OH OH - Aaron Stepp, 3, Columbus, 11 March 1997

[Grifynne]

I agree, Jashrema. There seems to be no follow up there. It might be helpful to get the individual who posted that to visit Websleuths and possibly supply an update if there is any. I should think that if anything came of that, it would have been a big break in the case.

 

[hayaletcatcher]

From the start of this year-

http://www.examiner.com/article/3-year-old-still-missing-from-columbus-ohio-15-years-later

Even with mounting suspicion that foul play was involved in the disappearance of Aaron Cody Stepp, Columbus police have never been able to definitively link Cody’s grandmother, his aunt, now deceased, or anyone else to his disappearance. Cody is featured on America’s Most Wanted and The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children .

The Columbus Ohio Police Department has not given up hope for finding out what happened to Aaron Cody Stepp. His unsolved case remains open. Perhaps someone with information will call the Columbus Police Department Missing Persons Department at 614-645-4670 and report what they know so that Cody may be reunited with his family or properly laid to rest.

 

[A-Christie]

This link to the article no longer works
:tantrum:

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/03/11/20070311-C1-03.html

 

[KateB]

Cody's case is one of 3 highlighted in this month's Columbus Monthly.
http://www.columbusmonthly.com/content/stories/2014/09/when-missing-persons-cases-go-cold.html
When Missing Persons Cases Go Cold
By Michelle Sullivan
From the September 2014 edition

Robin Stepp thinks about her son, Cody, every day. The last time she saw him, he was an energetic, tow-headed 3-year-old with blue eyes and chubby cheeks. That was 17 years ago.

more at link.

 

[Jennibee]

Bump. The picture of him is so sweet. This breaks my heart.


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[JerseyGirl]

Today marks 19 years since three-year-old Aaron 'Cody' Stepp disappeared while he was playing outside his home in Columbus.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has released a new photo of what he might look like today at 22 years old.

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2016/03/11/19-years-since-aaron-cody-stepp-went-missing.html

 

[SmartSassyBBW]

It doesn't sound like Cody was ever playing outside his home. Neighbors hadn't seen him in six months and extended family hadn't seen him in over a year. The grandmother and aunt wouldn't let the incarcerated mother talk to him on the phone. There were none of his belongings in the house. Why weren't they charged with neglect at least?


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[psych-nurse]

*Bump* 20 years missing this past weekend.

 

[Pamela B.]

Totally new to websleuths so please have patience with me. Is there any way for people on websleuths to find out what the latest is in the police's investigation of this case? For instance are the grandmother, the aunt and mother of this child still alive? When was the last time any of them were questioned? I see his original missing picture and his age-progressed picture so often still and have seen it many times over the years! I've studied his face. This case is just so utterly heartbreaking. Sometimes it seems this is no place for children.

 

[Brigitte]

The aunt died in 2004.

 

[Amy74]

bumping

 

[sammyed]

Aaron "Cody" Stepp has been missing 24 years today. He would be 27.

 

[spartanx]

poor baby abandoned before by his aunt, how can there be people like that?

 

[danij614]

This case has always haunted me as Im from Columbus, Ohio and currently live about 5 minutes from the home Cody was said to have last lived. Just googling for any updates on the case tonight I found the below link. Looks like the mother petitioned, and then appealed a denial, to have Cody declared deceased in 1999, 2 years after he was reported missing. The thing I found interesting in the ruling, and which I had not seen reported elsewhere was this, "Furthermore, upon investigation, a nurse who gave vaccinations to a boy the same age as Cody in February 1997, identified Kelly Robert Hunt as the child used to impersonate Cody by Mickey Stepp." I mean how weird is it that guardians are having another child pose as Cody for vaccinations. The only reason I can think of is to create the illusion that the child is alive, or even still living with them. Either in anticipation of the mothers release from prison or (maybe, and I dont know much about what Im getting ready to hypothesize on) they were collecting some type of subsidy/welfare/other govt support for his care which required that he have regular medical care including updated vaccinations. But why would they sub another child for him unless he wasnt available for some reason. Cody was reported missing the month after those vaccinations in his name.

That along with reports that no one had actually seen or spoken to Cody in 6-12 months before his disappearance was reported to police nor were any of his belongings or any other sign of him found at the aunt and grandmother's residence lends credence that he had been "missing" long before that time.

Both the aunt and grandmother are now deceased. Mom seems to think they took him to West Virginia and "they sold him, or gave him away, or did something with him".

Sad, sad case that Im afraid will never have closure.


FindLaw's Court of Appeals of Ohio case and opinions.

 

[Murkywaters]

Columbus mom pleads for answers in her son's disappearance | 10tv.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was March 11, 1997, and Robin Stepp was about to be released from prison. But what flashed on the TV screen that night during the 11 o’clock news would change her world forever.

“All my dreams were coming true, and then, in ’97, my dreams come to an end,” she said.

On that television screen, Stepp saw a picture or son’s face. Aaron “Cody” Stepp had been reported missing, while in the care of her mom and sister.

“It was heartbreaking,” she said. “I missed him so much, love him. He was my world.”

She immediately called her then-partner and now best friend, Pam Taylor.

“I threw the phone and fell out to the floor,” Taylor said. “It’s something you never think will happen to you in your lifetime, or why it would. It’s horrible.”

 

[spartanx]

Poor baby, I think the aunt and grandmother sold him or exchanged him for something valuable, although I think it is difficult for him to be alive, but you never know.

 

[TheArtfulDetective]

Anniversary of disappearance today.

 

[Gloomy Bear]

Given the history we know of the grandmother, and assuming Robyn and Mickey did not have a rosey upbringing, I assume this poor child was killed quickly after arriving there due to child abuse and they hid it, not only to avoid trouble with the law, but to also keep the paychecks coming. Despicable. And now that both the aunt and grandmother are both dead, we will never know the details of what happened.

 

[danij614]

I will periodically bump this because I still think of poor Aaron regularly. Everytime I drive past that street, which is pretty often, I wonder where he might be.

 

[Unalienable Rights]

https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/mother-holding-out-hope-for-son-who-has-been-missing-for-27-years/530-1b5bea16-64f0-4d16-b3c3

February 20, 2024

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Robin was serving time in prison for theft and was set to be released the next day.

She held on to hope for years that he would be found alive, but a private investigator revealed information to her recently, that leads her to believe Cody is now dead.

“I know I’ll be in heaven with him,” she said.

Now Robin is receiving hospice care, and is desperate to find out what happened to Cody before she dies.

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Retired Columbus Police Detective Jim McCoskey worked on Cody’s case for years. He also believes Cody is dead and said he believes Cody’s aunt or grandmother are connected to his disappearance. Both have since passed away.

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