All language subtitles for Cold Case Detective S01 E08_track3_[eng]

- [Narrator] Ebby Steppach,

known to her classmates and
family members as Ebby Jane,

was an independent, hard
working and protective friend.

Her devotion and close relationships,

and drive to renew a prosperous life

for herself was cut short

by an unexplainable unsolved
murder in October of 2005,

leaving all who knew
her across her hometown

of Little Rock, Arkansas,
grasping for answers

in a sea of evidence, that
drowned us all in doubt.

As a hope to provide more
substantial reasoning,

built upon observable evidence
and situational analysis,

this is an examination of
the death of Ebby Steppach,

and a harrowing mystery in Chalamont Park,

This is Cold Case Detective.

(ominous music)

(suspenseful music)

Ebby was born on March 31st, 1997,

to parents Laurie Jurnigan
and Peter Steppach

in the suburbs of Little Rock, Arkansas.

Growing up in a close knit community,

Ebby was raised with
strong ties to her family,

especially her mother who once said,

"I knew when she took a breath,

"her first breath, that we would be close,

"and that she would be a
very special young lady."

As Ebby grew, so did her family

and years later, Ebby and
her older brother, Trevor,

were joined by their
younger sister, Harris.

The children were close,
spending a lot of their time

with their lovely
grandparents or at church.

Both their intermediate
and extended families

were incredibly artistic,

and the Steppach siblings were raised

in creative environments.

Ebby loved photography most of all,

and as she got older
found a particular liking

to trendy fashion.

She quickly crafted a
hobby through cosmetology,

learning the basics to hair
styling and makeup applications.

By the time she was in high school,

Ebby started contemplating her future,

and set her sights on
becoming both a cosmetologist

and a real estate agent.

Coupled with career dreams,

Ebby also cultivated a
compassionate mindset

towards her peers.

She took it upon herself to look out

for the safety of family and friends,

going out of her way to protect loved ones

from both themselves and external forces.

She helped those stuck in a rut,

inspiring more than her
fair share of positivity

throughout the community.

Along with her deep rooted
kindness and empathy,

Ebby was also severely independent,

forging her own path as
she neared adulthood,

and making decisions based

on her own wisdom and understanding,

not allowing the recommendation of others

to sway her opinion.

This fierce individualism started taking

its toll on Ebby the summer

before her senior year of high school.

Wanting to break free from the
restraints of private school,

she transferred out and
enrolled at Little Rock Central.

The summer before she
started public school,

Ebby also received employment

at a Foot Locker shoe
store in McCain Mall.

Around this time, her mother,

who had since gotten
divorced and remarried,

noticed a change in Ebby's demeanor.

She claimed, Ebby was
much more argumentative,

staying out past curfew
to attend local parties

and going against the
grain of what had been

a staple set of rules in
the Steppach household.

Ebby's parents also wondered

if her personality changes were synced

to a recent relationship Ebby had entered

with a new boyfriend.

A boy Laurie did not approve of,

and felt was changing her
daughter for the worse.

Ultimately, these new
found family clashes,

combined with independent spirit,

drove Ebby to move away
from her parent's home

and split time living
with her grandparents,

with her older brother Trevor,
and with friends from school.

One of those friends, Danielle,

mentioned that Ebby had been struggling

with something unknown, frequently
wanting to clear her mind

by going on long drives down the highway

with music blasting.

Danielle claimed these midnight
escapes usually helped.

But she never truly understood

the main reason behind it all.

Once senior year kicked off
and October came around,

Ebby began a trend of truancy in school,

failing to show up to class
on multiple occasions.

All of the strange behavior peaked

on October the 24th, 2015,

when Ebby returned to her
mother and step-father's house

to inform them that she'd been gang raped

by four people at a
party the night before.

She was certain the
incident had been recorded

by a cellphone and demanded
justice be carried out.

Ebby stormed out soon after,

thought to be out for revenge
on the four suspects herself.

Her communication became
sporadic and worrisome,

making little sense to
her friends and family.

Then on the afternoon of October the 25th,

Ebby made one last phone
call to her brother,

stating she messed up before
the conversation cut off

and she was never seen again.

Her disappearance disturbed Little Rock

for 2 1/2 years until May of 2018

when the remains of Ebby
Steppach where discovered

in Chalamont Park,

and her unsolved missing persons profile

transformed into a homicide cold case.

(haunting music)

In the summer of 2015,

Ebby's life takes a 180
degree transformation.

She picks up a job at
a nearby Foot Locker,

enters an unapproved relationship

by her mother and stepfather,

moves out of their home,
enrolls at a public school

for her senior year, and
displays increasing agitation

towards both her personal and social life.

As the leaves change colors

and the warmth of summer
turns to the chill of autumn,

Ebby continues to worry
her friends and family

through missing more school
than she ever has in her past,

skipping classes for unknown reasons.

The pattern of truancy peaks
on Wednesday, October 21st.

Danielle, Ebby's friend,

whom she's been staying with at the time,

texts Ebby informing her
she'd be running late

at her doctor's appointment

and if Ebby needed to
leave the school by herself

that would be okay.

Ebby was supposed to drive Danielle

to her own charter school,
called the Lisa Academy,

but Ebby responded with a text that read,

"No it's not a big deal at all, I swear,

"I really didn't want to go today anyway,

"because there's all that drama."

Danielle would later
say that she had no clue

what the drama Ebby could be referencing.

Despite this, the friends
still got together

later that evening and were
in good spirits per usual.

Two days later on the night
of Friday, October 23rd,

Ebby attends a party by herself.

Danielle later mentioned
that she didn't go

because she didn't know
any of the other attendees,

hinting that the crowd
was familiar only to Ebby.

Sometime during the festivities,

Ebby is gang raped by four men,

allegedly recorded by one
of their cellphone cameras.

The next morning on
Saturday, October 24th,

Ebby returns to her mother's home,

where she informs both Laurie
and her stepfather, Michael,

about the sexual assault.

Ebby demands she go to the police station

to report the crime, and asks
the adults to accompany her.

Laurie and Michael agree,
and ask if they can meet her

at the police station later in the day.

Morning shifts to afternoon
and Ebby tells Danielle

that she needed to stay at her
older brother Trevor's house

to provide him reassurance,

because he was worrying
about her extended absence.

Before Ebby leaves for
Trevor's place however,

she visits her grandparents

and watches television
whilst laying in bed.

A little while later and
they eat dinner together,

before venturing out for frozen yogurt.

At around eight p.m. Ebby bids
farewell to her grandparents,

telling them she must meetup
with her stepfather, Michael,

and plans on returning to spend the night.

This is in contrast

to what Ebby told
Danielle earlier that day,

but her grandparents keep
their door open nonetheless.

Evening shifts to night

and Laurie and Michael haven't heard back

from their daughter.

They try calling her cellphone
but receive no response.

Michael theorizes Ebby went looking

for the alleged cellphone
video on her own.

Cellphone records
indicate during this time,

Ebby sent multiple texts to the
four men she accused of rape

from Friday's party.

No contact is made to or by Ebby

until the following afternoon at two p.m.

on Sunday, October 25th.

Ebby calls her brother Trevor on the phone

and comes across as
disorientated according to him.

At first, Ebby says she's out
in front of Trevor's house,

but when he walks outside, he
sees no sign of his sister,

the connection is lost,
and when he calls Ebby back

and demands to know where she is,

she says she was in a car,

but wasn't sure where she parked exactly.

and wouldn't divulge who she was with.

Ebby then says, "I F'ed up"
and the phone clicks off.

This would be the last known contact

that anyone would make with Ebby.

By the time the sun sets and
Sunday night rolls around

Ebby is reported missing by her parents.

However, the police wait 12 hours

after her last point of contact

before engaging in an
official investigation

per department procedures.

Meanwhile, Danielle acts out of fear

and drives around the town,
searching all the spots

she and Ebby would hang out
in hopes of finding a clue.

Three days after that
final phone call to Trevor

on Wednesday, October 28th,

a security guy patrolling a
parking lot, near a wooded area

of a Little Rock neighborhood
recreational ground

called Chalamont Park,

discovers Ebby's 2003 Volkswagen Passat.

And the Volkswagen is still

in the same position two days later.

Law enforcement comes in on
October 30th to search the car.

They confirm Ebby's ownership,
find the gas tank empty,

the battery dead, the key in the ignition,

and Ebby's phone, wallet
and contact lenses sitting

in the front seat.

The investigation continues.

A few days pass by, and
Ebby's good friend Kayleigh

and her mother Margie
Foley, catch a putrid smell

of decomposition emanating
from a sewage drain

near Chalamont Park, in
their own search for clues.

After multiple calls to
Little Rock Police Department,

detectives assigned to the case

finally arrive back on the scene,

but disregard the Foley's claims stating,

they had already completed
an intense search of the area

and their cadaver dogs would've picked up

on any human decomposition.

They assume the smell
is that of an animal,

and the Foleys' are pushed away.

In November of the same year,

Ebby's family urges the public
to aid in the search for her

and offer a $3,000 reward
for any applicable leads.

Volunteer work heats up
and in April of 2016,

search and rescue efforts comb the woods

near Markham Street and Bowman Road,

nothing of note is found.

Five months later in November of 2016,

police once again search Chalamont Park

for three consecutive days,
but still find nothing.

In May of 2017,

authorities theorize the case
is most likely a homicide.

And a month later, the
Steppach family increases

their reward for information to $50,000.

In October of the same year,

the Steppach family hires

an additional private
investigator, TJ Ward, who worked

on the high profile Natalie
Holloway case in Aruba.

They gain an international following,

when Dr. Phil interviews
Laurie and Trevor,

weeks later in December of 2017.

Investigators reach a major
breakthrough in May of 2018,

when another search through Chalamont Park

upends skeletal remains
from a drainage pipe.

Police immediately send
the bones in for testing

and soon reveal

they are the confirmed
remains of Ebby Steppach.

In October of 2018,
three years to the date

after Ebby disappeared,
law enforcement announces

that the medical examiner discovered

Ebby's preliminary cause of death,

but would not releasee any further details

or what the the COD result was,

due to the case still being an
open homicide investigation.

As of today, there have
been no further updates.

However, police are still inviting anyone

with information to come forward.

(haunting music)

When looking at the grand
scheme of Ebby Steppach's case,

it's difficult to pinpoint

any massive clues or weighted leads.

But under a microscope there is one corner

of the evidence bank that could
withhold keys to unlocking

both who Ebby was in contact
with before she disappeared

and with how the initial investigation

was muddied with inconsistencies.

Answers might hide in
the cell phone records.

The first major indication
that something was wrong

just before Ebby disappeared
was a series of text messages

she sent from her personal cell phone

to the phones belonging to
a few of the men involved

in a sexual assault from the
party on Friday, October 23rd.

These texts were obtained

by the first private investigator hired

by the Steppach family, Monty Vickers.

Vickers stated that
Ebby was straightforward

in her messages, threatening
to call the police.

Whether or not she was threatening the men

to simply delete the alleged video

or to scare them into
cooperating is unknown,

but these texts could hint
at a much larger meaning.

They could easily coincide
with Ebby's final phone call

with her brother on Sunday the 25th.

Had Ebby sent the text to the four men

and they responded via
intimidating methods

she could have easily been scared

of their retaliation or worse.

Hence why she mentions she messed up

right before the phone clicks off.

Sadly, the police never
looked into either the texts

or the final phone call
to check the towers

where these communications pinged

so the approximate locations

of the interactions cannot be certain.

If the ping data is ever
collected and analyzed,

the footprints of Ebby and her
cell phone records could shed

unbelievably helpful light.

The other confusing and suspicious anomaly

from the cell phone documents
is the mysterious pair

of phone calls made from Ebby's phone

to the Little Rock Police Department

on the night of Saturday, October 24th.

Each call was logged in the records

as an outgoing connection to the LRPD,

each lasting about one minute long.

The Steppach family
believes the calls were

Ebby's first and second efforts
to alert the authorities

about the previous night's rape.

But most perplexing of all,

these two calls are not logged anywhere

by the Little Rock Police Department.

According to reporter Jenny Monk,

officers told the mother they
had no record of those calls,

no scribbled note about
the rape of a young woman,

no call log tracing the
seconds spent on the phone.

Not only is it an unfortunate
lack of documentation

but it also gives the
LRPD a suspicious framing.

How do consecutive calls
from the same person,

claiming they have been
sexually assaulted,

go completely ignored?

And if the calls weren't reporting a rape,

rather Ebby calling to express worry

about her current and unknown situation,

why did the dispatcher
fail to alert authorities?

Or worse, law enforcement
might have figured

that it was a boy crying wolf situation.

Regardless, without proof
the calls were legitimate

on the end of the LRPD,

Ebby's cell phone records
are mostly a mystery.

Why she called and what
she said cannot be known.

But at the very least it
ignites serious concerns

regarding the investigation as a whole

and the wavering confidence the public has

in the first officers who
handled Ebby's misguided case.

(haunting music)

Early on in the investigation

when Ebby was a missing person

rather than a homicide victim

there were a bevy of theories regarding

where she could have gone

and if she left under her own authority.

Knowing the little information we have now

regarding her death and probable murder,

those theories are no longer valid,

yet some corners of the internet wonder

if Ebby's fate could be
the result of suicide.

These theories suggest
Ebby had a mental breakdown

the day she disappeared,

explaining her disorientated demeanor

whilst on the phone
with her brother Trevor.

In a state of mental anguish and fatigue,

she parked at Chalamont Park

and found the sewer's
drain pipe to crawl into,

either to decompress or
hide from her pursuers.

She would have then perished
as a result of her environment.

These theories are completely
implausible however,

taking into consideration
there would have been no way

to commit suicide in the enclosed space.

It was not cold enough for
conditions related to hypothermia

and the searches in the area revealed

no weapons or blood trails.

It also makes little sense
to believe dehydration

or starvation came into play

as Ebby would not have
voluntarily stayed down there

long enough to die from those effects.

And had she got stuck somehow,

yelling or crying out
would have alerted someone

in the frequented suburban park,

such as the security guard or
the search and rescue teams.

With zero evidence or
sensible circumstances,

suicide can be ruled out
in regards to Ebby's death.

Because police are ruling
the death as homicide

it's no longer a matter
of if Ebby was murdered

but rather who Ebby was murdered by.

One prominent hypothesis

by case followers pinpoint the idea

of a serial killer being involved.

Through careful inspection

of recent Arkansas criminal
history and murder data

no potential serialized
patterns led to an explanation

revolving around Ebby's death.

However, due to the lack of
suspects and volatile nature

of serial killer discovery,

it cannot be completely ruled out

considering future
breakthroughs or findings.

On a similar note, many locals in the area

often wonder if gang activity
played a role in the case.

Little Rock is unfortunately infamous

for the illicit actions of
gangs and their members,

especially in the last 30 years.

Known crimes perpetrated
by Little Rock gangs

include assault, murder, and
drug and sex trafficking.

Had Ebby gotten involved
with the wrong people

either that day she vanished

or in the months leading
up to October 25th,

when she was exhibiting vast changes

in both personality and attitude?

It could have led to a Little
Rock gang taking control.

Some think Ebby may
have been experimenting

with drugs or alcohol and had
accidentally wandered too far

into that sphere of the city.

It could also give deeper
meaning to her final comment

to Trevor on the phone when
she said, "I messed up."

Maybe it wasn't just
referencing the moment

but rather a collection of
moments that caused Ebby

to spiral into a broken
situation without a fix.

The most prominent and realistic theory

however outlines a possible murder scheme

by either one of, a few of,
or all of the four men accused

of sexually assaulting her the night

of Friday, October 23rd.

Regardless of whether
or not they were members

of a gang or affiliated party,

the four men were both the
last people Ebby contacted

outside of her family

and have explicit motive for manslaughter.

If the men were guilty of rape

and Ebby knew there was video evidence

they would've wanted to
keep her quiet about it.

Judging by both the family's
stories of Ebby's perseverance

on her own Twitter feed from 2013,

Ebby wasn't afraid to state her opinion

and make her displeasures known.

So after she sent
multiple texts to the men

explaining her knowledge of the crime

and intent to report it to authorities,

they could've reacted to the
idea of legal persecution

and taken matters of silencing
her into their own hands.

It should be stated that in 2017,

before Ebby's remains were found,

lead detectives of LRPD ruled
out the four men as suspects

and refused to reveal their identities.

The four men would remain
clear until a year later

when the bones were
found in Chalamont Park

and the police said the
accused individuals would

once again be considered
as points of interest

within the homicide investigation.

To this day their
identities are still unknown

but there is a rumor posted on Reddit

that claims to have sources
close to the predicament

and stated that one of
the four men is the son

of a policeman.

In no way can we confirm this to be true

but we also cannot deny
such a possibility.

If it holds any accuracy at all

then it makes the final
theory much more curious.

The entire investigation into
Ebby's initial disappearance

and later murder has
weathered intense scrutiny

and criticism by her family
and the Arkansas community.

The biggest issue people have

with the original
detectives was the handling

of Chalamont Park and methods of search.

As previously mentioned, Ebby's friends,

Kaleigh and Margie Foley,
picked up a scent they described

as carcass decomposition near
the drain system of the park

mere days after Ebby disappeared
and called the police.

Yet when the police arrived
they shrugged it off

as nothing more than a
decaying animal and said,

because they had already
searched the park,

there was no need to do it again.

This is troubling on many levels

and comes across as severely lazy.

A young teenage girl is missing

and thought to be in trouble,

so smells of decay are discovered close

to where her car was found,

it shouldn't matter how many
times the area was searched,

it needs another checkup.

Sure there's the possibility
it was just an animal,

but because the pipes were exactly

where Ebby's remains were
found 2 1/2 years later,

the Foley's were more than
likely on to something.

In addition to the smell debacle,

police also failed to respond
to the security guard's call

about Ebby's vehicle
abandoned in the parking lot.

It took three days for authorities

to make their way to the park
and inspect the Volkswagen.

Three days is more than enough
time for the perpetrator

to return and gather
any evidence left behind

or clean up their messes.

Not only that, but taking their time

in working a fresh Amber Alert
situation gives off vibes

of negligence and disinterest.

Similar vibes are felt

when considering the lack of documentation

and response to Ebby's phone call

to the LRPD on October 24th.

They have since informed reporters

that their bank of 911
call recordings dating back

to October of 2015 have been deleted,

which again seems like
more than a coincidence.

Many police departments
across the country keep

their 911 calls logged for years on end

if not saving the entire audio files.

Further complaints against
the original investigators

also highlight the lack of interviews

with key players in the case.

Ebby's grandparents, who were
the last confirmed subjects

to see her, were not interviewed
for a year and a half

after her disappearance.

In addition, the security guard

who found Ebby's car was not contacted

for official interrogation
by anyone on the case

until a few months after the fact

when the first private investigator,

Monty Vickers, interviewed him.

The security guard actually revealed

to Vickers that he had footage captured

by a camera in his car that
showed multiple instances

of Ebby meeting an unidentified
man in the same parking lot

where her vehicle was left.

These video recordings
were years and years old,

unfortunately, and were
deleted before Ebby vanished.

But it's still unexplainable

why the original authorities

on the case wouldn't
interview the security guard

with such interesting, vital information.

Sadly, no further information is known

about the guard or the
mysterious parking lot man.

All we can do is hope that
the current investigators

on Ebby's case consider all these issues

and have returned to
research the red flags raised

by worried onlookers.

Before we divulge our hypothesis

of Ebby's unsolved murder,

we want to make our known
our conclusions presented

in "Cold Case Detective" are
purely logical speculation

based on evidence of
circumstance and factual subtext.

We are only privy to the
same information presented

in each video and we do not attempt

to promise certainty
or an expert guarantee

on the findings we reach in closing.

We simply observe, research, and report.

This case is especially
confounding due to the major lack

of published details or released documents

for public analysis.

On one hand it makes perfect sense.

The case is an open investigation

and law enforcement
rarely discloses details

of ongoing homicide cases in
order to protect the victim,

their family, and not let the
perpetrator gain a leg up.

But on the other hand it creates a rift

in community speculation and conspiracy

while rumors like the
involvement of the police's son

are spread through the
volatility of the internet.

Being unable to confirm or
deny any reports or musings,

causes headaches more than
it relieves the haziness.

From our vantage point we speculate

that Ebby had courageous intentions

when she left her grandparents house

on Saturday, October 24th.

She was not going to
let the abusive actions

of her four attackers go unnoticed.

And when she received no
assistance from the call she made

to Little Rock Police Department,
she stuck up for herself.

Ebby's mother, Laurie, said
Ebby never kept secrets

if it meant compromising
somebody's safety.

And in this case Ebby
wasn't going to sit back

and let that very thing happen to herself.

She messaged a couple of the attackers

threatening legal action
and making it known

her knowledge of the video proof,

inciting fear and wrath
in the men she texted.

The four attackers either reacted
to the incident themselves

or found associates to carry
out what was about to happen.

The men potentially then
pretended to show remorse,

saying they would delete the
videos and apologize in person.

Ebby wanted to see the best in everyone,

could've innocently agreed to meet them

in hopes to resolve the ordeal.

That is most likely
where things went wrong.

The meeting place was
probably not Chalamont Park,

rather Chalamont Park is
where Ebby's car was driven

and left to run dead,

throwing off investigators and
giving the perpetrators time

to deal with Ebby's corpse.

When the initial search of the
park was finished by police,

the body was moved to the drainage pipe,

causing the decaying
smell that was detected

by the Foley family

and explaining why the
cadaver dogs never picked up

any scent during the first inspection.

How many times afterwards the
body was moved, if at all,

cannot be known for sure,

but there's a chance it
was not there the night

of Sunday October 25th when
the maddening mystery began.

The true actions of the
original detectives,

the four men accused of rape,

and any co-conspirators
cannot be confirmed

until arrests are made and
case details are announced.

Until then all we can do is
honor Ebby and her memories

with grace and dignity.

She loved going to the beach
and listening to the ocean.

She loved the sunshine, the sand,

the seashells, the serenity.

Her mother told the following
story in Ebby's obituary.

She was 10 years old during a vacation

when a tropical depression was
going to last for seven days.

Ebby wanted to go out and play

and her mum said, "We're
praying the storm away."

She walked right out into
the storm and prayed it away

and the rest of us
watched the sun come out

and the rest of the week
was full of sunshine.

The beach was one our favorite places

and I will always feel as if
she's still there with me.

Hopefully Ebby is cascading in the warmth

of a different kind of beach

wherever the next life takes us.

Meanwhile, we must remain
diligent to bring closure

to her unjust murder and bring peace

to the Steppach and Jurnigan families.

Ebby would go to the ends of the universe

to help her friends, to
protect her loved ones,

and lend a hand to those in need of help.

Let's return the favor.

This has been "Cold Case Detective."