Found Deceased FL - Madeline Soto, 13, Missing Child Alert, 13500 blk Town Loop Blvd, Orlando, 26 Feb 2024 *arrest* #5

[ttjo]

Yes. The grandma is the one who said that her daughter asked SS to take her to school. Grandma Yolanda starts speaking at 1:20 here

Thank you, I would have been looking for 5 hours I'm sure.

 

[AnyNameIWish]

It is true, however, that in the sworn statement to police Jenn used the terminology that "step-father, SS, picked her up from home and dropped her off at Hunters Creek Middle School". Please see image.

She's so contradictory.

 

[Mimimom]

I seriously doubt a barely 13 year old wouldn't know her own address. I'm calling BS on that which raises the question... why would JS even say something as odd as that? For her story that "she was taken" and "doesn't know her address"?

If "she was taken" or if shes lost ,and doesn't know her address then she's probably not coming home. MOO

 

[lightofmine99]

Hard to imagine why JS was more tired than SS, since SS was up at ~5am that morning to take Maddie to school. Had he just woken up about that time, or had he been up all night? Either way, JS is the one saying she was too tired to take Maddie to school. Makes it kinda hard to believe.

Yeah aside from a basic reason like, "maybe he didn't sleep much the night before," why would SS be up that early if he is unemployed and without obligation? Plus taking a kid to school can't be the hypothetical obligation if the kid doesn't have to be at school until around 9ish.

"I need to get up at 5 to take my kid(s) to school at 8:45" doesn't make sense.

 

[Pruddennce]

the other interview looked like it was inside her home,( not on zoom) and the Telemundo interview looked like they were filming outside, I'll try to find a picture to see where they were located. ( her complex or somewhere else,)

yes, thank you, the second interview was inside of the home. curious as to why it was a zoom, the first contact with the media, instead of face to face.

 

[Mack the Knife]

It is true, however, that in the sworn statement to police Jenn used the terminology that "step-father, SS, picked her up from home and dropped her off at Hunters Creek Middle School". Please see image.

She's so contradictory.

This is incorrect; the arrest warrant affidavit says “the mother advised her daughter’s step-father, Stephan Sterns, picked her up from home.” This is written by affiant Detective Brian Moore, and is not a quote from JS.

There is no public information that the arrest warrant was based on a sworn statement by JS or that JS ever used the “picked up” language. JS may have said it, but we do not currently know if that is the case, just as we don’t know if JS called SS “step-father”. It remains possible that Det. Moore misunderstood or mischaracterized.

 

[ttjo]

This is incorrect; the arrest warrant affidavit says “the mother advised her daughter’s step-father, Stephan Sterns, picked her up from home.” This is written by affiant Detective Brian Moore, and is not a quote from JS.

There is no public information that the arrest warrant was based on a sworn statement by JS or that JS ever used the “picked up” language. JS may have said it, but we do not currently know if that is the case, just as we don’t know if JS called SS “step-father”. It remains possible that Det. Moore misunderstood or mischaracterized.

Fair enough and thank you for clarifying.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[Bbgiraffe]

A lot of times weird things go on where the mom is mentally ill and actually jealous of the attention paid to her own child by the men in her life. So that could be something but really I dont think JS is involved at all, im not up to the minute on this but last I read no one is charged with murder yet. I'm not sure but I feel like we are going to get very little info on this case and the autopsy results, etc because of that sick freak selling Gannon's autopsy photos they had to change laws in Florida about information on minors (and many other states as well).

 

[Beekarina]

To me, the address or not knowing her way home doesn’t seem too crazy. I have ADHD too but I was diagnosed as an adult so idk if this is part of it but my spatial skills are abysmal. I generally couldn’t find my way home unless I was close enough to see it or on a very familiar route. I don’t really picture the way things are spatially related to one another in my head. I have to memorize which streets to turn left or right on and use the street signs. Until I’ve driven it enough for it to basically be on auto pilot. I’ve always known my addresses of where I’ve lived because I’m good at remembering numbers. But it wouldn’t help me any if trying to find my way. ADHD can involve a huge gap between strengths and weaknesses. She could have been a perfectly bright kid and not been able to find her way home. And maybe she never sat down to memorize her address. My childhood home was the same one the whole time and we had to recite our address in kindergarten. After that any other address I had was as an adult so I had to enter it on forms and stuff. If I’d moved somewhere at age 10 or so and my parents didn’t specifically ask me to recite the address I likely wouldn’t have known it either. JMO IME

It seems petty murky with Maddie what her actual diagnoses, if any, were.

I've listened to both JS and SS interviews a couple of times, and cannot sort out if MS was actually diagnosed with anything. They talk about having her evaluated on more than one occasion, but it seems as though things were not conclusive. I'm not really clear if this was ADHD or discussion of MS being somewhere on the spectrum? Both SS & JS sort of dance around this in their answers to the reporter's questions and in the information they spontaneously provided about it.

With other missing people, we hear things like "Takes medication".

I have a vague memory of a mention here of MS being listed as "Missing disabled". Does anyone remember this?

 

[Beekarina]

Ok I went and found exactly what JS says about ADHD:

Q: And you mentioned ADHD. Was there anything else maybe mentally going on or that that you knew of?

JS: Um, she does suffer from anxiety.. and once upon a time she was diagnosed with Autism uh, we had her re... what's the word

Q:... brained maybe?

JS: Re-evaluated. Okay, we had her reevaluated um, a few months ago actually, and they told us no, she didn't have Autism, but she did have some Autistic traits-- she did have ADHD, some Autistic traits, but not Autism so, I'm not sure where to leave with that because one doctor said she did, and one doctor saying she doesn't, and I don't know she's just in the middle I guess she because she does have some tendencies, but socially she's pretty great, so I'm not sure.

 

[Wishbone]

Ok I went and found exactly what JS says about ADHD:

Q: And you mentioned ADHD. Was there anything else maybe mentally going on or that that you knew of?

JS: Um, she does suffer from anxiety.. and once upon a time she was diagnosed with Autism uh, we had her re... what's the word

Q:... brained maybe?

JS: Re-evaluated. Okay, we had her reevaluated um, a few months ago actually, and they told us no, she didn't have Autism, but she did have some Autistic traits-- she did have ADHD, some Autistic traits, but not Autism so, I'm not sure where to leave with that because one doctor said she did, and one doctor saying she doesn't, and I don't know she's just in the middle I guess she because she does have some tendencies, but socially she's pretty great, so I'm not sure.

The poor child was sexually abused and traumatized for years, it stands to reason that she would have some type of emotional problems, not necessarily as simple as adhd......We've only been made aware of a fraction of what she was subjected to during all those years. How could she not be affected by all that he did to her. Makes me ill.....JMO

 

[Beekarina]

The poor child was sexually abused and traumatized for years, it stands to reason that she would have some type of emotional problems, not necessarily as simple as adhd......We've only been made aware of a fraction of what she was subjected to during all those years. How could she not be affected by all that he did to her. Makes me ill.....JMO

I agree with you.

Was thinking more about the way the ADHD was disclosed in the interviews. I mean, it is abundantly clear I have suspicions about JS, so I'm not trying to hammer it home in every possible manner. ADHD just seems a strange thing to toss out there to me, to lead with, but again we're dissecting every little thing at this point as it is what we have to discuss.

I feel it's weird for a teen to forget their phone, especially one who would be "digging around in her backpack for her earphones". (which we now know is a total lie as the backpack was in the dumpster.) I also feel a teen with ADHD probably would want their phone even more, but maybe I'm offbase with this? i.e. I could see her in the morning going around "Has anyone seen my phone?" and maybe running LATE because she didn't know where it was.

Since I am a mom to young adults, I know how they all are with phones. MS would have been checking her phone that morning ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL, especially since it was the morning after the party. She also probably would have been listening to music in the car.

 

[certainprocedure]

This is incorrect; the arrest warrant affidavit says “the mother advised her daughter’s step-father, Stephan Sterns, picked her up from home.” This is written by affiant Detective Brian Moore, and is not a quote from JS.

There is no public information that the arrest warrant was based on a sworn statement by JS or that JS ever used the “picked up” language. JS may have said it, but we do not currently know if that is the case, just as we don’t know if JS called SS “step-father”. It remains possible that Det. Moore misunderstood or mischaracterized.

Cannot count how often my spoken words have been misinterpreted by people writing them down, and I would guess we’ve all seen probable cause affidavits that aren’t _quite_ accurate. The “picked up“ phrasing could very well be a product of somewhat quickly-generated writing with little to no editing. These things don’t really go through a lot of revisions, and LE are often working from quickly-scribbled notes, memory, etc, at this stage in the process. Also, while most detectives are clever, clever people in terms of solving cases, not all of them are especially good writers. Nevermind how often they are at least somewhat sleep deprived, or dealing with the stress of staring into humanity’s abyss on a regular basis, or both.

JMO, etc.

 

[Wishbone]

I agree with you.

Was thinking more about the way the ADHD was disclosed in the interviews. I mean, it is abundantly clear I have suspicions about JS, so I'm not trying to hammer it home in every possible manner. ADHD just seems a strange thing to toss out there to me, to lead with, but again we're dissecting every little thing at this point as it is what we have to discuss.

I feel it's weird for a teen to forget their phone, especially one who would be "digging around in her backpack for her earphones". (which we now know is a total lie as the backpack was in the dumpster.) I also feel a teen with ADHD probably would want their phone even more, but maybe I'm offbase with this? i.e. I could see her in the morning going around "Has anyone seen my phone?" and maybe running LATE because she didn't know where it was.

Since I am a mom to young adults, I know how they all are with phones. MS would have been checking her phone that morning ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL, especially since it was the morning after the party. She also probably would have been listening to music in the car.

We know she did not forget her phone,she was dead, killed, murdered. I just can't even listen to any of the disparaging remarks JS makes about all the various shortcomings that MS was afflicted with. (but MS was happy and social and they hadn't had a fight or an argument in a few weeks, la la la)It makes me feel like I'm being gaslighted. JMO

 

[modesty blaise]

Is the arrest warrant affidavit a document that's used in court?

 

[Universecalling]

This is incorrect; the arrest warrant affidavit says “the mother advised her daughter’s step-father, Stephan Sterns, picked her up from home.” This is written by affiant Detective Brian Moore, and is not a quote from JS.

There is no public information that the arrest warrant was based on a sworn statement by JS or that JS ever used the “picked up” language. JS may have said it, but we do not currently know if that is the case, just as we don’t know if JS called SS “step-father”. It remains possible that Det. Moore misunderstood or mischaracterized.

The incident report from OCS is the only place the sworn statements are mentioned, as far as I remember.

“On February 26, 2023, at approximately 1948 hours, I, Deputy Joseph (10644), responded to [redacted] Village Park Drive, Orlando, Orange County, Florida, regarding a Missing Juvenile. While on the scene, the step-parent stated he dropped his daughter off at school, and when the mother went to the school, the daughter was not there. The parents searched within the neighborhood and places where the daughter may have gone. The parents could provide a location where the daughter may have been but yielded negative results when deputies checked the area. The juvenile was entered into FCIC/NCIC and EMEResouce as missing disabled.

My investigation revealed the following:

When I arrived on the scene, I spoke with the mother, Jennifer Lissette Soto, who gave me verbal and sworn written testimony. On February 26, 2023, at approximately 0800 hours Jennifer observed (missing) Madeline Soto getting dressed for school, (step-father) Stephan Sterns took Madeline to school dropping her off near the intersection of Town Loop Bivd and Hunter's Park lane at approximately 0830 hours. Jennifer went to Hunter's Creek Middle School in an attempt to pick up Madeline at approximately 1600 hours when she discovered Madeline did not make it to school. In an effort to find Madeline, Jennifer looked through the neighborhoods near Madeline's school and went to her mother's business office located at [redacted] Village Park Drive.

I later spoke with Stephan Stern who stated in a verbal and sworn written statement the following:
At approximately 0825 - 0840 hours Stephan dropped Madeline off approximately one block away from her school. Stephan watched Madeline leave his vehicle and walk toward the direction of her school. As Stephan was driving away he could see what appeared to be Madeline searching through her book bag he did not think anything of it due to Madeline usually looked through her bag to find headphones so she could put them in before going to school. Stephan began heading home when he attempted to stop for a vape juice at a nearby vape shop but determined it was closed, so Stephan went home to Kissimmee. Once Stephan was home for about an hour he went back out to retrieve a vape juice and then run errands. Stephan stated he returned home and stayed home at approximately 1430 hours.

While on the scene, I had Deputy Diaz go to [redacted] Los Palmas Vista Drive (grandmother's home) due to the close proximity to both the school and the grandmother's business that Madeline would frequently visit. Deputy Moony was able to establish an attempt to contact [redacted] Santa Maria Drive to see if Madeline made her way back to her mother's home. Both addresses yielded negative results.

[obscured] provide me with the phone number of Madeline's best friend”

 

[ttjo]

I have a vague memory of a mention here of MS being listed as "Missing disabled". Does anyone remember this?

yes, I remember @Universecalling just posted above me before I saw it. Here's the screenshot anyway.

 

[CuriousCricket]

This is incorrect; the arrest warrant affidavit says “the mother advised her daughter’s step-father, Stephan Sterns, picked her up from home.” This is written by affiant Detective Brian Moore, and is not a quote from JS.

There is no public information that the arrest warrant was based on a sworn statement by JS or that JS ever used the “picked up” language. JS may have said it, but we do not currently know if that is the case, just as we don’t know if JS called SS “step-father”. It remains possible that Det. Moore misunderstood or mischaracterized.

Which makes me worry even more about the correct permissions to look at SS's phone. If that isn't legally solid, they have nothing on him do they? In the Molly Tibbets case, a poster or two worried about if he was properly Mirandized. Innocently, I was positive LE had been certain to take care of that. I was wrong.

In this case, at least one person has wondered about the correct permissions to search SS's phone. Now, to me, that has become a worry.

 

[certainprocedure]

Is the arrest warrant affidavit a document that's used in court?

Not usually, no (at least not to get a conviction in and of itself). It just establishes _probable cause_ to make an arrest. There are plenty of times when the probable cause affidavit includes potential crimes that never even become part of the eventual court case. There are also times when defendants give detailed testimony to an arresting officer—it might come up then if the accused doesn’t take the stand, I think.

One of the WebSleuths lawyer-types can probably drop the best link to explain the “probable cause” aspect of it all, which is actually the main thing when it comes to that specific document. Its purpose is for a law enforcement officer to say: “here is the crime (or crimes) I believe this person committed and why. therefore I am arresting them.” There isn’t any expectation that all of it is absolutely accurate, only that the officer had good reason to believe the crime was committed by the person under arrest.

Disclaimer: Not a lawyer, just have a mostly-unrelated career that deals with a lot of legalese.