If this case had happened during UM's run, it would have been perfect for the show....basically this Mormon guy is having financial troubles during the recession, drives to Las Vegas for some unknown reason, parks his car in a seemingly random retirement community neighborhood, is seen on surveillance camera walking down the street with a folder in his hands...and is never seen again.

His Charley Project page:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/koecher_steven.html

More information:

http://dogservant.blogspot.com/2012/10/missing-tuesday-steven-koecher.html

I think he may have been slightly naive and took some sort of part-time or freelance job offer and got conned and somehow killed by scam artists of some sort....although, the one thing that has ALWAYS bothered me about this case is that the police have said there was no evidence on his computer.

He was walking down the street with a folder in his hand, right around noon on the day he disappeared...seems like this was some sort of "appointment" and things went wrong from there...but where is the computer evidence of a shady Craigslist seller or something? Did he randomly start chatting with someone at a gas station or something?

I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts!

This was on Disappeared. Bizarre case, I believe there's quite a bit of discussion about it on Websleuths.

Steven did go to Las Vegas, but he disappeared from Henderson, Nevada. I remember the Disappeared episode stating he had been mostly unemployed for quite some time when he vanished.

Here's a link to some interesting scenarios as to what happened to Koecher. (https://sites.google.com/site/parallelcooler/home/koecher-html/scenarios)

Here's a link to some interesting scenarios as to what happened to Koecher. (https://sites.google.com/site/parallelcooler/home/koecher-html/scenarios)


That's super comprehensive, man. :)

This required some deep thought, but I wonder if Steven did take on a job that involved delivering something, and his story about visiting an ex-girlfriend was something he planned in case people started getting suspicious. He could have delivered the items to various places and visited the ex, thus giving him a "reason" to be in that area. I'm not sure it was drugs though. The Disappeared episode said a dog checked his car for an hour and they were certain no drugs had ever been in that car.

If it is Steven on the surveillance footage, he apparently wasn't carrying much, with the possible exception of a folder. But then again, maybe he wanted to check out the area and people first to make sure it wasn't a trap and if he encountered LE he could have said he was lost or something of this nature.

That's a bit out there I know, but nothing makes sense in this one.

I do have to wonder if Steven is/was gay. I mean, a reasonably handsome, unmarried 30 year old who is smart, has a college degree, etc. People would have talked. His family were strict Mormons and probably some or all of them wouldn't have approved. I've read various accounts that the surviving family members are not nice people. And his mother acted utterly horrified that he went to Las Vegas, without even knowing the purpose of his visit. There are good and bad people of every kind, but some of his family members seemed stuffy and I could understand if he wanted to get away from them. After all, he did quit his dad's business and moved hours south, away from them.

I think Koecher was driving around aimlessly, seemingly without a purpose or any clear location to where he was going. There were hints that he was depressed (financial problems, problems getting a job, feeling like the least successful sibling, etc.) prior to his disappearance. He abandons his car right before noon on the 13th.

Link (https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?ll=36.306272%2C-114.743958&spn=0.700525%2C1.087646&t=h&hl=en&msa=0&z=10&ie=UTF8&mid=1ZVbeDaTy6vkPO8uCNKdbk6082vU) to the cell phone tower pings. His car was left south-west to where the map shows "MacDonald Ranch". The next cell tower pings all occur near the Whitney Ranch in Henderson, NV. I think he was walking towards a specific location, possibly the vast desert/mountain region to the east of Henderson. I believe he ultimately committed suicide shortly after leaving his cell phone in the early morning hours of the 14th.

This is interesting. Utah is the #1 most depressed state. Also fairly high in suicide rate and higher than I expected.

http://exmormon.org/d6/drupal/Utah-most-depressed-state-7th-in-suicide-rate.

I should point out Marie Osmond's gay son committed suicide.

This case has always fascinated me since I first watched it on Disappeared. There's so little to work with that the possibilities of what happened to this guy are endless.

Ultimately I think his poor financial situation led to a possibly shady job offer outside of Vegas. Maybe a quick cash scheme. Maybe a Craigslist type posting. But something drew him to that particular neighborhood, where he arrived almost exactly at 12 noon and was seen walking with what looked to be a folder in his hand. Seems to be like a meeting of some sort.

Although the one detail that always got me was that he didn't park at any specific residence. It was just a dead end cul de sac away from the majority of the other houses. While it seems very much like he was there for something business related, it is very unusual that he didn't park near his destination.

Wow, that's a good point. It does seem under normal circumstances, he would have just parked in the person's driveway if he was going for a specific house. Unless somebody told him not to park in their driveway because they didn't want his car to be seen there.

This does make foul play seem less likely on the other hand though. Would somebody in the neighborhood hatch a murder plot that involved Steven possibly being witnessed in the area in broad daylight, and possibly placing his last movements at or right near their house?

It seems the family did rule out gambling as a possible reason for his trip to Las Vegas. The reasoning for this was that he was so broke that he didn't have any money to gamble with -- his bank account had less than $2 at the time.


His choice of parking was always odd and conflicting to me; he leaves the car generally away from the houses in the community at a dead end cul de sac, as if he indeed intended to go there but not to a specific house. Yet he is then seen walking past the homeowner's camera with a business type folder at almost precisely 12 noon, seemingly walking with a destination in mind.

You're right, he was pretty broke at that point, so driving to another state with such little money does kind of make you wonder if there was a business proposition to be had somewhere along the way.

But as for that community and why he parked where he did is baffling.

Based on where he left the car, I think it could have been for a few reasons:

1) He was told to meet there, but not given an address and simply instructed to park on the street away from the houses. There could have been a car waiting around the corner to pick him up and get started with work. This could have been done as a ruse to make him seem safe and comfortable and give the impression the job has ties to this community.

2) He was given an address but specifically told not to park by the house. This obviously would be quite a big red flag and Steven would really have to ignore common sense to agree to something like this.

3) He randomly parked his car there, left on foot to either commit suicide or start a new life.

4) Steven went there as part of "work" as he handed out business flyers for a Utah window washing company, which has been said to be his only income at the time. He could have simply parked at the very end of the development and planned on distributing flyers on foot and speaking with home owners. Maybe he was randomly lured into a house?

I tend to think Steven went there as part of a job assignment/job offer and was picked up by car and taken elsewhere, likely to meet his demise. So to me #1 seems plausible to me, though he could have very well been desperate enough to consider #2, even though it is a sketchy/unusual. I suppose #3 is possible, but he didn't seem to have the funds for any elaborate plans, and it would be unusual to buy Christmas presents and then on foot go find a place to commit suicide. I always looked at the gifts as the reason why I didn't think he was suicidal at that moment. He likely intended to give them to their recipients over the holidays. #4 admittedly is quite a longshot. He never handed out any flyers in the community...and I feel that he never entered a house there, arranged meeting or not, because that is just an incredibly risky thing to do with so many witnesses nearby. That's why I think he left by car and killed elsewhere, but likely not there at a house.

We do know within the days after he went missing his phone pinged in a more northern area of town, the voicemail was checked, and it there was some movement with the pings in a general vicinity north of the development...and then finally it stayed in one area until it stopped communicating with the cell tower. But we don't know if this travel is indicative of of both Steven and the phone...or just the phone.

The last real update of the case was over a year ago when they searched an area of land behind that community. So obviously there was a consideration he was either suicidal or he was disposed of there. But certainly if he was suicidal, the pings kind of contradict the idea he went there to harm himself.

Steven seemed like he might be easy prey to others. Broke, desperate, not very street savvy. I doubt he voluntarily agreed to do anything illegal, but could have duped and fell into a bad situation.

His choice of parking was always odd and conflicting to me; he leaves the car generally away from the houses in the community at a dead end cul de sac, as if he indeed intended to go there but not to a specific house. Yet he is then seen walking past the homeowner's camera with a business type folder at almost precisely 12 noon, seemingly walking with a destination in mind.

You're right, he was pretty broke at that point, so driving to another state with such little money does kind of make you wonder if there was a business proposition to be had somewhere along the way.

But as for that community and why he parked where he did is baffling.

Based on where he left the car, I think it could have been for a few reasons:

1) He was told to meet there, but not given an address and simply instructed to park on the street away from the houses. There could have been a car waiting around the corner to pick him up and get started with work. This could have been done as a ruse to make him seem safe and comfortable and give the impression the job has ties to this community.

2) He was given an address but specifically told not to park by the house. This obviously would be quite a big red flag and Steven would really have to ignore common sense to agree to something like this.

3) He randomly parked his car there, left on foot to either commit suicide or start a new life.

4) Steven went there as part of "work" as he handed out business flyers for a Utah window washing company, which has been said to be his only income at the time. He could have simply parked at the very end of the development and planned on distributing flyers on foot and speaking with home owners. Maybe he was randomly lured into a house?

I tend to think Steven went there as part of a job assignment/job offer and was picked up by car and taken elsewhere, likely to meet his demise. So to me #1 seems plausible to me, though he could have very well been desperate enough to consider #2, even though it is a sketchy/unusual. I suppose #3 is possible, but he didn't seem to have the funds for any elaborate plans, and it would be unusual to buy Christmas presents and then on foot go find a place to commit suicide. I always looked at the gifts as the reason why I didn't think he was suicidal at that moment. He likely intended to give them to their recipients over the holidays. #4 admittedly is quite a longshot. He never handed out any flyers in the community...and I feel that he never entered a house there, arranged meeting or not, because that is just an incredibly risky thing to do with so many witnesses nearby. That's why I think he left by car and killed elsewhere, but likely not there at a house.

We do know within the days after he went missing his phone pinged in a more northern area of town, the voicemail was checked, and it there was some movement with the pings in a general vicinity north of the development...and then finally it stayed in one area until it stopped communicating with the cell tower. But we don't know if this travel is indicative of of both Steven and the phone...or just the phone.

The last real update of the case was over a year ago when they searched an area of land behind that community. So obviously there was a consideration he was either suicidal or he was disposed of there. But certainly if he was suicidal, the pings kind of contradict the idea he went there to harm himself.

Steven seemed like he might be easy prey to others. Broke, desperate, not very street savvy. I doubt he voluntarily agreed to do anything illegal, but could have duped and fell into a bad situation.

I should point out that the camera apparently didn't show anything unusual, or anything at all really, after Steven (or whoever that is) walks out of frame. Not necessarily saying there would have to be. But one could assume we would have heard about any suspicious persons and/or cars if they were on the footage. Unless they just used a different route that was out of the range of the camera.

Which leads me to this...I think we can probably rule out robbery as a motive. His vehicle wasn't taken, and there didn't appear to be anything missing out of it or the car being disturbed in any way. I suppose a sexual assault or something of this nature is possible but not terribly likely. Steven was about 180 pounds and somewhat athletic and at the very least could have put up a decent fight.

Therefore, I don't think we're left with a whole lot in terms of possible motives for someone to commit foul play on Steven. I still think it's a very real possibility, but it seems like we would have something more concrete to go on by now. And if someone offed Steven, would they really leave his car right in that area?

Baffling case.

Why someone would harm him is not really understandable; he was a pretty clean guy that seemed to live a pretty ordinary life. Certainly robbery, random or not, would be a long shot. He drove a 2003 Cavalier, so obviously he didn't seem flashy at all.

However, if a possible job prospect turned out to be something incredibly suspicious, perhaps he was killed to protect their cover and to ensure he wouldn't go to police. I agree it's hard to say one way or the other what could have happened, but certainly I'd consider a lot of scenarios based on what little we know.

If we can figure out what brought him to that neighborhood, we have a pretty good start. But I tend to think this might have been a result of a face to face assignment. Still, it's incredible his phone and computer yielded no clues...not even hand written notes in his car.

I'm rewatching the Disappeared episode again.

I used to lean toward the theory that he was passing out flyers for the window-washing company he worked for in order to drum up business. But I'm getting close to discarding this theory because some of the known items don't fit. First, in the camera footage, he doesn't seem to be going to every house, but rather has a specific destination in mind. Secondly, would people in Nevada really use a Utah company for basic window-washing? It seems there would be people in the area that could do that sort of thing. Was it common for him or people in his position to go such lengths to attract business? And finally, nobody in the neighborhood testified to meeting Steven that day, so unless something nefarious happened to him at the first house he selected (at random) and with no known motive, foul play is seeming like a long shot at this point.

The episode suggested he might have caught a bus or something and got transported out of the area. Another possibility.

But yeah, foul play in an affluent community where everyone is older than 55 -- I think it's far down on the list of possibilities at this point.

Handing out flyers is definitely a possibility and would at least explain why he had what looks to be a folder with him. It could also explain why he didn't really park adjacent to any houses. In theory he could have parked at the end of the development, walked to the front and intended to work his way from the front to the back and then retrieve his car.

However, if that was the case one would think he would have at least distributed a few flyers within the neighborhood or at least spoke with a few homeowners. That seemingly did not happen though. There were some flyers left in his car if I recall correctly, so those were either extras or he never took any at all.

I agree, I don't think foul play within the neighborhood, let alone the first house he went to is all that likely. However, if there was some sort of prearranged meeting there, I suppose he could have been targeted for whatever reason. Though if he left the community and was merely leaving his car there, I think the chance goes up quite a bit.

Had he walked past the camera empty handed, I would have thought all bets were off. He could have walked virtually anywhere after that. But with that folder he had, it has to be something business related in there, whether it's a resume or flyers.

It's hard to think of a motive here, but seemingly he was engaged in something work related and just dropped off the face of the earth.

Considering his odd movements in the days preceding his disappearance, as well as the troubles he was facing, and his then-recent abrupt move away from his family, I am starting to think suicide or voluntary disappearance at this point.

Maybe the trip to Vegas was something he wanted to see before he died and check off his bucket list. Maybe he just wanted to see the sights.

It's also important to note that he disappeared on a Sunday. Granted, people do apply for jobs on a Sunday, but I would imagine it's probably the least active day for submitting applications for various reasons. First, most businesses have shorter hours on Sundays. Secondly, there's rarely management personnel working on those days to conduct interviews. And would he really be looking for a job hours away from where he lived?

Which leads me to this: It was Sunday. Considering how heavily involved with the church he was, why did he apparently not tend to services that day? If he skipped out on church, which would have been highly unusual for him, there must have been something going on in his life.

Holy Hell, I was WRONG!!

Checking out the full version of the footage on that website, it begins with a white SUV driving down the road. The second it goes out of frame, Steven (or whoever that is) is seen walking down the road in the opposite direction. After several seconds pass, the white SUV returns going in the same direction as Steven, does a slow crawl and eventually stops in front of a house! (but doesn't pull into a driveway).

Now, it can't be confirmed that the driver and Steven ever had contact, but I think this gives some credence to the theory that he had an encounter with someone and was driven out of the area and perhaps foul play occurred afterwards.

This wasn't shown at all in the Disappeared episode.

Both his mother and his cousin KC said on the Disappeared episode they were pretty sure it was Steven on the footage, however they couldn't be 100% sure it was him. I agree with this.

If that white SUV lived in the neighborhood, why would it circle back like that and not pull into a driveway?

Changing my mind now. I think he was murdered. Seriously, watch the full version.

Whoa! Check out THIS. Somebody from elsewhere online copied and pasted this Craigslist ad they found before it vanished from the internet forever. This was literally weeks after Steven disappeared.

I am looking for Mr. Steven xxx - Black Jack expert - 30 (Excalibur)
Date: 2010-01-05, 11:47PM PST
Reply To This Post

We met at Excalibur in Las Vegas on 12th of Dec - we were two hungarian girls who asked your help to learn playing Black Jack..
And you were very kind and didn't give it up teaching us as long as we needed...We had really a great time: laughing a lot next to the table!
There was only one thing: you were said about something - even though you won.. I hope everything is fine with you.

Actually I was smiling at you and that was it..., as I was not brave enough to step forward (I was the one who didn't play).
But here is the New Year, so I decided to try to find you and tell you that you impressed me a lot.. more than anyone else ever...when shall I say it if not this time, eh?

Happy New Year - when all your dreams come true!
Truly Yours, xxx
The hungarian girl


* Location: Excalibur
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

What do I think of that? The name matches, the age matches, and the location matches! The account of his demeanor (very kind but sad) may also fit.

What if he really did gamble in Las Vegas? The Hungarian girl says he won. Was Steven using the money to pay off a debt? Did he not have enough? There are people in that community that would have been well off enough they could have loaned him money, but what did he spend it on?

Henderson is 20 minutes away from Vegas. Did somebody recognize him from the day before as having won a jackpot and take advantage of the situation? It could have been a chance encounter. If it was Steven Koecher the Hungarian girl was referring to in the Craigslist ad, she might not have had any idea he disappeared the day after. Or maybe she did.

This is going to be the new Maura Murray.

Wow that's a really interesting Craigslist post! I've long suspected Craigslist was involved in this Disappearance somehow, but that pesky police comment how there was no evidence on Steven's computer...then again, I remember in the Casey Anthony case, investigators forgot to search Mozilla Firefox and wound up majorly botching the case, so you never know! (Although this particular Craigslist ad is interesting b/c it wouldn't have necessarily left evidence on *Steven's* computer...

*I believe the white SUV seen on surveillance video has been confirmed to be a real estate agent who was showing homes in the area that day.

*I believe the white SUV seen on surveillance video has been confirmed to be a real estate agent who was showing homes in the area that day.

ah, ok. That makes sense, actually. It would explain the timing (precise noon) and additionally the turn-around in the cul-de-sac as she probably wasn't 100% familiar with the area. I had noticed that Steven never turns his head to look at it, so he didn't think it was suspicious. That puts a significant piece of the puzzle into place.

That puts me right back to square one. This was one of the first few Disappeared cases I ever watched, and I think it had initially just got lost in the shuffle for me. But now that I realize there are so many layers to this case, it has intrigued me. I know there are some more nuggets to this case I have yet to uncover.

Here's a really interesting article that provides insight as to Steven's state of mind at the time. The author suggests he might have developed amnesia.

http://dogservant.blogspot.com/2012/10/missing-tuesday-steven-koecher.html

I think that Steven no doubt felt frustrated that the only jobs he could get were handing out flyers and putting up Christmas decorations, jobs that wouldn't even require a high school diploma.

How sweet that he helped two children locked out of their house just the day before he vanished.

I do admire the father for being a realist (unlike Fred Murray). He wanted to find out what happened, even if that meant uncovering something that Steven did wrong, or didn't paint him in the best light possible (towards his family anyways).

There's also some interesting eyewitness sightings in a Best Buy parking lot in this article.

I have another theory: Considering Steven kept items like blankets and a shaving kit in his car, I wonder if he voluntarily decided to become homeless. He was three months behind on his rent, and constantly refused offers from family members to help with finances. I think he probably felt guilty that he couldn't pay his own way and it's possible he decided to become homeless because he didn't want to feel like he was a "burden" to anyone else. His roommate moved out the month before his disappearance, so presumably Steven would have been forced to pay the entire rent on his own accord.

I wasn't aware his trip to northern UT/NV took so long. This article says it was 3 days and a total of 1,200 miles. That's long, especially considering he apparently didn't accomplish what he set out to on the trip.

There are also seems to be some debate as to what he was wearing when he disappeared. Some accounts say he was dressed business-like, others say casual. This would be important in determining conclusively I think, as it may help us to better understand why he was in that neighborhood.

With Steven's case, and many other missing person cases, generally we're looking at 3 possible scenarios: Suicide, running away and murder.

He surely had a difficult personal situation and I can understand why people would think suicide but to leave your car in a random neighborhood and walk away to yet another place to end his life...that seems tedious. There's not many areas within walking distance where you could conceal your own body. The most logical place was searched, and that was the area right behind the community...but there was nothing.

Steven could have been gay, he could have started a new life perhaps but why simply leave the car there? It seems more logical and straightforward that he left it there because he was meeting someone and the odds are it isn't someone who is going to just take him in, support him and give him a new life.

I still feel strongly about foul play, I don't know exactly why but unfortunately there doesn't always have to be a reasonable explanation.

He surely had a difficult personal situation and I can understand why people would think suicide but to leave your car in a random neighborhood and walk away to yet another place to end his life...that seems tedious. There's not many areas within walking distance where you could conceal your own body. The most logical place was searched, and that was the area right behind the community...but there was nothing.

The Disappeared episode did talk a bit about the area by the community. It looks like it was mostly desert. They did mention they found a used tent in the area and it appeared someone had been living there for several months, but they weren't able to connect it to Steven. Considering it was so close to Vegas, it must get unbearably hot, at least in the summer. I can't imagine anyone living out there in the desert, not long term anyways.

As I stated before, it appeared he was more or less living out of the car in the days and weeks preceding his disappearance. They found items such as blankets and a shaving kit there. It does seem that if he voluntarily disappeared, he wouldn't have left all of that behind. He could have used the car for shelter, heat and cooling, not to mention the things that were in it.

One scenario I have come up with is that he was approached by some bum or vagrant that was living in that area, but not in any of the homes. Perhaps this person asked Steven for help, Steve agreed, but was done in and robbed. What's really tragic about that is that they wouldn't have got much as Steve was broke at the time.

Robbery is always a possibility anywhere you go, whether this was random or not. Certainly occurrences like that happen to anyone regardless of what they look like. One thing is for sure, he sure traveled a lot before he disappeared and for someone who didn't have much money, it makes you wonder.

There isn't any apparent rhyme or reason for the journey either but it does make you wonder if this was something random or someone he knew was responsible for his disappearance. There's definitely a few people who pique my interest, starting with the landlord who was really starting to get on Steven's case about the late rent, calling him a lot beginning that December and even calling his parents as well.

On Reddit, a reporter who followed the story claimed the landlord was under federal indictment at the time, so obviously that raises some concern. Could he have put Steven up to something illegal and risky to get him quickly caught up in rent? Was Steven in a position where he couldn't turn down a job offer?

At the time Steven was distributing flyers for his boss Travis, who owned a window washing business. It's been said that Travis gave Steven $100 shortly before he embarked on this lengthy car trip. Could this have been gas money? Maybe running some "errands" for him?

One of SK's church leaders was also in Vegas at the time he was. They briefly talked about church activities and Steven supposedly offered to return to Utah to help if needed, but it wasn't necessary. Could there have been another reason why both of them just happened to be in the Vegas area at the time?

And of course, there's the lady in the SUV on the video. Yes, she's a realtor. Yes, she's been apparently ruled out by police. However, you still have to wonder...

If Steven himself didn't set out to pursue something in the Vegas area, I often wonder if he was doing a side job for a known acquaintance. There really is a complete lack of communication and any sort of trail that leads him to Nevada. It makes me wonder if that's because all the details of the trip were discussed in person...

As far as a woman being involved, I think there was some blog where a commenter claimed two criminals, a man and a woman, were staying at Sun City Anthem at the time and made a few remarks about Steven. I tend to take those sort of anonymous postings with a grain of salt but clearly something happened in that neighborhood either in a house or he went elsewhere with someone he met there...so I suppose anything could be possible as many folks in the neighborhood have guest or could be house sitting at any given time.

A lot of folks initially speculated that Steven was gay and just walked away from his life. Initially that would be a good thought, but it's been 7 years now. I doubt he had the animosity towards his family to so something that cold. They likely think he's dead now, it just seems like an uncaring act someone like Steven would not do.

However, if he wasn't gay a female would be an excellent ruse for him to have his guard down. Had he met a female for an appointment of some sort there, he probably would have been more likely to ignore any red flags that may have arose, like someone potentially telling him to park his car in one area and walk to another area in the community.

Okay. I found an informative timeline on Steven's disappearance, including movements and events the day of, and the days preceding and after his disappearance. I've copied and pasted some fragments of it. It can be tough to read as things are kind of clumped together and there are some abbreviations I don't understand, but there are quite a few informative nuggets here I wanted to pass on. One abbreviation I understood was KCN, which is KC Naegle, Steven's cousin.

Here is the first batch:

Sat Dec 5 St George, UT unk -------- Second time he acted as "roadie" for RoxDox band. No problems noted. (Source: Paul Doxey on FB)
Sun Dec 6 St George, UT unk unk At church, made appt with SS to hometeach her on Dec 13th at 7pm (source: KCN)
Mon Dec 7 St George, UT unk unk Church Christmas dinner, sat by SS; gave her some of his business cards to display at her work. (Source: SS on FB)

So based on this, we know Steven had an appointment for 7 p.m. on December 13, which was 7 hours after he disappeared. This appears to be some sort of tutoring gig and I wonder if this was a paid job?

Also of note was that he acted as a roadie, and I'm assuming this was a paid job as well.

Next batch:

Sat Dec 12 Near
Overton, NV unk unk A cell phone tower registers a "ping" from Steven's cell phone. May be before or after next event (Mesquite) (Source: KCN)
Mesquite, NV 5:04pm 4:04pm Receipt: $18.08 Mesquite-Mart Shell, 910 W Mesquite Blvdý. Buys 6.07 gal gas (and snacks?) (Source: KCN)
St George, UT 7:58pm 6:58pm Receipt: K-Mart $9.42 (1 baby girl bib, 4 /Christmas ornaments @ $1 suitable for brother Matthew's family, later found in abandoned car). (Source: KCN and Deseret News)
St George, UT 10:00pm 9:00pm Neighbor (JS) sees Steven arrive in his car. (Source: Nikayla)
St George, UT 10:25pm 9:25pm Neighbor (JS) sees Steven leave again in his car, after only having been there for 20-30 minutes. (Source: Nikayla)
Sun Dec 13 Las Vegas, NV area 8:57am 7:57am President Greg Webb calls Counselor Koecher, telling him that he's in Vegas and asks Steven to attend the 11:00am PEC meeting at the ward. Steven says he's in Vegas, but would attend if needed. Webb says he's enroute to St George himself, so will cover it himself. (Source: KCN/phone records/Webb/Doxey)

Based on this, it seems that on the night of the 12th, Steven either slept in his car or must have got lodging somewhere between St. George and Las Vegas because he apparently didn't sleep at his house. I'm guessing that he slept in his car due to the things that were found in there (shaving kit, blankets, etc) in addition to the unlikelihood that Steven could have afforded to stay a hotel. But did he sleep in his car in Vegas? That would be incredibly risky. Someone must have saw him if that were the case. Where did he stay?

This also further reinforces that Steven was all over the place in the days before his disappearance.

Not to toot my own horn, but I think I just made an important connection here.

In my previous post, I brought up the work Steven did for the "RoxDox" band, just one week before his disappearance. Googling this, I found this page.

http://sunriver.com/the-rox-dox-performance-was-a-success/

Notice that this band played at an age-restricted retirement community in St. George, Utah. Steven disappeared from an age-restricted retirement community in Henderson, Nevada.

This further reinforces the belief that Steven was in Henderson for something job-related. Whether the RoxDox band ties into this at all, I don't know (I know nothing about the actual band itself), but I think it's entirely possible that somebody in the band gave Steven a lead on a job in Henderson. This would also explain why there was no phone calls, e-mails or computer pages to link to this.

Interesting!! I've followed this case for a while and had no idea SK worked as a "roadie." Very intriguing...

I'm surprised by all of the comments elsewhere that believe Steven ran off with Susan Powell, which is an even more famous missing persons case than this one is.

I have no reason to believe anything other than that Susan was murdered at the hands of her sexually perverted, child-murdering husband, who was the son of an even more sexually perverted man. The only good thing that came out of that whole situation was Josh Powell and his similarly crazy brother taking their own lives.

The theory of Steven and Susan running off together is a nice one, but not one that's terribly likely I'm afraid.

Steven definitely seems to be a person who keeps busy. Certainly the roadie gig and church contacts could have potentially brought him to Henderson. He was distributing flyers for the window washing business and his boss gave him $100 right before he left, so he could have possibly been scouting leads for that. However, one would think he'd run the idea by his boss, but you never know. They may have spoke of expanding their clientele in the past and maybe Steven thought it was a good idea.

But with the roadie gig and putting up Christmas lights it seems like he was venturing into odd jobs at the time and this trip might have been no exception. For someone with little money to embark on a trip like this makes you really think it was motivated simply to make money.

I definitely think Steven was on some sort of job-related mission when he disappeared.

In my opinion, the key to knowing what happened to Steven is in that neighborhood. The fact that he is seen walking purposefully, folder in hand, almost exactly at noon points to some sort of meeting or appointment...and the fact that he parked far away from said appointment indicates it most likely was shady. Steven was in great need of money, and may have also been slightly naive, as well as in a city known for "swallowing up" young and needy individuals. It was also in the absolute worst of the recession, when people were doing crazy things to make a buck and many were extremely desperate (maybe desperate enough to try and rob or kidnap a nice-looking young man? I don't know...)

Whoa! Check out THIS. Somebody from elsewhere online copied and pasted this Craigslist ad they found before it vanished from the internet forever. This was literally weeks after Steven disappeared.

I am looking for Mr. Steven xxx - Black Jack expert - 30 (Excalibur)
Date: 2010-01-05, 11:47PM PST
Reply To This Post

We met at Excalibur in Las Vegas on 12th of Dec - we were two hungarian girls who asked your help to learn playing Black Jack..
And you were very kind and didn't give it up teaching us as long as we needed...We had really a great time: laughing a lot next to the table!
There was only one thing: you were said about something - even though you won.. I hope everything is fine with you.

Actually I was smiling at you and that was it..., as I was not brave enough to step forward (I was the one who didn't play).
But here is the New Year, so I decided to try to find you and tell you that you impressed me a lot.. more than anyone else ever...when shall I say it if not this time, eh?

Happy New Year - when all your dreams come true!
Truly Yours, xxx
The hungarian girl


* Location: Excalibur
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

What do I think of that? The name matches, the age matches, and the location matches! The account of his demeanor (very kind but sad) may also fit.

What if he really did gamble in Las Vegas? The Hungarian girl says he won. Was Steven using the money to pay off a debt? Did he not have enough? There are people in that community that would have been well off enough they could have loaned him money, but what did he spend it on?

Henderson is 20 minutes away from Vegas. Did somebody recognize him from the day before as having won a jackpot and take advantage of the situation? It could have been a chance encounter. If it was Steven Koecher the Hungarian girl was referring to in the Craigslist ad, she might not have had any idea he disappeared the day after. Or maybe she did.

This is going to be the new Maura Murray.

Whoa. This, if true, changes everything. I've read all of his threads on WS, and I don't remember seeing anything like this.

It almost seems a little too perfect, though. Steven is a 30-year-old LDS member, who hasn't had much luck with women. He is shy and soft-spoken. He is single, but it seems like he really wants to be in a relationship. And here is a nubile young Hungarian girl, so impressed with Steven's patient teaching skills, smiling at him, but too shy to speak up, noticing his sadness. As a resolution of sorts, she decides to place an online ad, hoping fate will intervene and Steven will read the Craigslist personals.

Something about this doesn't seem right, but I can't imagine a false scenario in which someone would place that ad. If the ad is real, it's incredibly unfair that Steven would go missing soon after crossing paths with a potential wife (or at least a gf).

I wonder if the Hungarian girls ever learned SK was missing?

This ad reminds me of the CL ads placed about the McStays--they muddied the waters even more.

I definitely think Steven was on some sort of job-related mission when he disappeared.

In my opinion, the key to knowing what happened to Steven is in that neighborhood. The fact that he is seen walking purposefully, folder in hand, almost exactly at noon points to some sort of meeting or appointment...and the fact that he parked far away from said appointment indicates it most likely was shady. Steven was in great need of money, and may have also been slightly naive, as well as in a city known for "swallowing up" young and needy individuals. It was also in the absolute worst of the recession, when people were doing crazy things to make a buck and many were extremely desperate (maybe desperate enough to try and rob or kidnap a nice-looking young man? I don't know...)


Yeah, there definitely seems to be a purpose for being there: the folder, the timing, continuous strides as if he had a destination in mind. Knowing why he was there is the million dollar question. The problem is, there's no trail leading him there. No calls to Henderson, nothing on his computer, no handwritten notes or directions. Nothing to give any indication why he was there.

With that said I think either:

1) He went there to drum up leads for the window business and met a shady character.

2) He went there to find a job and may have used a library computer to communicate, thus no evidence on his personal computer.

3) He went there to scope out a job that was offered to him by an acquaintance in Utah and something went horribly wrong. That would also explain the lack of communication they found.

Perhaps whatever directions or correspondence about the meeting was printed out and in the folder he carried as he left his car.

I thought about the idea of a suicide note and while I think there is a chance he may have done that...it seems unusual to draft a note and then drop your car off in a random area and then go on to find a place to die that would be difficult to find. Seems counterproductive, but then again I don't know the extent of the searches that well. But in the end I think of he wanted to be discovered it would have been done in a neat, orderly way to leave his last thoughts behind.

I still think the non-specific area where he parked speaks volumes about this. I think he either ignored common sense and followed instructions to park in that location, instead of an actual address OR he knew he'd be leaving the car there for some time due to this assignment and was assured that was a safe spot where he wouldn't be towed.

I posted a similar view on Websleuths and someone keeps saying that parking away from your final destination is normal, but I don't see it that way. When you get groceries, you park reasonable close to the front. At the mall, you park by the nearest door. It would make no sense to me that he had a specific address in mind, yet chose to park maybe a block away. There's something more to it than that.

I totally agree that the location of Koecher's car is extremely interesting.

I think he ran into some shady people, maybe while out putting up flyers, maybe while stopped at a gas station, or something like that...and this person or people picked-up on the fact that Koecher may have been both slightly naive + financially desperate, and conned him into some sort of "job opportunity."

I'm thinking this person or people were like, "Hey dude, come meet us at ____, but don't park right there, park in this cul-de-sac b/c (insert fake reason here that a naive person might believe, like the homeowner's association is real strict or something like that), and then we'll take you and show you what you have to do."

I thought about the idea of a suicide note and while I think there is a chance he may have done that...it seems unusual to draft a note and then drop your car off in a random area and then go on to find a place to die that would be difficult to find.

With the obvious exception of the note, that is pretty much what Gail Delano did when she ran away and committed suicide.

That being said-- I have genuinely no idea what happened to this man. I am as perplexed as the rest of you.

With that said I think either:

1) He went there to drum up leads for the window business and met a shady character.

2) He went there to find a job and may have used a library computer to communicate, thus no evidence on his personal computer.

3) He went there to scope out a job that was offered to him by an acquaintance in Utah and something went horribly wrong. That would also explain the lack of communication they found.

Perhaps whatever directions or correspondence about the meeting was printed out and in the folder he carried as he left his car.

Yet another option is that there IS a digital trail, the police just didn't look hard enough for it. I've followed this case for a while and I do not get the sense that police have taken Koecher's disappearance seriously...maybe it's because he's a guy, maybe because they think he may have been suicidal, I don't know, I just don't get the sense of "urgency" on this case. I think it's quite possible the authorities may have done just a cursory review of Koecher's activities on a single browser and came to a hasty conclusion.

I'd definitely agree that things need to be looked at again, like the laptop. A cursory search originally showed nothing. A second or third opinion at this point wouldn't hurt. It seems weird there is nothing in terms of web searches or emails on it.

Authorities should re-interview friends, family, associates again as well. Going back to Sun City Anthem might be worth a shot, but its been about 7 years now. Who knows how many residents have come and gone.

I don't know the angle in which police are taking with this. There's been almost no news in over a year that I've seen.

Sadly, in some instances, police defer to the scenario which burdens them and the public the least. If I had to guess, they likely assume Steven was depressed due to his finances and harmed himself. That would lead to less public alarm and less time they'd have to invest in a case with no leads. I'm sure they are as stumped as we are with this.

I decided to look back the cell phone ping details as I never really knew what to make of it. If you're interested search "Steven Koecher phone pings" - someone made a map with call details for his last few days.

Initially I looked more at where he was and trying to figure out why he seemingly went northeast from where he dropped the car off. But I never paid much attention to who was calling or texting...

Keep in mind Steven was last seen on the house security camera around 12pm on Sunday 12/13/2009. He left his car in that community, walked past the camera and obviously never went back for his car.

At around 4 pm that day there was a call or text to or from his landlord. From what I understand, him and Steven addressed the issue of his back rent and had an understanding about it. Perhaps the call was in regards to that issue but the next morning there is another ping to indicate a call/text to or from the landlord...

At 6:04 am.

Is it just me or is that a bizarre time to be communicating? Why would Steven call or text that early? Why would a landlord bother a tenant at that hour?

I'd be willing to accept that maybe there was one call from either one of them to once again go over the rent issue, but then the next day again at 6 am? That is strange to me. I'm starting to think whatever sketchy job offer was in Nevada...Steven went as a result of being told face to face by another person and obviously the landlord had a pretty vested interest in collecting his money.

I haven't looked into this case but a few observations after reading earlier pages of this thread:

* Excalibur makes sense if you are heading south on I-15 from St. George/Mesquite late at night with Henderson as destination. The freeway wouldn't be especially crowded approaching Las Vegas from the north but especially on a Saturday night it would get quite sticky once you reached the downtown and Stratosphere areas. It is very common to wade through the heaviest areas and then exit for a convenient casino on the south end of the Strip, like at Tropicana Avenue where the Excalibur is located. If that Craigslist listing is legit it could have actually been wee hours on the 13th, even though the person wrote 12th. Anyone in Las Vegas thinks of it that way, as an extension of the previous day.

* Then it's a quick dart to Henderson by reentering I-15 briefly before turning north on I-215

* It should be mentioned that Henderson is technically 15 or 20 minutes from Las Vegas but they really are joined communities. There's no gap in homes or development at all. Even locals are hard pressed to define where Las Vegas supposedly ends and Henderson begins. When I moved to Las Vegas in 1984 there was a distinct separation. But when Clark County experienced a population explosion that included new freeways and developments of all type, the areas more or less joined. The I-215 and I-515 freeways easily connect the two areas so countless people technically live in Henderson but work in Las Vegas. I'm sure the reverse is true, to lesser degree. There are huge casinos in Henderson, like Sunset Station.

* Scam artists are known to use Henderson as a base of activity since gullible outsiders don't have a negative/suspicious impression of Henderson as opposed to Las Vegas, and many of them won't realize the areas are essentially one in the same

* It's not uncommon to sleep in your car in Las Vegas, particularly for tourists on a Friday or Saturday night. Rooms are far less available and room rates are jacked up. This goes on all year. The Sunday night rate can literally be 25% or less of the Friday/Saturday rate. Before deciding to move to Las Vegas from Los Angeles in spring 1984 I spent several weekends in prior months and did not get a room. I was not going to pay the outrageous rates for one night, especially when that night would mean only a few hours since I'd still be in a casino until 3 or 4 AM minimum. I looked for parking garages that looked safe enough and quiet enough, and slept a few hours in my car. One time at Barbary Coast I awoke still in a fog and mistakenly put the car in drive instead of reverse. Next thing I know my car lurches forward and the front tires go over the cement barrier. I was stuck and had to call a tow truck to free the car. It cost $40 plus I tipped the guy 10 bucks. I told him my remedy would be to wager an extra $55 on my favorite game that day, and win back the 50 bucks. That's exactly what happened.

I forgot to mention that the I-15 south route from Utah to Las Vegas is exactly the path Richard Floyd McCoy would have taken in the wee hours preceding the D.B. Cooper caper. In fact, he very likely could have exited at Tropicana Avenue since McCarron Airport is right there.

It's good to hear a local perspective on this case.

Obviously living half way across the country, I don't truly know just how seedy the area can be, but it's reasonable to think that area might harbor a few con men and illegal activities.

Drugs will forever be a commodity there, so that's always one thing to consider but what about sports betting? Gambling is another huge industry there, so perhaps that was the crux of his travel there. Maybe someone wanted him to collect gambling debts but Steven was never truly informed of why he was collecting money. Maybe someone wasn't ready to hand over their debt?

I've always been incredibly perplexed by the Koecher case, and for a long time I leaned toward the possibility that he was sadly the victim of a wrong time/wrong place type thing. In fact, like wiseguy earlier in the thread, I too noticed the SUV in the surveillance clip, and wondered if it was connected somehow. However, as another poster pointed out, that situation appears to have been discounted by LE.

My question is this: how do we know that it is indeed Koecher in the video footage? Is it possible that the person in the surveillance footage is really someone else entirely, and therefore unrelated to the case? It's been awhile since I've seen the Disappeared episode on this case, so hopefully my fellow posters can refresh my memory.

I've always been incredibly perplexed by the Koecher case, and for a long time I leaned toward the possibility that he was sadly the victim of a wrong time/wrong place type thing. In fact, like wiseguy earlier in the thread, I too noticed the SUV in the surveillance clip, and wondered if it was connected somehow. However, as another poster pointed out, that situation appears to have been discounted by LE.

My question is this: how do we know that it is indeed Koecher in the video footage? Is it possible that the person in the surveillance footage is really someone else entirely, and therefore unrelated to the case? It's been awhile since I've seen the Disappeared episode on this case, so hopefully my fellow posters can refresh my memory.


From what I recall the white SUV driver was a realtor who was either dropping off or picking up her mother that lived at the house where the camera was pointed. I'm fairly certain it was said Police looked into the vehicle and cleared them and I also believe Steven's family commented on it (maybe Websleuths?) and seemed satisfied they were not involved.

Personally, I doubt there's any connection but I won't say it's impossible.

At this point, I think Steven either:

1) Was given a job opportunity in NV, either found online or by someone he knew personally (which would explain the lack of clues leading him there; he used library WiFi or details of the job could have been simply given in person).

2) He was already working a job and went to Henderson as part of the assignment. Whatever he was doing may have required a lot of travel and that was just another stop for the job, but something obviously went wrong there.

It's hard to decipher the cell phone activity that was much further north of the neighborhood he left the car in. I think Steven ultimately left the community (probably not voluntarily) in another car and met his demise elsewhere. Honestly, there may not even have been a specific house in mind, he may have had a car waiting for him to be picked up.

It's quite a frustrating case and it's one I really want to see closure with, but I'm guessing police have exhausted all leads at this point and there's no clear direction for the investigation to go now.

Before Steven's disappearance, his landlord had been arrested for a stolen vehicle, which they found guns and expired pharmaceuticals inside. I'm fairly confident that Steven was peddling drugs for his landlord. There was a ping to Steven's mobile from the landlord at 6.40am, which is a strange time to call/text about the rent, and he had also spoken to him the day before.

Steven was out of his depth, the deal went sour and unfortunately he was met with foul play.