The Disapperance of Steven Koecher

I watched an episode of Disappeared on Investigation Discovery for this case. It’s season 4 episode 2, titled ‘Secrets of a Son.” Disappeared is one of my favorite shows, but it’s also so sad because over half of the cases don’t have a conclusion. Steven’s actions before his disappearance confused his family, and they still don’t have answers as to what happened.

Background

Steven was born on November 1, 1979. He followed in his father’s footsteps to becoming a journalist, and graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in communications.

Steven was a 30 year old journalist, who was living in St. George, Utah at the time of his disappearance. He was also described as a “church going man,” and was part of the LDS church.

He a few months before he disappeared, he moved from Salt Lake City to St. George, because he didn’t like the cold weather. He struggled to find a job after relocating, his family would eventually find several job applications once they were looking through his items.

Timeline of Disappearance

On December 10, 2009, Steven left to go to West Wendover, Nevada. It was eventually determined that Steven went to visit the parents of an ex-girlfriend. He also had a receipt from a gas station that would eventually be found in his car. Steven’s parents were confused, because they didn’t think the relationship was that serious.

He left after a few hours, to drive back to St. George that night. He stopped again for gas, this time in Salt Lake City and for dinner, these receipts would also be found. He had driven about 1,000 miles in 14 hours.

The next day, December 11, Steven talked to his mom, Deanne, on the phone and told her he would be home for Christmas around December 23. This was the last time Deanne would talk to her son.

On December 12, Steven drove to Overton, Nevada. He had another receipt for a gas station in Mesquite, Nevada, where he bought snacks and gas. He also bought Christmas gifts- a bib and cookies, that were found in his car from K-Mart. Steven’s parents guessed that it was for his brother’s kids.

Steven’s car was found abandoned on December 14, in a retirement community in Sun City. The police were able to find surveillance footage from one of the homes. It took awhile to get the footage, but eventually, the recording was at 11:54am and it was of Steven’s car driving through the neighborhood. About 6 minutes later, a figure is seen walking past the cameras. His family believes it was him, and that he was carrying something that looked like an envelope.

Steven’s phone was still on, and at 5pm that day it pinged in an area 10 miles from where his car was found. It then pinged from the Henderson’s Whitney Ranch neighborhood, about 2 hours later. It was also used the next morning to check the voicemail, and pinged from Interstate 515 and U.S.Route 93. After the voicemail was checked, it appeared that the phone died because it wasn’t used after that.

On December 18, Steven’s family went to his house to investigate. They found his phone charger and computer, but couldn’t find his passport. His mom also had access to his financial records, but couldn’t find anything from the day after his disappearance.

The Searches

The Las Vegas Metropolitan police department searches the homes in the retirement community where Steven’s car was found. They brought in helicopters, terrain vehicles and dogs.

Steven’s case was not being reported by the media, so Deanne’s cousin put his picture and information on milk cartons from the business she worked at. Steven’s cousin, KC, also made a Facebook page.

In April 2010, an anonymous tip came in that the desert near the Henderson Executive Airport should be searched. Over 70 people came out for the search, and remains of a tent, and bones were found, but the bones ended up being animal bones and no DNA evidence matched Steven to the tent.

Did Steven know Susan Powell?

Steven disappeared on December 13, and Susan Powell disappeared a week before on December 7. There was a theory that Steven and Susan knew each other and ran away together. However, there was never any contact between the two of them.

Plus, we all know that Susan’s husband, Josh and his disgusting father probably were involved in her murder.

Other

In 2011, and three weeks after the Disappeared episode aired, Steven’s father, Rolf passed away. He died after being sick, and it’s believed that he died from toxic shock syndrome.

Unfortunately, Steven’s case is still unsolved and his father will never know what happened to his son.

Steven’s family believes that Steven had met with someone for a job interview or a group for church, and that he never left the retirement community that day.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I love Disappeared, but I also get really sad after watching it, knowing that most of these people are still missing or dead with their families not knowing how they did or who was responsible.

I believe the theory that Steven’s family has, I think Steven met the wrong people and died that day. It’s so sad, this family has been through so much and I hope the police are continuing to try to find answers for them.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Steven_Koecher

http://charleyproject.org/case/steven-thell-koecher

http://armchairdetective.org/disappearance-steven-koecher/

https://heavy.com/entertainment/2019/10/susan-powell-disappearance-missing/