One of her favourite places to visit was the beach and while there she would spend hours looking for seashells, which she would often gift to them. And that's something that has given me solace.". As well, she had moved out of her parents house before starting her senior year, living between other family members houses and that of a friend from her time at LISA Academy. And they were stopped in their tracks. But no one knew where she was. Ebby Steppach, 18, of Little Rock, Arkansas mysteriously vanished on October 24, 2015. The LRPD claim to have no record of these calls. The Steppach family offered a reward of $50,000 with information leading to their daughters discovery. But again, the case hit a snag when Hudson recently announced he was again retiring and relocating across the river, where he will help out at the North Little Rock Police Department cold case unit. If she was a runaway like the police kept saying, she wouldve taken her makeup. Sadly, this time Ebbys remains were finally found. Learn how your comment data is processed. Ebby was going through a tumultuous time in her senior year, as many teens do. Timeline of the Ebby Steppach Case Steppach, a student at Central High in Little Rock was reported missing on Oct. 26, 2015. 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. But Ebbys family and friends had already taken matters into their own hands and began passing out fliers across town, hoping someone had seen her. When Ebbys remains were found, Laurie was devastated. And I just became hysterical.. $18 SIM-only plan. In 2015, Ebby Steppach was sexually assaulted at a party, and disappeared days later. Catherine Townsend, a dynamic private investigator, says she has been working on the case for the past 18 months and believes the police are wrong to call Ebbys death a suicide and that her killer could still be found. The family would like to thank all of you who have supported efforts to find Ebby, the statement read. She was really rebelling and fighting, fighting back and storming out, Laurie said. The search to find her lasted until May 2018, when her remains were found in a drainpipe in Chalamont Park. Our cold case unit is comprised of seasoned investigators who have retired as active members of the Little Rock Police Department. She loves her family so much, she wouldnt cause her family this much pain, Steppachs mother, Laurie Steppach, told KATV. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Instead, Ebby got to spend that last day with her grandparents. Published on May 23, 2018 08:25 PM. 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. However, her parents never addressed this with her, wanting to give her more independence. "But if Tommy had been on the case back then and had found her in a week, they would've found who did it and we wouldnt have had to keep living this nightmare. Ill be back to spend the night. He told Dateline that mistakes were made early on in the case before he was brought on to help solve it. And she started to push back rebel.. Dharmesh Patel is a 41 y/o California man, who was working as a radiologist at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Pasadena. However, it does seem highly coincidental that she disappeared/was murdered right after being sexually assaulted and had threatened to report it. When it came to her education, Ebby spent most of her life attending charter schools, before transferring to Central High School in Little Rock during her senior year, after which she planned to attend cosmetology school and obtain her real estate license. The 2018 discovery of Ebby's body in a drainpipe, just 60 feet from where her car was found two and a half years earlier, brought no closure to her mother, Laurie. This would later be increased to $50,000. Vickers tried to contact the police for three months to offer assistance with the investigation, but his calls and emails went without reply. 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. Ebby is found. I think the most frustrating part, as most would agree, is that the most obvious place where her remains would be, were never searched. [4] Per a 2017 report, the men Steppach had accused of rape had all spoken to police, though no formal searches of their cell phones were done for the alleged video of Steppach's rape. Will Ebby Steppach ever get justice after police botched her case? On the night of October 23, 2015, Ebby attended a house party, where she claimed to have been raped. Bob never drank again until his death . That still begs the question why no one thoroughly searched the area (with or without dogs) in November 2015 when Ebby's friend and her mom smelled decomposition in the park. And she never showed up at the police station. Andrea Cavallier is a Digital Producer for Dateline NBC. Relieved, Trevor went to his front door, but found neither his sister nor her car were outside. The nightmare only continued for Ebbys family as they noticed mistakes they said police had made from the beginning and believed her case was not being taken seriously. [13] Upon the arrival of police at the scene, Foley claimed she was "kind of dismissed by [the officers]", who told her the park had been searched with recovery canines who would have picked up on the scent of human decomposition, and assured her it "must be an animal or something". "But if Tommy had been on the case back then and had found her in a week, they would've found who did it and we wouldnt have had to keep living this nightmare. They are nearly on par with polygraphs in my estimation. What really happened to Ebby Steppach? "It was something I just couldn't shake. 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. Police arrived over an hour later and after a quick inspection, told her it was sewage. [4] Throughout the evening, cell phone records showed Steppach sent text messages to several of the men she had implicated in her rape, threatening to report them to police. In early fall, Laurie and Michael began receiving calls from the high school reporting Ebbys truancy. He had footage of it on his dashboard camera, but had since lost the recordings. During their conversation, he shared that he believed hed seen Ebby three different times before her disappearance. You would think talking to Danielle and looking into the cell phone pings are two of the first things theyd do. The remains had been about 60 feet from where the car was discovered. In May 2018, the FBI and the LRPDs Cold Case Unit (led by experienced detective Tommy Hudson) teamed up with Little Rocks Public Works to begin excavating drainage pipes at Chalamont Park. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Parents: Is Your Child Addicted to Screen Time? Everything else? We were told that we couldn't file a police report for 12 hours, Laurie said. But Ebbys family and friends had already taken matters into their own hands and began passing out fliers across town, hoping someone had seen her. And they were stopped in their tracks. He initially hesitated to take the case, but once he saw the shotty investigation he knew he had to do something and began tracking Ebbys final movements. [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. I agree. With this kind of police investigation who needs enemies? Finally, her case was transferred to the homicide unit who were appalled with way the case was handled. Ebbys disappearance was also featured on Nancy Grace. Ill be back, dont lock the door. 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. On November 4, 2018, Ebbys friends and family planted a tree in Chalamont Park, in a move to show she would never be forgotten. While he isnt one hundred percent certain the girl he saw was Ebby, he says she does resemble the images of Ebby hes been shown. On Tuesday, police announced during a press conference that the remains could be those of Steppach, who disappeared in October 2015. She abruptly decided to switch to Central after attending private school all her life [EDIT: Ebby attended LISA Academy, which is a charter school, not a private school]. For Ebby's family and friends, they just want answers. It was around that time that Laurie said the 18-year-old high school student started to change. Submissions should outline a mystery and provide a link to a more detailed review of the case such as a Wiki article or news report. I just knew it, everything in my soul, I knew something had happened to her, Laurie said. This one is so bizarre. In 2017, the case was reassigned to the LRPDs homicide unit, who brought cadaver dogs to the park to search for clues. "I'm grateful that I wasn't told about that text, about what happened," Laurie said. In May 2018, Ebby Steppach's body was found in a drainpipe in her hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, more than two-and-a-half years after the 18-year-old high school senior disappeared. Instead, Ebby got to spend that last day with her grandparents. For nearly three years, no trace of her was found. In my hometown there was a gang rape and murder with 8 people involved who had loudly threated to kill the girl in the middle of the town green the same day they killed her. In November 2015, the family offered up a $3,000 reward for information leading to her discovery. Ebbys death has been classified as a homicide and her killer(s) is/are still unknown. But her family told local media they believed she was in danger. To help spread word of the case, Laurie appeared on Dr. Phil. On October 28, three days after Ebbys last contact with her brother, a security guard at Chalamont Park in west Little Rock reported an abandoned vehicle in the parking lot. From the first word of her disappearance to now, the Steppach case has plagued the public and police, as no suspect, or suspects, have been formally charged neither for the alleged rape nor the murder. Upon calling her back, Ebby admitted she didnt know where she was and said she wasnt in a good state of mind. She saved her money and worked hard to buy really nice makeup, Laurie said. That was the last time anyone in Ebbys family saw her. The equipment hit obstructions on both ends of the drainage pipe and Hudson was given the go-ahead to dig up the section of pipe. Unsolved Homicide: Who Put Ebby Steppach in the Drainpipe? It wasnt until November 2016, almost a year after Ebby disappeared, that police formally searched the Chalamont Park area, turning up no further clues. Cadaver dogs are much less likely to find remains if they're not fresh. There was no doubt it was her.. Searches were conducted of the park and the woods near where the car was discovered, but no evidence was found. And the minute we could do so, on October 26 in the middle of the night, we filed a report.. It was hard for all of us.. Her keys, her phone, her purse, makeup and contact lenses were scattered inside. 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