Hidden True Crime - The Disturbing Case of Madeline Soto: Jennifer Soto's Police Interviews

Episode Date: August 24, 2024

Warning: This episode discusses topics related to sexual violence. Please listen with caution. Case Background: Madeline Soto was a 13-year-old girl living in Kissimmee, Florida. She was initially reported missing on February 26, 2024, after her mom, Jennifer Soto, went to pick her up from school and Madeline was nowhere to be found. At the time, Jennifer Soto told police that Madeline was dropped off across the street from her school in a church parking lot by her mom's long-time/live-in boyfriend, Stephan Sterns. Stephan Sterns said he watched Madeline walk from the church parking lot towards the school but didn't watch Madeline walk all the way to see that she made it in. A massive 4-day search effort by multiple law enforcement agencies to find Madeline quickly ensued. In the immediate aftermath of her disappearance, investigators turned their attention to Stephan Sterns. Law enforcement found several disturbing pictures and videos on his phone of Madeline. He was later arrested on 60 charges, including capital sexual battery, lewd or lascivious molestation, and unlawful possession of materials depicting sexual performance by a child. Tragically, on March 1, 2024, Madeline was found deceased near a wooded area on Hickory Tree Rd. in Osceola County. This is the same area where Stephan Sterns's car was reported as being seen on the day Madeline went missing. Through several press conferences and news statements, law enforcement has stated that they believe that Madeline was already dead the morning she disappeared and that Stephan Sterns was actually moving her body at the time he was supposed to take her to school. Police also revealed that security footage shows Stephan Sterns dumping Madeline's backpack and her school laptop in an apartment complex dumpster at 7:35 am that morning. Additionally, police have video footage of Stephan Sterns returning to the dumpster, with what appears to be Madeline visibly deceased in the car. In April of 2024, Stephan Sterns was indicted on first-degree murder by a grand jury. On June 10, 2024, prosecutors announced that they will be seeking the death penalty against Stephan Sterns for Madeline's murder. News Reports & Interviews: WFTV Channel 9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvUdnLGAqto Court TV https://www.youtube.com/@COURTTV About Hidden True Crime: Lauren Matthias was a television reporter for a decade and has followed the Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell case since 2019. She and her husband, Dr. John Matthias, a criminal psychologist, started Hidden True Crime in 2020 with their Season, 'Beyond the Veil,' a psychological deep dive into the doomsday murders and prophet. What started as a simple conversation at their dinner table became a captivating podcast. Join the dynamic duo of Dr. John Matthias, a forensic psychologist, and Lauren Matthias, an investigative journalist, as they delve into the psychological facets of unthinkable crimes every week. Their unique perspectives and in-depth analysis offer a fresh take on true crime storytelling. Thank you for your support through sponsorships, subscribing, listening, and becoming a Patreon member at Patreon.com/HiddenTrueCrime Our Sponsors:* Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/HIDDENTRUECRIME* Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/HIDDENTRUECRIME* Check out Armoire and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://www.armoire.style* Check out Effecty and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://www.effecty.com* Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://happymammoth.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/hidden-a-true-crime-podcast1836/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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See dealer for financing details. Back in June, we recorded and published in podcast episode titled The Disturbing Case of Madeline Soto. And we have been continuing to cover and research that case. Madeline Soto, a 13-year-old girl from Flodin, Florida garnered nationwide attention after she was reported missing by her mother, Jennifer Soto, and her mother's boyfriend, Stefan Stearns, on February 26, 2024. Are so, Stefan, he seemed very emotional right now, explain to us. I dropped her off. Everything looked fine when I drove away.

So last time, we saw her. What were the conversations that you had in the car when you dropped her off? Not much, she was asleep for most of the way. Told her have a good day in school when she got out and I love her. She said, thanks, love you too. What was it? Are you, in the sense, blaming yourself? Sorry not to.

Why? I dropped her off early. I could have waited longer. She looked okay. She was walking towards the school when I saw her. It was like any other day, so I went on with my date. It's hard not to blame myself. hard not to blame myself. What has the conversation been with Jen since?

She's been very bloodstarring to meet. She's been a woman together really well. But it just keeps coming in waves. This is the reality keeps hitting. We don't know where she is. We don't know she's safe. We're just scared. We just want her home.

Madeline's body was discovered March 1st, 24, just a few days later, in a wooded area and the investigation led to the arrest of Stefan Stearns, the boyfriend. And breaking news at six sources just confirmed at Channel 9. The body of missing 13-year-old Madeline Soto has been found. We have learned that a tip called in after this afternoon's press conference with Orange County Sheriff John Mina, led detectives to her body. Law enforcement from several agencies still out at the scene right there off of Hickory Tree Road in Osceola County.

This is certainly a heartbreak. update to this major story we've been following for you since Monday. This morning, the main suspect who you see here in her disappearance, Stephen Stearns, was taken from the Orange County Jail to the Osceola County Jail. And then this afternoon, the Orange County Sheriff told us, investigators believed Madeline was dead. But at the time, they had not found her body. The Kissimmee Police Department is now leading what they're calling obviously a murder investigation. Stefan was charged with sex abuse of a minor and later first-degree murder in Madeline's death. Charging documents show Stefan had a history of abusing Madeline, and there were allegations

that Jennifer Soto had failed to protect her daughter. I ask you this question a lot, but what's her status now? Has still no public statement through a lawyer or through anyone, through the family from Jen about all of these developments? You and everybody else, Vinny. I don't get any more. more question than that one. What's going to happen to Jen Soto? We have not heard from her. We have not heard from an attorney. Investigators have not said anything about what their next move

may or may not be with Jen Soto. It is very, very strange, but there is still a public here that believes that something should be done when it comes to Madeline Soto's mother. And every time something new comes out, it just fuels those flames even more. But investigators just at least at this point just aren't budget on Jen Soto. Their sole focus right now seems to be on that investigation and Stefan Stearns. So we just sit and wait and wonder. We've been following this major case of little Madeline Soto now since the beginning, since she was reported missing in Orange County in late February.

Police arrested this man, Stefan Stearns, for her murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Stearns is the boyfriend of Maddie's mother. We interviewed them both before law enforcement found the teen's body. Channel 9, Shannon Butler joins us live in studio for this breaking update. And Shannon, sources have told you the mother of Madeline Soto has not broken the law. That's right. And the interview with Soto takes place on February 27th, about 11.30 p.m.

Just after her daughter was reported missing. She has a hard time answering some of those questions. But sources tell me nothing so far she has done has been criminal. So at least for now, no charges. will be filed. The case remains under investigation, and as more details and evidence come to light, we continue to follow it closely.

In this episode, we're going to go over two of Jennifer Soto's police interviews from February 27th regarding Jen's whereabouts and activities surrounding the time that Madeline disappeared. Again, she was reported missing on February 26th, and these police interviews happened in the evening of February 27th. They cover their living situation, and by that, I mean Stefan Stern and Jen Soto's living situation, and how often Stefan would visit, and they discuss her relationship with Stefan Stearns.

Audio also captures Jen's reaction to when learning that the sex crimes unit was involved in the investigation of her daughter. There are several parts of the interview that are redacted, and so just so you know what those are, they include Maddie's name, her roommates, family names and other personal information. To paint a clear picture of exactly what happened up to when this interview took place, let's first go over the timeline of Madeline's disappearance with evidence law enforcement gathered leading up to Stefan's arrest. Evidence that has now been released in court documents that will help us sort of set the

stage and paint a picture as to when these interviews took place. So on February 26th, 2024, at 7.35 a.m., we now know there is video of Stefan, and he is spotted throwing items in a dumpster, the morning of February 26, 2024. At 7.35 a.m. Stefan is spotted, throwing items in the dumpster.

Madeline is spotted in the car, slumped to the side with her mouth open. At 7.50 a.m., Stefan is spotted leaving the apartment complex. Madeline is still slumped over in the car. At 8.19 a.m., Stefan returns to the apartment complex and interacts with the security to get back in. At 8.31 a.m., he leaves the apartment again, and Madeline is seen completely slumped over. And that's in quotes, completely slumped over from official docs.

At 9.40 a.m., Stefan is seen at the Holiday Inn Club became. parking garage and is seen transferring a limp body to the passenger seat of the trunk. At 1.16 p.m., a plate reader picks up Stefan's car a few miles from where Madeline's body was later found. The evidence is pretty damning and pretty disgusting. At 1.20 p.m., a man, believed to be Stearns is spotted on Hickory Tree Road with a tire iron in his hand. And at 2.11 p.m., he heads back home at 2.43 p.m. back in the complex, throwing more items in the dumpster. And then at 4.30 p.m., Jen, Maddie's mother, goes to pick Maddie up at school and then finds out that she wasn't there all day. At 8 p.m., they report Maddie missing. At 8.35 p.m., Jen and Stephie.

talk with police on body cam. At 10.4 p.m., Stefan now is on body police cam showing police where he dropped off Maddie, and then we get to February 27th the next day. At 3.16 a.m., Jen's white Nissan is picked up on a license plate reader, taking the same route that Stefan took just the previous day. At 335 a.m., the vehicle enters the car. the dump site of Madeline's body. At 4.09 a.m., a license plate is picked up again on the way back home, and at 4.30 a.m., a white

Nissan is back in the apartment complex. In Stefan's police interview, then, on February 27th, Stefan is asked where they searched for Madeline. He says, quote, me and her stayed local. It was all the rest of the family that mobilized, end quote. There's a question posed to Stefan. Did you guys stay together or separate? Stefan answers.

I don't think we drove anywhere when we were looking. The next question, you didn't drive anywhere? Stefan, no, not that I recall. A question, did you guys drive anywhere last night? Answer. Maybe I think Fox News or something like that. I don't recall. You have to ask her.

I don't recall because I was so zonked out on Ativan at that point. I was a wreck. So again, the two interviews that we're about to listen to with Jennifer Soto in this episode are from February 27th, this day, where we are. Around 11 p.m. after all of that timeline happened, the interview audio is not perfect. We have done our very best to enhance it. All right. Tuesday, February 27th, 2024, 11, 16 hours for OCSO-Case 24-0. 1133.

Can you state your full name? Jennifer, Lucette Soda. All right, Jennifer. So I'm here to talk to you today. We're going to talk about and you're familiar with kind of why we're talking right now, right? Yes.

Okay. Can you tell me when is the last time you were with him? Saw her? I'm going to say Sunday night. Okay. Heard her. I heard her one day getting ready for school. So you like that?

last saw her Sunday night about what time? I was say 11 p.m. before she went to bed. And you were here at home? Gotcha. And where did she go to bed? Was she in her room, your room, or something else? She actually slept upstairs with, um, we have a guest bedroom. We, we were all going to sleep together in the same bed, but I needed some good sleep.

And, um, I had not. I got a new job recently. I haven't been more arrested. I needed some sleep. So I asked, hey, can you guys go to the guest bedroom upstairs? I knew he was going to get her ready. Sorry. Okay. So, um, you needed some good sleep. So was it about 11 o'clock? Yeah. Um, I sent them upstairs and I went to bed. Okay. And that was about 11? Yeah. And you do you guys normally all sleep together? Because now you said that she sleeps in your room with you typically, right?

She sleeps in me typically. Typically when he comes into town because he lives with his parents in Northport, Florida. When he comes to town, he'll sleep in the guest bedroom. Okay. And Stefan is the one you're referring to, right? Yeah, Stefan. Stefan. How often does he stay here?

Oh. he moved away back in December, so I'm going to say he's visited at least two to three times since then. Okay. Why did he move away? He was offered a better, well, his dad had offered him a job, but it fell through. So now we're trying to get him back here. And he just visits. Yeah. When he visits, does he stay for like hours, days, weeks?

I would say days. This time we had planned on him staying a whole week because I was going through training. So I wanted him to be here to help me with a dog. Help me with training. Okay. So this time he was planning to stay for a week. How long has he been here?

Or when did he arrive, rather, this time? I can't remember if he arrived Saturday or Sunday morning. Okay. That's fine. Sometime this weekend? Yeah. So that was last night around 11. And so about what time did you hear her on Monday morning?

I heard everyone getting ready around, let me say, 7.38 o'clock. And was it just Stephanie? Who else lives here? I have roommates. Okay. And you just heard all of them, or did you hear anyone on specific? No, I just heard, uh, if anything, Stefan came and woke me. up accidentally because he was trying to let the dog out and the dog gets really nervous sometimes.

I was trying to help him with that, get him on his leash. But he got him situated and took him for a walk. Okay. Did you hear around seven or eight? I heard noises in the kitchen, but I'm not sure, you know. Not sure who it was exactly. Who it was exactly, yeah. I could have been any of the roommates. But you didn't see her leave Monday morning. Were you still in bed or still in your room? I was still asleep, yeah. Gotcha. What time does she normally leave for school?

We usually leave around 8.50 at the latest. Okay. What time does she have to be to school by? 9.28 is when the school starts. Gotcha. And so you, I think you had said the previous night, you and Stefan had agreed that he was going to get. Yeah. And take her in the morning? Okay. And they were going to stop at McDonald's and get breakfast, but she changed her mind last minute and did not want McDonald's.

Okay. Why did you find that out? When did I find that out? When Stefan called me around 10, 18 in the morning, I had stepped out to go get blood work done. And he had just let me know that he just got back home from running a few errands. And that, I asked, did you guys ever just stop at McDonald's? And he said, no, she changed her mind. He tried convincing her a few times that she did not want McDonald's anymore.

What time did you leave the house yesterday in the morning? Or what time did you step out, rather? Let me say around 30. Had Stefan returned at all? No. So you were there from, just so I have my time's kind of right. So you woke up around seven or eight. You saw Stefan because you helped him with the dog because he was letting the dog out, right?

Yeah. And then did you go back to sleep or were you just kind of in the room? I laid back down and went back to sleep. Okay. And then do you remember what time you woke up after that? I believe I set my alarm for 9 a.m. Gotcha. So it would have been around 9 a.m. that you woke up.

And in that time, in that time, you didn't see Stefan return at all. Okay. You left around 9.30. And then Stefan called you around 10 to say you got home. Yeah. Cool. Got it. Okay.

Did he say anything else aside from, she didn't want to go to McDonald's? About her, no. About his warning, yes. He had tried going to the vape shop when they opened right after he dropped off from school and waited, but he never opened on time. So he came back, hung out a little bit, and he came home around 10, and then went back out eventually to the vape store to go get some babe stuff. So he left after 10. What time did you get back home for the day? I want to check what time might.

What I'll give you more of an accurate time. Yeah. Okay, so my appointment was at 10.15 and it took them 45 minutes to see me. So I didn't get home until 11, 15, 1130. And was stepping back at that point in time? That was it, yes. Okay. And then what did the day look like after that? That's fine. So I did my blood work, then I came back, and then I just waited. I waited for the rest of the day, until.

until 2.30 to leave... Well, I wait in the car line, so I'm first in line to pick up. Yeah, that car line can be vicious. So you left approximately 2.30. Yeah. And pickups around four, right? Yeah. Okay.

Now, when you got there at four, then what happened? I waited in the car line for about 10 minutes, and she never came out. So I thought, maybe I missed her. I couldn't remember if I told her I was picking her out from school that day or if she had to walk. So I went to the office to see if she made it. She never did. I drove around a little bit. Okay.

I drove around a little bit. Looking for her, I went back to the school. The school was closed at this point. I wanted to speak to somebody at the office to see if anybody could tell me if she had been there. I think at this point I had called, before I went to the school. I actually called her best friend and I said with you I can't find her she's she didn't walk to the office and she wasn't at school when I went to pick her up she said she never made it um she she's it's a first or second period and I'm like what do you mean I dropped her off or we dropped her off

close to school and she said she didn't make it the first second period I said please check with the rest of your friends uh she did she got back to me said none of them saw her today I I emailed one of her teachers. Her teacher texts me, her attendance for the whole day and told me she wasn't in school at all. That's why I knew something was wrong, and I freaked out. Is it typical to walk to after school? If I'm working, yes. And where's, I mean, in relation to the school, like, is it a close walk, long walk?

It's a very close walk. Okay. So typically in the morning, if, uh, or I guess before Stefan moved, did he live with y'all? Um, so it's typical of him to be able to get her ready in the mornings and drop her to school. Do you all tend to split that responsibility or what does that look like? Typically I do it. Okay. This morning, because, because of my work schedule, because I've been so exhausted, I asked him to take over and do. it and he said he would. Okay. Has he done it before though? Like he's, is he familiar with how to drop her off and? I'm going to say he's done it once before, once or twice before. I'm not too sure.

Okay. In the time since he's been back, well, not this time because he's only come back over the weekend, but in the other times he's done it maybe once or twice. I'm going to say, yeah. Is there any reason that he drops her off or he dropped her off a block of, or he dropped her off a block of instead of dropping her off to the school? Because she asked. Because she is embarrassed of his car. Really? When did she express that?

Multiple times when we've been like, okay, I think Stefan might take you to school or he might pick you up. She goes, can he pick me up far away? Can he leave me here? Like, I don't want to be seen. I'm just like, what car does he drive? I'm curious. Does that be like? Oh, okay.

But to her, that's an old, nothing car. Fancy taste. I get it. I get it. Can you remember anything about Sunday or Saturday or this weekend where she may have said that she was wanting to hang out with friends or something she was wanting to do or anything? On Sunday, she actually had a party and she had some friends come over. So she hasn't expressed that she wanted. She actually got to spend time with friends and family. She had a great Sunday. She came back with a lot of presents.

She was super happy. So no arguments at home recently or anything? No, nothing like that. Has she ever, in the totality of, I guess, everything, as long as she's been by herself or gone to hang out at a park by herself or something to kind of clear her own head? So there's a lake right behind this building? She'll sometimes sit at the dock or at the beach.

by the lake, but I check on her often. Okay. I'm just trying to figure out, I mean, if she, I don't know if something at school upset her, something here upset her, not that it would be anyone's fault, but if there's somewhere that she may go for, like, you know, peace of mind. Yeah, it would be the lake right behind the house. Does she do any extra curriculars? No. Now, your roommates, I know you told me their names earlier, but can you give them to me

again. I didn't write it down. Sure. Once the last time I got in any kind of trouble at home. I'm going to see a few weeks ago. What was that for? I don't think if she gets a yelling or if she gets

in trouble for anything, it's for her disorganization and messiness. He takes laundry on the floor, her room's a mess. She keeps her space very disorganized. So I kind of get on top of her. Do I

remember the actual argument? No. When I went through her text messages back on February 2nd or 3rd, she had expressed to a friend that, you know, I was crazy. I was acting, you know, being nuts. Almost terrible stuff to say. Yeah, apparently I had, I don't remember this in this conversation. I remember saying this once, but not in February. But she had said, you know, if she continues to behave this way or not listen. You know, when she turns 18, I'm not going to want to live with her. Okay. Or, um, also I would ship her off to her dad's. Oh. But I never. Where's your dad live? Houston, Texas. Okay. Um, has she ever expressed wanting to go back and live with them? No. How often does she, uh, see him or talk to him at all?

Talks to him once in a while. Um. via phone or probably yeah via phone yeah uh text message or instagram they'll message each other um but i talked to him last night and she's like just so you're aware she hasn't said anything about making plans to come over here or see me or come visit me so he doesn't have any information on where she might be okay he's actually willing to come over here too if we need him too. Okay. But she's never made any plans, I guess, to go to same. No.

What's the dad's, her dad's name? Do you know his one member? Any of them's in Texas? In Houston, yeah. How long has he lived? Or how long? He was in the military. Either Kansas or...

Oh, so he's never had any, like, custody or anything of her? No. Nothing. Okay. And has she ever formed a, like, a relationship with him, where they bond and talk or anything that, like, she, I guess I would try to rule out the possibility that she would be trying to go to Texas and see him or meet up with them. They're as close as they can be with how limited contact he does have with her. He texts her once in a blue, right?

Not as, not as consistent as I would like him to, but I don't think she's making her move to go. Yeah, yeah. She's left her debit card here. money's here um her cell phone's here is it typical of her to leave her cell phone does she normally have it she's got ADHD she's very forgetful this happens often oh so she frequently forgets her time yeah um as far as her uh mental diagnosis she's diagnosed ADHD how long has she had ADHD since she was like five six um They also diagnosed her at the same time with autism.

So she's had an autism diagnosis for a few years now. I've reassessed her recently. They told me she had some autistic traits, but they weren't sure if she was autistic. Yeah. So. So, I mean, do you ever notice her mental capacity impacting her ability to, I guess, be around other kids or function normally? I would say sometimes, because she acts, I'm not sure, sometimes, sometimes she'll make some decisions and I'm just like, where did that come from?

Like, I mean, is that, like, would that be a result of a mental disability or would that be like the result of her being? I mean, does she, I guess like basic questions I always kind of ask her, can she feed herself without assistance? Does she shower and bathe without assistance? I mean, she has the phone so she can text and talk to people. She has friends at school? Yeah. Gotcha. And has she ever complained about school?

Not complained exactly. I know it's tough on her. She's given a lot of work. She's always behind on luck. Okay. And I think the deputies already last night kind of went through social media a little bit. But if you're okay with it, I'd actually like. to take her phone so that I can see if I can get anything else from it.

You know, typically I will, typically me being able to go through it and go through texts and social media will help me sort of establish a pattern of where people go and whatnot. That's something you'd let me do. Will you take her phone away forever or just for right now? Just for as long as I need it to actually go through it. So I'll give it back to you as soon as I'm done. as soon as we find her. I'll give back to her, hopefully.

Yeah, I mean, that's just about all the questions I have at the moment. You know her better than I do. I guess my last thing would be like, what do you think based off of everything that we've talked about and everything that you've learned so far? Is anything sticking out to you? Based off of everything, me knowing her and knowing how she is and how tight-knit we all. Like, I don't think she would run away. I feel like she was taken, like, on that short walk from where she was dropped off to the school. It was early in the morning.

I'm not sure how many cars were around. I think she was dropped off somewhere between 8.30 and 8.45 in the morning, which is earlier than we normally take her. I'm not sure. Okay. I want to say, I think I, from what I understood orange, County got footage of someone by the church in a description of what she was wearing early that morning, just hanging out in the parking lot, and then she got up and left.

Yeah, so the video, they wrote it here, but there was a video of essentially what looks like her at around 845, just about that time, walking into that church parking lot that's right there where she got dropped off by Stefan and it looks like she sits there for about 15 minutes or so and then walks away um so i'm wondering if she it's typical for her to wait at that parking lot too for my stepdad to pick her up from school so it's that abnormal for her to hang out there in that parking lot yeah okay um gee can you think of any reason why she might have chosen yesterday morning to to wait there I mean, obviously, your stepdad's not, your stepdad's not picking her off in the morning.

I wonder if she knew, like, if she had an idea, she was super early, so she was just trying to kill time a little bit. But I don't know why she didn't go directly to the school. Yeah. She shut up. Okay. I know when Stefan dropped her off, he said that he saw her rummaging through her phone as he drove away, like deeply looking into her, not her phone, sorry, her backpack. Yeah. I'm assuming she was looking for her phone and realized she didn't have it with her at that time.

Got it. But, um. Okay. Does she have, uh, does she have any kind of boyfriend or significant other at school that she's ever talked about or express? Where is Daredevil? I'm right here. Don't miss the return of Marvel television's Daredevil born again. So what's next?

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No boyfriend. She did recently tell Stefan that she had a crush on a boy. Oh, okay. And we saw messages between them and nothing seemed weird. But you can love to do that as well. His name is. I assume another middle school boy. Yeah.

Okay. Got it. All right. Well, that is all. the questions I have for you right now. I'm going to go ahead and end this and I'll just get one more quick thing from you 1144 hours. What's one financial lesson you learned the hard way? I'll go first. It's not too late to start saving. Today's episode is sponsored by Acorns. Acorns is a financial wellness app that makes it easy to start saving and investing for your future. You don't need to be

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32 hours, going to speak with Jennifer Soto. Hey, Jennifer. I haven't introduced myself. My name is Myra Taglo. I'm a detective with the sheriff's office. Do you mind if I talk to you? Do you want if we talk over there by the car? That's fine.

In the car? Yeah. Our car. Yeah. Oh, look at the baby. Does it lock? No, it should be fine. Over here.

We should be able to go back home. I'll explain it in a second. Okay. I have a question to before we get started. Somebody said something like somebody in here has a guy. Is that a true statement or a false statement? That's a true statement. Okay. Where is this gun at right now? It is upstairs in the guest bedroom. It's not like in any of these cars out here. No, I don't believe so. I think it's upstairs in the guest bedroom.

It's got a number four on it. Okay. How certain are we? that. As far as I know, the gun is inside upstairs, I haven't heard of it being in the car. Okay. Let me just move my purse. Okay, so I'm not sure if he introduced himself, but his name is Louis Acosta. Okay. We both work for Orange County Sheriff's Office. So I understand you spoke with the other guy earlier with Detective Frank Hunt. Is that correct? Yeah. Okay. Um, we have officially taken over the case, okay? So-

Are you guys with Kissimmee? No, we're with Orange County. It's just a different unit. Oh, okay. What unit are you in? We're with sex crimes. Okay. It's just because of her age and is why we take over.

Because I mean, I know it's kind of confusing, but, like, we have, like, different rules. Okay. In Orange County. And depending on, like, people's age, we sometimes take over investigation when it comes to missing persons. Okay. Does that make sense? Yeah. So when you talked to him earlier, I kind of got like a brief synopsis of what happened. I understand you have a new job.

Yes. Okay. And if I say anything that's incorrect, please correct me, okay? You have a new job. And last night you asked them to go sleep upstairs because you you wanted to get rest. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. What time was this? Do you remember? It doesn't have to be exact time, but like just, oh, and then yesterday she had her, or Sunday she had her birthday party, right? Sunday she had her birthday party. Okay, what time was that party at? Uh, started at 3 o'clock. Okay, from 3 to what time? I'm not sure. I wasn't there. I was that work. Oh, okay, you weren't there. Um, but I know my sister around, uh, 8.30. Uh-huh. Was Stefan?

here at that time? I'm not sure if he was here at the time, but I think he got here a little bit after. And he was like, okay, she was already doing what she was supposed to. She had taken her nighttime meds. And she was getting ready for bed, like getting it, taking a shower. She'd take showers at night. So he's like, okay, she was already on it. I didn't get home until I'm going to say 10.30. And then at 11, I sent them to bed. Did Stefan make it to the party? No. And then, once you get here you said you sent her to bed at 11 and the following morning well let's I'm sorry let me backtrack a little bit you send them upstairs right how many bedrooms are upstairs three okay where in bedroom number four okay and what about stephan bedroom number four okay

okay is it normal for both of them to sleep in the same room sometimes when I'm when I really need a good night's sleep, I will send them upstairs. But when, also a lot of times we will sleep together in the king-sized bed, all three of us, or sometimes Stefan will go upstairs and our bed alone. So it just really depends on what's going on that night with our schedules and what we're doing. Okay. Where were you sleeping? Downstairs in the king-sized bed.

Okay. Is it just you two here or you guys have a roommate, right? We have two roommates and one of the roommates. has a son who's here like a little bit more than half the week. So what rooms do you guys use? Room number, the room downstairs, the master bedroom downstairs, and room number four. Okay. So last, I'm sorry, it's not, it wasn't last night. It was in last night before. Stefan slept in bedroom number four and you slept downstairs. Yes. In the master. Okay.

What time did you wake up? I'm going to say around eight o'clock in the morning, Stefan came into the room and was trying to put the, leash on the dog. Somewhere between, I'm going to say somewhere between, he came into the room somewhere between 8 and 815. He came in to put the leash on the dog, and I got up to try to help him because my dog is kind of a nervous dog and I didn't want him to pee on the bed.

So we wrangled him, put him on his leash, and he said, go back to sleep. And he said, okay. So I laid back and went back to sleep. Okay. I heard people in the kitchen. I'm not sure exactly who was in the kitchen. as far as I know

came downstairs to get ready in her so she's got she's kind of got a bedroom in the living room if you go into the apartment you'll see there's like a one of those fake walls separating half the bedroom she's got like a semi

like a desk with a bedroom and a TV and a dresser but she does she'll hang out there during the day but she never sleeps there she always sleeps with me and then the rare occasion upstairs, but most of the time it's with me. Okay. Did you see her on Monday morning?

Visually see her? No. Did you hear her? I heard many people in the kitchen. I'm not sure if it was my roommate or her specifically. Okay. Is your roommate a male or a female? Female.

Okay. They're both females. When was the last time you physically saw? Wednesday, 11 o'clock. I'm sorry, Sunday when 11th. Sunday when you sent her to bed. To bed. Okay. And then when you woke up, you said you woke up briefly because Stefan went in there,

did you go back to sleep? Yes. What time did you get up? Let me see if I actually have my alarm set. I don't have this specific. Let me check something all quick. I'm pretty sure I woke up around 9 o'clock in the morning. And then I left at 9.30.

I had an appointment. I had a doctor's appointment at like 10.15. But they took a while. And then by the time they did my blood work and whatever, I think I got home somewhere between 11 and 1115. Okay. When you got back was Stefan here? I'm pretty sure he was, yeah.

What was he doing? Just sitting in my room. At my computer desk on his phone. Okay. What did you guys do? We chatted for a little bit. I asked him what had happened because he had called me earlier at 10. Pretty sure he called me around 1018.

What did he call you for? To let me know that they didn't go to McDonald's plan. He had asked her multiple times if she wanted to stop in McDonald's because that was the plan the night before. that they were going to wake up early. He was going to take her to McDonald's, do like a special McDonald's breakfast and then drop her off at school early because she wanted to get there a little early.

But on his way to school, she was very sleepy and wanted to sleep in the car. And she said she did not want to do McDonald's. She just wanted to be dropped off. Okay. Also to let me know that he left his phone at home

because I had called him multiple times in the end of him. He left his phone at home by accident. He had went to the vape shop, but they didn't open on time. So he had waited for quite a while in front of the babe shop. They didn't open, so he left and came back and we hung out a little bit. And then I think he left again to the babe shop to go by what he did.

Okay. Do you want the name of the vape shop? Yes. If you have it out of time, I'm sure we're going to talk again soon and we'll have one. No, I'm just saying because that might be helpful if you want to see. surveillance or anything. Okay, so at some point, I understand he gets like a flat tire and he's not able to go with you to pick school. Yeah.

Right? Yeah. And when you get to the school, how do you realize that she wasn't there? So I left her. I went to go, I usually leave around at 2.30 to pick her up. She gets out of school at 4. So I wait that it takes me about 20, 25 minutes to get to the school and then I wait about an hour for her to get out. I waited the whole time.

And then when the bell rang and then it was time for her to come out, she wasn't one of the first kids like she normally is. And I realized I was holding up the line because everyone behind me had children and they needed to get out because I was the first in line. So after about, I'm going to say, I think it was like four times. 10, she didn't come out and I was holding up the line. So I drove away. I said, maybe I forgot to tell her that I was picking her up that day because I don't know if she knew that I wasn't working that day. I had assumed that she thought, you know, she knew that I was going to go get her. So because she never came out, I left. And I went. She works less than, I'm going to say it's like a three minute drive from the school. It's very close.

she works in the hunter's creek villages area I drove that way and I drove along the path that she would walk and I didn't see her and then office I asked hey have she gotten here yet they said no and I said okay let me wait a little bit and I parked back again

on Hunter's Vista Hunter's Park lane I think and I waited a long that lane to see if I would see her walking and I didn't see her walking and it was about 430 435 at this point she should have this so I went back to the office and then I was like is she here yet oh she hasn't gotten here and I said okay hold on let me let me see I called her best friend and I was like hey are you I don't know if I told her I was picking her from school today or to walk to the office but I don't see her anywhere and she goes no

she never came to school today. She didn't come to first or second period. And I said, what do you mean? We dropped her off close to school. She should have walked to school. She goes, no, she never made it to any of her periods. And I said, can you please check with your other friends in your other classes to see if she ever made it? She got back to me and said, no.

At this point, I started to panic because I realized something was wrong. I emailed one of her teachers, a few of her teachers, actually. One of them responded to me. He said, she didn't make it to his period. at all and he checked all her other classes and she'd make it to school at all. That's when I knew something was truly wrong. And I'm not before that email or after that email. But I started panicking and freaking out because she should have been to school.

She should have made it. And then I understand she forgot her phone, right? Yeah. Is it common for her to not have her phone? Yes. She's at ADHD. She's super forgetful. She doesn't even.

She never realizes that she's in the shower for a whole hour. She loses track of time. She's very... And then you guys went looking for her, right? Yes. Where did you look? Like, did you drive somewhere? Did you walk?

Like, where did you go look for her? Okay. So, after her best friend called me actually... Or I talked to her best friend on the phone. I went back to the school to see... Let me check her official attendance. Let me see what's going on. they were already close.

Nobody was at the school. So I searched by backtracking into the school and then coming back out and seeing that there were no kids at the school at all. So then I drove office. Everything was driving. And then I think that was her teacher at that point.

But did you come back to the apartment at any point yesterday once you realized she was missing? Stefan was at home. waiting for us to get back. And then when I told him something was wrong, she never made him to school. He completely hauled it back to me.

And then we all stood there waiting for the cops to show up, and they didn't show up until like 7.30. It took them a while to respond. I think they were looking for other missing kids around the area, too. But yeah, no, we did not come back home until we were done with the police. We were done with everything.

There was something else for us to do. Where was her phone? when all of this was happening with me. How did you get the phone if you never came back here? I took it with me to go pick her up from school. I was going to give it to her when she got in the car and be like, listen, you forgot your phone again and let her play on it. I'll do that sometimes when she forgets that.

I bring the phone with me and I just give it to her afterwards. But I had brought it with me to go pick her up from school. Okay. And you said, where? And then did you at any point, check her phone out while you had it? Yes. Tell me about it.

Actually, I started looking, but I could not concentrate on reading anything. I was too panicked and too worried. I handed the phone to my sister. She's the one and my niece, they both started going through her texts. I saw her text. Nothing seemed weird. No weird, random people. Everyone is someone I was familiar with or had heard about.

They checked her. Roblox. They checked her Discord. I checked her Discord as well. There was nothing weird. One of the police officers taught me to look at deleted text messages. We looked at those as well. They were random text messages deleted.

They weren't anything. Do you remember where you were when you were looking at her phone? Yes. Which is where? And then while she answers, were you guys, when you guys were looking at, for her. Did you guys keep looking for her in the Hunter's Creek area or somewhere else? Hunter's Creek area? Okay. Did you guys come back here at any point? No. What time did you

guys come back home? What time did we come back? It was a very good question. Um, I was going to say it was like, somewhere between 8 and 9 o'clock p.m. Did you guys go back out after that? Uh, stuck in and look back out. And this was last night, right? Uh, yes. Okay. Where was after this? Okay. Did you leave the house at any point with her phone after this? I don't believe so now. Okay.

Oh. Well, I think it's been home all day today too. It's been home all day today? I'm pretty sure, yeah. What time did the police take her phone? Oh, just kidding, just kidding. Yeah, they took it, they took it. I don't have it anymore.

What time do we take the phone? I've been, I've made so many phone calls today and seen so many people today that I Was it light out or dark out? It was light out. It was light out. It was light out. It was light out. It was light up.

It was light up. Yeah, it was during the daytime. And then, her, but other than that her phone was here all day? In the morning, yes. Did you guys take the phone anywhere other than when Detective Hunt took the phone? I don't think I left the house with him. Okay. Did Stefan have access to the phone?

I'm sorry. I took my medicine, so I feel a little speed. I think I've had it with me. I think it's been with me. Okay. Did you go through her phone today? Yes. Okay. Where was that up? Here. And what were you looking for at that time? To see if there was anything else. What we couldn't access on Monday night was Roblox.

So my niece came over and logged into her Roblox and checked out messages. But then they were also, my sister was also looking for her phone to see if there was anything. here at the house? Yes. And that was today. Yes. Okay. Do you guys have her account information as far as her eye cloud and all that stuff?

Or is it just on her phone? I've had a hard time logging into it before when I was trying to get her new phone. So I'm not sure if I can log in to her eye cloud. I think it's all on her phone. Okay. The reason I'm asking is because, so like they took the phone and they downloaded. in it, right? They can see, like, if somebody tries to access her accounts and stuff like that. So if you guys, do you have access to anything? Oh, yeah. Yeah, if you guys can refrain from,

like, logging back in. Okay, that's fine. So it doesn't look like she, like, if, so if she tries to, like, access her accounts from, like, somewhere else, that way we can track that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Does that make sense what I'm saying? Of course. Yeah. Yeah. So that's, they're asking if you can, you know, just try not logging into any more of her accounts. So that. that when he's going through the phone, it doesn't look like she's trying to love on from somewhere else. Yeah. Okay.

Was there anything else that they wanted us to clarify? Nice. Did you find the address to your... Let me call her again. Or what's the name of it? Oh, if I could remember her business name, I don't know. What kind of business? It's an insurance business.

I think advanced insurance something group. And then I know that you've been with us for the most part of the day, right? Yes. We have, I want to say maybe like 40 people out here, okay, between us and Kissimmee and we're all, you know, going to be working basically overnight and throughout the day tomorrow until we're going to do. Okay. Tonight, what we're going to do is, I know we're already secured. your house, right? We asked everybody to leave. So another thing that I'm going to ask is if you guys can find somewhere else to stay for the night because we're going to have Kissimmee out here

at your apartment for the rest of the night because the people that come and like take pictures and all that other stuff are not going to respond until the morning. Okay, so nobody can go into the house for the rest of the night until the house gets, you know, we need to take pictures and do other stuff with the house. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. And unfortunately, because you guys have such a big apartment, it's not something that only one person does. Like, we don't do that, right? We have our forensics unit come out. And it's not something that one person can do by herself. So she has to wait until people come in because there's like their on call after midnight right

so she has to wait for the other people to come in in the morning and then they're all going to come in as a unit and try to get it done as quick as possible I need to go back into the house I have medication that I have to take in order to be like normal is there a possibility that I can go back in there and get my men's

yes give me a few minutes and then we'll try to figure out um how we can get your medication okay but that's something that we can definitely get okay just is is does it make sense what i'm telling you yes yes um i just know what we're going to do about finding a place to go but okay um and then because last in stephan's car we're also going to to his car. Okay. Okay. Do you have any questions about anything that I'm telling you? So from now on, it'll probably be me getting in touch with you, okay? Not detective hunt. Okay? Do you understand

everything that we discussed? Yes. Drop address, if I remember it correctly, is... When did you say you were there? I got there around four, well, see, I left and came back. So four, four, four, four, four, four, five, um, I got there and I think I stayed until they had left. Were you there today? No. Is there any of the phone would be anywhere near that area today? No, I don't think so. It's been with me.

Oh, oh, Detective Hunt went back to that office. I'm so sorry, and he had her phone. Okay, he had her phone at that time. Yeah. Why did he go back to that office? Um, because my uncle had walked the path. along the trail and he had found a wallet with not 90 but like credit cards and something that had somebody stayed on it so he went to pick it up to see if it was of any interest okay that makes sense yeah okay so I'm gonna give me my business card um I'm still here for a little bit longer I'm gonna touch just to find one more time there was like a few things that we needed to clarify with him and then um

We're going to, like me physically, after I get done talking to Stefan, I'm going to try to go get rest, right? Because we're going to continue to do all this. Yeah. There's other detectives that are coming from my unit. Okay. So like there's always going to be somebody here. Okay. So just because I physically am not here, don't think that we're not physically working on this.

There's, we have a lot of people in our unit, right? So we're taking like shifts. And then the people from, we have violent crimes out here. as well. Um, and they're here till four in the morning. So I don't want you to think that like, just because I'm leaving that we're not still actively working on this. Does that make sense? Yeah. Like they are here till four in the morning and then the day shift people that also work violent crimes come in around that same time. So they're going to take over. So like we have like people working till a certain time and then other people come again taking over. Okay. Um, so like I said,

just because I physically am not here doesn't mean that we're not still working on something. Does that make sense? Yesterday when you guys So yesterday I stayed in the office. My family went out searching. One three, five, five, yeah. You stayed until what time?

I'm going to say somewhere between 8.9 o'clock I left and then I came here. He came straight here. Yeah. Yeah, but I think they all stopped when, actually I'm not sure. One of my uncles might have kept searching along the trail, but I'm not sure until what time he was out. My dad as well. What about Stefan?

Stefan went out sometime in the middle of the night and, um, when searching, uh, cruising around to see if he could figure out where she might be. What car was he driving? My car. Was anybody driving Stefan's car? Uh, no, just stuff. I have no idea. I, I fell asleep. But I know he drove my car because when I got into it, I said, oh, the cheap, the, um, the, um,

the seat adjusted did you drive my car he goes yeah remember i said i was going to take a drive tonight to go search for her because he does have like insomnia he can't sleep at night sometimes and especially like that's what's going on right now um i'm not sure what time he must he may have come in or out but if you guys look at my gate clicker you need that to come in the front gate you can see what times he he may have come in and out okay um i don't think i have anything else for you We're going to clear some things with Stefan, and then I will let you know before I have. Okay. Okay.

Do you promise that everything you said today is true? Yes. Okay. Thank you so much. And you're recording at zero nine. Ladies and gentlemen, we are now boarding group A. Please have your boarding passes ready to scan. If your phone is cracked, old, or was chewed up by your Chihuahua travel companion,

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