Little Rock police: Investigating death of teen who disappeared in 2015 as homicide

Ebby Steppach, left, and a display set up for her at Chalamont Park in west Little Rock.
Ebby Steppach, left, and a display set up for her at Chalamont Park in west Little Rock.

The death of a Little Rock resident who disappeared in 2015 is being investigated as a homicide, a police spokesman said Thursday.

Ebby Steppach's remains were found Tuesday in a drainage pipe at a west Little Rock park, where her car was found days after the Little Rock Central High School senior disappeared in October 2015, police reported on Wednesday. She was 18 at the time.

Lt. Michael Ford, a Little Rock police spokesman, said the department is investigating her death as a homicide until the agency receives an autopsy from the Arkansas State Crime Lab. At that point, he said, the case would be evaluated.

Police said Wednesday that the state Crime Laboratory had identified the remains found at Chalamont Park as Steppach’s.

[TIMELINE: The Ebby Steppach case]

Key details of her death remain either unclear to authorities or unknown to the public, including the time and location of her disappearance. In late 2016, authorities searched the park, at 20600 Chalamont Drive — where the remains were found Tuesday — in connection with her disappearance. That search did not yield additional clues in the case, police reported.

On Tuesday at the scene, police said Steppach’s disappearance remained a missing persons case.

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