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

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MY NOTES:
- I read through a stack of comments under the GH video last night and in one, Grey indicates that he checked and the guy's phone number does go back to a man by the name of the caller. For those interested, the comments under the video link are interesting to read through.
- Grey Hughes also tags someone in a comment and invites them to email him - I do not know what that was about, but am hopeful perhaps it is someone else who knows SS or mom who may have info to share with LE.
RE: The Frank Video

Learned a lot listening to that video, but didn't read under it last night. You made a great suggestion to read the comments under the video, so thank you. Though we can't discuss them, they seem to echo all the various thoughts running through our own minds.

All MOO and my own unsettled thoughts when I realize it started years ago. Madeline was so young. SS came and went into their lives like a constant threat that he would never stay gone. Things never seemed over. He'd come back into the household.

Was Maddie outgrowing all those Tamagotchi toys? My heart breaks for her not ever getting a chance. She was boxed in by the situation. MOO, it sounds like SS had a great deal of control over the household in that he manipulated situations appearing to take on a pseudo fatherly role while all the while having ulterior motives. They need to get Justice for Madeline now and prosecute to the fullest extent. All MOO

 
I want to say this -- the mom made an effort to get MS evaluated, once possibly twice, iirc. That's dialed in. Knew MS was perhaps struggling but didn't know why. And how could she? Single Mother's (unwritten) Handbook -- never leave your daughter alone with your boyfriend/SO. She may have believed she had done that. She was home, he only took her to/from school, trust grown over time, unaware of what was already happening.

She has to feel completely gutted, for how he used her, gained her trust.

In that interview, I think she was actively, genuinely worried for MS, for what happened after the church.

I imagine the world stopped spinning when LE notified her, first that MS's remains had been found and second, that they had some cctv videos to show her.

Perhaps his vehicle driving past the church without stopping.

Him, throwing away her backpack.

Stomach drop. Her life will never be the same.

JMO
Actually though, we do not know what prompted her to get the evaluation. This could have been any number of things - a teacher requested it at school. Perhaps a school social worker was involved and they suggested it? The bio father may have advocated for it. There may have been an order of custody via the courts with respect to child protection and a child protection worker may have requested this be done.

NOT FACTS!! This was just me pointing out the reasons the assessments may have been sought in the first place. Mom may have consented, but that doesn't mean she saw a need for them, or agreed with a need for them. Also, while I think of it, SS could have been the one to suggest that Maddie needed to be assessed - especially if he was abusing her and wanted to explain away her behavior.

Maybe Maddie asked for the assessments herself - she could seek counselling / medical care in some areas without need of parental consent as soon as she turned 12 (not sure what the laws are in Florida).
 
Has SS been charged with her murder yet?

If not, why?
I outlined a plausible accidental death scenario that wasnt allowed as I wondered the same thing. It was taking the speculation around how MS looked in her last photo the day before into account and speculating further based off that. We will find out soon unless the autopsy results won't be made public ?
 
I had thought a factory reset deletes all files from phones and wipes them clean. SS must have thought this also, even though his friend said he knew a lot about technology. Can anyone explain how a factory reset actually works?

I am probably not the right person to answer this as I am not an expert on this topic in any way, but my understanding is that as to recovery of data from a phone that has been factory reset, a lot will depend on what operating system it had. If it was a phone with unencrypted file systems, the data is "deleted" from the phone but may still exist until fully written over by other data. If the phone had encrypted file systems, recovery is much more difficult but still may be possible given enough resources to discover deleted encryption keys. Data can also be restored to the device from the cloud , potentially, as noted by others on this thread.

SS might have thought a factory reset would completely save him, or he might have known it wouldn't resolve everything, but hoped it at least would enable him to present a phone that was "clean" to a cursory inspection until he could do more.

I don't think LE really wants it to be common knowledge how much they can do to recover data in these cases, for obvious reasons.

My understanding of these forensic issues is derived from testimony in court cases I've watched and I'd welcome others' thoughts who may know more.
 
My mind keeps coming back to this.

It would be relatively inexpensive to set up a program for schools with something anodyne like draw your family, draw your household, etc., to screen for minors living with unrelated males, and give them an age-appropriate comic book about why bad touches aren't OK even if they're 'family'.

Give mothers getting WIC a similar comic about the prevalence of child abuse with unrelated men living with them, just like they used to give out decades ago detailing proper nutrition. Maybe warn about boyfriends seeming to have 'special bonds' with the kid.

It won't help every child, but might get a few more parents to pay attention to who they're choosing to let into their lives.
It wouldn't help I don't think. A lot of the time, women (and men) actively TEACH their children NOT to disclose DV, or SA. They teach them that they'll be TAKEN from parents if they tell. That they'll go to foster care, and they won't be able to be with them anymore. Kids are sadly easy to convince that the devil they know (whatever situation they're in), is better than what might be next if they speak up. Many kids will NOT disclose, even when a police officer or CPS worker is aware of the evidence and what is happening / has happened. Often if the kids do not disclose to these professionals, nothing can / will be done.
 
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If a LE officer can 'accidently' post a picture of a deceased child to instagram then SS's defence will be that it is equally as simple to 'accidently' do a factory reset on one's phone.

What a stupid thing to do.
This sheriff apparently accidentally clicked on a photo in his camera roll that he didn’t mean to click on. An accidental factory reset is much harder to do IMO. Regardless, it’s a moot point. It’s what was discovered on his phone that matters.
 
If my child was missing, I would be making sure every ‘i’ was dotted and every ‘t’ was crossed regarding details. There would be no ‘we’ slip up. Wrong information causes delays. Not placing blame anywhere, it’s just very odd…..something was off with the interviews
The way he creepily sat behind her cracking his knuckles in the one interview? I won't be surprised to find out that perhaps she was intimidated by him and he told her specifically what he wanted her to say. Imagine if you had any suspicion that the man literally standing behind you MAY have hurt / kidnapped / unalived your daughter how you'd be feeling? At that point, you can't get rid of him - he MIGHT crack and tell you what happened to her! You don't know for sure, but if you suspect anything and he realizes it - YOU might be his next murder victim. It had to be a horrible place for mom to be caught in. Perhaps her interview reflects that horrible in the middle place.
 
LE have to make sure they have finished all their investigations . SS is already locked up and so LE have no need to charge him for murder until they are confident they have everything they need .
I appreciate that, I just thought they'd have enough on him already. Him driving around with an apparently body in the car and all.

At least he is locked away and can do no more harm.
 
Has SS been charged with her murder yet?

If not, why?
SS is under No Bond for the SA charges. Once charged with murder, the court clock starts ticking.

As SS sits in jail, LE can investigate MS death and have all their ducks in a row, to file for death penalty.

No rush, he ain't going nowhere.
Moo
 
What other plausible situations could explain coming back to throw the backpack ? Even if it was on the spur n not planned , what could have been the momentary logic ?
I wonder if he had any logic when he did that? Any thought process at all? I cannot come up with a single good reason for him to have dumped her things in that dumpster, nor for him to have RETURNED there at 8:19am wherein police saw Maddie ON CAM in his vehicle (possibly dead already!). Can anyone come up with a reason??

Best I came up with for his return with her body in the car was so that he could go inside and use a device to plan where to take her and come up with his story as to where he dropped her off.
 
I appreciate that, I just thought they'd have enough on him already. Him driving around with an apparently body in the car and all.

At least he is locked away and can do no more harm.
Him disposing of a body may not make him the killer though. Might make him an accessory after the fact though. They'll want to prove who did what and when, and where etc before they bring forward any charges.
 
Apologies in advance if this has already been discussed but I've missed a couple days in this thread.

Does anyone else think it's possible the reason JS seemed to some of us that she was acting oddly in that interview is because SS took Maddie with him and left before the mom woke up? Maybe her demeanor is because she's covering for her own lack of concern about Maddie's location on that morning. She probably had a thousand scenarios about what happened going through her head.

Maybe SS told MS that he'd come take her for donuts or something before school so he came back to their place early. I believe the mom said she asked for SS to come get Maddie but imo it's possible he called her and said something like, I told Maddie I'll pick her up for breakfast, so go ahead & sleep in. Maybe he even had wine or weed with Jen to ensure she'd be sleeping in. They must still have a relationship of some sort since he went to M's birthday party and her mom didn't.
 
Has SS been charged with her murder yet?

If not, why?
He’s already in line for the death penalty based on her age. The warrant goes into graphic detail of the photos on his phone.

Even if they never charged him with her murder, or if he were to get off on a technicality, Florida is going to fry him. I cannot even imagine a jury of his peers in Florida NOT giving him the death penalty.
 
A bit late in the day with this question but it's been bugging me.
Is it usual in a missing juvenile case for the warrant to be made public with such graphic details?
Not from anything I have seen, and frankly I feel disgusted about it. This poor baby doesn't need to be defiled further. My God. Sorry, this is infuriating to me, and very sickening
 
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