Although Hudson would not tell Dateline how Ebby died, because he believes it would interfere with the investigation, he said her death is being investigated as a homicide. He had footage of it on his dashboard camera, but had since lost the recordings. She was really rebelling and fighting, fighting back and storming out, Laurie said. According to private investigator Monty Vickers, Ebby also sent texts to her alleged rapists, threatening to go to the police with her claims. Police searched Ebbys car upon it being called in and found her wallet and cellphone in the front seat, with clothes, makeup and her contact lenses also present. I really dont believe it is that latter. My daughter, she doesnt have any siblings anymore. For Ebbys older brother, Trevor, the toll his sisters disappearance and death took on his heart may have been too much. I just knew it, everything in my soul, I knew something had happened to her, Laurie said. She later learned that Michael had agreed to help Ebby, so he took Laurie home and attempted to reach Ebby to make a plan. In this season of Hell And Gone. Will Ebby Steppach ever get justice after police botched her case? And the burden of being the last person to talk to Ebby.. Dr. Phil devotes his platform to shine a light on the 2015 disappearance and subsequent death of 18-year-old Ebby Steppach; a story that dominated national news. [4], Several searches of Chalamont Park were undertaken after the discovery of Steppach's car, though no additional evidence was found in the surrounding woods. The death of Ebby Steppach, a Little Rock teen who. By that stage, the 18-year-old had been missing for nearly three years. The next day, after seeing the vehicle still there as he did his rounds, he once again called and waited for police, who finally arrived around an hour later and discovered it belonged to Steppach. She submitted recordings of conversations, text message threads, emails and provided witnesses as evidence. Feel free to read more at the resources below, and please let me know what you think about this case. Ebbys remains were found on May 22, 2018, a mere 60 feet from where her car had been found two years earlier. Remains found in an underground pipe in a Little Rock park have been confirmed as those of Ebby Steppach, who went missing in 2015. My grandson has lost his dad. Ebby had spent the day with her grandparents, and left their house around 8 p.m. telling them she was going to meet her stepfather. When the FBI got involved it became clear how badly her case had been treated and thats when things moved in a different direction. Everything else? Days later, Ebby's Volkswagen Passat was found parked in Chalamont Park. By Katherine Stinson. I have seen many comments suggesting that one of the alleged rapists is somehow related to an LRPD officer, who is trying to cover up the crime. There was no doubt it was her.. And I knew it was Ebby.. That's what I'm wondering, too. If she was a runaway like the police kept saying, she wouldve taken her makeup. I understand her strong will, I understand all of that. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. But someone else needs him now.. Those with information regarding the case are being asked to call the Little Rock Police Department at 501-371-4829. [11] Extensive searches for Steppach at Chalamont Park had been held in the past. If she was a runaway like the police kept saying, she wouldve taken her makeup. Something happened to her.. Ebbys family contacted everyone they knew and anyone they thought may have been in contact with Ebby. She explained that Ebby had started a new job, started hanging out with a different crowd, changed schools - all of which she believes led to the rebellion. Throughout the evening, cell phone records showed Ebby sent text messages to men she had implicated in her rape, threatening to go to the police if they didnt delete the video. When asked why she had waited to file the complaint, Laurie explained she feared retaliation and thus waited until it had been transferred to detectives in another department. Steppach had recently attended a private school, but the following year she attended a government-funded school. Ebby, thats not a good position, dont put yourself in that. But then kind of that week, I stopped putting such a huge emphasis on it. We could have put her to rest. She later learned that Michael had agreed to help Ebby, so he took Laurie home and attempted to reach Ebby to make a plan. But as time passed, they became more and more worried. But no matter what happens, I have peace. Around 8 p.m., she told her grandmother Peggy she was leaving to meet up with Michael, but that she would be back and planned to spend the night there. She had been dead since the time her car was found three years prior. To laugh with her again.. Concerned, the family conducted their own search for Ebby. While the search for Ebbys body ended in 2018, Tommy Hudson, the lead investigator on her case at the time kept working on finding her killer. EDIT: Someone commented that old remains can be hard for cadaver dogs to detect. Laurie told Dateline investigators continued to call Ebby a runaway and assured Laurie shed be back soon. During the multiple searches for Ebby, a team looking through a remote wooded area of Little Rock stumbled across a site, consisting of clothes, handcuffs, a skeletal leg bone and a shoe that resembled one that the missing girl would wear. I moved to Little Rock in the summer of 2015 and remember seeing Ebbys missing posters everywhere that fall. See what happens when she takes a closer look at the drainpipe where Ebby was found what does she say it proves? I listen to too many. They said they couldnt due to a lack of resources. As they felt the police werent taking Ebbys disappearance seriously, her family approached the media to help widen word of their missing loved one. On November 4, 2018, Ebbys friends and family planted a tree in Chalamont Park, in a move to show she would never be forgotten. However, that never happened. Its unclear what compelled investigators to search the pipe specifically on Tuesday. He has the answers he was looking for.. We were told that we couldn't file a police report for 12 hours, Laurie said. The remainder was frittered away in about 4 years of drunken extravagance. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Ebby Steppach was creative. I am more likely to think the delays and mishandling of evidence can be chalked up to incompetence and indifference, although anything is possible. How do they not have an arrest? Unsure How to Help Your Child Struggling with Obesity? And she started to push back rebel.. In the News. On the same day, its been reported that two one-minute calls were made from Ebbys cellphone to the Little Rock Police Department. Per a 2017 report, the men Steppach had accused of sexual assault had all spoken to police, though no formal searches of their cell phones were done for the alleged video of Steppachs rape. Laurie said the days since Ebby died, have been filled with trying to find out what happened to her daughter in October of 2015. Her stepfather thinks at this point Ebby tried to track down the men to acquire the video of her rape in an attempt to regain her independence. They then went in the other way and hit another obstruction about 130 feet in. [7] She initially told him she was parked outside his house, but upon hanging up and walking out to the street, he did not see her car. In 2017, Laurie participated in Closer to Home Arkansas Takes Action, which was hosted by Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. She later texted the men implicated, threatening to report them to the authorities. "I'm grateful that I wasn't told about that text, about what happened," Laurie said. In May 2018, the Cold Case Unit teamed up with the FBI and the Public Works Department to search a drainage pipe in Chalamont Park using robots with video cameras. Ebby Jane Steppach was 18 years old when she disappeared in late October 2015. Later on October 24, Michael called his stepdaughter and told her he would meet her at her grandparents house, where she was reportedly staying at the time. Everything else? Ebby was a young woman with big dreams and a fiery personality, who loved her family and had a big heart for those less fortunate. But that information will not be released, to avoid jeopardizing the case. The case made national news and people from all over the world contacted the Little Rock Police Department and the family with bogus tips, some even claiming to be holding Ebby captive as they demanded money for her safe return. LRPD treated the case as a runaway situation for almost 8 months, and by the time federal investigators got involved in 2016, crucial evidence had been lost. They called 911 when the mother said she smelled decomposition. And it was broken all over the car. I have peace because Ebby isnt alone. As of today, the case is still open and unsolved. Brandon Lawson The 911 call that led to a mysterious disappearance. After speaking with his sister, Trevor immediately called the police, worried. Hudson obtained maps of the drainage pipes from the city and took a team back down to Chalamont Park, where they sent cameras down drainage pipes. Missing Florida mother found deceased in Alabama, Where is 4-year-old Codi Bigsby, missing from Hampton, VA, Ill either see you again or never see you again The Disappearance of Daniel Robinson, Destiny Jacksons body was found in the Las Vegas desert after she was killed during a car jacking, Spooky Houses youll be DYING to stay far away from, Suzanne Morphew (49) has been missing since May 10th, 2020 her husband has been arrested, FOUND SAFE- Laura Lacie Read- missing from Midtown, Houston, after her child is found alone, Dr. Beth Potter, her husband, Robin Carre were killed and found in a ditch, Missing Child Alert: Taylor Rose Williams (5) is missing from Jacksonville, Florida. Growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas, she lived with her mother, Laurie Jernigan; her stepfather, Michael Jernigan; her older brother, Trevor; and her younger sister, Harris. [15], Dec 2017 Ebbys disappearance was on Dr. Phil, "Dead teen's loved ones question Little Rock police", "Parents, friends hold out hope for missing Arkansas teen", "Ebby Steppach case: Skeletal remains found in drainage pipe ID'd as long-missing teen", "Remains Found in Underground Pipe Confirmed as Teen Ebby Steppach Who Has Been Missing Since 2015", "What Led Up To The Disappearance Of 18-Year-Old Ebby Steppach", "Ebby Steppach case gets new life with help from Dr. Phil", "Human Remains Found in Little Rock Park Confirmed to be Missing Teen Ebby Steppach", "Remains of teen Ebby Steppach, who went missing in 2015, found in drainage pipe in Arkansas park", "Remains Found at Little Rock Park ID'd as Missing Girl's", "Little Rock park to be searched for woman missing since 2015", "Friends of Ebby Steppach question how Little Rock police handled case", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Ebby_Steppach&oldid=1125336746, May 22, 2018, Chalamont Park, Little Rock, This page was last edited on 3 December 2022, at 13:27. As they felt local police werent taking the case seriously, Ebbys family hired private investigator Monty Vickers, who acted as a go-between between them and investigators. But her stepdad and I were really strict. On Tuesday, May 22nd, investigators with the Little Rock Police Department informed the family that human remains had been found at Chalamont Park, which is where Ebby's car was found on October 30, 2015. Exploring the 2015 disappearance and subsequent death of 18-year-old Ebby Steppach; Ebby Steppach, 18, of Little Rock, Arkansas mysteriously vanished on October 24, 2015. When Ebbys remains were found, Laurie was devastated. A Celebration of Ebbys Life will be held by the family at a local church, Christ Community Church, on May 26 at 2 p.m. Steppach went missing on Oct. 24, 2015, after she was supposed to meet her stepfather at her grandmothers home in West Little Rock, KATV reports. In 2010, Amber Tuccaro was seen getting into the car of What are some cases involving murder or suspicious What is a case where the victim was found out to have What is a baffling case that doesn't get the attention it Brooklyn Jane Doe (2015) Identified As Missing Mother. The first time he saw her, she was with two men and had asked the trio to leave, which they did without argument. [12] Margie Foley, a family friend and mother of one of Steppach's best friends, claimed that she had smelled decomposition while doing a private search of the area, and alerted the authorities. Protective. The next evening around 5:30 p.m., Ebby called her brother, Trevor, and told him that she was in her car, but didnt know where she was. [1], Ebby Jane Steppach was an 18 year-old high school student in Little Rock, Arkansas who was completing her senior year at Little Rock Central High School. 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