AR AR - Ebby Steppach, 18, Little Rock, found deceased, 24 Oct 2015

[flower_girl]

hold on--did I just read 12 pages and just now catch that one of the alleged assaulters was a police officer's son? I just saw the recent news story and stumbled across this site--to be fair I didn't click on every single link but I'm surprised that detail wasn't discussed if true. With all the discussion on how the investigation was handled initially, that would seem to be a very important detail.

PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News

That might be rumor but it's been said on podcasts and on a lot of forums. Here is the most detailed info I could find about the rape - it was four men and they videotaped it. edit: apparently it's on Crime Watch Daily but I'm at work and can't search for it right now

 

[flower_girl]

Can you please message me a link to the post???

Ebby's Facebook is tagged in the post, if you search her facebook page it should come up under related posts!

 

[finine]

The local news I was watching did not say she was in the drain right there in the images posted above - it led into it. My impression was that there was a larger opening somewhere else in the park or wooded area around the park where there was an actual tube, like the plastic corrugated ones, that was sticking out that she was put in (or crawled in - my opinion is that she was murdered, especially because she was allegedly raped by a police officer's son days before she went missing and her case was bungled badly). When they showed the drainage pipe the news reporter said "this leads in to the area where Ebby was found"

Also, I don't think I can post here, but there's a very interesting and VERY disturbing post on her friend's fb page ):

This article explains how they accessed the drain pipe with the video camera: Family: Ebby Steppach's Death is Being Investigated as a Homicide

Cold Case investigators discovered the remains Tuesday inside a drainage pipe, nearly 50 feet from Steppach's memorial, that runs parallel to the park underground.

The drainage pipe has a manhole cover, which is near the area where Steppach's car was found shortly after she disappeared in October, 2015.

"We used robots with video cameras that we are able to send in the drains, eventually started from the top of the drain where her car was found and we hit obstructions 70 feet down," said Little Rock Police Cold Case Detective Tommy Hudson, in a video released Wednesday evening by the department.

Detective Hudson said the obstructions were not human remains and did not say if the obstructions found are now pieces of evidence.

 

[scarlettbones]

I'm glad that her family can find some peace now <3

 

[cybervampira]

Local Law Enforcement React to Missing Person Cases

[...]

Last night Arkansas attorney general Leslie Rutledge issued a statement in part saying:

"I ask my fellow Arkansans to help shine light on the state's over 500 active missing person cases."

We spoke with local authorities here in northwest Arkansas to see how these cases are dealt with.

"Every case we take seriously, as soon as a child is reported missing, it's assigned to an investigator and we get the ball rolling looking for that child," said Sgt. Tony Murphy, Fayetteville police.

"If there's evidence that leads us to believe they are in danger we get the ball rolling with an amber alert," Murphy said.

 

[Murkywaters]

Friends of Ebby Steppach question how Little Rock police handled case

Unbelievable. Ebby's friend smelt Decomposition coming from the drain days after Ebby disappeared. The police did nothing and dismissed it as an animal.

 

[wendybtn]

The local news I was watching did not say she was in the drain right there in the images posted above - it led into it. My impression was that there was a larger opening somewhere else in the park or wooded area around the park where there was an actual tube, like the plastic corrugated ones, that was sticking out that she was put in (or crawled in - my opinion is that she was murdered, especially because she was allegedly raped by a police officer's son days before she went missing and her case was bungled badly). When they showed the drainage pipe the news reporter said "this leads in to the area where Ebby was found"

Also, I don't think I can post here, but there's a very interesting and VERY disturbing post on her friend's fb page ):

The original article I read Sunday or Monday in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said something to the effect that Department of Public Works employees had to bring the pipes up above the ground and then let detectives and crime scene officials do their work.

 

[kelsie]

Friends of Ebby Steppach question how Little Rock police handled case

Unbelievable. Ebby's friend smelt Decomposition coming from the drain days after Ebby disappeared. The police did nothing and dismissed it as an animal.

This is infuriating.

 

[Tbone144]

Street view:

Manhole covers like that can't be lifted easily so I think she'd have to enter through the horizontal opening. She was a small person, but that seems like a tight fit...

I wonder if any potential suspects would have had access to the kind of tool you'd need to remove a manhole cover.

There is a long back story associated with this knowledge but I watched a Harris County water district guy put his finger into one of the holes and slide it off. He wasn’t a big muscular guy either. He was my hero as he crawled down in there too.

Backstory if any one is interested : a family of black bellied whistler ducks were trying to cross the 8 lanes of I-10 near my office. My husband and I had gone out on an errand and saw them walking along the shoulder trying to figure out how to get across. He stopped the car, I grabbed a cardboard box, just in case, and chased them back up into the grass between the frontage road and the interstate. I followed them up to the bridge that went over I-10 and then blocked traffic to get them across. At that point I had drawn a bit of a crowd and had some help getting them to the grass on the other side. Some workers down the way were watching and thought they were my ducks and proceeded to chase down and catch the ducklings thinking they were mine. One of the ducklings sprinted away and ran down the storm drain. One of the crowd was water worker and he went over and pulled the manhole cover off with his hands and climbed down to try to find the duckling. Alas the duckling was gone, but we tried. I got the workers to release the other 7 ducklings back to mom who walked them down to the water. I still get really upset thinking about the lost one. I know they were trying to help but we lost a baby. The drains have long pipes that are along the bottom to drain water and he ran through that.

 

[bluesneakers]

I just read the news. I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever hear.

Rest in Peace Ebby.

 

[jnblsm]

RIP, sweet girl

 

[DAMages]

What's the height of this drain pipe? Crawling height? Walking height? I find it really hard to tell from the photos. Is the supposed "other entrance" a different height than this low, manhole covered drain? I'm just trying to imagine how difficult it would be to either get yourself so far into it, or drag a body so far into it.

 

[nannymo]

I am assuming someone put her in the drain pipe, she has been washed down the pipe over the years. The article stated there were blockages 70 feet from one end and 130 feet from the opposite end. They dug up the pipe in between those 2 blockages and that is where they found her body.

 

[Harmony 2]

Before Ebby Steppach's memorial service, her mother was browsing through the teen's old notebooks and found one entry that said "goals."

Ebby Steppach's family, friends smile, cry, say goodbye; hunt for Little Rock teen aided others, they say

 

[Harmony 2]

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-- Hundreds of people came together Saturday to celebrate the life of Ebby Steppach.

The celebration of life took place less than a week after police found the missing Little Rock teen's remains.

Ebby Steppach's Celebration of Life Saturday

 

[Harmony 2]

"This week as we found out the news that they had found her remains, we took a moment to step back, and reflect on the last two-and-a-half years as we prepared for today so that we could properly celebrate what Ebby's meant to all of us," Jernigan added.

Celebration of life held for Ebby Steppach

 

[Harmony 2]

Investigators last searched the park in November of 2016, but were following up this week on "gut instinct," according to Steve Moore of the Little Rock Police Department.

"We've never given up on this," Officer Moore said.

Remains of teen Ebby Steppach, who went missing in 2015, found in drainage pipe in Arkansas park - NY Daily News

 

[SouthernSummer]

@policyoftruth501 wrote in 2017
“Sorry, I thought you were talking about missing boys. I'm furious that Ebby's family got stuck with an SOB in the LRPD, but I know the homicide division is top notch and they will track down EVERY lead. It's clear LE knows the names of these boys, so if the boys have any involvement with Ebby's disappearance I'm sure the homicide detectives will be all over it.
I personally think Ebby was killed and it has something to do with the boys. I don't think LE needs to see the video to prove anything, but there's probably other info on the boy's phones that could help lead to what happened to Ebby. The security footage probably would have sealed the case, but thanks to that idiot J.C. White that's lost forever.
I seriously doubt this was a stranger abduction. I've been to the park where her car was found. Despite it being near a Walmart, it's in a very expensive part of LR on the outskirts of the city. The homes in this area are $300,000 and up. Plus it's a neighborhood park, not a city park. If anything, coming across a stranger might have saved her life.
If there's any real justice in this world, Ebby will be okay and that idiot J.C. White won't ever be able to sleep at night again. At least putting him in charge of bicycle patrol is a step in the direction of justice. After 30+years with LRPD that's probably the title he'll retire with - or worse if Ebby isn't found alive. He apparently isn't that inept at SM because he has a FB page. Guys like him give all LE a bad name. Why LE everywhere won't kick these losers out and have some respect for where they work is beyond me”
———
I know you wrote this over a year ago, but what all do we know about JC White? Was he the responding officer who went to check out the decomp smell at the park? Have we figured out any connections between him and any of the 4 unnamed boys? I’m tryin to find a snippet of what all crap he pulled but can’t listen to the podcast right now.

Did you ever hear the boys names?

 

[iulia]

Family, police still search for answers in Little Rock teen’s disappearance, death; memorial tree planted

Jernigan said there haven't been any updates in the case that can be made public, but she is in constant contact with the detectives at the Little Rock Police Department.

At least twice since Steppach's disappearance, police have rescued other girls from sex slavery because they were following up on possible tips about the missing teen, as previously reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

 

[mistivon]

Ebby Steppach case still open, preliminary cause of death determined but won't be released

Today marks the third anniversary of the last time she was seen alive. Her body was found was found five months ago in a drainage pipe just feet from where her car was found running at Chalamont Park.

Tommy Hudson with the Little Rock police's Cold Case Unit said the case is considered an open homicide investigation. He also said the medical examiner has determined a preliminary cause of death. But that information will not be released, to avoid jeopardizing the case.