Jennifer Soto, Stephan Sterns speak to Channel 9 about Madeline Soto's disappearance Jennifer Soto and Stephan Sterns spoke to Channel 9 on Tuesday about Madeline Soto's disappearance. (WFTV)
Wednesday, Feb. 28
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said his deputies were working with several other agencies to search for Madeline Soto in the areas where she was reportedly last seen.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said more than 50 members of its Emergency Response Team were searching for Madeline Soto near Osprey Park on Wednesday.
On Wednesday evening, the Kissimmee Police Department in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Office arrested Sterns on charges of sexual battery and possession of child sexual abuse material.
Madeline Soto: Suspect in girl’s disappearance taken to Osceola County Jail The prime suspect in the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl is now in the Osceola County Jail. (WFTV)
Thursday, Feb. 29
The Sheriff’s Office then said it believed Sterns never dropped off Madeline Soto and is considered the prime suspect in her disappearance.
Deputies said Sterns was captured on camera throwing her backpack and school laptop into a dumpster on the morning of Feb. 26.
Investigators said Madeline Soto’s body was seen in Sterns’ car before he drove away.
1:30 p.m. Mina held a news conference to say that Madeline Soto had not been located and he was confident that she was dead.
He said that Kissimmee police would take the lead on the homicide investigation.
Mina confirmed that Sterns never dropped off Madeline Soto near her school Monday morning as he had claimed.
5 p.m. Kissimmee police said that Sterns was at the intersection of East Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway and Old Hickory Tree Road and the intersection of Old Hickory Tree and Nolte Roads between 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 26.
Police said they believed Sterns had a flat tire and might have been changing it in the same area.
6:25 p.m. The Sheriff’s Office said that Madeline Soto’s body had been found.
No one has been charged in Madeline Soto’s death. But investigators are looking into who knew what, when. That means they are reviewing initial interviews of the couple and ones conducted later on.
Sources told Channel 9′s Shannon Butler that the statements about the timeline of Madeline Soto’s disappearance have not always been consistent.
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Madeline Soto: Story Jennifer Soto gave law enforcement doesn’t line up with what investigators know The story Jennifer Soto -- the mother of 13-year-old Madeline Soto -- gave to law enforcement does not line up with what investigators know.