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Steven Koecher missing in Utah since December 2009/ Susan Powell's family reacts to what they call new lies/Media attention opens old wounds, new hopes by Rolf D Koecher/ Josh Powell: 'I'm Not Angry' at Missing Wife Susan

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Steven Koecher missing in Utah since December 2009/  Susan Powell's family reacts to what they call new lies/Media attention opens old wounds, new hopes by Rolf D Koecher/ Josh Powell: 'I'm Not Angry' at Missing Wife Susan - Page 2 Empty Re: Steven Koecher missing in Utah since December 2009/ Susan Powell's family reacts to what they call new lies/Media attention opens old wounds, new hopes by Rolf D Koecher/ Josh Powell: 'I'm Not Angry' at Missing Wife Susan

Post by Nama Sat Dec 11, 2010 12:12 am

Nothing like a punch to the gut on an anniversary you never wanted to observe.

It was a year ago yesterday that 28-year-old mom and housewife Susan Powell disappeared from her home in West Valley City and a year ago this coming Monday that 30-year-old Steven Koecher, a resident of St. George at the time, was last seen walking away from his car in Henderson, Nev.

For the 12 longest months of their lives, the families of these two Utahns, gone without a trace in the prime of life, have had to endure despair followed by repeated disappointment as exhaustive law enforcement investigations and massive volunteer searches have yielded no credible leads in either case.

Now, as the cold of December returns, a new twist has emerged about what happened to them.

Susan Powell and Steven Koecher ran off together, it is being speculated. They're alive and well and living most likely in Brazil, where Koecher was once a missionary.

It's a scenario that transforms Susan and Steven from victims into cheats and crooks.

The sole source for this conjecture comes from a website, SusanPowell.org, maintained by Susan's husband, Josh, and Josh's father, Steve Powell.

The website points out that Susan and Steven are about the same age, both are members of the LDS Church and, according to a timeline generated by Steve Powell, Koecher was in West Valley City a year ago.

Under that criteria, tens of thousands more who fit the above description — around 30, LDS and who passed through West Valley City in late 2009 — would qualify instantly as suspects.

The supposition is 100 percent innuendo, originating from the only person who has come under suspicion in either case — that would be Susan's husband Josh, whose alibi the night his wife disappeared (he said he went camping with the couple's two young sons, in December, at midnight) is suspect and whose behavior ever since (he moved out of state and to this day has not talked to police) could best be described as unusual.

And yet, as the one-year mark approached, the media, both print and broadcast, somehow saw fit this past weekend to publicly air the speculation.

You wonder what's next: breaking news on O.J.'s latest theories on who killed Nicole?

For obvious reasons, both Susan Powell's and Steven Koecher's families have expressed dismay at the National Enquirer-like headlines generated by the Josh Powell rumor mill. It would be excusable if there were a scintilla of tangible evidence to support the claims of Josh and his father that Susan and Steven dumped their lives and families — including the children Susan adored — to escape to a love nest in the rain forest.

But there isn't one scintilla of tangible evidence.

All the story succeeds in doing — for those who don't consider the source — is disparage the missing and add grief for their loved ones.

Not only has the good character of both Susan Powell and Steven Koecher stood up for an entire year under the closest of police scrutiny, but there has never been anything to even remotely suggest they ever crossed paths.

Phone records were checked and cross-checked. Neither person called the other or called anyone the other called.

Best friends and family — the closest confidants of the missing persons — were interviewed and re-interviewed. No one suggested either Susan or Steven was seeing anyone else.

The only verifiable time Steven Koecher was anywhere near the Powell's home was for a volleyball game in West Valley City with friends on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, 2009, a week and a half before Susan Powell disappeared, after which he returned to his parents' home in Bountiful.

The police departments in the respective jurisdictions have met and shared all their evidence and found nothing.

"Everything they say is not founded in truth or reality, it's just scenarios," says Rolf Koecher, Steven's father, of the website conjecture. "Their assertions have opened up wounds that were healing.

"It sounds strange," Rolf adds, "but we'd be happy to know they're alive and safe — to know Steven is safe and not hurting, needing a rescue from somewhere."

He pauses, a dad dealing with a year's worth of unimaginable grief.

"But this isn't even on our radar that it's a possibility. We don't give it 10 seconds of thought. This is all innuendo and no evidence."

And incredibly cruel.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700089432/Conjecture-on-Powell-pours-salt-on-wounds.html?pg=2

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Post by Guest Sat Dec 11, 2010 6:45 am

A year after Susan Powell's suspicious disappearance, her husband Josh is suggesting she ran off with another man.

"For many months, I waited, expecting her to come home any day," Josh tells PEOPLE. "I don't know how to feel at this point. I loved her, you know? I'm not angry at her."

Josh, who was named a person of interest by West Valley City, Utah, police early in the investigation, says he last saw his wife the night of Dec. 6, 2009, before he drove off with their young sons into a winter storm for an overnight camping trip.

Josh's Web site suggests Susan ran off with a Utah man named Steven Koecher, who disappeared around the same time.

"The Powells believe that finding Koecher may be the best lead to finding Susan," says the Web site, which is written by Josh and his father, Steve Powell, out of their Puyallup, Wash. home.
Photos of Mom
Josh tells PEOPLE he is just trying to raise the couple's sons, ages 5 and 3, and move on with his life. The boys have photos of their mom in their bedroom, and when they ask about her, "We just tell them she's not here at the moment, that she loves them and misses them," Powell says.

A spokeswoman for Susan's family says the Koecher lead is a red herring that police investigated and dismissed early in the case.

"Steve and Josh Powell continue to make absurd allegations, and the Cox family feels badly that the Koecher family has now been affected by the Powells' attempt to widen the swath of accusations," says Shelby Gifford, referring to tirades on Josh's Web site against family members who have openly suggested that Josh is responsible for Susan's disappearance.

West Valley City police say they're still investigating Susan's disappearance and they're not discussing details such as whether they investigated a connection to Koecher's disappearance.
Continuing Investigation
"We continue to ask the public to contact us with any information that might lead us to Susan Powell or help us understand more about the disappearance of Susan Powell," says Sgt. Mike Powell.

To mark the anniversary of Susan's disappearance on Dec. 7, 2009, her parents and other family and friends on Monday evening held a family story-time in Utah and wrapped gifts for needy families in Puyallup, Wash (where both families live). On Tuesday, they will be distributing new flyers in Utah, seeking information on Susan's disappearance.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20447539,00.html
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Post by Guest Sat Dec 11, 2010 6:50 am

Steven Koecher missing in Utah since December 2009/  Susan Powell's family reacts to what they call new lies/Media attention opens old wounds, new hopes by Rolf D Koecher/ Josh Powell: 'I'm Not Angry' at Missing Wife Susan - Page 2 Steve10
March 1, 2010 - Steven Koecher, an upstanding citizen who served others, who had no criminal or drug-related history, and who seemed happy with his life in St. George, suddenly vanished Dec. 13, 2009 - just six days after Susan Powell disappeared.

Is there a connection between the two cases? It's far-fetched, Steven's family says, but it's worth investigating.

Steven's mother, Deanne Koecher, said the reason they were interested is Susan Powell's case and investigating the possibility the two cases were connected was because of a road trip through Tooele that Josh Powell, Susan's husband, took at around the time Steven disappeared.

Police in Henderson and St. George are not ruling anything out and consider a possible link between the two cases. They are, in particular, interested in the trip Josh Powell took in a rental car.

She said, "It seems far but we welcome any information sharing."

According to police, Steven was last seen at an upscale retirement community in Las Vegas December 13.

Rolf Koecher, Steven's father, said St. George police detectives indicated to him that Susan's family had asked the department to look for any link between the two cases. He told the Deseret News that while he has personally dismissed the notion his family is open to any investigation.

Shelby Gifford, spokeswoman for Susan Powell's family, told The Deseret News Friday she doesn't know whether the family had made such a request but said it was "possible" as Susan's family has asked West Valley to investigate any cases that may reasonably be related.

Susan Powell, 28, disappeared from her West Valley City home Dec. 6. Her husband was the last person to see her. His story that he took his two young sons on an impromptu camping trip in the middle of the night during sub-freezing temperatures the night his wife disappeared has been largely criticized and disbelieved.

Less than a month after she vanished, Josh packed up their family belongings and moved their two young children, then ages 2 and 4, to his father's home in Puyallup, Wash. Nearly three months after her disappearance Josh remains the only person of interest police call a "missing person's case with suspicious criminal overtones."

Rolf Koecher said, "I personally don't think there's a connection, but Dec. 7 she disappeared and he traveled through that area around that date. There's some speculation that he and Susan Powell took off together."

He elaborated in a written statement to Utah television station KCSG:

"While it appears that Steven is close in age to Susan Powell and was driving through the Salt Lake City area within a day or two of her disappearance, any connection between the two seems entirely coincidental to us. Because we want to remain open to all possibilities, no matter how improbable, we have no issue with an exchange of information between the St. George and West Valley City police departments."

"We would be surprised to think there could be a connection," said Deanne. "We just do not want to rule out anything of interest."

Deanne said that before his disappearance, her son had been in Ruby, Nev., and was in northern Utah Dec. 9 -11 before returning to St. George.

During a news conference Friday in Henderson, Nev., officials announced they have found no evidence the 30-year-old traveled out of the area by bus or plane.

About 40 members of Koecher's family attended the news conference in Henderson City Hall.

Koecher's car was found parked in a Sun City Anthem cul-de-sac, an upscale residential community in Henderson, around noon on Dec. 13, the day he disappeared.

A short time later surveillance video of the area from a nearby home's security camera shows a man believed to be Koecher walking away from the car.

Christmas gifts were found in the vehicle and there was no sign of foul play.

No one has come forward saying they have heard from him since that day.

The day Steven went missing is also the last day he used his cell phone, email, and a debit card. It is not believed he left the country because his passport was found during a search of his St. George home.

"It's been two months," said Koecher's father during a Friday news conference in front of Henderson City Hall.

"There's no smoking gun, and we've got hundreds of clues that tell us what it isn't, but not one that tells us what it is," Rolf Koecher told the Review-Journal.

Rolf and Deanne Koecher, Steven's mother, said that so far, all leads have turned up dry.

FOX 13 News interviewed Deanne and said that Steven was happy in his new life in St. George. He moved there from Bountiful a year ago in hopes of landing a new job.

Steven was a recent University of Utah graduate. Before he disappeared he was working for a window washing company in St. George and seemed happy with his job. He faithfully served his church and mentored kids with the Big Brother Program.

Steven's parents Friday offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who can provide information leading to Steven's whereabouts, or the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for his abduction or death.

"We can't believe we can't find him, can't hold him, that we can't tell him how much we love him," Deanna said.

Anyone with information about the disappearance of Susan Powell should contact the West Valley City Police at 801-840-4000.

Anyone with information about the disappearance of Steven Koecher should contact Henderson, NV Police at 702-267-5000 or St George, UT Police at 435-627-4300.
http://www.examiner.com/headlines-in-seattle/missing-30-year-old-steven-koecher-police-consider-josh-powell-s-use-of-rental-car-possible-link
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Post by Nama Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:16 am

Yes, Susan and Steven are LDS.....and Josh and his dad are NUTS.
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Post by Guest Sat Dec 11, 2010 1:56 pm

:lol!: BJ!

Steven is a nice-looking man... I wouldn't blame Susan for leaving Josh for him! However, it sounds like she was a devoted mother, and I just can't imagine her doing something like that to her children. It doesn't make any sense!!
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Post by jeanne1807 Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:41 pm

BJ♥️OR wrote:Yes, Susan and Steven are LDS.....and Josh and his dad are NUTS.

BJ you are killing me. :lol!:
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Steven Koecher missing in Utah since December 2009/  Susan Powell's family reacts to what they call new lies/Media attention opens old wounds, new hopes by Rolf D Koecher/ Josh Powell: 'I'm Not Angry' at Missing Wife Susan - Page 2 Empty A year later, Koecher family still seeks missing son

Post by Nama Thu Dec 16, 2010 9:50 pm

The talk Steven Koecher gave at an LDS sacrament meeting in St. George about a week before his disappearance, his parents say, speaks to what Steven's state of mind was just before he disappeared.
Notes for the speech were recently found by Deanne Koecher, Steven's mother, in her son's Bible as she flipped through it.

"It did not seem to be the mind of someone plotting something criminal or reprehensible," Steven's father, Rolf Koecher, said of the found manuscript that lifted the spirits of the Koecher family at a time when they needed it.

"(Steven) described his home life as being happy, supportive, loving and peaceful," Rolf Koecher said.

Monday was the one-year anniversary of the last time 30-year-old Steven Koecher was seen.

On Dec. 13, 2009, the St. George resident, formerly of Bountiful, disappeared at about noon in the Sun City Anthem area of Henderson, Nev., an upscale retirement community near Las Vegas.

Surveillance video from a home-security camera shows Steven's car arriving at about six minutes to noon and parking in a small cul-de-sac, Rolf Koecher said.

Steven Koecher can be seen walking past the side of the home that has the surveillance camera, turning left on the street in front of the house, then crossing the street and walking out of the camera's view.

It is the surveillance video, along with other evidence gathered in the yearlong investigation of their missing son, Rolf Koecher said, that provides information contrary to what has been posted on a website by Josh Powell and Steve Powell, husband and father-in-law of Susan Powell, a missing West Valley City mother of two.

The website contends the missing woman, who was last seen Dec. 6, 2009, and Steven Koecher fled to Brazil, where Steven served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"The best evidence we have of his disappearance and the week preceding this event does not substantiate the assertions in a recently updated website," Rolf Koecher said in a statement.

"Rather than giving solely our opinions, we'd prefer to focus on actual information uncovered through extensive investigations," he said.

At least 11 items cast doubt about a link between Susan Powell and Steven Koecher, Rolf Koecher said.

This contention was originally brought up by the Powell family about 10 months ago, with police investigators unable to find a link.

West Valley City and St. George Police met to compare phone records, financial records and even records confidential to both investigations.

"They found there has been no mutual contact and no reason to believe there had ever been," Rolf Koecher said of the two missing people.

When Powell's website linked Steven Koecher with Susan Powell's disappearance and the "Today" show recorded a local segment on it, Koecher said, his family felt they needed to respond.

"Our official position is that (the Powells) have their own challenges to deal with," Rolf Koecher said.

In the meantime, the Koecher family -- while waiting for new clues to surface to help solve the mystery of Steven's disappearance -- has decorated an evergreen in the front of their Bountiful home with lights that are to remain on until their son comes home, or the lights burn out.

"What happens is that we get a clue that makes us hopeful, and they all evaporate," Koecher said of the ups and downs the family has experienced with this incident.

On Dec. 3, two sightings were made in Provo of someone resembling Steven Koecher. Family immediately scoured the area of the first sighting but could not find him. However, this individual may have been caught on video surveillance tapes at a Provo area post office on the same day, Rolf Koecher said.

The tapes are being released by the U.S. Postal Service to the St. George police for examination.

"We're trying to stay hopeful," Rolf Koecher said.

However, he said, it is hard to have total hope because the family thinks that after a year if someone had a clue, they would have come forward by now.

"We have felt a lot of support," Rolf Koecher said of family and friends.

And although the support cannot fix the problem, he said it does lift the family's spirits.

http://www.standard.net/topics/missing-person/2010/12/14/year-later-koecher-family-still-seeks-missing-son
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Post by Guest Fri Dec 17, 2010 4:54 am

I would rather believe that Susan ran off with Steven than to think she was thrown deep in a mind shaft. I don't really believe she ran off with him but one just never knows.
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