Osceola County Florida
Madeline Soto
Madeline Soto, a 13-year-old girl, lived with her mother, Jennifer Soto, and her mother’s boyfriend, Stephan Sterns.
Madeline was reported missing by her mother on February 26, 2024, around 4:00 p.m., after Jennifer went to pick her up from school and found that she was not there.
Two days later, on February 28, 2024, an arrest warrant was issued for Stephan Sterns on charges of sexual battery and possession of child pornography. He was later charged with a total of 60 crimes related to Madeline’s case.
Madeline Soto Case Documents
Stephan Sterns, who is accused of killing his 13-year-old step-daughter Madeline Soto
FDLE – Stephan Sterns Verizon Phone GPS Data
Orange County Missing Person Investigation Deputy Joseph
FDLE – Stephan Sterns Verizon Phone GPS Data
Kissimmee PD – Incident Investigation Report
Incident Report, Interviews, Detective Hunt
Incident Report, Yellow Cloth in Pond, Detective Freeze
Search Warrant App, Affidavit, and Return – Warrant
Osceola County Forensics and Crime Scene – Meta – Discord Files
Orange county Recovery – Body – Morgue – Photographs – Report
Oceola County Department of Corrections File on Stephan Sterns
Incident Report, Interviews, Complete Case File
Stephan Sterns Supplemental Reports, Jail, Calls and Mail
Stephan Sterns North Port PD
February 26, 2024:
7:35 a.m.: Surveillance footage shows Stephan Sterns discarding items in the trash.
7:50 a.m. – 8:31 a.m.: Sterns’ car is seen leaving and returning to the apartment complex several times, with Madeline’s body visible inside.
4:30 p.m.: Jenn Soto arrives at Hunter’s Creek Middle School to pick up Madeline but discovers she never made it to school.
8:00 p.m.: Madeline is reported missing. Sterns claims he dropped her off near the school, but her phone was left at home.
February 27, 2024
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office issues a public alert regarding Madeline’s disappearance.
February 28, 2024:
A large-scale search for Madeline is conducted, but no trace is found.
Stephan Sterns is arrested as the prime suspect, facing charges of sexual battery and possession of child sexual abuse materials after incriminating images are discovered on his phone.
February 29, 2024:
The arrest affidavit for Sterns is released, revealing inconsistencies in his story and evidence that his phone underwent a factory reset.
March 1, 2024:
Sheriff John Mina announces that investigators believe Madeline is dead and was likely killed at her home before Sterns moved her body.
Video evidence shows Sterns disposing of items in a dumpster. Madeline’s backpack and laptop are recovered.
Madeline’s body is found in a wooded area, and a vigil is held in her memory.
March 2, 2024:
Sterns waives his first court appearance; the judge denies bail.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office accidentally posts a confidential crime scene photo on social media.
Crime Scene
March 1, 2024 Madeline Soto body is recovered in a wooded area near Hickory Tree Road in St. Cloud.. A few hours after officials said this evidence made them confident Madeline was dead, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said they received a tip from someone who said they potentially saw involvement in the case.
March 5, 2024:
The State Attorney’s Office requests an investigation into the leaked crime scene photo.
March 6, 2024:
Kissimmee police continue their investigation, revealing Sterns’ history of sexual abuse towards Madeline.
Video evidence shows Sterns disposing of items in a dumpster. Madeline’s backpack and laptop are recovered.
Madeline’s body is found in a wooded area, and a vigil is held in her memory.
March 12, 2024:
The State Attorney’s Office files 60 charges against Sterns, including multiple counts of sexual battery and possession of child sexual abuse materials. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for April 24, and the trial is set for May 13.
Stephan Sterns Arrest
Stephan Sterns Body Search
March 21, 2024:
Kissimmee Police Chief Betty Holland provides an update, emphasizing the thoroughness of the investigation.
April 4, 2024:
The Medical Examiner’s Office withholds the autopsy report due to confidentiality statutes. The 911 call audio is released.
April 24, 2024:
Stephan Sterns is indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Madeline Soto. Authorities discuss the calculated nature of his actions but have not yet decided on seeking the death penalty.
Madeline Soto Room
Madeline Soto didn’t have a proper bedroom, according to police. Instead, she slept in a makeshift space on the first floor, set up in the living room. A partition separated this area from the kitchen, and that’s where her bed was placed, adorned with a dinosaur blanket and a purple comforter.
Madeline Soto Items
Stephan Sterns Tried to Dispose Madeline Soto Items
Car Forensics – Evidence
Jenn Soto Nissan and Stern Lincoln MKZ
Inside the 2010 Lincoln MKZ car, deputies uncovered items such as latex gloves, cloth gloves, a knife, a towel, a rag and a blanket, according to documents. Other items such as a white rope, a trash bag, and a white towel were
found in the vehicle’s trunk
Stephan Sterns – Search
Law Enforcement search for evidence
MADELINE SOPHIA SOTO
Madeline Soto, a 13-year-old girl, lived with her mother, Jennifer Soto, and her mother’s boyfriend, Stephan Sterns.
Madeline was reported missing by her mother on February 26, 2024, around 4:00 p.m., after Jennifer went to pick her up from school and found that she was not there.
Two days later, on February 28, 2024, an arrest warrant was issued for Stephan Sterns on charges of sexual battery and possession of child pornography. He was later charged with a total of 60 crimes related to Madeline’s case.
Madeline Soto was reported missing in Kissimmee
MADELINE SOPHIA SOTO, 13, WAS REPORTED MISSING ON MONDAY 26 FEBRUARY AT AROUND 8.30AM.ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE (OCSO) SAID THAT SHE WAS LAST SEEN OFF VILLAGE PARK DRIVE IN KISSIMMEE, NEAR ORLANDO, HEADING TO SCHOOL.
MADELINE WAS DESCRIBED AS WHITE, 5’1” TALL, WITH BLONDE HAIR AND BLUE EYES. SHE WAS WEARING A GREEN SWEATSHIRT, BLACK SHORTS AND WHITE CROCS. HER MOTHER’S BOYFRIEND, STEPHAN STERNS, CLAIMED THAT HE HAD DROPPED HER OFF NEAR TO HUNTER’S CREEK MIDDLE SCHOOL ON TOWN LOOP BOULEVARD AROUND 8:45 AM. HOWEVER, MADELINE NEVER SHOWED UP FOR CLASS. HER MOTHER DISCOVERED THAT MADELINE WAS MISSING AFTER SHE WENT TO PICK HER UP FROM SCHOOL LATER THAT DAY.
MADELINE’S BODY WAS FOUND ON MARCH 1, 2024. STEPHAN STERNS HAS BEEN
CHARGED WITH SA AND THE MURDER OF MADELINE SOTO.
GRAND-JURY DOCUMENT
Timeline – Madeline Soto
- 02/22/2024, Thursday – Madeline Soto turned 13
- 02/25/2024 3:00 pm Madeline’s party at grandmother’s house
- 02/25/2024 8:30 pm JS’s sister dropped Madeline off at home after the party.
- 02/25/2024 SS tells JS that MS has taken her “nighttime medicine” and was getting ready for bed.
- 02/25/2024 10:30 pm JS got home from work
- 02/25/2024 11:00 pm Jennifer S got a new job and needed a rest, so she told Stephan and MS to sleep upstairs while she slept downstairs.
- 02/26/2024 7:00 a.m.-7:15 a.m.: SS told detectives that he and Madeline woke up to get an early start so they could get McDonald’s on the way to school.
- 02/26/2024 – 7:35 a.m. Stephan Sterns discarding a trash bag filled with items in the trash compactor of his apartment complex. In the video, there is a female wearing a green sweater, believed to be Madeline, in the front seat of the vehicle. The female appeared completely slumped over with her mouth “ajar.”
- 02/26/2024 7:50 a.m. Stern’s car leaving the apt complex through the back gate wearing a red shirt and a female wearing a green sweater. The female appeared to be **sitting upright with her head slumped to her left side.** She was belted into the seat
- 02/26/2024 8:19 a.m. Sterns, entering through the front gate of the apt complex in his car. There is still a passenger in the car, believed to be Madeline, **in the same position as she was before.**
- 02/26/2024 09:00-9:30 am JS gets out of bed and heads to a dr appointment.
- 02/26/2024 9:40 a.m. Video shows Sterns vehicle pulling into a Holiday Inn on S. John Young Parkway.
- 02/26/2024 9:42 a.m. Sterns wearing a red shirt exits the car and opens the trunk. He opens the passenger side door and carries what appears to be a limp body to the trunk of the vehicle.
- 02/26/2024 9:44 a.m., he’s seen driving away
- 02/26/2024 10 am, SS calls JS to tell her he and MS didnt end up getting McDonald’s as planned because MS was too tired. He also explained to her that he accidentally left his phone at the apartment.
- 02/26/2024 11 am & 11:15 am Jen returns home from a doctor’s apt. SS was home at that time.
- 02/26/2024 – 1:20 pm: He is seen changing a tire on Old Hickory Tree Road. He is Wearing a Green/Light brown backward. The car was facing Harmony.
- 02/26/2024 – 4:30 p.m. – Jenn Soto goes to pick up Maddie from Hunter’s Creek Middle School and finds out her daughter did not attend a class that day. JS reported MS missing.
- 02/26/2024 4:35 p.m.: Multiple cameras captured what is believed to be Sterns arriving to the complex trash compactor in the silver Lincoln sedan. According to documents, he removed a tire, or what appeared to be the tread of a tire, and tossed it in the compactor.
- 02/26/2024 Stephan Sterns was interviewed. He gave consent to search his phone but stated that he had accidentally performed a factory reset earlier.
- 02/26/2024 8 p.m. – Madeline was reported missing. Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies met her mom at school, canvassed the area, and searched with a bloodhound, but they had no success.
- 02/27/2024 10 PM – Jenn Soto interviews with FOX 35, and Sterns appears in the background
- 02/28/2024 – 4 pm – Sheriff Mina said Madeline Soto had left her phone at home on Monday, the day of her disappearance. When deputies searched it, they learned that Soto had told her friends that she wanted to “live in the woods” after her 13th birthday, triggering a search in the woods area behind Hunter’s Creek Middle School. LE received a Stephan Sterns phone content. Emergency Arrest Warrant was issued for Stephan Sterns.
- 02/28/2024 9:52 p.m. Sterns arrested on unrelated charges, named ‘prime suspect’ in Madeline Soto case
Stephan Sterns has not been charged with murder but has been arrested on other charges. The Kissimmee Police Department is the lead on the sexual battery case, working alongside the Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigations Division.
7:35 a.m. Monday, Investigators say they have video evidence of Sterns dropping some items in that dumpster
8:10 a.m.: A License Plate Reader captured Stephan’s vehicle with the Florida tag “TYLL82” driving away from the school during school hours.
8:19 a.m. The video shows Sterns returning to the apartment complex, showing what appears to be Soto’s body.
1:20 pm: He is seen changing a tire on Old Hickory Tree Road. He is Wearing a Green/Light brown backward. The car was facing area of Harmony.
CASE FILED 02/29/2024 CASE NUMBER 2024 CF 000632
CASE FILED 03/01/2024 CASE NUMBER 2024 CF 000643
MARCH 2 – Sterns waived his first appearance in the Osceola County court, instead being represented solely by his attorney. The judge granted Sterns no bond.
MARCH 6 – Kissimmee police announced they were continuing to investigate Soto’s death. Released court records show that Sterns is accused of sexually abusing Soto for years. Despite Sterns’ attempts to wipe his phone, investigators were able to recover files showing the sexual abuse, which stemmed back as far as 2022, an arrest warrant affidavit says.
MARCH 12 – The Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office announced that it filed 60 counts against Sterns
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