from TH

Looks like I STILL haven't counted the VM checks (how embarrassing).

Dec 12th total should obviously be 3. :blushing: