LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Ten years have passed since 18-year-old Ebby Steppach vanished — a case that began with confusion and heartbreak and has since become a symbol of persistence, pain and a mother’s unyielding fight for truth.
Ebby was last seen in Oct. 2015, just months before she was set to graduate high school. Her car was later discovered abandoned in Chalamont Park, not far from her home in west Little Rock. Inside, investigators found her phone, makeup, and other personal items — signs that, to her family, made one thing clear: she hadn’t run away.
“They kept saying she was a runaway,” her mother, Laurie Jernigan, recalled. “Her friends, her family — we were all saying no, she’s not.”
Lead LRPD detective in Ebby Steppach case who found teen’s body resigns
For more than two years, that label clouded the search for Ebby her mom said. Her loved ones organized community searches, hired a private investigator, and pushed for answers — all while feeling dismissed by early police handling of the case…