The murder of Madeline Soto

At 4:30 pm on Monday, February 26, 2024, Jenn Soto drove to Hunter’s Creek Middle School in Orlando, Florida to pick her 13-year-old daughter, Madeline Soto, up at school. When Madeline failed to come out of the school, Jenn went inside in search of her daughter & learned that she had been absent that day. Since Jenn knew that her boyfriend, 37-year-old Stephan Sterns, had taken Madeline, she immediately called him. Stephan told her that he dropped Madeline off that morning & last saw her when she got out of the car in front of Peace United Methodist Preschool, a half-mile down the street from Maddie’s school. Stephan explained that Madeline wanted to walk the rest of the way to school from that location. He said this was about 8:40 am & classes were set to begin at 9:30 am. The last time Madeline had been seen was on Village Park Drive in Kissimmee, Florida, near Orlando by her school. Jennifer soon found out that Madeline had never made it to school & that she’d left her cell phone at home.

Maddie was born on February 22, 2011 & she had just celebrated her thirteenth birthday four days before she went missing & was excited to be entering her teenage years. There was a birthday celebration for her just the day before she disappeared, on Sunday, February 25th. Maddie lived with her mom, Jenn in the Venetian Bay Village condos on Santa Maria Drive in Kissimmee, Florida, 13 miles away from Walt Disney World. Madeline’s mother & father weren’t married & her father had actually married another woman when Madeline was only a couple of months old. Jenn & Stephan were not married, but despite this, Jenn had been known to refer to him as Madeline’s stepfather. Jenn hadn’t been at the birthday party the day before since she had to work but it was held at a relative’s home, possibly Maddie’s grandmother’s home.

After Jenn had been unable to locate Madeline anywhere, she contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to report her daughter missing that Monday at 8 pm & indicated that Maddie had never run away before. The following day, Tuesday, a Missing Child Alert was issued to the public about Madeline’s disappearance, requesting information about her whereabouts.

In the meantime, Jenn was interviewed by local news channels & Stephan could be seen sitting in the background as Jenn explained what had happened on the morning that Maddie disappeared. She said that Stephan dropped her off at the church & video footage, which she herself did not see, showed that she hung out in the parking lot of the church for a few minutes until she could be seen at about 9 am, walking to the school. Police speculated that perhaps Maddie requested to be dropped off at the church because she was embarrassed by Stephan’s car & didn’t want to be seen getting out of the car at the school.

Jenn said that when she couldn’t find Maddie after school, she drove around the area looking for her, thinking that she may have possibly walked somewhere nearby, such as her mom’s or Madeline’s grandmother’s nearby office. When she was unable to find her, she called 911, realizing that something must be truly wrong. After her disappearance, there was no activity on Madeline’s social media pages & none of her friends had seen her. Jenn explained that Maddie had accidentally left her phone at home that day which was not uncharacteristic of her as she struggled with ADHD & tended to be forgetful. Because Maddie didn’t have her cell phone, she was unable to be traced that way. Jenn indicated that investigators had tried to trace her via her school issued laptop, but that had also been turned off.

Jenn explained to the reporter that she believed that Maddie had been taken against her will rather than the possibility that she’d run away. She said that she looked through all of Maddie’s messages on her cell phone & none were out of the ordinary or mentioned that she had plans to run away. Going somewhere without notifying an adult was absolutely not in Maddie’s character. She said that on top of that, she was such a happy girl & had such an amazing birthday party with their whole family just the day before. When they returned home from the party on Sunday, Maddie had gone straight to bed & never got on her devices to make plans for the following day.

On the Tuesday after Maddie went missing, more than one hundred law enforcement officers searched for her in a nearby wooded area in Osprey Park. Investigators also gained access to Maddie’s phone & came across messages where she wrote about wanting to live in the woods when she turned thirteen. Deputies searched the area where Madeline was last seen, where they had received tips & any & all areas where investigative leads took them, but they came up empty.

Maddie was reportedly last seen at 8:45 am that Monday on Town Loop Blvd near the Urbana Apartments in Hunter’s Creek. She was wearing a dark green hoodie, black shorts & white Crocs. She was carrying a black backpack with gray hibiscus flowers on it. She was described as 5’1”, 110#, with blond hair, blue eyes with dimples.

At 9:52 pm on Wednesday, February 28th, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced that Jenn’s boyfriend, Stephan Sterns, had been arrested & charged with sexual battery & possession of child sexual abuse material. This had come after he gave investigators consent to search his phone while explaining that he accidentally performed a factory reset on his phone on the very day that Madeline disappeared. Despite this, OCSO was able to recover “disturbing images” as well as videos on Stephan’s phone that were “criminal & sexual in nature.” The detective indicated that the characteristics of the room where the abuse happened matched those of a room in the home where Sterns lived with Maddie & Jenn.

The arrest affidavit indicated that the surveillance video that was captured by the church near Maddie’s school captured someone walking, but it was too grainy to confirm if this person was Maddie.

Orange County Sheriff John Mina indicated that Stephan had the opportunity to come clean with detectives & help lead them to information about what happened to Maddie, but at the time of his arrest, he invoked his right to an attorney & declined to speak further before he was booked into jail.

On Thursday, February, 29, three days after Madeline went missing, police met with Jenn to inform her that they were “confident” that her daughter was deceased & they were currently searching for her body. They elaborated by saying that the OSCO was in possession of video evidence that showed her boyfriend, Stephan Sterns, throwing items into a dumpster behind their apartment building at about 7:35 am on the Monday that Madeline went missing. The items recovered from the dumpster included a teen’s backpack & Madeline’s school-issued laptop.

A License Plate Reader captured Stephan’s car driving away from the school at 8:10 am instead of 8:40 am as he had first indicated. At 8:19 am, police had video evidence that showed Stephan coming back to the complex in a silver 2010 Lincoln MKZ where Jenn & Madeline lived & Madeline was visible in the car. It was their belief that by this time, Madeline was already deceased & she had been murdered at the apartment complex. They believed that Madeline had never been dropped off at the church as Stephan said she was & instead, she was already dead by that time.

On Friday, March 1, 2023, Madeline’s body was found in a wooded, rural area in Osceola County along Hickory Tree Road at about 4:30 pm. This location was about 22 miles from Madeline’s home.

Incidentally Stephan’s 2010 silver Lincoln MKZ was seen on the Monday that Maddie went missing between the hours of 1-2:30 pm in the area of HWY 192 & Old Hickory Tree Road as well as Old Hickory Tree Road & Nolte Road. During this timeframe, Stephan was said to have a flat tire & may have been seen changing the tire in this area. Incidentally, this is in the very area of where Madeline’s remains were found. It can only be assumed that the sighting of Stephan’s car in this area was the reason that Madeline’s body was found. Officials from the North Port Police Department indicated that Stephan’s current address is in North Port which is about two hours from Kissimmee.

It was later realized that Jenn told local news reporters that the last conversation she had with Madeline happened on the Sunday night before Maddie disappeared when they spoke about her 13th birthday party. She told her good night & this was the last time she saw her. However, a police report indicated that Jenn told deputies that she saw Madeline on the Monday morning that she disappeared when she was getting dressed for school at 8 am. From here, Stephan left to take Madeline to school which didn’t line up with what she previously said. Jenn had been interviewed multiple times by detectives from two agencies & they began looking at all the statements she’d made.

Meanwhile, members of the community & Madeline’s school came together to support one another on Saturday, March 2nd, the day after Madeline’s body was found. They honored Madeline who was described as a child full of light & love & someone who was always smiling. During the vigil that was held at Focal Point Church, little green pins were given out to mark the school’s colors as well as to serve as a visual reminder that the community would stick together as they healed from the tragedy. One parent commented, “It’s still denial. It’s absolute denial. You don’t want to believe this happened to a little kid.”

Stephan initially told investigators that after Madeline got out of his car by the church near her school, she stopped to look in her backpack as he drove away. This was the same backpack that they later found in the dumpster at the complex where Maddie & Jenn lived. He said he went home about an hour after going to the vape store & then ran errands & was home until about 2:30 pm that day.

Stephan told investigators that when he drove Madeline to school, she had slept most of the drive. When they arrived at the church where he dropped her off, he said that he told her that he loved her & to have a good day as she got out of the car. According to Stephan, Maddie thanked him for the ride & told him that she loved him too & that was the last time he saw her.

According to Stephan’s Facebook page, he had previously worked as a cast member at Walt Disney World & more recently, he was a warranty manager & production associate at Smart Build Homes in Orlando. In a now-deleted video from November 10, 2018 from Jenn Soto’s Instagram account, she began hanging out with Stephan as a couple as early as that year when Madeline would have been seven. Jenn’s mother, Yolanda Zambrano, spoke with Telemundo 31 & indicated that Stephan did not live with her daughter the weekend before Maddie went missing. Throughout their relationship, Jenn & Stephan had broken up & gotten back together several times.

After a press conference on Friday, March 1st, investigators said that they believed that 37-year-old Steven discarded Madeline’s belongings after he moved her body rather than taking her to school as he claimed. After further investigating the contents of his phone, they found sexually explicit material that was dated as far back as June 19, 2019 when Madeline was only 8-years-old. Stephan will be heading to trial this spring after he was charged with sixty child sex crimes. Thus far, he is only being charged with the crimes related to what was found on his phone. He has yet to be charged with Madeline’s murder despite the fact that investigators believe that he moved her body to the location where it was found. He is being held on no bond.

More charges could be coming, including murder, but only after a full & thorough investigation, according to the Kissimmee PD. The department is conducting follow-ups, collecting evidence & working to prepare a solid case. They explained that once a suspect has been charged, they have a right to a speedy trial which means that within 180 days, the case would have to go to trial. Waiting to charge Stephan with Madeline’s murder allows them time to continue the investigation while the suspect is held in jail without bond. The number one thing investigators will begin to focus on is DNA on key pieces of evidence. They will also focus on the cause of death while they continue to collect any & all video evidence including Ring doorbell cameras. If Stephan does not confess to what happened to Madeline, investigators will need to start from square one in putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

At 9:30 am on Friday, March 1st, Stephan was transferred from the Orange County jail to Osceola County as he was staying with Jenn & Maddie in Kissimmee, Florida which is in Osceola County vs. Orange County where Maddie went to school.

On Saturday, March 2nd, Stephan waived his appearance as well as the reading of the charges & indicated that he was aware of what he’s been arrested for. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office worked in conjunction with Kissimmee police to make Stephan’s arrest ahead of his transfer to Osceola County. The sexual abuse depicted in the images & videos found on Stephan’s phone happened at the family home in Kissimmee & the Kissimmee PD were immediately notified & took the lead on the sexual battery case. Stephan is being represented by an unnamed public defender & has thus far been uncooperative with detectives.

Stephan is the “prime suspect” in the case, but all members of Madeline’s circle are considered suspects until proven otherwise.

That same day, Saturday, March 2nd, an Instagram post was created by Sheriff Marcos Lopez on Osceola County Sheriff’s Office about a community event for seniors & in the post, a photo was accidentally included that depicted Madeline’s body in a grassy, wooded after it had been found on Friday afternoon & stemmed from the investigation. The clothing she wore in the photo matched the outfit detectives indicated that Madeline could have been wearing when she was last seen & the caption read, “Great day with our seniors” followed by an emoji of a smiley face with a halo.

Florida law prohibits the release of photos that depict the killing of a minor, except to a surviving parent. There is no indication to suggest that the photo was purposely posted. On March 5th, an investigation began about the released crime scene photo that was posted on the Instagram account of Osceola Sheriff Marcos Lopez. The crime scene photo was posted on the same day that Nina Rodriguez, a civilian sheriff’s office employee, posted a photo on her personal Facebook account of herself posing with Stephan Sterns. It held the caption, “If God’s love has been poured out over your life, don’t allow evil to keep you away from what He has prepared for you.”

After Madeline was reported missing, local parents began questioning school protocols & focused on why Jennifer Soto hadn’t been notified when her child didn’t show up for school that day & hadn’t been reported absent. Jennifer didn’t realize that Madeline hadn’t been at school until 4:30 pm at the time of dismissal. Orange County schools notify parents of an absence via automated phone call or text message after a student misses more than half the school day which is usually sent towards the end of the school day. Because of what happened to Maddie, parents will now be notified in the morning.

Stephan’s next court appearance is a pre-trial hearing scheduled for April 24th. The prosecution & defense will appear together before a judge to determine if they will proceed with a jury trial. Court records indicate that a jury trial has already been set for May 13th in Osceola County. If found guilty of the sexual battery charges, which are capital felonies, he faces life in prison or the death penalty. It’s very likely that at this point, there is enough evidence to bring a murder charge but detectives want to ensure an air-tight case.

There are still many unanswered questions at this point in time. When was Maddie murdered? Why did Stephan place her dead body into his car & drive in & out of the apartment complex, knowing that surveillance cameras were positioned throughout the area? Stephan was seen throwing Maddie’s items into the dumpster at 7:35 am. The license plate reader placed him at the school at 8:10 am & was then seen returning to the apartment complex at 8:19 am despite the fact that school didn’t start until 9:30 am. Was it to make it appear that he actually dropped her off? Where was Maddy’s mom during this time & why did she report seeing her daughter getting ready for school at 8 am in one case & that she hadn’t seen her daughter since the night before in other reports? Cell phone data indicated that Stephan had been active on a Telegram app until just before midnight on the night of the party/the morning of Maddie’s disappearance.

Thus far, Stephan’s cell phone has been described as a “treasure trove” of information & will likely provide additional information in regards to Madeline’s murder. Geological information & other evidence may assist in adding evidence to a potential murder charge.

Experts reinforce the importance of adult guardians speaking to children about abuse even if you don’t think you need to, as well as looking for certain indicators that something could be happening with your child. Specifically for sexual abuse, things such as mistrust or not wanting to be with certain people or knowing things that are inappropriate for their age group. Signs of emotional abuse can be depression, low self-esteem & a lack of personal hygiene. If a child begins to show signs of withdrawing, it’s a very important time to lean in from a caring perspective & have a conversation. Normalizing talking to your teens about all subjects, including abuse is important. If you know or suspect that a child is being abused, please call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453. The hotline is confidential & available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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