LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) – It’s been one week since human remains found at a west Little Rock park were positively identified as 18-year-old Ebby Steppach.
Steppach had been reported missing in October of 2015.
The park where she was found had previously been searched by detectives working on her case.
We sat down with Ebby’s mother, Laurie Jernigan, to talk about the case and how her family is moving forward.
“I was right there. She was right there. Her body was right there. About sixty feet from her car,” Jernigan said. “I had no idea.”
For the past two and half years Ebby's mother has searched everywhere for her.
In May, her daughter's remains were found in a drainage pipe at Chalamont Park in west Little Rock, just feet from where her car was found in 2015.
“It confirms what I thought. I believed in my heart she was gone,” said Jernigan. “I wish my energy had gone towards looking in a pipe. I’m kind of beating myself up. I would have crawled in that pipe to look for her.”
Jernigan said since learning the news she's riddled with anger.
“I didn't know a lot of things I know now. I didn't know someone had reported smells from that drainage pipe. I didn't know there was a 911 call. I didn't know that. It may have been a different story,” she said.
Jernigan said she felt a sense of peace in the weeks before Ebby was found.
“I had been not sleeping. I started writing her funeral. I’ve been writing down her songs. I’ve been writing down her service,” Jernigan said. “God was preparing me. She was found the next day.”
Jernigan said her family is focused on moving forward, confident her daughter's case will be solved.
“It may be next week. I don’t know. That is something I can’t force. I can’t fight for her. I’m tired,” she said. “They’ve got this. I need to heal. My family needs to heal.”
She said now that her daughter has been found, her family can finally grieve.
“Ironically she is the first to accept death and is praising God. We’re here sad, but she is praising,” said Jernigan.
Ebby’s death is being investigated as a homicide.
Her remains have been sent to the state crime lab to determine a cause of death.