Disappearance of Steven Koecher: Difference between revisions

 

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Koecher’s family believes, given his financial circumstances at the time, that he went to Henderson that morning for a job opportunity.<ref name=”Channel 8 story” /> Despite the odd location where he parked his car, on the security video Koecher is neatly dressed and walking purposefully, which his family believes was an indication he was at the scene intentionally. “He doesn’t look confused or dazed”, Steven’s brother Dallin said in 2018.<ref name=”KSNV 2018 story”>{{cite news|last=Thomas|first=Kelsey|title=Nine years after his disappearance, family still hopes to find Steven Koecher|url=https://news3lv.com/news/local/finding-steven-nine-years-after-his-disappearance-family-still-hopes-him|newspaper=[[KSNV]]|date=November 10, 2018|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>

Koecher’s family believes, given his financial circumstances at the time, that he went to Henderson that morning for a job opportunity.<ref name=”Channel 8 story” /> Despite the odd location where he parked his car, on the security video Koecher is neatly dressed and walking purposefully, which his family believes was an indication he was at the scene intentionally. “He doesn’t look confused or dazed”, Steven’s brother Dallin said in 2018.<ref name=”KSNV 2018 story”>{{cite news|last=Thomas|first=Kelsey|title=Nine years after his disappearance, family still hopes to find Steven Koecher|url=https://news3lv.com/news/local/finding-steven-nine-years-after-his-disappearance-family-still-hopes-him|newspaper=[[KSNV]]|date=November 10, 2018|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>

Beyond that, however, there is no evidence to suggest what happened afterwards, nor has any information emerged subsequently which could. “We know about as much now as we did the second we realized he was gone,” the St.{{nbs}}George police detective in charge of the case said in 2018.<ref name=”KSNV 2018 story” /> Koecher’s financial difficulties notwithstanding, his family does not believe he chose to voluntarily disappear or take his own life. His mother said that in her last conversation with him, on December 10, he was optimistic about his ability to find another job and the two were making plans for his Christmas visit home.<ref name=”SLTrib story” />

Beyond that, however, information. “We know about as much now as we did the second we realized he was gone,” the St.{{nbs}}George police detective in charge of the case said in 2018.<ref name=”KSNV 2018 story” /> Koecher’s financial difficulties notwithstanding, his family does not believe he chose to voluntarily disappear or take his own life. His mother said that in her last conversation with him, on December 10, he was optimistic about his ability to find another job and the two were making plans for his Christmas visit home.<ref name=”SLTrib story” />

Koecher’s car and its contents also suggest he intended to return to St.{{nbs}}George. His father said that the car was in working order and the gas tank was half full when he found it on December 17, after his wife was contacted by the Anthem homeowners’ association.<ref name=”Channel 8 January 2010 story” /> In Koecher’s car were the Christmas presents Steven had bought for his family at Kmart the previous day, as well as job applications and the flyers from the window washing service.<ref name=”Deseret News story” /><ref name=”Review-Journal story” /><ref name=”KSNV 2018 story” /> At Koecher’s apartment, his clothing and possessions remained where he stored them and had not been disturbed or packed.<ref name=”Deseret News column” />

Koecher’s car and its contents also suggest he intended to return to St.{{nbs}}George. His father said that the car was in working order and the gas tank was half full when he found it on December 17, after his wife was contacted by the Anthem homeowners’ association.<ref name=”Channel 8 January 2010 story” /> In Koecher’s car were the Christmas presents Steven had bought for his family at Kmart the previous day, as well as job applications and the flyers from the window washing service.<ref name=”Deseret News story” /><ref name=”Review-Journal story” /><ref name=”KSNV 2018 story” /> At Koecher’s apartment, his clothing and possessions remained where he stored them and had not been disturbed or packed.<ref name=”Deseret News column” />

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Koecher’s extensive travel in the days leading up to his disappearance has led to suppositions that he may have turned to some sort of illicit activity for income. A drug dog was taken to sniff over his car but did not alert on anything.<ref name=”Review-Journal story” /> The family does not consider Koecher’s travel to be particularly unusual. One of his reasons for moving to St.{{nbs}}George was his hobby of doing [[genealogy]] research in that area; he often went on tours of cemeteries looking for ancestors’ graves. Koecher’s mother believes the road trips were his way of keeping himself busy despite his underemployment.<ref name=”Channel 8 January 2010 story” />

Koecher’s extensive travel in the days leading up to his disappearance has led to suppositions that he may have turned to some sort of illicit activity for income. A drug dog was taken to sniff over his car but did not alert on anything.<ref name=”Review-Journal story” /> The family does not consider Koecher’s travel to be particularly unusual. One of his reasons for moving to St.{{nbs}}George was his hobby of doing [[genealogy]] research in that area; he often went on tours of cemeteries looking for ancestors’ graves. Koecher’s mother believes the road trips were his way of keeping himself busy despite his underemployment.<ref name=”Channel 8 January 2010 story” />

Checks of Koecher’s financial history and phone records turned up nothing unusual aside from the trips. A single charge to his credit card since the disappearance was just an automatic charge made to webhosting company [[GoDaddy]] ensuing from his days at Matchbin.<ref name=”Deseret News story” /> One unknown phone number turned out to be the family of the two girls Koecher had been helping on the day before he went to Las Vegas.<ref name=”Deseret News column” />

Checks of Koecher’s financial history and phone records turned up nothing unusual aside from the trips. A single charge to his credit card since the disappearance was just an automatic charge made to webhosting company [[GoDaddy]] ensuing from his days at Matchbin.<ref name=”Deseret News story” /> One unknown phone number turned out to be the family of the two girls Koecher had been helping on the day before he went to Las Vegas.<ref name=”Deseret News column” />

A search of Koecher’s computer and Internet browsing history found nothing unusual. Investigators also checked his borrowing history at the St.{{nbs}}George library and found nothing there that suggested any unexplored leads. Koecher kept a diary, but recorded no problems in his life at the time of his disappearance beyond his monetary issues and his ongoing bachelorhood, neither of which he believed would last much longer.<ref name=”Deseret News second column”>{{cite news|last=Benson|first=Lee|title=About Utah: A trail of good deeds left behind|url=https://www.deseret.com/2010/4/5/20106623/about-utah-a-trail-of-good-deeds-left-behind|newspaper=[[Deseret News]]|date=April 5, 2010|accessdate=December 8, 2019}}</ref>

A search of Koecher’s computer and Internet browsing history found nothing unusual. Investigators also checked his borrowing history at the St.{{nbs}}George library and found nothing there that suggested any unexplored leads. Koecher kept a diary, but recorded no problems in his life at the time of his disappearance beyond his monetary issues and his ongoing bachelorhood, neither of which he believed would last much longer.<ref name=”Deseret News second column”>{{cite news|last=Benson|first=Lee|title=About Utah: A trail of good deeds left behind|url=https://www.deseret.com/2010/4/5/20106623/about-utah-a-trail-of-good-deeds-left-behind|newspaper=[[Deseret News]]|date=April 5, 2010|accessdate=December 8, 2019}}</ref>

While there is no evidence that would suggest Koecher was murdered or [[kidnapping|kidnapped]], neither the St.{{nbs}}George nor Henderson police have found any evidence to eliminate that possibility. “There’s nothing that makes us suspicious,” Detective Adam Olmstead of the St.{{nbs}}George police told the ”[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]]”. “But at the same time, it’s a strange situation.”<ref name=”Review-Journal story” />

While there is no evidence that would suggest Koecher was murdered or [[kidnapping|kidnapped]], neither the St.{{nbs}}George nor Henderson police have found any evidence to eliminate that possibility. “There’s nothing that makes us suspicious,” Detective Adam Olmstead of the St.{{nbs}}George police told the ”[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]]”. “But at the same time, it’s a strange situation.”<ref name=”Review-Journal story” />

In 2022, private investigators Kevin Wyatt and Jim Berk said their research centered on people living at the Anthem community who may have been involved in Koecher’s disappearance and death. They found information that police interviewed a person who lived at Anthem and was described as excessively nervous when questioned about Koechner, and also found “photos of a room [at Anthem] that was destroyed at about the same time” Koecher disappeared and was the scene of an assault, kidnapping or murder.<ref>https://www.8newsnow.com/investigators/last-known-person-to-see-steven-koecher-alive-in-las-vegas-area-neighborhood-details-odd-conversation-moments-before-he-vanished/</ref>

In 2024, Wyatt and Berk said that due to financial desperation Koecher “might have got hooked up in something that may not have been in his best interest,” possibly related to a drugs cartel, and that motives for his actions around the time of his disappearance were “uncertain”, they also believed “he was definitely doing something for somebody else.”<ref>https://news3lv.com/news/local/utah-mans-disappearance-in-nevada-remains-a-mystery-15-years-later</ref>

===Theorized connection to Susan Powell disappearance===

===Theorized connection to Susan Powell disappearance===

Unsolved 2009 disappearance of 30 year-old American man

35°56′38″N 115°06′06″W / 35.9439°N 115.1017°W / 35.9439; -115.1017

Steven Koecher (born November 1, 1979, last seen December 13, 2009) is an American journalist who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in December 2009. He has not been seen since, and his fate or whereabouts are unknown.

At midday on December 13, 2009, Koecher was recorded on residential security cameras as he parked his car at the end of a cul-de-sac in the Anthem neighborhood of Henderson, Nevada, United States. He has not been seen since, although some activity was recorded on his cell phone over the next two days in the area around the Anthem community.^[1]

Koecher’s absence from his home, work and church activities in St. George, Utah, was not noted for several days.^[2][3] Eventually the homeowners’ association of Anthem contacted Koecher’s employer and family about his abandoned car, at which time he was reported missing. Police initially had few leads, since it appeared he had intended to return to Utah and did not appear to be involved in any criminal activity. The reason for his trip to the Las Vegas area that day has never been determined, though his family believes Koecher was looking for work. Searches in the area around where he was last seen yielded no evidence.

Further investigation found credit card and cell phone receipts and witness statements showing that in the week prior to his disappearance, Koecher had been driving great distances around Utah and Nevada, including almost 1,100 miles (1,800 km) in one day. The purpose of most of these trips is also unknown; however, on one trip, he stopped to visit a former girlfriend’s parents and had lunch at their house.^[4]

Kocher disappeared a week after Utah woman Susan Powell vanished. Family members of Joshua Powell, Susan’s husband who had come under suspicion in her case, alleged Susan might have suddenly eloped with Koecher.^[5] Police found no evidence to support such claims, and Susan’s family and Koecher’s have both dismissed that theory. The Koecher case has been the subject of an episode of Investigation Discovery‘s documentary series Disappeared.^[6]

Steven Koecher was born on November 1, 1979, in Amarillo, Texas, one of four children of Rolf and Deanne Koecher. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America, eventually making Eagle Scout.^[4] After graduating from Amarillo High School in 1998,^[7] Koecher, a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), attended first Ricks College (now Brigham Young University–Idaho) and later the University of Utah, where he received a degree in communications. He performed missionary work in Brazil and learned to speak Portuguese.^[8]

After college, Koecher interned in the office of the governor of Utah for nine months. A year and a half later, he went to work as a stringer for the Davis County Clipper,^[9] a Bountiful-based bi-weekly newspaper edited by his father. Koecher remained at the Clipper for another year and a half, with some articles he worked on receiving awards from the Utah Press Association.^[10]

In 2007, Koecher began working for the Salt Lake Tribune‘s digital advertising division. According to his mother, he liked the work but disliked the overnight shift. The many temperature inversions in the Salt Lake City area that winter also bothered Koecher, so after a year he decided to leave his job at the Tribune and relocate to St. George, in the warmer southwestern portion of Utah.^[8]

Koecher initially worked with another online advertising firm, Matchbin, but that employment ended soon after he relocated. With the Great Recession underway, it was difficult for Koecher to find a new job. He was able to find some work handing out flyers for a local window-washing firm, but the income was inadequate to meet his expenses. By November 2009 Koecher was several months behind on his rent. Koecher was actively seeking another job, using connections from the local ward (LDS congregation) where he volunteered.^[8]

On December 10, 2009, Koecher apparently left St. George in the early morning hours and drove his Chevrolet Cavalier 300 miles (480 km) north on Interstate 15 to Salt Lake City, where he bought some gas with a debit card. He then traveled west on Interstate 80 another 125 miles (201 km) to West Wendover, Nevada, where he again pulled off the highway to refuel. After that he continued another 100 miles (160 km) to the Ruby Valley ranch of the Neff family.^[4]

Koecher had previously dated Annemarie Neff and had visited the ranch in the past, and was hoping to see her again. She was not there, but the Neffs served Koecher lunch anyway. He told them he was on his way to visit family in Sacramento, California, but was not certain whether he could continue in that direction due to bad weather. After two hours he left and decided to return to St. George the way he had come, stopping to buy gas again in Salt Lake City and Springville, followed by dinner at a Taco Time in Nephi. By the time Koecher returned home he had driven nearly 1,100 miles (1,800 km).^[4]

During the day Koecher talked with his mother on the phone. The two discussed his plans for returning to the family’s home in Bountiful for Christmas. Koecher’s mother said he seemed upbeat about the upcoming holiday and his job prospects despite his financial difficulties. He did not tell her of his road trip that day.^[1]

The next day while handing out flyers for his employer, Koecher assisted two young girls who had accidentally been locked out of their home by helping find a nearby resident to care for the girls until their mother could be located.^[11] That same day, Koecher spoke with his ward’s bishop, who also described Koecher’s mood as positive and optimistic about the bishop’s offer to help find a job.^[12]

On December 12, Koecher embarked on another road trip. That morning his phone pinged a cell tower near Overton, Nevada, at the north end of Lake Mead. In the evening he bought gas and snacks at a convenience store in Mesquite, along I-15, just over the Arizona state line. Why Koecher went to Nevada that day is unknown; three hours after his Mesquite purchase, he purchased a baby’s bib and cookies, believed to be Christmas gifts for family members,^[12] at a Kmart outside St. George.^[4]

A neighbor of Koecher’s recalled seeing him return to his apartment around 10 p.m. on December 12, and departing about 30 minutes later. The next morning, Sunday December 13, Koecher spoke by telephone with two friends who called him about scheduled church meetings later that day. Koecher told both callers he was in Las Vegas and might not arrive home in time to attend church, but was willing to come home if necessary. Neither of Koecher’s friends asked why Koecher was in Las Vegas, and neither reported anything unusual about their conversations with him.^[8][13][11]

At 11:54 a.m., on December 13, a home security camera in a retirement community in the Anthem development in southern Henderson, recorded Koecher’s car driving into the cul-de-sac where it was later found. Six minutes later, a figure dressed in a white shirt and slacks, believed by his family to be Koecher, walked the opposite direction down the sidewalk in front, carrying something in one hand that appeared to be a file folder or portfolio. Shortly afterwards another security camera in a garage on adjacent Evening Lights Street caught his reflection as he walked north. Koecher has not been seen since.^[4]

Koecher’s phone remained active. Around 5 p.m. that day it pinged a tower at the intersection of Arroyo Grande Boulevard and American Pacific Drive, more than 10 miles (16 km) northeast of where he had parked. Two hours after that, it pinged another tower near Henderson’s Whitney Ranch subdivision, two miles (3.2 km) north of the previous ping. Early the next morning, the phone pinged a tower at the interchange between Interstate 515/U.S. Route 93 and Russell Road, two more miles to the north. Koecher’s landlord sent a text, and then an hour later the phone was used to check Koecher’s voicemail. The phone remained in that tower’s vicinity for the next two days, suggesting that its battery died. There has been no activity since.^[4]

A day after that last ping, Anthem’s homeowners’ association took note of the car at the end of the Savannah Springs cul-de-sac and tried to find its owner. After looking in his car they saw flyers Koecher had been distributing for the window-washing company in St.  George and called a phone number on the flyer. Anthem staff spoke with company owner, left a voicemail for Koecher and later contacted Koecher’s mother. She returned their call on December 17,^[12] and, realizing no one else in the family had talked to him in a week and were unable to locate him, reported him missing.^[13] Koecher’s brother and sister drove to St. George from the Salt Lake City area to start searching.^[4] A search of Koecher’s apartment found nothing unusual or out of place, and he had not seemed to pack personal items for a lengthy journey.^[11]

Koecher’s family went to jails, morgues and hospitals in the Las Vegas area in their search. At one point, when employees at an International House of Pancakes said a man matching Koecher’s description had eaten there every day for three weeks, Koecher’s family members themselves ate there for four nights. Another employee eventually gave them a more detailed description of the man and his eating habits, which led the family to conclude he was not Koecher.^[12] Koecher’s family and close friends said they knew of no substance abuse problem, large debts, mental health issues or other reasons he might voluntarily drop out of contact.^[12]

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police (LVMPD) canvassed the houses in the neighborhood where Koecher’s car had been parked. With the help of volunteers, they used helicopters, all terrain vehicles and sniffer dogs.^[12] By Christmas, the media in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas had begun reporting the story.^[1][14] A local dairy put Koecher’s picture on a milk carton,^[15] and the LVMPD put a video with information on the case on its YouTube channel, adding there was no evidence of foul play.^[12] Another vehicle seen on the security camera footage driving up and down the street around the time Koecher parked and walked away from his car was investigated, and turned out to be a local real estate agent showing a house in the area.^[13]

In April 2010, another party of searchers scoured the open desert south of the Henderson Executive Airport to the west of where Koecher had parked in response to a tip passed along to a former LVMPD officer working as a private investigator for the family. A group of 70 covered about a half-mile (0.80 km) stretch in two hours. Bone fragments were found, but they were not human.^[16]

Koecher’s father Rolf died in February 2011 after a brief illness that may have been toxic shock syndrome.^[17] Rolf had, with his wife and family, recently finished filming an episode of the Investigation Discovery cable channel’s documentary series Disappeared about Steven’s case. It aired two months later.^[18]

A cousin of the Koechers started a Facebook page devoted to the case. It generated not only some tips but suggestions for how to investigate further.^[9] Members of the WebSleuths Internet forum also took up the case; they assembled a timeline of events based on newspaper accounts and social media posts by Koecher’s family and friends.^[4]

In 2015, a local search and rescue group organized another effort, this time going high up the hills south of Anthem, on a different theory of what Koecher might have been doing. They did not find anything.^[5]

We’ve considered every possibility. But each possibility has a contradiction. Is it plausible that someone is walking down the street and then suddenly they’ve vanished? All clues are consistent with that, but that’s not possible.

Koecher’s family believes, given his financial circumstances at the time, that he went to Henderson that morning for a job opportunity.^[4] Despite the odd location where he parked his car, on the security video Koecher is neatly dressed and walking purposefully, which his family believes was an indication he was at the scene intentionally. “He doesn’t look confused or dazed”, Steven’s brother Dallin said in 2018.^[19]

Beyond that, however, police said in 2018 there is no further information. “We know about as much now as we did the second we realized he was gone,” the St. George police detective in charge of the case said in 2018.^[19] Koecher’s financial difficulties notwithstanding, his family does not believe he chose to voluntarily disappear or take his own life. His mother said that in her last conversation with him, on December 10, he was optimistic about his ability to find another job and the two were making plans for his Christmas visit home.^[1]

Koecher’s car and its contents also suggest he intended to return to St. George. His father said that the car was in working order and the gas tank was half full when he found it on December 17, after his wife was contacted by the Anthem homeowners’ association.^[13] In Koecher’s car were the Christmas presents Steven had bought for his family at Kmart the previous day, as well as job applications and the flyers from the window washing service.^[12][14][19] At Koecher’s apartment, his clothing and possessions remained where he stored them and had not been disturbed or packed.^[11]

Koecher’s extensive travel in the days leading up to his disappearance has led to suppositions that he may have turned to some sort of illicit activity for income. A drug dog was taken to sniff over his car but did not alert on anything.^[14] The family does not consider Koecher’s travel to be particularly unusual. One of his reasons for moving to St. George was his hobby of doing genealogy research in that area; he often went on tours of cemeteries looking for ancestors’ graves. Koecher’s mother believes the road trips were his way of keeping himself busy despite his underemployment.^[13]

Checks of Koecher’s financial history and phone records turned up nothing unusual aside from the trips, though it was later revealed he never deposited money given to him by family to help pay his late rent.^[20] A single charge to his credit card since the disappearance was just an automatic charge made to webhosting company GoDaddy ensuing from his days at Matchbin.^[12] One unknown phone number turned out to be the family of the two girls Koecher had been helping on the day before he went to Las Vegas.^[11]

A search of Koecher’s computer and Internet browsing history found nothing unusual. Investigators also checked his borrowing history at the St. George library and found nothing there that suggested any unexplored leads. Koecher kept a diary, but recorded no problems in his life at the time of his disappearance beyond his monetary issues and his ongoing bachelorhood, neither of which he believed would last much longer.^[21]

While there is no evidence that would suggest Koecher was murdered or kidnapped, neither the St. George nor Henderson police have found any evidence to eliminate that possibility. “There’s nothing that makes us suspicious,” Detective Adam Olmstead of the St. George police told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “But at the same time, it’s a strange situation.”^[14]

In 2022, private investigators Kevin Wyatt and Jim Berk said their research centered on people living at the Anthem community who may have been involved in Koecher’s disappearance and death. They found information that police interviewed a person who lived at Anthem and was described as excessively nervous when questioned about Koechner, and also found “photos of a room [at Anthem] that was destroyed at about the same time” Koecher disappeared and was the scene of an assault, kidnapping or murder.^[22]

In 2024, Wyatt and Berk said that due to financial desperation Koecher “might have got hooked up in something that may not have been in his best interest,” possibly related to a drugs cartel, and that motives for his actions around the time of his disappearance were “uncertain”, they also believed “he was definitely doing something for somebody else.”^[23]

Koecher disappeared a week after Susan Powell disappeared from her home in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Valley City, Utah. The Powell case received much more media attention than Koecher,^[11] as suspicion centered on Susan’s husband Joshua and their troubled marriage and the circumstances of Susan’s disappearance were more clearly ominous.^[24]

There was early speculation the disappearances of Susan Powell and Steven Koecher might be somehow connected.^[13] In 2010, Joshua’s family began making those allegations publicly, claiming on a website that Susan had framed her husband for murder and eloped with Koecher.^[25] Steven Powell, Joshua’s father, outlined the theory in a February letter to police and FBI agents investigating his daughter-in-law’s case.^[26]

Police investigated but found no corroborating evidence to support any connections between the Powell and Koecher disappearances. A Koecher family friend called the allegations “nonsense”.^[1] Joshua moved to Washington, where he killed his sons in a 2012 murder-suicide.^[27][28]

Other missing people who were last seen alone by security cameras