Found Deceased FL - Madeline Soto, 13, Missing Child Alert, 13500 blk Town Loop Blvd, Orlando, 26 Feb 2024 *arrest* #2

[WhisperingEyes]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>
Press conference on Friday said no and something along the lines that the investigation is still ongoing.

I think JS's priority for doing the interviews was to help find her daughter. Possibly the reason for the way she worded her answers in the interview is that she was feeling guilty about not taking off work for her daughter's birthday party on Sunday and not driving her to school the next day. I personally would feel terrible about missing a family birthday celebration for my own child if that child went missing the next day.

JS may not have wanted to admit those details to the public because she would rather have the focus remain on finding her daughter instead of public scrutiny about her working hours and boyfriend. JS may have also realized or was very aware that her partner, SS, was an automatic POI due to him being the last one to see her. I think her wording at the time was protective of herself and her family unit situation. She could have been trying to convey that SS is not just a boyfriend, but a long time partner and step-father. The interviews were before SS's arrest. If JS were to do an interview today, I don't think there would be any "we" in any of it. MOO

 

[scrimpies]

MOO - regarding the use of "we." She could have been using we to refer to "the family" and included SS in that. i assume that it was not yet revealed that MS was never dropped off near school. To her mother, this may have indicated that this was a stranger abduction. Maybe "we" means "someone safe" and at the time she did not realize that SS was the perpetrator. The use of we could also make her feel like she was more involved in MS's safety by lumping herself in with the person who drove her.

MOO - i may have details wrong but my point is about why she might use we

 

[PayrollNerd]

SS is still not on the Osceola County Criminal Court records yet, even tho he had his first appearance already. It will likely be uploaded tomorrow, once they've squared away all the charges.

Him being so exposed online with a treasure trove of evidence, it makes me wonder if there will be others arrested. Not necessarily in relation to MS's murder, I do believe he is solely responsible. But people on the fringe, known associates, etc. Birds of a feather, flock together sorta thing.

https://courts.osceolaclerk.com/BenchmarkWeb/CourtCase.aspx/CaseSearch

 

[scrimpies]

SS is still not on the Osceola County Criminal Court records yet, even tho he had his first appearance already. It will likely be uploaded tomorrow, once they've squared away all the charges.

Him being so exposed online with a treasure trove of evidence, it makes me wonder if there will be others arrested. Not necessarily in relation to MS's murder, I do believe he is solely responsible. But people on the fringe, known associates, etc. Birds of a feather, flock together sorta thing.

https://courts.osceolaclerk.com/BenchmarkWeb/CourtCase.aspx/CaseSearch

It would certainly be interesting if a CSAM ring is exposed. Would they take the death penalty off if he exposes others? Just an idea.

 

[modesty blaise]

SS's response to a woman asking if she was the AH for thinking her husband was sexualizing her daughter:

-source

I think I physically felt my blood pressure rise while reading that.

This is so enraging.

 

[PayrollNerd]

It would certainly be interesting if a CSAM ring is exposed. Would they take the death penalty off if he exposes others? Just an idea.

I seriously doubt it. He is so exposed, he's left himself no negotiating power whatsoever. This is FL, we'd prefer to "fry'em" here.

 

[jopalyii]

I queued up the video at an interesting point. The reporter asks JS if there was anything mentally going on with Maddie. Her explanation includes an interesting detail I hadn't picked up on before. Maddie was seen by doctors a few months ago, regarding a diagnoses related to ADHD/Autisim. I can't help but wonder if some of what she was presenting, was actually related to what she was enduring. JS also mentions Maddie has anxiety, we def know what that was about

Can you imagine what must have been going through her mind while being evaluated? I'll also bet SS was a little anxious about those visits too.

I’m curious what led up to the decision to get Maddie tested for autism. Usually parents seek out help when they are at their wits end. Did Maddie and her mom fight a lot? Did Maddie throw a lot of tantrums even as a preteen? There would have been some catalyst for Mom deciding it is time to begin testing. We now know Maddie was likely being abused and that was probably a huge factor into behavior issues.

 

[Lirael]

But this is what groomers do. More interesting to me would be his dm sent and received on any platform. Reddit has a dm option. No way his would be squeaky clean.

Creeps sending inappropriate sexual DMs is such a huge problem there's a whole subreddit about it. Many of the posts involve teen girls calling out adult men for saying gross things to them knowing they're underage. Getting those DMs after posting in AdviceForTeens is pretty common too. It wouldn't surprise me if he's been featured on the callout subreddit a few times.

 

[Palisades]

Disgusting. From 10 months ago on Reddit

“Finding people to date that haven't spent all their teens and twenties in the sun with minimal sun protection, making them all look like a 70 year old Clint Eastwood... plus all the emotional baggage and kids from first marriages or absent fathers. Honestly, dating in/after your 30s is a *advertiser censored* show these days. One begins to understand the DiCaprio strategy ”

Also from Reddit about parents ‘snooping’ on their kids from 2 years ago

“... Are you suggesting honestly that children should just have full trust and agency over themselves regardless of the danger or consequences? That you shouldn't verify their activities once in a while? I guess you're okay with your child potentially talking to pedophiles online?”

 

[Rolypolyoly]

Do you think he'll do a plea deal? I mean they have him dead to rights on this. His digital footprint alone would likely put him in prison for years. Let alone what he did to sweet Maddie.

I was thinking also, if God forbid she was pregnant - what kind of enhancements could be charged?

One thing I don’t think has been discussed here is the production of CSAM as its own crime instead of primarily as evidence that he was abusing and likely murdered Maddie.

I think it is likely that SS was producing CSAM to share with others, possibly to trade.

Spoiler: Limited description on the abuse described in the arrest warrant request and speculation on the purpose.

It was extremely risky for SS to create recordings (evidence) of his crimes. One reason is for his own enjoyment, but to be frank he still had access to his victim, so why create risk when he had access to the real thing. And on top of that, the content described in the arrest warrant request seems more obscene than I would expect for personal consumption. There’s no not-disgusting way to write about this, but from the limited info in the arrest warrant request I got the impression of an intention to create *advertiser censored*.

Producing CSAM is the best way to get access to more CSAM.

Please excuse the bluntness and relative vulgarity; I’m just trying to think through the possible logic. Thought he hasn’t been shown to display much logic so far.

I don’t think SS necessarily has sexually abused any other children, but I think it is likely he exchanged CSAM with other child sexual offenders. If that’s the case, he could potentially attempt to use knowledge of other crimes and offenders in order to get a better deal. No way he’s getting anything less than life in prison (MOO), but maybe they’ll take the death penalty off the table.

It would certainly be interesting if a CSAM ring is exposed. Would they take the death penalty off if he exposes others? Just an idea.

I don't think they would need to give him a plea deal to catch any associates or bust any groups. He thought a simple factory reset would delete his photos and then handed over his phone, I'm willing to bet that they found any and all sites/contacts etc with saved information, hidden Web addresses at the very least.
I'd also imagine that all the sicko's who have exchanged stuff with him are panicking right about now!.

*I doubt they would recognise him by name obviously (although he seems to love that username!) but he clearly has a very recognisable penis and anyone he may have exchanged images with will know it.

 

[PayrollNerd]

I’m curious what led up to the decision to get Maddie tested for autism. Usually parents seek out help when they are at their wits end. Did Maddie and her mom fight a lot? Did Maddie throw a lot of tantrums even as a preteen? There would have been some catalyst for Mom deciding it is time to begin testing. We now know Maddie was likely being abused and that was probably a huge factor into behavior issues.

The timing is probably related to the abuse. If the abuse has been going on for a few years, I'm sure MS's grades suffered, friendships waned, depression combined with hormones, created the perfect storm. This poor child was emotionally beaten into submission by a predator. He stole her innocence and her happiness. She likely became very introverted to protect herself.

Mom could have had suspicions for years that something was up with MS's development. But until it really became an issue, she may have hesitated at intervention. Maybe SS knew Mom was going to get MS evaluated and panicked. He knew the abuse would come to light.

 

[MissMalowe]

I'm sure police already looked into this on day 1, but since this middle school apparently doesn't call parents at any point during the day when there is an unexcused absence, I wonder if the total # of absences and/or late arrivals to school on record for Madeline are exactly the number mom would expect or if there were more than mom was aware of due to the boyfriend having (unknowingly) called in for Madeline in the past possibly?
(Not sure if I've articulated this well- I know there was never a school drop off that day- I'm wondering how many absences/tardies Madeline has had throughout the last few years -in order for Stephan to have more access to her - and if they were legitimate absences, or if mom would be surprised to know Maddie missed more school than she realized/authorized herself. Just a creepy thought I was wondering about I guess.)

 

[Forest_Wood]

Creeps sending inappropriate sexual DMs is such a huge problem there's a whole subreddit about it. Many of the posts involve teen girls calling out adult men for saying gross things to them knowing they're underage. Getting those DMs after posting in AdviceForTeens is pretty common too. It wouldn't surprise me if he's been featured on the callout subreddit a few times.

Creep for sure!
It has crossed my mind that the so-called advice (about pregnancy and death, etc) SS was providing on Reddit under the name Sustinet could have been him covertly chatting w Madeline under her online name. The reason I suspect this is because the mother said all of Madeline's social media (games, etc) hadn't been used since she went missing (paraphrasing), which indicates Madeline was an active user of SM. SS was a gamer and knew a lot about IT (according to his old friend). And he may have had access to Madeline's user names, possibly passwords, etc, to see what she was writing about online. What would possibly interest SS to chat with girls about pregnancy and girls not getting along with their mothers. MOO.

 

[Dre]

I've been on Websleuths a long time, lurked way before I joined.

This case has hit me harder than any other that I can think of.

Maybe because it appears to me that Maddie was so, so alone.

I agree, I’m haunted. I’ve been having dreams about it.
The Reddit posts really put it over the edge. Death penalty please.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Do you think we will eventually learn there are other victims? Hard to believe at 37 there won't be, but I guess that could be the case and this was his first real opportunity.

His obsession with all the weird toy stuff is so odd to me, very juvenile. I don't understand why he didn't get a hard side eye from his partner?

Other victims? Most likely. If not in-person, almost certainly CSAM he downloaded or sites he visited that contain it.

I suspect the biggest reason men like this don't get the hard side-eye from their partners is because most women aren't into true crime the way we are here on this forum.

While we see red flags, others see cute, fun, kid-friendly, family-friendly, entertaining hobbies.

jmo

 

[lightofmine99]

Maddie was seen by doctors a few months ago, regarding a diagnoses related to ADHD/Autisim. I can't help but wonder if some of what she was presenting, was actually related to what she was enduring. JS also mentions Maddie has anxiety, we def know what that was about

FWIW, anxiety, forgetfulness, and mood changes (which can sometimes be interpreted as ADD/ADHD) are common symptoms of puberty, usually brought on by hormones. So assuming that she already had this going on beforehand due to her age, and possibly had autism, whatever abuse she was experiencing would increase this issues tenfold.

 

[TMcgee]

IME those with trauma and PTSD often meet the criteria for ADHD due to how trauma affects the brain’s ability to focus and process information. There’s often overlap between ASD and ADHD symptoms as well.

I wonder if mom (or school) saw noticeable social withdrawal along with those ADHD characteristics. It’s also possible her grades and test scores were slipping and the school did the evaluation.

 

[Pruddennce]

Mum is not a suspect,but people are trying to sort out a time line and piece together what happened in the previous 24 hours before Madeline went missing and to try and work out where SS was that night and when Madeline was last seen by anyone other than SS.

agree. it should be noted that SS said in HIS interview that "she had just turned 13, she had a 13th birthday party, she got a happy weekend 'she was happy that WE were all together here" she was just happy, she's just a happy kid.....

its chilling hearing him now that he is arrested, repeat happy over and over.

we know her mother wasnt part of the 'we' at the bd party. she never says when she last saw her daughter, only that they talked.

 

[Knox]

I’m curious what led up to the decision to get Maddie tested for autism. Usually parents seek out help when they are at their wits end. Did Maddie and her mom fight a lot? Did Maddie throw a lot of tantrums even as a preteen? There would have been some catalyst for Mom deciding it is time to begin testing. We now know Maddie was likely being abused and that was probably a huge factor into behavior issues.

My point exactly. So far this case has been like reading the last page of a book, then being asked to take a test.

We get hints of Maddie’s life, but no real facts. I have some thoughts about what her life was like, but they are not TOS observant. I’m hoping we hear about Maddie from the paternal side of the family soon.

 

[Knox]

I’m curious what led up to the decision to get Maddie tested for autism. Usually parents seek out help when they are at their wits end. Did Maddie and her mom fight a lot? Did Maddie throw a lot of tantrums even as a preteen? There would have been some catalyst for Mom deciding it is time to begin testing. We now know Maddie was likely being abused and that was probably a huge factor into behavior issues.

One more point. Testing was likely initiated through school. Behavioral or learning issues, precipitate - so I am very curious to know if Maddie struggled before or after SS came into her life. The 2022 date listed on the warrant doesn’t mean that’s when her nightmare began, IMO.