Found Deceased FL - Madeline Soto, 13, Missing Child Alert, 13500 blk Town Loop Blvd, Orlando, 26 Feb 2024 *arrest* #11

[lonetraveler]

I agree, I read through some of the CW laws, and it seems a lot hinges on it being a willful act, and shes claiming she had no prior knowledge,( so not willful or intentional?) IDK??

https://www.childwelfare.gov/resources/definitions-child-abuse-and-neglect-florida/#

No prior knowledge, huh? What about does she have a brain? She sends her boyfriend and her daughter upstairs to sleep together but now claims that she had no earthly idea that sex would have occurred? This is ludacris.

 

[ttjo]

No prior knowledge, huh? What about does she have a brain? She sends her boyfriend and her daughter upstairs to sleep together but now claims that she had no earthly idea that sex would have occurred? This is ludacris.

and a few people even brought it to her attention.

 

[Wishbone]

No prior knowledge, huh? What about does she have a brain? She sends her boyfriend and her daughter upstairs to sleep together but now claims that she had no earthly idea that sex would have occurred? This is ludacris.

Who tells their boyfriend it's time for bed and also time to get MS ready for sleepy time and that they are sleeping together upstairs? Were they keeping MS so drugged out that she needed all that help and also help getting ready for school in the morning. Or is that just more lies? JS makes her teenage daughter sound like a two year old. Add to that in mommy's own words, MS still didn't take her cell phone to school that morning because she is so forgetful. How could she forget with all this help. The more JS talks the more nothing she says rings true. JMOO

 

[Rosydecember]

Did she tell him she hated him and didn't want him there?

Did she tell him she was late and maybe pregnant? MOO not based on anything of substance, just a nagging thought I can’t let go of

 

[claudicici]

IF Jenn herself had been renting out the rooms herself to make ends meet*, that would have been one thing. It would be crowded (6 people in one townhouse?) & I noticed even Jenn had a rack in her room for food sundries that didn't fit in the kitchen pantry. Cramped, but the partitioned area they made for Maddie was actually a little nook for herself. Maddie's space didn't have a door, but if Jenn had had 4 children each needing their own space, I think it would have sufficed.

I think we're seeing it from a very privileged lens to call her home "horrible" simply from the photos**- IF an otherwise non-abusive, non-murderous family with that many members lived in that townhouse, I would not judge.

* we know it wasn't Jenn but Jenn's dad, since he owns the place.

** I'm excluding the hair dryer/ "toy" in Room 4. I still don't

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>
The reason I think it would be horrible for a 13 year old to live there even without the abuse is the complete lack of privacy,the grandpa seemed to actually love and care for Maddie and I think
he wouldn't have minded if bedroom #4 would have been her space

 

[AnyNameIWish]

Did she tell him she was late and maybe pregnant? MOO not based on anything of substance, just a nagging thought I can’t let go of

I'm going to go on a limb and say no to this one, seeing as they'd likely be pursuing 2 murder charges if there were a fetus involved.

The reason I think it would be horrible for a 13 year old to live there even without the abuse is the complete lack of privacy,the grandpa seemed to actually love and care for Maddie and I think
he wouldn't have minded if bedroom #4 would have been her space

Grandpa Soto owned the place was the one collecting 3 checks from each bedroom every month (the mom Angelica with the 16yo son with partial custody, Nathalie in one room, and Stephan) so he full well knew there were three renters in the townhouse. It sounds like Stephan's dad stopped paying rent for him in December, then they kept #4 as a "guestroom".

Maddie's cordoned off area seemed OK to me. It wasn't smack dab in the middle of the living area as I expected. Not ideal for a teen, absolutely not. But I don't know what attachment she had with her mom where even ****IF**** that monster wasn't in the picture, she might have felt more comfortable closer to mom on the 1st floor vs going all the way up the stairs.

 

[cujenn81]

This case seriously saddens and disturbs me like no other. Everything about it. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.

 

[iamshadow21]

The words under the scribbles are 'that resemble my perpetrator'. (It's a gift. Me and messy handwriting.)

MOO

I'd also suggest that the words were scribbled out and the word 'all' was probably added after that erasure.

Whoever wrote it was specific in the first instance, thought better of it, removed the specific statement and generalised it to include ALL males.

My guess based on the fact that the word 'all' is on the other side of the vertical line, the only word to be placed there.

MOO

 

[vls12345]

I was mistaken. Most of these reports are new enough to me that I don't outright recognize them. There are a lot less redactions than in other records. I frankly don't know how some of this stuff hasn't been reported on already. It doesn't make sense that I would get a "scoop" when I've been specifically only requesting records that have already been released.

Here are my notes on 24001896:

• COD: Asphyxiation (2)
  • Right portion of the hyoid bone was not in tact (60)
  • Cause of death ruled strangulation (71)
• Believed the homicide likely occurred in the home (5)
• A witness identified, from a photo line up, #5 as the person he saw on the side of the road at Old Hickory Tree Rd (it is not specified which photo, if any, is SS) (10)
• Investigators obtained surveillance footage of the middle school from 2024-02-26 14:00-16:40, but some of it was corrupted (17)
• An officer went to the VBV home 2024-02-26 at 20:17 (which would have been while JS and company were speaking to police at her mom's office) and spoke to the "leaseholder," who is also described as JS's roommate, who allowed him to search the home and said MS wasn't one to run away and didn't know why she would (19)
• Apartments 106 and 104 have video doorbells (the Soto residence is 107) (22)
• CS (SS's father) contacted North Port PD after SS's arrest to turn over one of SS's old computer towers. No hard drive was found inside of the tower (27) CS later believes he found that hard drive in his storage unit and that SS may have put it there on 2/28 when he drove to North Port (71)
• District Nine Medical Examiner's Office located in Orlando performed the autopsy and evidence items were collected under case number ME24-00403 (36)
• There is a description of physical evidence taken from the ME's office that includes left and right "hand" and "foot" bags, which I am not sure how to interpret (45)
• Dextroamp-amphetamine tabs, Adderall XR tabs, and Hydroxyzine Pam tabs were collected (in their bottles) as evidence. It isn't specified who they were prescribed to (46)
• [Redacted] made a 911 call at 18:53 on 2024-02-26 on behalf of JS to report MS missing. [Redacted] "would call 911 two different times after the initial call to Orange County, wanting to know why deputies haven't responded yet." (50)
  • Based on this blurb alone, I would expect 18:53 to have been the first 911 call, but I don't think that's factually the case
• Detective Morris (KPD) recounts Detective Hunt's (OSCO) interview of JS on 2024-02-27. Morris's description seems to include more details than Hunt's. Same for Hunt's interview of SS (51)
• [MS's grandmother] "stated she doesn't like Stephan because he doesn't do anything, as in working. She said Jennifer just doesn't want to be alone." (53)
• A folder on SS's Google drive "appeared dedicated to [redacted-MS] and contained over 1700 files a majority of which depicted sexual positions (54)
• JS says that she woke up on 2024-02-26 to SS trying to get the leash on the dog, and he told her to go back to sleep and he would take care of the dog (56)
• JS "stated they recently ended their relationship and he moved back to North Port, Florida to stay with his parents. Jennifer said she ended the relationship because he was a messy person. Jennifer said they didn't have a sexual relationship because her medications affected her sex drive. I asked Jennifer who drived her vehicle, and she said only her and Stephan. Jennifer said Stephan took her vehicle Monday night because he decided to go drive around, searching for Madeline. This would have been when Stephan traveled back to Saint Cloud in the early morning hours of 02/27/2024." (56)
• "I asked Stephan if he stayed in the same room as Madeline the entire night. Stephan said he was up and down, maybe to grab a drink, but he never slept in Jennifer`s bed that night. Stephan stated Madeline would set her alarm for around 0700-0730 hours, and would then snooze for a while. Stephan stated they eventually make it out the door. This contradicts his prior statement saying they made good time getting out of the house to drop her off. Stephan said he was giving Jennifer updates as the morning went along, meaning he was telling Jennifer when Madeline was getting dressed and leaving. This was also not true, as Jennifer stated the only time they spoke is when he was getting the leash on the dog and he told her to go back to sleep. Stephan said they had time to kill since they were too early for school, so he returned home because he forgot his gate clicker for the complex. However, when Stephan arrived at the gate, he had his gate clicker in his hand while speaking with the security guard at Venetian Bay. Stephan said Madelinewas wearing a green sweatshirt, black shorts and white crocs when he dropped her off. This is a different description he provided deputies during the initial contact." (57)
• Honestly I'd just recommend reading all of page 57 starting with "On February 29, 2024, at approximately 1709 hours, we contacted Jennifer." to page 59 "We arrived at the Orange County Sheriff`s Office where Jennifer was taken inside to be interviewed by Detective O`Malley and Detective Smallwood further."
• The lock to the gate of the property where MS's body was found didn't appear to be tampered with, meaning SS would have had to drop her body over the gate or the barbed wire fence, then move it. (60)
• JS's ex-husband says that when they were married, he and JS stayed in a room upstairs and MS had her own. He separately said MS would sleep with JS, but he wasn't comfortable with them (ex-husband and JS) sleeping with MS in the same bed. (61)
  • I think this whole interview is worth reading as well
• A friend or acquaintance believed (paraphrased) SS cared more about MS than JS and questioned how he had so much money for his hobbies without a job (62)
• DS (SS's mother) didn't approve of SS's and JS's relationship because of "drug use," but it isn't stated who used drugs or if they were illicit or prescribed. DS and CS felt Jennifer had significant mental health problems and that when one of them had an episode, it would bring the other down, and they would both sleep all the time. When SS and JS split up, he moved to his own room in the home (presumably room 4) and CS would pay his $600 rent. CS thinks SS seemed more anxious than usual before the 2/25 trip, and he spoke to him on the phone on 2/26 at 15:17 and thought SS seemed off, and when they spoke again at 16:54, SS said there had been "an occurrence" and that the area he dropped MS off was known for kidnappings and abductions. DS didn't like MS and SS sleeping in the same bed. CS thought JS was acting differently than she should have been, and nothing SS says is true (65)
  • Another one worth reading the whole thing
• A roommate returned from work on 2024-02-25 around 23:00-23:30 and did not see anyone but could hear people upstairs. When she went to sleep around 02:30, she could hear noises coming from SS's room, like someone putting things on a table, which would have had to be significantly loud for it to travel through two closed doors and across a hallway. She saw SS multiple times the next day (66)
• JS texted SS at 22:39 on 2024-02-25 telling him to make sure MS goes to bed "right now" (67)
• Texts between SS and JS indicate SS sometimes gave MS an unnecessary dose of her medicine (68)
• JS had an attorney for an interview she had at the State Attorney's Office 2024-04-18, which was given under oath (71)
• JS had a new job at Disney (which was at least sometimes at night/evening) that she was in training for, and SS came to help because if he was there, MS would get to stay at home, which would mean JS could see her more, unlike when MS was staying at her grandma's (72)
• JS seems to have texted MS's father about not wanting MS to be filmed under bathroom doors. This is similar to what SS apparently did in photographing one of their roommates. JS explained this was because she had heard a story about someone being filmed in an airplane bathroom (73)
• A USB drive collected from CS had 35k images of CSAM (they appeared to not be of MS) and was not used since 2020 (73)
• JS says SS told her, on 2/26, that he was going to go "cruising" on US-192 to look for MS, and JS questioned if that was a good idea (76)
• On 2/28 (presumably while stuck in the hotel) JS called the NCMEC and local news stations (76)
• JS said SS was anxious and panicky when law enforcement had his cell phone on 2/28 and they discussed how LE was focusing on the "wrong guy" (76)
• SS tells his parents he hadn't made it in time to go to MS's birthday party (78)
• On 2/28, SS tried logging in to his Google account while on his parents WiFi, but was unsuccessful. He told his parents he went to North Port to grab a few things and get his ducks in a row but couldn't find what he was looking for. LE believes he was attempting to log in to Google to deleted images of him abusing MS (78)
  • JS said at this time he tried to log in to his email from her phone but was unsuccessful because of 2 factor authentication
• CS "tells Stephan he wished they could understand how this whole situation came about and Stephan replies "Well I did't start it". Chris told Stephan he participated in it, and Stephan says "yeah". At no point during the conversation did Stephan deny he murdered Madeline." (78)

My callouts:

• I'm still thinking he might have returned to VBV before school to look for MS's other croc
  • I wonder, in the footage in which SS is seen moving MS's body from the passenger seat to the trunk, are her feet visible? That is, is she visibly wearing only one shoe?
  • SS had the gate clicker in his hand when he returned to VBV before school, so he definitely didn't return for it. We already didn't believe that was the reason he went back, but I thought it might still be true that he didn't have the clicker. Interesting that he was completely fabricating that, possibly enough that he intentionally went through the front gate to support his story
• It's very clear to me, from the way these reports on the interviews are written, that investigators were very suspicious of and did not trust SS, but that the same isn't true for JS. They may be side-eyeing her, but the tone in the reports doesn't read like they're calling her a liar in the same way they are with SS.
• Just reiterating my belief that people interested in these docs should read pages 57-59
• CS and DS again sound very frustrated with SS, in contrast to how...fawning? enabling? they sound when speaking to SS in those emails
• CS and JS both say that SS had visited three times total (including 2/25) since leaving. Is this consistent with the dates of CSAM?
• This is the first I recall hearing about SS having CSAM that was not of MS
• He is a lot more open sounding with his parents on the phone than he is in email. I actually thought he was being smartly quiet, not talking about the investigation really, but these phonecalls are not smart

Thanks again for uploading all of this, @Mack the Knife.

One thing that keeps sticking in my mind when I've seen this mentioned are the texts the night when Maddie is sent to sleep in the same room as SS. (Yellow highlighting mine.) He refers to Maddie as building a nest for sleeping & I keep thinking that she has tucked herself in with pillows, blankets, or whatever else in an effort to "build a wall" around herself for protection. Kwim? Totally MOO but it's the image that keeps popping up in my head. All of this makes me sad for Maddie but somehow this really underlines it for me. She was living with a shark or sharks & was trying to protect herself so she could sleep. Imo.



Screen shot from page 67 of the upload: https://www.scribd.com/document/761...-the-investigation-into-Madeline-Sotos-murder

 

[imstilla.grandma]

This case seriously saddens and disturbs me like no other. Everything about it. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.

Me too and I'm not too damn happy about his enabler, the one who bore her and who should have been her fiercest protector

 

[scapa]

Thanks again for uploading all of this, @Mack the Knife.

One thing that keeps sticking in my mind when I've seen this mentioned are the texts the night when Maddie is sent to sleep in the same room as SS. (Yellow highlighting mine.) He refers to Maddie as building a nest for sleeping & I keep thinking that she has tucked herself in with pillows, blankets, or whatever else in an effort to "build a wall" around herself for protection. Kwim? Totally MOO but it's the image that keeps popping up in my head. All of this makes me sad for Maddie but somehow this really underlines it for me. She was living with a shark or sharks & was trying to protect herself so she could sleep. Imo.

View attachment 527364

Screen shot from page 67 of the upload: https://www.scribd.com/document/761...-the-investigation-into-Madeline-Sotos-murder

Good catch and I agree -- that particular strategy of self-protection with any object to hand, however fragile it may be, is sadly familiar to me.

 

[vls12345]

Good catch and I agree -- that particular strategy of self-protection with any object to hand, however fragile it may be, is sadly familiar to me.

I'm sorry to hear that, @scapa. I hope you are safe now.

 

[Curious Me]

... as well there is this note from a notebook in her room?

The words under the scribbles are 'that resemble my perpetrator'. (It's a gift. Me and messy handwriting.) MOO

Had to see it again. Yes, that does seem like what it says. Certainly doesn't seem like something a 13 yr. old would be numbering and writing down. I agree it could be for a disability claim, or therapist visit, and probably written by an adult, most likely JS. All JMO.

 

[iamshadow21]

Had to see it again. Yes, that does seem like what it says. Certainly doesn't seem like something a 13 yr. old would be numbering and writing down. I agree it could be for a disability claim, or therapist visit, and probably written by an adult, most likely JS. All JMO.

Yeah, it doesn't sound like the way a child would write. Even a child who has done trauma work with a therapist. The language use is all wrong. A child wouldn't be talking about work, either, they'd be talking about school.

And if it is JS, it just makes me all the angrier. If she has a (presumably sexual) trauma in her past, and yet she couldn't give less of a toss about her daughter being continuously raped since the age of seven? Just fine about it, if it's not happening to her, personally?

MOO

 

[vls12345]

And if it is JS, it just makes me all the angrier. If she has a (presumably sexual) trauma in her past, and yet she couldn't give less of a toss about her daughter being continuously raped since the age of seven? Just fine about it, if it's not happening to her, personally?

RSBM.

Agreed. The "severe trauma responses when I encounter all males" in the note makes me mad because, obviously, SS is an exception (& I'm still appalled at how she "comforted" him while he "cried" during an early media interview) & she had zero problem sending Maddie to stay with him in a room with a chain lock on the inside of the door.

That just creeps me out.

While JS may have a trauma response, she seems not to have a care about her daughter having or perhaps developing one.

I've tried many ways to see JS as innocent, at least somewhat, since she hasn't been charged. But each thing that comes out makes it just look worse & worse. It's gross negligence at the very least &, in reality, much more than that.

MOO.

 

[iamshadow21]

RSBM.

Agreed. The "severe trauma responses when I encounter all males" in the note makes me mad because, obviously, SS is an exception (& I'm still appalled at how she "comforted" him while he "cried" during an early media interview) & she had zero problem sending Maddie to stay with him in a room with a chain lock on the inside of the door.

That just creeps me out.

While JS may have a trauma response, she seems not to have a care about her daughter having or perhaps developing one.

I've tried many ways to see JS as innocent, at least somewhat, since she hasn't been charged. But each thing that comes out makes it just look worse & worse. It's gross negligence at the very least &, in reality, much more than that.

MOO.

Well, we know that he had specific interests in a sexual partner, and she claimed to have no sexual drive, possibly because of her medication. I don't know how much sex actually factored in their relationship.

If she was complicit, then she knew that she could just send him and Madeline off together, he could get what he wanted, and she could get a good night's sleep.

MOO