The Disappearance of Steven Koecher

Episode #35 - Where is Steven Koecher?

Around noon on Sunday, December 13, 2009, 30-year-old Steven Koecher parked his Chevy Cavalier on the cul du sac of Savannah Springs Avenue in the Sun City Anthem retirement community of Henderson, Nevada. Grainy black and white camera footage showed an adult figure, presumably Steven, walking down the sidewalk, alone, with an unknown item tucked under his left arm.

Steven walked out of that security camera’s view and was never seen again, leaving only questions and half-baked theories about what happened to him. He never returned to his car, and he never made it home for Christmas. For the last 15 years, his loved ones have been trying desperately to find out what might have happened to him

[Shaun] 

Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I’m your host, Shaun, and with me as always, is the one and only John.

[John] 

I am the only John in the room.

[Shaun] 

This week, we are sharing a missing persons case from Henderson, Nevada. This coming December 2024 will mark 15 years since Steven Koecher was last seen. His family and loved ones deserve answers. We’re hoping that our coverage can bring renewed interest and attention to his case, and hopefully generate new leads

Since we focus on true crime in and around Las Vegas, and we happen to live in Henderson, about ½ mile from at least one of the locations we’ll talk about, I think we can also help clear up some outstanding questions about Steven’s disappearance for anyone who knows the details of the case but isn’t familiar with the Las Vegas Valley beyond the Strip. 

As of April 2024, the federal government owns over 80% of the land in Nevada, making it the state with the highest percentage of federal land in the country. That’s about 48 million acres of public land, which is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and in some counties in NV, the federal government controls more than 90% of the land. 

In fact, Clark County is the most densely populated area (mostly because it contains Las Vegas and Henderson, but still, over 90% of Clark County is managed by the BLM.

The Las Vegas Valley includes the City of Las Vegas, naturally, but also the Cities of North Las Vegas and Henderson, and large areas of “unincorporated” towns that are a part of Clark County. These cities and unincorporated areas all touch and border eachother, and you’d need to consult a map to figure out if you’re in “unincorporated” Clark county or the City of Las Vegas proper. 

I know that’s a lot, but I want us to keep in mind that most of the details of Steven’s disappearance occur in the City of Henderson, but Henderson is not geographically separated from Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, but at this point in time, there isn’t any open land between the two cities. Henderson is mainly in the southeast part of the Las Vegas Valley. 

Sun City Anthem, which we’ll talk about in a bit, is best thought of as a neighborhood in Henderson. 

There are so many theories that have been put forward over the years that John would call “Fan Fiction” .. stories people just make up with no supporting evidence at all, but it’s important to focus on sharing what we know, and hopefully, that could lead to more concrete leads that might get his family answers.

[John] 

I’m not a fan of when people put forth unsubstantiated stories, because of course, Steven is a real person with a large family that cares about him very much and has been feeling his loss on a daily basis since he disappeared without a trace 15 years, so we won't be doing that kind of speculation.

In our Swing Shift Overtime episode, we’ll talk through some of the theories people have come up with over the years, and reasons we think that they don't make logical sense. 

Bus since we deal in facts, let’s start with Steven, who was born in Amarillo, Texas on November 1, 1979, to his mother Deanne Koecher, and his father Rolf. He’s the second oldest of 5 siblings, Matthew, Lisa, Michael and his younger brother Dallin, who has been the main family spokesperson since their father passed away tragically and unexpectedly in February 2011

By all accounts, Steven grew up in a loving and supportive family environment. He graduated from Amarillo High School, but his family has roots in Bountiful, Utah, which is a community north of Salt Lake City. His father was a journalist and the editor of the Davis County Clipper, a paper based in Bountiful. 

Steven is the outdoorsy type, enjoying watersports, boating, camping, and wakeboarding.  He was extremely active in the Boy Scouts earning their highest rank of Eagle Scout. He was also learning to play the guitar, and he loved singing.

His life was very much focused on service to others and the community, which is quite common for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was a mentor for “Big Brothers, Big Sisters” and coached youth sports.

[Shaun]

As you mentioned, Steven and his family are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who are commonly referred to as Mormons, though apparently it’s more accurate to say “latter-day saints” or “members of the LDS church”

After graduation, Steven went on his mission to Brazil (like his father did before him), and in preparation for that mission, he learned to speak Portuguese. 

When he returned to the US, Steven went to Ricks College, in Rexburg, Idaho, which is now Brigham Young University–Idaho, and earned his associate's degree, then transferred to the University of Utah, where he earned a bachelor's in Communications in 2005. 

[John]

While he was at the University of Utah, he interned at the Utah governor’s office where he worked in public relations with the Governor’s press secretary, then, after college, he got a job as a freelance writer for the Davis County Clipper, following in his father's footsteps. 

It’s been reported that he chose to write articles under the name Steve Thell (his middle name) to avoid association with his father. He obviously had a knack for it because he won second place in the 2006 Utah Press Association annual awards contest for best feature article.

Steven said he didn’t like the hours at the Davis County Clipper, so he moved on to work for the Salt Lake City Tribune where he worked for about 18 months, then In October 2008, he started a marketing job at a software company called Matchbin. 

According to the Koechers, Steven really disliked the temperature inversions in Salt Lake City. that wasn't something I knew much about but it’s when,  due to geography and climate, warmer air parks itself over colder air and results in pollution and smog being trapped near the ground, and it’s a particular problem in the wintertime. It honestly sounds pretty awful.

After the winter of 2008, Steven decided he’d had enough, and in April 2009, he decided to move to St. George, a city in southern Utah about 4 hours south of Salt Lake City and a 2 hour drive from Las Vegas. He was able to continue to work for Matchbin after he moved.

[Shaun]

I looked up the weather in 2008, and from about December 13 through the week of Christmas, it snowed nearly every day in Salt Lake, and temperatures barely got above freezing for those last 2 weeks of December. On Christmas, there was a blizzard that dumped more than 8 inches of snow on Bountiful. 

Salt Lake also has lake-effect snow, which I know you’re familiar with. 

[John] 

Definitely. I went to school in Rochester NY which is no stranger to lake-effect snow. It’s so bad there, in fact, and I know you know this, but for anyone who hasn't had the delightful experience of living through an upstate New York winter, my school has tunnels that connect the academic buildings together. So what we’d do is make a run to the nearest building that was an entry point in the tunnel system then travel underground in these weird kind of claustrophobic steamy tunnels all day… then make a run back to the dorms after all of our classes.

It was a strange way to spend 4 years of my life. The snow there was unrelenting 

[Shaun]

We live in the desert, so I understand where Steven is coming from with his views on cold and gray winter weather. 

As we said, Steven moved to St. George in April of 2009. He rented a house & had a roommate named Jordan Zirkle. These two couldn't have been more different. Of course, Steven was extremely involved in his Church and due to his religious beliefs, he abstained from all alcohol and caffeine, whereas Jordan Drank beer, smoked pot, and did NOT attend church with Steven. Despite that though, there is no reporting indicating that their relationship was anything other than amicable.

YouTuber Arron Stoner did a great interview with Jordan in 2021 in order to understand his relationship with Steven a little better. He didn't have anything at all negative to say about Steven and even mentioned that he hung out with Steven to play softball sometimes. It sounds like it was a pretty typical adult roommate relationship.

One of my favorite quotes from the interview is Jordan saying, “We didn’t have a lot in common. He’s Mormon, I’m from Chicago.” 

[John]

One of the interesting things about what was happening with Steven (and Jordan too really ) was their living situation. They lived in St George, and their landlord’s name was Brett Bishop, according to that same interview with Steven’s roommate Jordan, there were some pretty weird things going on with him. Things that stuck out to him included

• When we moved in, he saw a “ton of guns” in the home
• Brett allegedly was always carrying around a toiletry bag full of prescription pills
• Brett claimed that the house they rented was a vacation home and he was rarely there, but that wasn't true he was there all the time and would come by the house at strange times like 2 am

In August of 2009, Brett was arrested for possession of a stolen 2005 Porsche Cayenne (definitely one of the ugliest cars I’ve ever seen), possession of narcotics, and possession of firearms (that last charge was later dropped because the officers had assumed he was a convicted felon, but according to court records, he was not)

All of this did not sit well with Jordan. who ended up moving out in the middle of the night sometime in the fall of 2009 because he was so uncomfortable with Brett and his weird behavior.

[Shaun]

But, back to Steven… Like many people at this time, in May of 2009, Matchbin told Steven that it wasn’t working out, and he was laid off. Not a great time to be out of work.

We’ve talked about the economic meltdown of 2008 which led to the great recession before, and we’ve mentioned that the Las Vegas area was the hardest hit area in the country by the recession, and the slowest to recover. The whole country (and really the world) was affected, and in Utah, the unemployment rate hit a 10-year high of 7.9% in December of 2009.

Steven was able to find a part-time job with Travis' Window & Blind Cleaning, a family-owned business that still serves Washington and St George, while he continued to look for full-time work. 

Steven was having some issues making rent and was about 3 months behind in payments; he owed $1,500. His landlord Brett Bishop actually called Steven’s father, Rolf, to talk about the rent Steven owed. This to me is extremely odd, since Steven was 30 years old and an adult. 

When Rolf reached out to Steven to talk about the rent, Steven was frustrated and probably embarrassed and annoyed. He did not accept help from his dad and told him he was okay. 

[John]

So here’s where the story gets a little strange. Starting on December 10th, 2009 Steven began going on some very odd and hard-to-explain road trips across Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. Just for clarity, Utah is mountain time, Nevada is Pacific time, and Arizona is mountain time.. But mostly doesn't observe daylight saving time. Very confusing. 

In the descriptions, I’ll just mention the location and the time, and you can just assume that’s “local time” for whatever location it is.

On December 10th, Steven departed St George Utah around 2:15am and drove north to Salt Lake City, arriving sometime around 6:45 am, based on a gas receipt. He then drove to West Wendover, NV, arriving around 8:45 am (remember that's pacific time now) where he purchased gas again.

Next up, Steven drove to the Ruby Valley NV, about 2 hours to the west, apparently to randomly visit an ex-girlfriend named Annmarie Neff at her family’s ranch. It turned out she wasn't home, but her parents remembered him and invited him in for lunch and their visit lasted about two hours. He arrived at 11am and left around 1pm.

According to the Neffs Steven told them that he was considering driving to Sacramento to visit family but because of the weather, he decided it was a bad idea so he headed back to St George. Not only is that strange because it’s a 7 hour drive from Ruby Valley to Sacramento, but in fact, this was an easily verifiable lie. According to Steven’s sister, Steven had no friends or family in Sacramento.. So why would he tell them that?

[Shaun]

Steven then headed back to St. George. He had a phone call with his sister around 344 PM Pacific time on the drive back home, but she reports there was no mention of his road trip, and no mention of Sacramento. 

He retraced his steps, driving to Salt Lake City, arriving there around 4:40pm, corroborated by a gas purchase, then onto Springville UT for another gas purchase around 5:25pm. About an hour and a half later his mom called, according to phone records.

His mom has said that Steven seemed upbeat and positive, but they did discuss Steven’s finances which were obviously a problem. She deposited some money in his account which he never ended up using. 

There was also evidence that Steven also received a check from his grandmother to help him out, but he never cashed it. There are multiple examples of this type of thing, and it was pretty obvious Steven really wanted to live financially independently (and who wouldnt)

He stopped one more time in Nephi UT around 7:24 pm for dinner at a Taco Time fast food restaurant according to the receipt and then headed back to St George where he arrived just after 11 pm. 

The entire trip was nearly 1100 miles, 21 hours, and it's unclear exactly why he went. It had to have been an expensive trip with that much gas especially if he was having financial problems.

Let’s pause here and hear from our friends at PNW Haunts and Homicides

[John]

Now back to Steven…

That first road trip was a little odd, but both his sister and his mother didn't report anything out of the ordinary. His landlord Brett lived in Orem, which is right along his path that day, so there is some reasonable speculation that he might have had some contact with him but there isnt any proof of that.

The next day he spent in St George passing out flyers for the window and blind washing company. While he was out that day, we have another example of him just being a truly nice and caring person. He happened upon two young girls who had gotten locked out of their house. 

After helping them search for a missing key, he offered to call their mother to let her know what happened and then helped the girls get to a neighbor’s house where they could get warm and be safe. There really are multiple examples of his pattern of helping and being of service to others.

He also spoke to the bishop in his ward (which is essentially the local church congregation) who reported he had a good conversation with Steven and they talked about the bishop having some leads on work for him in the upcoming year. Again, nothing out of the ordinary that raised any red flags.

The next day though, December 12th, he was back on the road for another off road trip, this time to the south. He drove to Overton NV which is about an hour and 15 minutes south of St George, about halfway to Las Vegas from St George. It’s a very small town where the only thing of any note that we could think of is the Moapa Valley Corn Maze which runs in October and November these days.

After that, he headed back north, buying gas in Mesquite NV at 4:04 pm, then arriving back home in St George at 7:58 pm. We know that because he went to K-Mart and bought some presents for his brother’s family including a bib for the baby and some Christmas ornaments. That suggests he was fully intending to be with his family for Christmas

Steven’s car was seen in front of his house around 10 pm, but of course, there’s a 2-hour gap where his whereabouts are unknown, and the same neighbor reported that his car was gone by 10:30 pm. Again, it’s unclear where he was, and if he maybe came home later that night and the neighbor just didnt notice or see his car.

[Shaun]

On December 13th, at 7:52 am, a leader in his church named Greg Webb called Steven. Greg was driving home from Las Vegas and he was afraid he’s miss the church service he was supposed to lead. He was calling Steven to ask if he could cover.

Steven told him that he was in Las Vegas, but he could head back if needed, but Webb said it wasn't necessary. Interestingly, according to Webb, there was no discussion like “hey you’re in Las Vegas? Im in Las Vegas too! Why are you here? Im here for such and such” When interviewed, Webb said that in retrospect he wishes he’d asked.

Steven got another call from a member of the ward named Seth Abboud at 9:53 am asking him to make an announcement at the church service, but again, Steven told him he couldn't because he was in Las Vegas and would be missing the service. Again, there was no conversation about why he was in Las Vegas. 

At 10:15 am Pacific, he got another call from the ward asking him about running the service for Greg, but he explained again he was in Las Vegas and couldn't. They believe this is the last time anyone spoke to Steven, and again, there was no conversation about why he was missing the service, which was very rare, or why he was in Las Vegas.

Just before 11:54 am Steven drove into the Anthem neighborhood in the very southernmost end of Henderson and parked at the end of the Savannah Springs Ave in a  cul de sac, and its unclear why or what he was doing there.

He was captured by a home surveillance camera around that time walking away from his car with some unknown item under his arm. He turned up Evening Lights Street. He was seen from one other camera, and in a reflection in a car, and his mother is fairly sure it’s him given his gait, height, and general size. 

He appears to be walking with a purpose, not lost or wandering. 

There were two cellphone pings from Steven’s cellphone later that day. One at 4:36 pm near American Pacific and Arroyo Grande (about 9 miles north of where he had parked in Sun City Anthem) and another one two hours later around 6:30 pm near Whitney ranch 2 miles up the road.

[John]

Those two locations are very close to where we live in Henderson, and we find these times a little weird. The second ping is only 2 miles from the first one, but it happens two hours later, so it really isn't clear what was happening with the phone, and who might have had it.

The next day there were several more cell phone pings from Steven’s phone indicating it was still moving. The first was early in the early morning near Interstate 515 and Russell Rd and then around 6:04 am some unknown person, maybe Steven, maybe not, called his voicemail. 

The phone remained in that location according to the tower records for two days until the signal was lost when the battery died.

By Monday the 15th, the Sun City Anthem HOA had taken notice of the apparently abandoned car in the neighborhood and started to try and find the owner. There were flyers in the car from the window and blind washing business in there, and that's where they started. 

They got in touch with the business and were able to figure out who Steven was, and finally left a message for his mother on December 16th. She didn't hear the message til the 17th, and she reported Steven missing right away.

[Shaun]

I want to stop for a moment here and talk about the neighborhood where Steven was last seen and where his car was found. For people who have never been to Las Vegas, or never left the strip, you might not be familiar with some of the towns or suburbs we have here. 

Sun City Anthem is a planned community that was constructed between 1998 and 2008 for “active adults over 55.”  It’s built around a world-class golf course. It has some pretty great amenities like a clubhouse, tennis courts, swimming pools, group fitness classes, events, things like that. There are more than 7,400 homes in the development. 

The homes vary widely in size and price ranging from under $500,000 to over $1,000,000, but at the time they were built they were selling for closer to $300,000, and during the housing market crash here in Las Vegas prices were in the $200’s

The neighborhood isn’t gated and the homes aren’t what you might consider to be huge opulent mansions. Many of them are 2 bed 2 bath single story homes with a garage and less than 2,000 square feet, and they’re really aimed at retirees and empty nesters looking to downsize and be a part of a community with amenities they don't have to maintain themselves.

I’ve heard it called an affluent community, but I wouldn’t necessarily think the residents are wealthy. As I said, it’s not gated, so Steven would have been able to drive into it with no issues – he wouldn’t need a code or someone to buzz him in to the neighborhood. 

Sun City Anthem was fully completed long before Steven pulled into the area. If you look at Google Maps and zoom in on the cul de sac at the end of Savannah Springs, or if you go and visit the area, what you see is exactly what Steven saw all those years ago.

[John]

Steven’s family searched everywhere to try to find him. They contacted shelters, jails, and hospitals, even city morgues. Rolf visited Steven’s house in St. George to see if there was anything at the house that could tell them where Steven may be or where he went, but he found that nothing was out of order at the house at all. Steven’s possessions were there and nothing was packed up or missing. His cell phone charger and laptop were in his room, and none of his belongings were packed which might have indicated he was planning to go somewhere. 

On December 17, a massive search began. Officers and the family searched in Henderson, Saint George, and Mesquite, searching in desert areas, the nearby golf course, and also going door to door in Sun City Anthem asking if anyone had seen Steven. There was no sign of him and no neighbors said they had seen him in the neighborhood on the day of his disappearance, but the police did secure the surveillance footage we mentioned.

The family even hired a private investigator to help them in their search, which continued right up til Christmas. Steven’s mom Deanne has said that it really sunk in with her that he was missing once December 23rd came and went. Steven had said he’d be home that day to spend the holidays with the family, and they had all been holding out hope that he would come home as he had promised.

On December 30, another 4 day search began with more volunteers, dogs, helicopters, and ATVs. Despite all of this effort, the search did not turn up anything. 

[Shaun]

There were some frustrating elements of the investigation. For example, when Steven’s car was found, the police did not process it as a crime scene. At that time, the car was just believed to be abandoned. There was no reason to suspect a crime had been committed so that means the car was never fingerprinted or processed formally. 

It is worth mentioning that the car worked and had gas in it. 

Steven’s family did have a drug-sniffing dog inspect the car, and there was no sign that drugs had been in the car. Inside his car they found flyers for the window washing company, snacks, the Christmas gifts he bought at Kmart, his shaving kit, various receipts, and a pillow and blanket. 

Steven’s loved ones dug into the details of his life, hoping to find any clues. Steven’s brother went through Steven’s email and laptop, looking for any signs or hints as to why Steven was in Henderson and where he could be now. There was nothing in his email or browser history that provided any leads or answers. 

He would use library computers often to access the internet. Computers at the library were searched as well, and nothing unusual was uncovered. Police even investigated what he had checked out of the library: a biography of basketball player Pete Maravich, a book about early settlers in Southern Utah, and a DVD of “The Lord of the Rings.” 

They even decided to read Steven’s personal diary. He wrote about some of his concerns, but he didn’t seem despondent or overly frustrated. He was worried about being out of work and expressed that he was eager to find a wife and start a family. 

Rolf told reporters: “If there’s a dark side we haven’t found it yet. We can’t find anything that leads to why he would disappear.”

[John]

In February 2010, Steven’s family worked with Anderson Dairy, a Vegas-based dairy, to put Steven’s photo on milk cartons. The dairy hadn’t put any missing photos on milk cartons in years, but they agreed to do so for Steven’s family.

The family held a press conference with the Mayor of Henderson asking the community to come forward with tips. They announced a $10,000 reward and the kick-off of what they were calling, “a week of vigilance.” 

Deanne said, “We’d like to have everyone who’s aware of this keep their eyes out for us and we’d be thrilled to death to have someone take that $10,000 because we found our son.”

[Shaun]

One of the first things we often hear when there is a missing person in the Las Vegas area is usually along the lines of, “They are an adult, they can disappear if they want to.” 

And looking at Steven’s life circumstances, many web-sleuths developed a similar theory. Steven was down on his luck; he was out of work and behind on his rent. Could it be possible that out of frustration and desperation, Steven walked away from his life?

During the course of the investigation, Steven’s family and other investigators discovered several things that show that wasn’t a very likely scenario. 

One, Steven’s passport was left behind in his house. There was no evidence of him searching for flights, or buying plane or bus tickets - nothing that would indicate he was planning on traveling. 

He didn’t make any large withdrawals of cash or have any transactions on his credit cards to raise any red flags. He also didn’t have any unusual emails or call history, and there was nothing unusual in his internet search history either. 

The only items his family could tell were missing from his things were his cell phone, his wallet, and his keys. 

His cell phone charger was left behind in St. George, along with his laptop.

He had recently gone grocery shopping and there was a loaf of bread and a large jar of peanut butter at his place. He also had bought those Christmas gifts for his nieces and nephews. Both of these purchases seem to indicate that Steven had every intention of returning home and celebrating the holidays with his family. 

A frozen pizza was found in the car, it had likely defrosted by the time it was discovered, which to me makes it pretty likely that when Steven walked away from his car that afternoon, he was planning to return. 

Many of these same facts also point away from the idea that Steven died by suicide. 

[John]

Yes, one of the related unsubstantiated theories about what happened to Steven was that he just, “walked into the desert.” Either intentionally to end his life, or perhaps he just got lost and wandered away.

We find it to be a quite a stretch, that someone would just walk off into the desert as a means to end their life. This is especially odd given that it was December in Henderson, and the temperature was probably between the mid 40s to the mid 50s. 

Secondly, Steven wasn’t really near “the desert” in the way you might imagine it. He was in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. He was a 2 mile walk from “the desert” or any undeveloped land or hiking trails. If he did want to wander into the desert, he probably would have chosen to park a little closer. 

There’s a lot of Vegas-related lore and myths attached to Steven’s disappearance, and while they may be well-intentioned, they aren’t practical. For example, people have asked if anyone checked surveillance video from casinos. It turns out that there are more than 60 casinos on the Strip alone, with smaller casinos located all over the Valley. Without any leads to say he was in a particular casino that week, it would be impossible to review all of the footage that existed to determine where he was.

Many of the theories we read were similar to the speculation that surrounds the disappearance of Maura Murray, with people making accusations and assumptions about Steven, his motives, and his personal life – as armchair detectives have with Maura and her family. We don’t want to give any of these wildly speculative theories any oxygen. Regardless of what made for tv movie scenario people want to draft in their heads, we all need to focus on finding Steven so his family can have answers. 

[Shaun]

I agree with you 100% but I think there is one other debunked theory in this case that I want to mention briefly. 

A week before Steven went missing, Susan Powell went missing. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Susan Powell, her husband Joshua reported her missing on December 6, 2009. Susan was 28 years old and lived in Utah with Joshua and their two young sons. Joshua was always a person of interest in Susan’s disappearance, but during the investigation, Joshua’s father put forth the theory that Steven Koecher and Susan knew each other and that the two had run away together, possibly to Brazil. Both Steven and Susan were members of the Church of Latter Day Saints and both had lived in the same town several years ago. 

As John described earlier, Steven had traveled up to the Salt Lake City area on December 10. On those facts, it would seem plausible that maybe they did know each other. 

However, there is one huge issue with this theory. 

There is no evidence the two of them had ever met before, let alone carried on an affair. They didn’t know each other. As Rolf told Deseret News in 2010: ​​"Everything they say is not founded in truth or reality, it's just scenarios. Their assertions have opened up wounds that were healing."

If you want to hear more about Susan’s case, and how there is zero doubt that Joshua murdered her, I’d recommend you listen to Generation Why’s episode on Josh and Susan Powell or the Murder Diaries’s episode on Susan.

[John]

Steven’s mom has shared that just a few weeks before Steven disappeared, he spent Thanksgiving in Bountiful with his family. While he was home, he decorated a tree in front of their house with some white Christmas lights. The family left them on until they burned out that summer. 

They repeated the tradition of putting the lights on the tree and leaving them lit, and in 2011, the AP reported that Deanne had once again decorated the tree and lit it in Steven’s memory. The family encouraged others to do something similar in honor of Steven. 

Sadly in February 2011, Steven’s father Rolf passed away after a sudden and brief illness. His death was another indication to the family that Steven wasn’t voluntarily missing. They strongly believe Rolf’s death would have brought Steven home again. 

[Shaun]

This December will mark 15 years since Steven vanished. 

Steven Koecher was 30 years old when he was last seen in 2009. Today he would be 45 years old. He has blond or strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes; is 5’11”, and 180 lbs. He also has a unique birthmark on his abdomen. 

If you have any information that can help Steven’s family locate him, please call Henderson Police Department at (702) 267-4750 or you can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555. 

As we said, we don’t need more theories, we need leads. We urge anyone with information to come forward. Please also be sure you are following us on Social media so you can share Steven’s photos. You never know, someone you know might have information that can finally bring answers to Steven’s family.

Thank you as always for listening, and remember what happens here, happens everywhere.