Found Deceased FL - Madeline Soto, 13, Missing Child Alert, 13500 blk Town Loop Blvd, Orlando, 26 Feb 2024 *arrest* #4

[Beekarina]

The church CCTV is weird to me in and of itself. I wonder if it was a ruse by LE? In other cases, we usually see that sort of thing released, or at least a still image from it. Seems as though we would have had something like "This is believed to have been the last time MS was seen, here on the camera from ....."

 

[MassGuy]

Did the aunt (who I believe JS said saw her on church CCTV) confirm that she thought she saw Maddy on the CCTV (or at least a kid matching the vague description) or not?

Something about this indicates a vague story/narrative was concocted in under five minutes and then haphazardly pieced together. Like, were the texts about "wanting to go live in the woods" even real, or did SS/they decide that would be the story, which is why she was dumped in the woods? MOO.

The aunt was merely told what was on the video, and I don’t believe she saw it herself. It then appears that mom jumped all over this, and behaved as if it was definitely Maddie on video. This was then repeated by the media, making it sound like fact.

I think it was just a coincidence, and not any effort to mislead on the part of the aunt. JS and SS just took advantage of it.

 

[Skigh]

Did the aunt (who I believe JS said saw her on church CCTV) confirm that she thought she saw Maddy on the CCTV (or at least a kid matching the vague description) or not?

Something about this indicates a vague story/narrative was concocted in under five minutes and then haphazardly pieced together. Like, were the texts about "wanting to go live in the woods" even real, or did SS/they decide that would be the story, which is why she was dumped in the woods? MOO.

I really would not call the place where Madeline was left woods. I do believe that is not where he intended to leave her,but was forced to through having a puncture.

 

[photographer4]

Another question: what are your thoughts on her admission to seeing maddi get dressed at 8 Am in a police report no less, and then omits it after that in both news clips,why didnt she mention it again on the news?

I think it is bollocks. Mom did not see MS get ready for school that morning if police believe she was seen in the car, already dead at 8:19am. I can not make myself even believe that she confused that day with some other day. Also, Maddie wasn't found wearing black shorts. SHe was found wearing blue jeans.

 

[lightofmine99]

I really would not call the place where Madeline was left woods. I do believe that is not where he intended to leave her,but was forced to through having a puncture.

Actually I don't think I caught the exact location she was found. Someone mentioned a bamboo grove earlier ITT? We do indeed have lots of random bamboo in the southeast/Florida. Where was this stated?

 

[Leilei]

In one of the interviews mom mentioned reaching out to media outlets, so if I'm recalling correctly that was all her. It looks like police interviews were conducted the following day, as we know SS never left the police station after his phone was turned over for analysis.

The phone thing has been bugging me. Is it normal for LE to request the phones/devices be turned over from parents/caregivers of missing children? Or, was this due to SS telling them that he accidentally (ha) factory reset his? I would think that if they took his to look for possible evidence, they would also take JS's, since they were living together and raising Maddie.
Did his running his mouth about the reset cause the dominos to fall, or were they suspicious of him from the beginning?
Hoping for a definite timeline soon.
IMO.

 

[Beekarina]

Thought with the outfits: MS changed after the birthday party into the black shorts and green sweatshirt. That sounds like something a teen might wear to bed to me. If she had been deceased awhile, maybe SS put the jeans on her to not draw attention to any possible injuries or skin changes?

It is possible for JS to cover for SS AND not have seen MS' deceased body, hence the last time she saw her daughter, MS was alive and was wearing black shorts and a green top.

I think JS is lying about seeing MS get ready for school in the morning. MS was almost certainly already deceased by 8am.

 

[ttjo]

Actually I don't think I caught the exact location she was found. Someone mentioned a bamboo grove earlier ITT? We do indeed have lots of random bamboo in the southeast/Florida. Where was this stated?

someone said the trees looked like bamboo, not necessarily a bamboo grove, Not that Id even know the difference, Im from canada, the only bamboo I see is from IKEA. This clip is where she was found.

 

[MassGuy]

The phone thing has been bugging me. Is it normal for LE to request the phones/devices be turned over from parents/caregivers of missing children? Or, was this due to SS telling them that he accidentally (ha) factory reset his? I would think that if they took his to look for possible evidence, they would also take JS's, since they were living together and raising Maddie.
Did his running his mouth about the reset cause the dominos to fall, or were they suspicious of him from the beginning?
Hoping for a definite timeline soon.
IMO.

If they had evidence that she did in fact run away, or was abducted, then they almost certainly wouldn’t request their phones.

As SS was the last person to see Maddie, they’d likely ask for his phone regardless. I think this is when he mentioned the factory reset, to explain why they wouldn’t find anything on it.

Whoops.

 

[Beekarina]

Can you imagine the officer when SS sad he "accidentally" did a factory reset? LOL

 

[Skigh]

Actually I don't think I caught the exact location she was found. Someone mentioned a bamboo grove earlier ITT? We do indeed have lots of random bamboo in the southeast/Florida. Where was this stated?

 

[photographer4]

Another question: Does anyone think there could be someone else involved in this case? I'm not speculating on who it could be. I do not have any theories. I think it is more likely they're building a case against one or both of the two people we are allowed to discuss, and maybe hoping they will turn against each other and provide more info. But it crossed my mind after it was mentioned above that only the vehicle was seen on camera at certain times that morning, and not SS specifically.

I believe it is entirely possible that someone else was involved outside of the persons we're permitted to discuss here. It is possible that she was trafficked out by SS to people. It could even be that person who killed her somehow (overdose, altercation etc). MOO.

 

[Lyanna]

Another question: what are your thoughts on her admission to seeing maddi get dressed at 8 Am in a police report no less, and then omits it after that in both news clips,why didnt she mention it again on the news?

Think she could have been telling the truth about seeing Maddie getting dressed, but lied about the time, possibly because she knew something wasn't quite right but maybe couldn't work out what. The image some people have of child abusers is dirty old men, with tobacco stained teeth and fingers with greasy yellowy/white hair and dirty vest tops, and whilst those people exist, for the many it's just not true. They're like SS, can fit in with society (kinda), but there's something not quite right yet we can't work it out, because they don't look, act or sound like a predator. They say all the things that we want to hear and can present themselves as honest, moral people who are outraged by such acts. Maybe JS did believe whatever story he may have spun her? (not entirely sure about that though in all honesty)
(Also think Maddie died/was murdered whilst in the vehicle, got into the car with school backpack etc and something happened whilst in the car)

moo

 

[photographer4]

It’s a grim thought but I can’t stop wondering if JS claiming she saw MS in the morning before she went to school, she means she literally saw her in the car in the drive as they were pulling away as she was ‘sleeping’ on the way to school.

We know that MS was visible in the car according to LE, at least at some point, but they have stated they believe she was already deceased then sadly.

This explains the inconsistency in what JS has said publicly without necessitating her knowledge of what had happened. JMO

But doesn't explain how she says she saw her getting ready for school at 8:00am. Dead girls don't get ready for school.

 

[photographer4]

yes, I agree. traditionally, its so difficult to wrap heads around a mother, in this instance, like so many other cases, as having been involved. rather, its easier to navigate to the possibility something occurred or was occurring to absolve involvement.

on the surface, one can make excuses regarding her behaviour. but what I saw was her lack of urgency, actually poo poo'ing LE's search on that day, telling the media all about it....the creek behind the school, canines, etc, using vehicles to go into the woods, she said to the media: 'I dont think they will find anything.....' (because she says: "WE" had people searching and they didnt find anything.)

thats a heck of a thing to basically say, LE is wasting time and her 'we' people were more skilled. it was a discouraging remark, no hope. why no hope? IMO, she knew she wouldnt be found there. and she wasnt.

She also didn't go out and walk the trails that we know of to look for her daughter - or we just are not aware if she did. It was interesting to me that she was sure they weren't going to find anything, and she was waiting at home for her to come home but almost resigned to the fact that she was dead, she wanted her to come home, whatever that looked like I believe is roughly how she worded that. MOO because I do not have the link handy.

Did anyone else wonder why when she gave her media interviews, no one aside SS stood beside her?We only saw her with SS. Not with the sister, not with her mother. Not with any friends or other family members. I wonder if anyone sat with her at the service for her daughter last week? I wonder if she even went.

 

[PawneeDew]

or the simplest answer, which is mom was purposefully deceptive in her statements which is why they weren't consistent and she was purposefully deceptive because she values her relationship with SS more than her daughter. JMO but that ends up being the case a large percentage of time. MOO etc etc.

Or, they both have equal culpability. Then both have the same interest in covering each other. Mea culpa

 

[shetalksinstereo]

Then the footage had to have been from an earlier date / time because:
Maddie was not found wearing black shorts (she was found wearing blue jeans and mom said 'last seen wearing black shorts...'.

I was curious about the temperature that morning so I looked it up, 49 degrees. I see it was going to be in the 70s by mid-day. I would think 49 is cold to FL kids though? Kids here wear shorts in the snow, so I can't go by what happens here in the tundra.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

The aunt was merely told what was on the video, and I don’t believe she saw it herself. It then appears that mom jumped all over this, and behaved as if it was definitely Maddie on video. This was then repeated by the media, making it sound like fact.

I think it was just a coincidence, and not any effort to mislead on the part of the aunt. JS and SS just took advantage of it.

Which raises a question that's been baffling me from the beginning: who told the aunt/JS what was on the video, since we know the video doesn't exist?

I am pretty sure SS makes a comment to the effect that people say they think she's on video but there's nothing there. IIRC he doesn't say anything about the so-called church video.

 

[Tutter]

I believe it is entirely possible that someone else was involved outside of the persons we're permitted to discuss here. It is possible that she was trafficked out by SS to people. It could even be that person who killed her somehow (overdose, altercation etc). MOO.

Maybe things are so quiet while they investigate the images on his phone to try to trace if there is a pedo ring to bring down. I think there might be.

 

[photographer4]

The church CCTV is weird to me in and of itself. I wonder if it was a ruse by LE? In other cases, we usually see that sort of thing released, or at least a still image from it. Seems as though we would have had something like "This is believed to have been the last time MS was seen, here on the camera from ....."

I do think its really interesting that they have a "grainy video" they weren't sure was Madeline in the video or not - last we heard at the press conference -- but in that same conference, LE says they believe she was already dead at 8:19am.

ETA: 1:45ish mark he says they believe she was already dead at 8:19am (paraphrased).

Someone in the crowd asks if they have video of the body and he says: "we're not going to go into those exact details but we have video evidence that leads us to believe she was already dead."

Someone asks if they believe she left on her own and he asserts that: "we believe he moved her body in the early morning hours..."

He says its "our belief she was killed in Kissimmee..."

"It has transitioned to a homicide investigation..." (so it can't have been a suicide).

7:32 of the video "we reviewed that footage it was very grainy, we were not able to determine that was her, but like I said, we know that she was never dropped off at school that morning...".

ETA 2: I don't think the grainy video in the church parking lot was ruse by LE. I think possibly it is a coincidence or a ruse by SS and JS.