Found Deceased FL - Madeline Soto, 13, Missing Child Alert, 13500 blk Town Loop Blvd, Orlando, 26 Feb 2024 *arrest* #5

[Beekarina]

I've used Telegram, but this was maybe 3+ years ago, and it was for coupon-deal hunting stuff, around the holidays. I have no idea what it is like now, but this was from following accounts on Instagram that post deals and a few started saying things like "follow on Telegram to get the first notifications." It was pretty spammy, so not something I left on my phone after the holidays.

I didn't go out into some kind of "main page" type of thing looking for other channels (think that is the proper term) to see what was there. It was very much like a group chat, kind of like Messenger or something when I used.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“For the photo, there was an apology issued, but it wasn’t actually the body. It was an area of interest where there was a body found,” said Sheriff Marcos Lopez on Orlando’s Morning News. “No one ever came out and said directly it was the victim, it was other people politically trying to use this as an advantage, to use the death of child to bring some light to themselves, it’s sad when you those things happen.”

Clarifying Controversy: Osceola Sheriff addresses misleading social media post

Osceola County Sheriff, Marcos Lopez, gave clarity to a controversial social media post in relation to the death investigation of Madeline Soto.

www.wdbo.com

 

[ttjo]

“For the photo, there was an apology issued, but it wasn’t actually the body. It was an area of interest where there was a body found,” said Sheriff Marcos Lopez on Orlando’s Morning News. “No one ever came out and said directly it was the victim, it was other people politically trying to use this as an advantage, to use the death of child to bring some light to themselves, it’s sad when you those things happen.

Interesting, The only photo I saw was blurred out and I couldnt see anything anyway. IDK if I'm picking up what theyre laying down. Is it affecting the case in some way? I understand it was an accident, (which I believe.) I get that it didnt look good, but what can you do?

 

[AnyNameIWish]

As for the leaked photo, it absolutely ties into the prosecution of the case, chain of custody of the images, professionalism, and quite possibly the defence could push back and say "how do we know the image wasn't staged"? I know it sounds completely ridiculous (it is,) but beyond a reasonable doubt means you must convince ALL jurors.... a good attorney could frame this and cast doubt on the scene where the body was discovered and how things were handled there.

More info from the video above with Grandma Yolanda. She then says at around 1:23 -

"Vinó este fin de Semana, porque, no sé"
He came this weekend, I don't know why.

SS didn't live at the condo at the Venetian Bay Villages, per Yolanda. Why doesn't she know that he came for Maddie's birthday party? Wasn't he in attendance? If she was at the party, wouldn't she KNOW why SS showed up that weekend?!?!

So. Many. Contradictions.

 

[Gemmie]

More info from the video above with Grandma Yolanda. She then says at around 1:23 -

"Vinó este fin de Semana, porque, no sé"
He came this weekend, I don't know why.

SS didn't live at the condo at the Venetian Bay Villages, per Yolanda. Why doesn't she know that he came for Maddie's birthday party? Wasn't he in attendance? If she was at the party, wouldn't she KNOW why SS showed up that weekend?!?!

SBMFF

To me, her saying she didn't know why he came to the party ("this weekend") likely means he wasn't invited, so she didn't know why he just showed up. At least that's how I interpret "He came this weekend, I don't know why.". If that's the case... either Maddie invited him, or he crashed the party. It just doesn't seem like he was invited IMO.

 

[ttjo]

As for the leaked photo, it absolutely ties into the prosecution of the case, chain of custody of the images, professionalism, and quite possibly the defence could push back and say "how do we know the image wasn't staged"? I know it sounds completely ridiculous (it is,) but beyond a reasonable doubt means you must convince ALL jurors.... a good attorney could frame this and cast doubt on the scene where the body was discovered and how things were handled there.

More info from the video above with Grandma Yolanda. She then says at around 1:23 -

"Vinó este fin de Semana, porque, no sé"
He came this weekend, I don't know why.

SS didn't live at the condo at the Venetian Bay Villages, per Yolanda. Why doesn't she know that he came for Maddie's birthday party? Wasn't he in attendance? If she was at the party, wouldn't she KNOW why SS showed up that weekend?!?!

So. Many. Contradictions.

Thanks for that, Thats why I ask so I understand why it's an issue. Makes sense now.
As for g-ma Yolanda. This has been my point, I wonder why she said
"Vinó este fin de Semana, porque, no sé"
He came this weekend, I don't know why.
After she said the boyfriend doesnt live here.
My question was about G-MA not knowing they lived together, did she or didnt she? . was it being hidden ? and if so why?

 

[lightofmine99]

<modsnip: discussing a photo that may not be discussed>

Regardless, I fail to see how this would taint a jury pool or make everyone think "Wow, the prosecution must be wrong in accusing SS" despite mountains of evidence because a cop made a stupid mistake. Why would that make SS not guilty?

 

[Pruddennce]

Or Mom. It's very disturbing that she lied to LE about seeing Madeline getting dressed that morning. No you didn't.Then in news interview "We took her to school". No you didn't. No reason at all to lie when your child is missing period. MOO.

yes, or mom. "monday morning WE took her to school, WE dropped her off close to school, across the street from a church which is very, its right next to the school, um, she crossed the street, um and walked to school, what WE thought walked to school, um, my BF who drove her to school, wa...drove away at that point."

seems like she was going to say wa=WATCHED, but decided not to say it....after all, she just previously gave a WE account as if she was there with him. this entire 'we' account was to deflect from her having to say directly who was responsible for taking her to school and the last person with Madeline.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Mod Reminder:

You are allowed to discuss what is said in the MSM or by LE about the leaked photo. You may NOT discuss what you may have seen or read about it outside of that.

 

[Ladyotm]

Thanks for that, Thats why I ask so I understand why it's an issue. Makes sense now.
As for g-ma Yolanda. This has been my point, I wonder why she said
"Vinó este fin de Semana, porque, no sé"
He came this weekend, I don't know why.
After she said the boyfriend doesnt live here.
My question was about G-MA not knowing they lived together, did she or didnt she? . was it being hidden ? and if so why?

If he was living there in hiding... IMO it is likely because the family didn't approve of him and JS acted like she was no longer seeing him to keep the peace and being "judged" by her family.

 

[Universecalling]

If he was living there in hiding... IMO it is likely because the family didn't approve of him and JS acted like she was no longer seeing him to keep the peace and being "judged" by her family.

I was under the impression he was at the party.
Does JS (or him) ever say who drove Maddie to the party and back?
Is it still possible Maddie spent the day (and night) at grandma’s or aunt’s since they knew JS had to work…

 

[ttjo]

If he was living there in hiding... IMO it is likely because the family didn't approve of him and JS acted like she was no longer seeing him to keep the peace and being "judged" by her family.

yes, thats what Im wondering, it would be nice to know if this is the case. With such little info about what jenn knew or didnt know or if she was gaslit or not, This is the only hint I've seen that there may have been trouble in paradise. ( aside from the obvious and not listening to old friends or acquaintances that may have met her once)

 

[BeeGirl]

Has it been reported that SS told JS any of that?

We know he told police that he reset the phone during his interview because that is in his arrest warrant, but I don't think LE would have had JS in SS's interview. I don't recall him ever publicly saying that he did a factory reset on his phone either.

I'm also pretty sure that the story about the flat tire only came about because someone else remembered seeing him and reported it to LE. If there was public evidence that JS knew about SS's flat tire, that would mean that LE was also aware of the flat tire, which they weren't.

I'm open to correction but I don't think these assertions are backed by facts.

You are correct, I was assuming JS would have seen the flat tire on his car and there is no report out there stating unequivocally that JS was aware of the flat tire on SS car. I was building off some basic assumptions on the timeline, such as:

• Monday, February 26th: Maddie went missing
• Tuesday, February 27th: The original cuddle video date.
• Wednesday, February 28th: SS was arrested

And one of my biggest assumptions was that she would have looked at SS' car before Tuesday and have known about the flat. That was based on the assumption that the police flyer that was released on 3/1/24 showed a picture of the vehicle as it appeared on 2/26 with an obvious spare tire and missing rim on it. I suppose we could instead assume that in the ~24 hours after her child went missing on Monday until the interview on Tuesday JS never bothered to go outside her home to the parking lot to look at the last car her child was seen in (I think it's safe to say the car would be outside her house since he was seen driving back to the complex but that may also be an assumption!)

You are also correct that I was, indeed, making assumptions that JS knew about SS "accidental factory reset" at the time of the cuddle interview. I think it's worth explaining how I landed on that assumption.

• During the cuddle interview, the interviewer says it's been about 24 hours since JS noticed Maddie was missing at 4:00 p.m. on Monday so I am (again) assuming the interview was taken by Channel 9 around the end of the business day on Tuesday.
• The arrest affidavit says: "[a]n interview was conducted with the victim's stepfather...During the interview, he provided consent to search his phone, however he stated had accidentally performed a factory reset on his phone on February 26, 2024, the same day the victim went missing."
• So since he was arrested on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, I (again) assumed he provided his phone to police before that day on Monday or Tuesday because they'd need time to look through the contents from the factory reset.
• I based the assumption that his interview had to be Monday or Tuesday on a few things:
  • The Incident Report that was taken on Monday, February 26th seen in this video around 1:35 (right before the cuddling) has a statement from Orange County Sheriff Deputy Joseph that says "I later spoke to Stephan Stern who stated in a verbal and sworn written statement..." So I assumed Orange County Sheriff Deputy Joseph could have interviewed him that Monday.
  • During a press conference, Orange County Sheriff Mina also provided context about the possible time of the interviews where police took SS' phone - twice in fact - that made me think the phone was taken before the cuddle:
    • The first mention is here beginning at 10:16 where Sheriff Mina says: "the Blood Hound did an extensive search which unfortunately did not provide any results about her whereabouts so our missing persons detective responded to take over the investigation so they did interviews with mom's boyfriend, Madeline's friends from school and we were able to access Maddie's phone..."
    • The second mention is here beginning at 10:55 in the same video where Sheriff Mina says: "so during the course of the day on Tuesday detectives and deputies conducted extensive interviews and an extensive canvas and we collected video from the area and again conducted interviews with family members."
  • And I built more assumptions based on the fact that during the interview where SS is awkwardly lurking behind JS he appears to be trying to look busy but (despite comments elsewhere) is not scrolling through any phone on Tuesday at 10 pm.
• So perhaps I should not have assumed they took his phone during an interview on Monday or Tuesday before the Tuesday cuddle video or his arrest on Wednesday. I assumed they may have been collecting phones before the interview because they had taken Maddie's phone by then based on:
  • The same Sheriff Mina video from above at 10:16 where he mentions that they had Maddie's phone in conjunction with the first time an SS interview was referenced ("so they did interviews with mom's boyfriend, Madeline's friends from school and we were able to access Maddie's phone...") and confirms he has Maddie's phone again at 18:33;
  • A guess that they were heavily collecting evidence by that point since the house itself was in police custody by the time Sheriff Mina's press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
  • JS also says during the cuddle video that "the detectives have her [Maddie's] phone" but is also seen at 2:54 scrolling through a phone. I assumed JS was scrolling through her own phone rather than Maddie's since she is wearing the same clothes, in the same position, at the same table, with the same interviewer, as the video where she said the detectives have Maddie's phone.
  • The fact the arrest affidavit also contains SS' own statement on what his phone number was, which I assumed (again!) the police may have asked him for after they took Maddie's phone to trace back the last communications such as calls or texts between the two.
• I also made assumptions that his phone reset may have come up at some point prior to the cuddle, like:
  • When SS was interviewed I assumed JS might ask him about how the interview went and I assumed he may have mentioned they took his phone and details on it then (but that's assuming someone would ask their boyfriend how a police interview about their missing kid went..) Even if he wanted to lie, I assumed he may have had to have admitted it earlier, like:
  • When the person making missing flyers on Monday would have asked for recent photos of Maddie (such as from her birthday) which SS would not be able to produce since he factory reset his phone specifically to hide photos; or
  • When JS or the police were trying to pinpoint the exact time SS dropped off Maddie on Monday they would have asked him to give location data to pinpoint it and that's when he would have disclosed his phone had been reset.
  • There's about a dozen other times I think it would have come up to a normal person but I assume a lot!

I'll just state it plainly:

• Mom should have seen SS' flat tire at some point on Monday or Tuesday when he was at the complex considering his vehicle was the last her child was seen in; and
• Mom should have known the phone was reset when SS could not produce any useful phone info during a critical missing person investigation into her child's disappearance; and
• Mom should have been suspicious about why police took SS' phone when she clearly was in possession of a phone during the same period.

So yes, they're assumptions.

 

[Pruddennce]

yes, thats what Im wondering, it would be nice to know if this is the case. With such little info about what jenn knew or didnt know or if she was gaslit or not, This is the only hint I've seen that there may have been trouble in paradise. ( aside from the obvious and not listening to old friends or acquaintances that may have met her once)

yes, not much. what was told to the public by JS: JS didnt go to the party, only mentioned that in one interview. last know interaction with Madeline, was at bedtime. discrepancy: she tells LE she saw her getting ready for school at 8am....which doesnt line up with SS RETURNING with Madeline at 8:19am, believed to be deceased.

IMO, LE has obtained from her an account of her evening, her morning, her entire day such as her car leaving the complex, if it did, what time, etc. for both sunday all day and nite into the morning and the rest of the day. just as SS's license plate was picked up driving away from the school at 8:10am, (and various camera catches in the complex) Im confident they are aware of her movements specifically in her vehicle prior to going to the school.

 

[ttjo]

yes, not much. what was told to the public by JS: JS didnt go to the party, only mentioned that in one interview. last know interaction with Madeline, was at bedtime. discrepancy: she tells LE she saw her getting ready for school at 8am....which doesnt line up with SS RETURNING with Madeline at 8:19am, believed to be deceased.

IMO, LE has obtained from her an account of her evening, her morning, her entire day such as her car leaving the complex, if it did, what time, etc. for both sunday all day and nite into the morning and the rest of the day. just as SS's license plate was picked up driving away from the school at 8:10am, (and various camera catches in the complex) Im confident they are aware of her movements specifically in her vehicle prior to going to the school.

yeah and then him taking madi to the party kind of flys in the face of her hiding any relationship. I find this case full of so many contradictions.

 

[ttjo]

You are correct, I was assuming JS would have seen the flat tire on his car

• So yes, they're assumptions.

Pretty good assumptions as far as Im concerned. I would have guessed she noticed the spare too after 2 days... who knows.

 

[BeeGirl]

Pretty good assumptions as far as Im concerned. I would have guessed she noticed the spare too after 2 days... who knows.

I think one of the most telling and interesting things is in the SS lurking video here around 5:12 which was taken at 10 pm on Tuesday where JS mentions that she had not heard from police since that morning despite repeatedly reaching out to them.

I think they had a pretty good idea sometime after Tuesday morning what happened and that’s why they weren’t prioritizing calling mom back to hear or chase whatever “leads” she was wanting to share.

 

[ttjo]

I think one of the most telling and interesting things is in the SS lurking video here around 5:12 which was taken at 10 pm on Tuesday where JS mentions that she had not heard from police since that morning despite repeatedly reaching out to them.

I think they had a pretty good idea sometime after Tuesday morning what happened and that’s why they weren’t prioritizing calling mom back to hear or chase whatever “leads” she was wanting to share.

and this discussion started with us trying to figure out what Jenn knew, and even if she did know about the flat tire ( after madi was deceased) it wouldn't mean she knew about what happened. Maybe it wasnt made public but the police seized his car, they would have figured it out. They would have noticed the spare tire or a brand spankin new one.

 

[investigatefred]

Re: attendance alerts.

There are software programs that do this. I have friends who are elementary school teachers at a major school district in California and they have to electronically submit attendance (I think by 0920am?), via an app or iPad, and the system does its thing, calls each parent by 1030am.

For elementary and middle schools, we have gotten morning-of phone calls if kids are absent. High school is a similar automatic call but telling you which periods the child was marked absent, around 530pm.

It was telling to me that grandma Yolanda went on this soapbox first. She accused the school district of not letting her daughter know Maddie wasn't at school. I'm sorry but it was Jenn herself who didn't ensure that she made it to school to begin with on the 26th "she woke up very tired", even an automated call wouldn't have helped this situation!

Even automated systems are only as good as the information that is input to their database.

For nearly a year, I received random automated calls from a school district that was many counties away, for someone else's child. Every time they were absent, every time school closed or was delayed for snow, I received the call.

I contacted them numerous times to tell them I had no child in their district and to correct this in their system. It took multiple calls to the school administration to have it resolved as they couldn't figure out how my number was in there.

 

[cujenn81]

It’s a secure end to end messaging platform on which you can send / receive photos, videos, gifs etc. your entire convo can be deleted with minimal effort and if you want, you can also delete your convo from the device of other parties involved in said convo. It’s only then accessible to them or anyone else if someone took a screenshot on their device or from another device (eg: a real cam or a a snap shot from another cell camera). Users can also phone each other and have live convos via the app. There is also a desktop option for users on Mac or pc and they sync in real time. So if you nuke a convo from your cell it will also vanish off any other device it’s on.

Thank you for this explanation! I learned of Telegram’s existence while reading updates about the war in Ukraine on Twitter/X in February 2022. Up until this exact moment, I thought it was a Russian social media platform. Similar to Weibo in China… LOL. The more you know!!