Found Deceased FL - Madeline Soto, 13, Missing Child Alert, 13500 blk Town Loop Blvd, Orlando, 26 Feb 2024 *arrest* #2

[tlcya]

*sighs*

With what LE have said, that would only be possible if you held a seance, JS.

I hope that if she is innocent in this, she gets counsel who talks sense into her. This is only going one way, and she will go down with him if she doesn't come clean about everything.

MOO

I echo this. If she knows anything more than what she's told it would behoove her to give that up now, or it only gets worse for her in the long run.

 

[PayrollNerd]

*sighs*

With what LE have said, that would only be possible if you held a seance, JS.

I hope that if she is innocent in this, she gets counsel who talks sense into her. This is only going one way, and she will go down with him if she doesn't come clean about everything.

MOO

JMO I know you agree. At this point, she is a victim who deserves our empathy, blessings and prayers. But yes, now’s her chance. Let’s hope she’s being advised by counsel. One reason they could be waiting to file murder charges is to verify the existence, or lack there of, of any accomplices. Offer any leniency or immunity.

She could have unwittingly been an accomplice, been or being so wrapped up in denial, under severe influence of a manipulating predator, that she is truly innocent. Her world has imploded in horrific detail. Unbelievably sad.

 

[scottishgal]

Verified Timeline as we know it

7.35 SS caught on camera dumping back pack near apartment ( we know he lived there now )
8.10 SS vehicle driving away from school caught on license plate reader camera
8.19 SS seen returning to the apartment with Maddie presumed deceased in the car , on camera
1.30 pm SS drives out to move the body ?

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

9:30
Bell Schedule

Thanks for that schedule link. That would explain why her mother said she went to pick her up after 4pm, which I initially thought sounded about 90 minutes later than a school would let out for the day.

As an aside, I wonder why their Wednesday schedule is different? Nothing like making it harder for parents to keep to a schedule!

 

[scrimpies]

I wonder though if the friend as a witness to the fact that SS considered Maddie his stepdaughter and also his own reddit posts that refer to her as his girlfriend's daughter, and the ones with the tamagotchi's and toys in which he says he bought some for him and some for his stepdaughter, might be enough for that charge to stick?

I am curious if he is listed as a contact for her at school and if he is marked as allowed to pick her up/sign her out.

 

[Sjöberg]

Thank you for the swift summary! Now we know, mom said she saw the girl get dressed for school at 8am. But we also know that at 7:35am, SS was dumping her things in the bin and then he *returned* there Maddie visible (possibly deceased).

This is such an odd lie. Seems like the timeline has been all over the place.

She say's Madeline woke up at 9:00 AM that morning: "That was around 9:00 AM when she got up". In the video @.47 Madeline Soto missing: Mother talks timeline leading up to daughter's disappearance in Florida

The sheriff said in his PC as quoted in the Nancy Grace episode posted above, that Maddie was said to have been dropped off around 8:30.

from the emergency warrant request:
Sterns reportedly said he dropped <Madeline> off at a church (13502 Town Loop Blvd, Orlando) down the road from the school (13400 Town Loop Blvd, Orlando) at 8:40 am, 50 minutes before school.

I am also sure she at some point came off as confirming that the last time they talked was the previous night and that she was sleeping in the morning.
Either this is some of the older reports and she told it because he told her to say that, or we have more problems here.
If the latter, it is especially stupid considering that time of death can be determined pretty accurately if body is found quickly enough. It even makes more sense if she did not know the time of death (and maybe not even the story).
But the lack of concrete times and locations has been worrying since the beginning.

 

[TravelingBug]

<snip>

As an aside, I wonder why their Wednesday schedule is different? Nothing like making it harder for parents to keep to a schedule!

Many districts now do this - typically as professional development time - and Wednesdays seem to be common, even in other states.

Like all the science teachers across the school work together, etc. to be sure their curriculum is lining up, state standards are being covered adequately and such.

I think it's used to eliminate full days off for staff development.

 

[Cartie]

**GRAPHIC WARNING**
As per the warrant, it does look like SS was living in a spare room at the family property.

 

[CuriousCricket]

I wonder if he had any logic when he did that? Any thought process at all? I cannot come up with a single good reason for him to have dumped her things in that dumpster, nor for him to have RETURNED there at 8:19am wherein police saw Maddie ON CAM in his vehicle (possibly dead already!). Can anyone come up with a reason??

Best I came up with for his return with her body in the car was so that he could go inside and use a device to plan where to take her and come up with his story as to where he dropped her off.

I wonder if he had any logic when he did that? Any thought process at all?

I wonder if he had any logic when he did that? Any thought process at all? I cannot come up with a single good reason for him to have dumped her things in that dumpster, nor for him to have RETURNED there at 8:19am wherein police saw Maddie ON CAM in his vehicle (possibly dead already!). Can anyone come up with a reason??

Best I came up with for his return with her body in the car was so that he could go inside and use a device to plan where to take her and come up with his story as to where he dropped her off.

"I wonder if he had any logic when he did that? Any thought process at all?"
NO, I doubt he did. When something completely stuns someone (or at least me), that person can't think. So, I think Madeline's death may have thrown him into a sheer blind panic, incapable of thought.

To me, it appears that his only thought was getting rid of everything. Anything incriminating had to be out of his possession before anyone even knew to look for Madeline. He had several hours - until Jenn went to pick her up at school at 4:30.

If he could think at all, I would guess he may have thought the dumpsters at the apartment complex were emptied on Monday. That way, the dumpster would have been emptied and Madeline's possessions safely in the landfill before anyone knew she was missing. That he appears to have been off on which day was "trash day" suggests to me his inability to think at 7:35 a.m.

So, 7:35 a.m. he puts the phone and laptop in the dumpster and leaves the complex. Which leads me to wonder if perhaps Jenn might soon be up and getting ready for work and he could not explain being there? He could not afford for Jenn or anyone he knew to see him there.

By 8:19 a.m., wonder if Jenn would have been gone and as you mentioned, he needed access to his own computer in order to pick somewhere to deposit his victim. His searches during that time would be interesting to know. Unless of course, he was searching anonymously.

I suspect he may have been able to think a little here. He want across county lines or jurisdictions - a Ted Bundy tip that served him well. So perhaps SS searched how to hide a body to keep from being connected to it.

She wasn't bagged -- a huge mistake of Rex Heuermann because bags preserve evidence. Bodies left to the elements and animals are washed clean and devoured generally so thoroughly cause of death is more difficult to determine. Thank goodness, SS was denied the gift of time. Thank goodness again for the flat tire. He was left exposed to passers-by and surveillance cameras.

I do wonder at the jeans in the photo when her "last seen" outfit specified black shorts.

And no mention of the Crocs . . .. hummm.

And that's all that's occurred to me so far as possibilities.

 

[jaeljoh]

**GRAPHIC WARNING**As per the warrant, it does look like SS was living in a spare room at the family property.

View attachment 488184

The property is two stories with a first floor master. 4012 Santa Maria Dr APT 107, Kissimmee, FL 34741 | Zillow

 

[oviedo]

<modsnip: Removed unrelated quote>

Madeline Soto: Story Jennifer Soto gave law enforcement doesn’t line up with what investigators know

Channel 9 learned Tuesday that the story Jennifer Soto -- the mother of 13-year-old Madeline Soto -- gave to law enforcement does not line up with what investigators know.

www.wftv.com

Snip
Newly obtained documents show that the girl’s mother told deputies Feb. 26 that she saw her daughter getting dressed for school at 8 a.m. Monday, and Sterns then took her to school.

Sources tell Channel 9 that Jennifer Soto has been interviewed multiple times by detectives from two agencies and that they are looking closely at all the statements she has made.

Oh wow !

 

[Mack the Knife]

Madeline Soto: Story Jennifer Soto gave law enforcement doesn’t line up with what investigators know

Channel 9 learned Tuesday that the story Jennifer Soto -- the mother of 13-year-old Madeline Soto -- gave to law enforcement does not line up with what investigators know.

www.wftv.com

Snip
Newly obtained documents show that the girl’s mother told deputies Feb. 26 that she saw her daughter getting dressed for school at 8 a.m. Monday, and Sterns then took her to school.

Sources tell Channel 9 that Jennifer Soto has been interviewed multiple times by detectives from two agencies and that they are looking closely at all the statements she has made.

This might explain the silence and lack of updates from LE. They're looking at EVERYTHING, as they should. IMO.

The question is no longer if she committed a crime, rather, it’s now the extent of her involvement.

I agree the inconsistencies are concerning, but just a reminder that LE knew about this (JS’s original statement and their conflicting timeline) but still said she was not a suspect.

 

[CuriousCricket]

I wonder if he had any logic when he did that? Any thought process at all? I cannot come up with a single good reason for him to have dumped her things in that dumpster, nor for him to have RETURNED there at 8:19am wherein police saw Maddie ON CAM in his vehicle (possibly dead already!). Can anyone come up with a reason??

Best I came up with for his return with her body in the car was so that he could go inside and use a device to plan where to take her and come up with his story as to where he dropped her off.

OOPS I thought I made two separate responses. Guess not.
My first thought was NO, NONE, and that he was wandering around in a sheer, blind panic attempting to get rid of Maddy and all her things before she was discovered missing when her mom when to pick her up in the afternoon.

However, it has occurred to me to think perhaps in his haze, he thought Mondays were trash days at the apartment complex. If so, perhaps he anticipated the dumpsters would be emptied and all Maddy's possessions safely in the landfill before she was discovered missing.

Putting her things that close to home appears the most dangerous thing he could have done. However, if he felt positive dumpsters were emptied on Mondays at the apartment and he had no idea when other dumpsters would be checked. Well, it almost makes sense doesn't it?

Apparently, dumpsters were not emptied on Mondays - not that one at least.

Also, returning home at 8:29, I agree with the idea of using a computer to look up locations to leave Maddy. And perhaps to look for ways to not be connected to a body. Plus, maybe he knew Jenn would be up and gone from the apartment by that time.

Wouldn't his computer searches be interesting? Wonder if he would have searched anonymously?

So, he found taking bodies across jurisdictions, a la Ted Bundy and went down in Osceola County, out of both Orange and Kissimmee.

He also avoided Rex Heuermann's fatal mistake of bagging his victim as left to the elements and nature, almost everything gets washed away and scattered.

I'm so thankful SS was not given the gift of time for nature to conceal his brutality. I am also thankful for the flat tire that exposed SS to passers by and surveillance cameras.

Was he able to think at 7:35 a.m.? I don't know. Maybe.

My guess is that it must be alleged that SS was the stepfather for him to be eligible for the charges that he was in a “custodial” role (see payrollnerd’s listing of the charges). It occurs to me that JS did us all a favor by saying SS was the stepfather. Did SS ever refer to himself as such?

The lawyer in me wonders if the defense can knock out those charges by proving SS was not the stepfather (legally not married to mom). Fortunately, it will be years before that appeal can be heard and with all the solid evidence of murder - and I’m sure there is more being developed as we speak - this is still, IMO, a death penalty case.

If SS himself referred to Madeline as his stepdaughter, then what? If inside the family it was understood it was a stepfather/stepdaughter relationship, would that carry weight?

 

[lightofmine99]

I agree the inconsistencies are concerning, but just a reminder that LE knew about this (JS’s original statement and their conflicting timeline) but still said she was not a suspect.

Is it possible they would say that when it's not true to throw people off? Just curious.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Sunrise in Kissimmee FL would have been around 6:55 am the day they reported her missing. That leads me to think she would have had to have been moved to his car before then, in the dark.

 

[Chimera]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1765135251762753587

I cannot access the news in USA - can someone send a summary? PLS?

Hmmm....

Madeline Soto: Story Jennifer Soto gave law enforcement doesn’t line up with what investigators know

Channel 9 learned Tuesday that the story Jennifer Soto -- the mother of 13-year-old Madeline Soto -- gave to law enforcement does not line up with what investigators know.

www.wftv.com

Snip
Newly obtained documents show that the girl’s mother told deputies Feb. 26 that she saw her daughter getting dressed for school at 8 a.m. Monday, and Sterns then took her to school.

Sources tell Channel 9 that Jennifer Soto has been interviewed multiple times by detectives from two agencies and that they are looking closely at all the statements she has made.

Bbm.
Red bolded : Not if Madeline was placed in the car the night previously, and not if Madeleine was already deceased that morning ?

Black bolded : LE wouldn't say this publicly without having serious doubts, iykwim ?
Thanks for the links, @photographer4 and @PayrollNerd .
Omo.

 

[Mack the Knife]

Is it possible they would say that when it's not true to throw people off? Just curious.

Sure, they are allowed to lie to the public. I’m not sure why they would though. They have a suspect in custody, they have the deceased’s body…how do they benefit from lying? It erodes public trust, and they could have just said their investigation was ongoing, and not commented further.

 

[Chimera]

Sunrise in Kissimmee FL would have been around 6:55 am the day they reported her missing. That leads me to think she would have had to have been moved to his car before then, in the dark.

Emphasis mine.
Which means no one saw her up that morning getting ready for school, as has been stated.
No one.
Omo.

 

[Mack the Knife]

Hmmm....


Bbm.
LE wouldn't say this publicly without having serious doubts, iykwim ?
Thanks for the links, @photographer4 and @PayrollNerd .
Omo.

LE hasn’t said it publicly, to be clear. Presumably the sources are law enforcement or related, but I agree if LE had said it publicly that would carry a different weight, and essentially make her a POI.

 

[Ontario Mom]

LE hasn’t said it publicly, to be clear. Presumably the sources are law enforcement or related, but I agree if LE had said it publicly that would carry a different weight, and essentially make her a POI.

I mean, she lied about seeing Madeline get dressed that morning.
Immediate red flag.

Not being honest with LE certainly isn't doing her any favors, that's for sure.

jmo