For three years, Ebby Steppach's family and friends have wondered and worried about her whereabouts. They reported her missing on October 2015 with the Little Rock, Arkansas police but her case remained a mystery.
But on Tuesday, police found the remains of the 18-year-old in a pipe drain at the nearby Chalamont Park. The confirmation of her death has left a community in mourning.
Authorities have shifted their focus from a missing person case to a homicide. Steppach's parents issued a statement as police confirmed that further investigations are underway.
"It has been through your support, many prayers and God's strength that they have been able to make this journey," the family's statement read. "God hears and answers all prayers," parents Laurie and Michael Steppach said.
The family were to hold a funeral for the teenager at the Christ Community Church in the Little Rock Christian Academy on Saturday. Earlier in the week, residents gathered at a memorial made by her friends in the park three years ago.
"I come down here every once in awhile to just pray," Steppach's friend Emily Hester told reporters. "I said a few prayers and I have a lucky dollar coin that I put down there."
Another friend of Steppach's, however, questioned whether the police properly handled the teenager's case. Kailey Foley told reporters that days after her best friend went missing, she and her mother, Margie Foley, told authorities that they smelled something odd at the park. She alleges that their suspicions were not investigated.
Margie did not hide her anger to the press. She said that suspecting Steppach's remains were in the area all this time made her sick because there could have still been time to find out what really happened to her in 2015.
