Madeline Soto
The body of Madeline Soto was found the afternoon of March 1, 2024, in St. Cloud, FL after a week-long search. The 13-year-old's body was found off Old Hickory Tree Road in Osceola County at around 4:30 p.m. The Hunter's Creek Middle School student was last seen at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 26 when her mother's boyfriend took her to school. Jennifer Soto, however, discovered later that day that her daughter had never made it to school that day.
The girl was last seen wearing a green sweatshirt, black shorts, and white Crocs, the Kissimmee police, the lead investigation agency on her death, said Friday. The Orange County Sheriff's office said that evidence reported she was "never dropped off near her school" on the morning she vanished.
Video footage from the day she disappeared shows Sterns "discarding items in a dumpster at the family’s Kissimmee apartment complex" at 7:35 a.m., the sheriff's office reported , adding investigators found Madeline's backpack in the dumpster.
Footage then shows Sterns allegedly returning to the family's home at 8:20 a.m. with "Madeline visible in the car," but investigators think she was already dead.
During the sheriff's office's investigation into Madeline's disappearance, detectives found "disturbing images when they forensically examined Sterns’ phone" − some which he reportedly attempted to delete.
The alleged sex crimes, detectives reported, took place at Madeline's home, the agency reported.
Stephan Sterns, who was subsequently arrested and charged with 60 child sex abuse-related charges, was charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, according to Osceola County Circuit Court records.
