Madeline Soto Case: Public Outrage Flares after Police Release Unseen Footage

Newly released footage regarding Madeline Soto's case stirs up more questions and shock. The push for answers and justice grows as unseen 911 calls and a video emerged.

The heartbreak surrounding 13-year-old Madeline Soto's disappearance and death has intensified as previously unseen dashcam footage of Stephan Sterns gets released.

A video shows Stephan, the prime suspect in the case, casually chatting away with an officer during his transfer from Orange County Jail to Osceola County Jail on March 1. The video was captured just hours before Madeline's body was discovered.

Stephan spoke about his night in jail. He told the officer that he “couldn’t regulate, sleeping on bare metal," and that his first night he had to use "toilet paper for a pillow" while lying on the "concrete floor."

His casual banter with the deputy covered various topics, from the car’s temperature and the best cough drops for a cold to what music he likes best. At some point, after being asked about his musical preferences, Stephan divulged his fondness for classical music, which surprised the deputy.

Adding another layer to the tragic case, the audio clips of three 911 calls made by two anonymous women on the day Madeline went missing (February 26) were recently released.

An unknown caller, calling on behalf of Madeline's mom, Jennifer Soto, reported Madeline missing. The initial call was met with a series of questions to gather details about Madeline and revealed that she was last seen wearing a green hoodie, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes.

After confirming her race, the caller clarified that Madeline's last known location was near Peace United Methodist Church, adjacent to Hunter’s Creek Middle School.

In a subsequent call, the same unknown caller expressed frustration over the lack of immediate law enforcement action. She also emphasized the critical nature of the situation with Madeline having been missing since 8 AM.

The last call echoed this sentiment. However, this time, it was a different voice demanding to know why there was still no deputy that had responded to the emergency.

In each case, the responders would assure the unknown callers that they would do their best to dispatch the next available deputy as soon as circumstance would allow.

The public's response to these developments has been swift and heated with comments flooding social media forums. One person exclaimed, "WHY WOULDN’T YOU DRIVE TO THE POLICE STATION???? I would [have] been freaking out and the police not responding would […] me off to the point [where] I’d drive there to get HELP!!"

Doubts about Jennifer's innocence also came to the surface. On this, someone grimly noted, "I’m sorry but, I think that The Mother is Absolutely Guilty of Something 😢."

"Ok, WHY would [the] Mom not call herself?!! This is bizarre and [in my opinion] [the] Mom is sketchy," stated a social media user, while another added, "Yeah, the mother’s inaction is telling."

Additional comments included, "Why aren’t these calls [being] made by the people that have the knowledge first hand and not someone relaying it? This whole case is a freak show, plain and simple!!!" and "The mom didn’t find her at school at 4 and she wasn’t reported until 8 [...] the mom didn’t do it for hours."

In response to those asking why Jennifer was not the one to make the call, a social media user asserted, "Because she didn’t care enough to make those phone calls."

Another noteworthy update on Madeline Soto's case is that her autopsy report will not be made publicly accessible. The decision to withhold the information is grounded in laws protecting the privacy of minors involved in domestic violence cases.

State Attorney Andrew Bain highlighted the importance of maintaining the integrity of the trial process, stating, “So [...] we want to be able to present a fair trial.” His full statement made note of concerns that if the case becomes too well-known in the community, it could be moved outside of Central Florida.

Before these new developments, which have led the public to focus renewed attention on Madeline's mom, Jennifer had already been at the center of discussion when her daughter was found dead. We previously reported this on March 8, 2024.

Initially reported missing, Madeline's body was found on a Friday. What started as a story about a missing girl, rumored to have run away, turned into a detective criminal saga where the police began trying to uncover the truth.

Madeline was last seen on the morning after her 13th birthday, when Jennifer asked Stephan, her boyfriend, to take Madeline to school.

When Jennifer came to pick her daughter up at 4 p.m., it became clear that Madeline never showed up. Jennifer went to the police station that day, and at 8 p.m., the search for her child had started.

"I am staying at home, staying by the phone, hoping that she just appears. I know my entire family is out looking. They’ve spread a bunch of flyers," said Jennifer in an interview on the fifth day after her daughter’s disappearance. At this time, Stephan, who nervously fidgeted in the background, was not yet a suspect.

The public accused Madeline's mother of being shady and begged the police to question her. After all, she was the one who brought the suspected boyfriend into the house and ignored alarming signs. To make matters worse, Jennifer didn't even search for her daughter after she disappeared.

"You’re staying at home and waiting by the phone? Don’t you have a cell phone? This is absolutely unacceptable. If this was my daughter I wouldn’t come home until I found her," wrote one of the commenters. "She's just sitting at home hoping she appears?! Disgusting," another user commented.

Jennifer did not have a puffy face, red eyes, or even a single tear visible in the video published after her daughter’s disappearance. Apart from looking slightly odd in her expressions, she told a different story every time about what happened the morning her daughter was last seen.

"We took her to school, we dropped her off close to school, across the street from a church… She crossed the street and walked to school… What we thought, walked to school. My boyfriend, who drove her to school, drove away at that point," Jennifer told her side of the story in the interview.

In his confession, her boyfriend said, "I dropped her off. Everything looked fine when I drove away," indicating that he was alone when dropping Madeline off. Their diverging statements made the public worry even more.

"'I drove her… We drove her… He drove her.’ Her mother was complicit in trying to protect her BF. What are the odds she didn’t know what her BF was doing with her daughter? Lock mom up too," wrote a user.

"The narrative provided by Jennifer Soto, the mother of 13-year-old Madeline Soto, contradicts the information gathered by investigators," someone posted on X. "I had a feeling something was up with Madeline Soto's mother. Her timeline has been OFFFFF! Just waiting to see what else comes from this," another person agreed.

After public concern grew, body language expert Susan Constantine was called upon to review Jennifer's interviews and offer her assessment. "First of all, I think it is a whole big fabricated story, I don’t think any of it is true," Susan said. "I think they are both involved, I think she is covering it up for him," she continued.

In another interview, talking about her missing daughter, Jennifer was seen shaking and biting her lips throughout the whole video. However, her eyes were dry, and she was constantly looking up, avoiding eye contact.

After watching that interview, Susan noticed, "She's in fight or flight. You see her really shaking. This is not your typical nervousness; this is shivering. Oftentimes, you see that when somebody is really in trouble."

Instead of answering questions, Jennifer was worried about what she was allowed to say, and what she should or shouldn't tell the public.

"That would almost imply that she was talking to an attorney or something that she was kind of prohibited in saying something," said Susan.

"I'm telling you right now, I would bet my career on it. The mother is involved. She's covering it up for the boyfriend… So the other thing is there's no tears, no sadness, no remorse. And I have to ask you a question. Did any of your viewers out there feel any emotion there?" asked the expert.

As more gets revealed concerning the case, whether Madeline's mom knows what happened to her daughter or not and whether she was involved or not, is still up in the air. However, Stephan, who was detained on March 8, remains the primary suspect after the teen's body was found off Hickory Tree Road after an intense search.

After Jennifer alerted the police that her daughter was missing, deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Office quickly arrived at the school to assist the worried mother. Together, they searched the surrounding area with a trained bloodhound but were unsuccessful.

By February 27, Madeline’s missing poster became public. A picture of a young blonde girl smiling at the camera was paired with cold facts: the parameters of the girl — 5’1" in height and 110 pounds in weight. She was described as a White, blue-eyed female, barely 13 years old. As information was released, the Sheriff's Office posted:

"Madeline was last seen around 8:30 a.m. Monday, February 26… She was wearing a green sweatshirt, black shorts, and white Crocs."

The officials widened the search area, and the lookout continued. On Wednesday, February 28, the Sheriff gathered a press conference to release an update on the search for Madeline.

"This is every parent's worst nightmare… We can't even imagine the pain and anguish that Madeline's family is going through," stated Sheriff Mina. "We will not stop until we find her."

The Sheriff explained that Madeline was left near Peace United Methodist Church on Town Loop Boulevard, approximately a half-mile from the school. Why the girl was dropped off at such a strange location was still up in the air.

Sheriff Mina suggested that Madeline might have been self-conscious about the car she was riding in and therefore requested to be dropped off by her mother's boyfriend at a specific location, so her classmates wouldn't see her. However, it was just a guess, and the sheriff's office is investigating it further.

As a part of the investigation, authorities interviewed people close to Madeline like her mother, Stephan, and friends from school. More than a hundred people were mobilized to help in the search for the missing girl. Deputies, along with the girl's family, distributed flyers to notify the community about the ongoing search.

"We don't know if she was taken. We don't know if she stepped away. She left her phone at the house," Sheriff Mina said. "That's why we're putting all this effort into it. That's why we're doing this press conference, in hopes that someone from the public may have seen something."

On the same Wednesday, police arrested their first suspect: Stephan, who is a cast member at Walt Disney World. Initially, he had been detained on unrelated charges, but since he was the last confirmed person to see Madeline before her disappearance, he became a "prime suspect" in her case.

When asked to hand over his phone, Stephan told the police that he had "accidentally performed a factory reset" on the day when Madeline went missing. Apart from this, the man refused to show up in court on Thursday.

That day, law enforcement expert David Nutting was asked about the frustration of dealing with a prime suspect who refuses to cooperate. "It’s especially frustrating in cases involving children because it just seems so right in human nature to tell everything you know," David responded.

"This is a truly innocent victim. Madeline is a young girl who did not live a high-risk lifestyle, and she’s apparently with this monster, and it’s just frustrating. Why can’t you tell us what happened? Let’s resolve this case and bring Madeline back home," he further stated. Sheriff Mina also commented on the situation.

"Stephan Sterns had the opportunity tonight to come clean with detectives and lead them to information about Maddie's disappearance. Her loved ones deserve answers, and OCSO and the Kissimmee Police will not stop until we find Maddie," he said.

Additionally, the Kissimmee Police Department reports that Stephan has yet to discuss his alleged involvement in the case with anyone. The potential for additional charges against Stephan in the future remains under investigation.

"I'm trying to hope for the best, but I'm scared for her," said Jenn Soto, Madeline's mother, in an interview. "I want her to be okay; I want her to be safe..." she stated further. "I don't want her to come back harmed. I just want her back — whatever that means, I just want her back," said the mother. Three days later, her daughter was found dead.

On March 1, the police reported that a teen's body was found in Osceola County around 4:30 p.m. The body was dressed similarly to what Madeline was wearing when she was last seen, authorities confirmed.

During a Friday afternoon press conference, Sheriff Mina disclosed that detectives were "confident" the girl was dead, allegedly at the hands of her mother's boyfriend, Stephan. Regarding why the police were so confident that Stephan was responsible for the death, the sheriff revealed new details about the case.

A video showed Stephan discarding items in a dumpster at a Kissimmee apartment complex at 7:45 a.m. on Monday. Items from that dumpster were later recovered and identified as Madeline's backpack and school-issued laptop.

There's also video evidence of Stephan seen between 1:00 and 2:30 p.m. on a Monday in the area where the body was found. He is believed to have been changing a flat tire on his silver Lincoln MKZ on the nearby road on the same day Madeline went missing.

Authorities believe Madeline did not make it to Hunter's Creek Middle School on Monday morning, suggesting she had died earlier. Moreover, they suspect that Stephan moved her body that morning after her death in Kissimmee. Madeline’s family is shocked and the girl's step-aunt has since posted a heartbreaking statement.

"How I wish we could all wake up from this unimaginable nightmare. How I wish I could take this devastating pain away from my brother-in-law and sister. How I wish Maddie was still with us," she wrote.

"Please continue to keep our family in your prayers during this time of tragedy. As you all can imagine, this is not the outcome we were praying for at all," the post continued.

Stephan has remained silent regarding his alleged role in the case. The possibility of further charges against him is still being explored and remains under investigation by the Kissimmee Police Department.

Meanwhile, internet users are stunned by his Facebook profile picture. Posted back in 2022, it depicts Stephan's face behind sunglasses, but it's not the glasses that unsettle people, it's the reflection. It appears there's a silhouette of a little girl in them, possibly Madeline herself.

"What's scary is that her reflection is in those glasses," commented a user. "Please don't tell me that's Maddie's reflection in your glasses," another wrote. Even the investigative reporter JLR reposted a picture, captioning it with "Looks like Madeline Soto in his sunglasses reflection."

However, judges will decide. Still, the fact remains that Madeline was killed on February 26, the morning after her thirteenth birthday when she blew her candles out and made a wish one last time.

Read a similar story about a three-year-old boy who went missing after his mom sent him to her boyfriend for "disciplinary reasons."