Hidden True Crime - The Disturbing Case of Madeline Soto: Stephan Sterns 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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I'm sorry. I forgot I had gone back to the house real quick after we left because I forgot my gate clicker. I actually had to go through the front gate and use my parking pass to grab my clicker. And then we turned around. We had plenty of time to kill, so it was time to go back. I rushed back, got the clicker,

and that's when I came back here this way. So you guys came back here to get your clicker? Correct. So when we look at the cameras in the front, it's going to show you coming back in here. Correct. With her in the car. Yes, with her in the passenger seat, yes.

Back in June, we recorded and published an episode titled The Disturbing Case Madeline Soto. And we have continued to dig deep into this case. Jennifer Soto appears calm as she tells the Orange County detective the events surrounding her daughter's disappearance. She said at 11 p.m. that Sunday just after her daughter's 13th birthday, she sent Madeline Soto and Stefan Stearns to bed together. Is it normal for both of them to sleep in the same room? Sometimes. 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. Sheriff John Mina up in Orange County, as well as Kassemi Police Chiefs, Betty Holland announced that they had good reason to believe that Madeline was dead. They said video evidence put her body in Stephen Serns's car Monday morning when he was supposed to be dropping her off at school. They said they found her laptop from school as well as her backpack in a dumpster in the apartment complex where they lived. And they said all of that evidence led them to conclude that she was not alive.

It's not a search operation as it was a recovery operation at this point. It's worse than we thought. The more we learn, the worse it gets in this case. In this episode, we are going to play Stefan Stern's police interview. Stefan Stearns has been charged with abuse, sex abuse of a minor, as well as first-degree murder, and the death of 13-year-old Madeline Soto. 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 reaffed.

released in court documents. February 26, 2024, 7.35 a.m. Stefan is spotted throwing items in a dumpster. Madeline is spotted in the car, slumped to the side with her mouth open. 7.50 a.m. Stefan spotted leaving the apartment complex. Madeline is still slumped over in the car. 8.19 a.m. Stefan returns to the apartment complex and interacts with the apartment complex and interacts with the security to get back in. 8.31 a.m. He leaves the apartment again, and Madeline is seen completely slumped over. 9.40 a.m.

Stefan is seen at the Holiday Inn Club Vacations Parking Garage and is seen transferring a limp body from the passenger seat to 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. At 1.20 p.m., a man who is believed to be Stearns is spotted on Hickory Tree Road with a tire iron in his hand. At 2.11 p.m., he heads back home. At 2.43 p.m., back at the complex, throwing more items in the dumpster. At 4.30 p.m., Jen goes to pick Maddie up at school and finds out that she wasn't there all day.

And then at 8 p.m. that evening, they report Maddie missing. The audio of these interviews is not perfect, but it's important to go over and we have enhanced it to the best of our ability. Tuesday, February 27th, 1205 hours for OCSO-C-S. 24-011313. Detective Hunt, can you state your full name? Stephen Stearns? All right, Stefan. Real quick, you turn around that everything about sounds like truth. Yes. Perfect. So you have handled why I'm out here, right? Involving.

When is the last time that you saw? Yesterday morning. Okay. About what time was it? Approximately sometime between 825 and 840s is when I dropped her off. And where were you dropping her, too? I was taking her to school. Got it. And it's my understanding that you dropped her off, like, a little bit away from school.

Yeah, she sometimes likes to get dropped off a bit down the road away. She likes to walk over and catch up with her friends or just not being seen getting out of a hootty in front of school. Okay. And when you say hootty, referring to your car that she's embarrassed to be seen getting out of. Got it. Okay. Where did you drop her off at? Do you remember approximately?

It was... You're good? It was along the stretch of road, kind of where all those communities are, leading up to the overpass, and then the school is on the other side of the overpass. So I dropped her off along that stretch where all those communities are.

Gotcha. Is it like on the sidewalk or parking? There's a sidewalk there. And then they've got the church on the other side. of the street and then the overpass and then the school so it was maybe no more than a block away okay is the school within like eyesight where you drop her off or is the overpasses was definitely within eyesight and the school was literally just on the other side of the open pass so if you were to guess the mate it would it be like a quarter mile half mile yeah maybe like a five 10 minute walk

depending on your speed um she also likes the cool morning walks too. She was wearing her hoodie and she was feeling the cold weather and she likes that. How common is it of you to drop her up to school in the morning? It's not common for me to do it most of the time, but I'm up here and helping out as much as I can and working so she was trying to get as much sleep as possible. I was doing the school room this morning. Okay. Do you live here? Do you live somewhere else? What's that look like? I live here, but I split my time between here and my parents placed on South and Northport. They're getting on in years and they need some help. Got it. Okay. For how long have you lived here with them?

Oh, gosh. Years now, a couple years maybe now. Okay. And what does your time splitting look like? Are you here for days, weeks, months, something else? weeks at a time, yeah And so I guess when did you arrive this block of time that you were here?

Dave for yesterday actually So, Saturday? Yeah, I think. So you got here Saturday night. It's down in Northport that you actually split your time with. When did you start splitting your time between your

Northport? A little while ago. My dad, I was working at Disney for a while. My dad, let's come up and getting lunch with me. I started discussing how they're getting on in the years and they're going to need some help soon. They'd really need me to come back down and help them out. What was that this year? Last year. Last year heading into this year, yeah. So like December. Yeah, they're already making end of life plans. Oh no. Well, sorry to hear that. Yeah, at least they're getting a plan together now. So normally, if you do drop her to school in the morning, although it's typically not you, is that typically what she requests is to be dropped? Is that from everyone or just because of your car?

She doesn't mind getting dropped off. It's the nicer white center over there. But it is very common for her to get dropped off down the road and want to walk up and find her friends and kind of hang out. Does she, uh, does she, does she typically, um, does she typically hang out with her friends only at school or does she have any in the neighborhood here? She doesn't have any in the neighborhood here, but she does have friends from school that she gets together with on weekends and whatnot. Okay. Um, so after you dropped her off sometime between 825, 840 area to remember? I left my phone at home, so I wasn't sure what the... Gotcha. That's fine. Do you remember what you did after?

Yeah. After I left her, you know, I was watching her in her rearview here. I was just driving away. She looked like she was making her way towards a school like normal. So I went on with my day. I went over to the vape shop nearby. They were not open yet. So I came back home, hung out for a little while with Jen. And then after about an hour, I went to check the vape shop again. They were open. So I took care of my stuff there and it became a normal day. Okay. So just to go through your, I asked Jennifer the same questions, just to go through everyone's days, but just to go through years.

So you dropped her off at school and you said you went to the babe shop? Correct. They weren't open. Correct. Do you remember about what time you got home? I got home around maybe quarter after 10. Gotcha. And was she, was Jennifer here?

Yeah, Jen was here. She had been sleeping in. Her new work schedule has had her kind of messed up, so she was trying to sleep in as much as possible. Gotcha. So when you got back around 10, she was just waking up? Yeah.

So we hung out for a little while, chit-chated. Then I went and checked the vape shop again, got my stuff, came home again, hung out for a little while. We talked about maybe, you know, doing some EJ shopping or something after we picked up the nab again. A couple of errands I needed to run, so that worked out fine. Sorry. I wanted to check out a couple of the card game shops in the area.

One of my trading card games just had a new release. I just wanted to look at stuff. Ended up getting a flat tire. Okay. Whoop? Where'd you got a flower? Where'd you get a flat tire? 192.

That was hair raising. And that was when you were out shopping during the day? Yeah, yeah. That was between the hours of noon and like two. Okay. Got it. And then so after... Because when you get to leave by 2.30 to go get in line and get ready to pick up.

Got it. So you guys went and picked her up together? That was the goal. Yes, I was going to go with them, but I ended up getting a flat tire. Oh, so you couldn't? Yeah, I got back literally 10 minutes after she left, apparently. Got it. And so forgive me, I missed something. I kind of missed it in the middle of there, but you got back home around 10, you hung out with Jen, and then you all just kind of hung out, and then did you separate to go shopping? She took a nap, and then I went and ran my errands.

Okay, got it. And then around noon or two o'clock, is when you got flat tire, and she was leaving to pick up. No, so when we hung out first, I've gone to the vape shop, which was now open to get my vape, and then came back and hung out more. And then we separated and I did my errands, and she took him now. That was around noonish, wouldn't that? Got it, okay. I just wanted to make sure I have that straight. So you went back to the vape shop.

Which vape shop is? Where's the vape shop around her? E-cigarette online on John Young. Okay, I didn't know there was one around her. E-something online, but I've been going to them for a while. And you made it out there about what time was that? That was probably just after 11 that I finished up there. Now, can you remember the day prior to Monday?

Do you remember, I mean, I guess if anything happened between Saturday night and Monday when you were here that might have sparked wanting to... All three of us are together. Tell me about Sunday night. Tell me about Sunday into Monday. What you remember? She just had a party. She was excited. Sorry.

That's okay. She's talking about crushes and her singing that was coming up and it comes here, see. Mm-hmm. Nothing bad. She was just happy. She was very much. Nothing out of the ordinary. I can't remember anything particularly happened.

Show to the movie Sister Act. Ah, okay. She was singing so well. I told her she reminded me of the choir. We got their stuff to get. I started seeing you better. Gotcha. So Sunday night, did you all, how do you decide, like, who's going to get her ready for school in the morning and everything?

I take her to school in the morning so she could sleep in as much as possible. Okay. And I agreed. I've done the school run a few times before. It's not usually my forte, but I don't mind helping. And so Jennifer shared with me typically you normally sleep in the upstairs guest bedroom. Yeah. And then she.

We'll sleep together in her own bedroom. But last night, or not last night, Sunday, so Jen could get better sleep. She said she's essentially both upstairs, correct? Gotcha. Okay. Do you remember about what time you went to bed and woke up? Bed probably 11 quarter after. We were getting up really, really early so we could make good time getting out of the door.

So we got up around seven. Yeah. all left pretty early. Yeah. Okay. Did you see Jen at all in the morning? Or was she still asleep? Yeah, sorry a couple times. I was in and out of her room talking to her. Got it. Okay. And that was before you left around, what time did you leave? About 8.30? Well, earlier than that, we made such good time, I mean, we were so impressed. We made such good time getting out the door. I mean, we were probably out by 730, 7.45. Okay. Because we wanted to get McDonald's practice. We'd been talking about it anyway. She ended up not wanting it after all.

Got it. Um, any trouble at all recently at home? No. No, not recently. No arguments that you can remember between her and you, anything that's upset her? Not for a while. When was the last time? Maybe, maybe months. You know, typical mood swing stuff. You know, she has some pretty, pretty, pretty bad. at PMS when she gets it and being a teenager on top of it doesn't know. I know all about it.

Now you said she, I think you said she left her phone, right? Yeah. Where did she leave her phone at? She left it in her room, so am I for that matter. You left your phone too, huh? Yeah. So we try to be on top of her about that and not forgetting things, but we're also a bit forgetful too. Got it.

But yeah, it's not uncommon for her to forget everything that she leaves in her room or in the bedroom. She left it in her room. She must have been grabbing her shoes or something and set it down. And that's just how it goes. Okay. Got it. Gotcha. Is it typical of her, I guess, to forget things like that?

Yeah, very typical. All right, man. Well, I mean, you know her better than I do. Is there anything you can think of that as someone who doesn't know her that I might be missing out on here? Like somewhere she may like to be or somewhere she... Everything that we're aware that we think she could possibly be. We've checked. I mean, literally the whole family is just...

So you know of the... You know that the deputies found the video from the church last night of her in the parking. We heard that they saw someone. So can you think of a reason that she might have gone and waited in that church that's across the street for a couple minutes before she would have headed back off to school? I mean, she had time to kill, so I don't know. She said she was going to hang out and find her friends, but when I left her, she was on the other side of the street, rummaging through her backpack and just kind of moving towards the school area. So it looked normal. What do you think she was looking for?

I assume she was just looking for some headphones or something for her walk, but she might have been looking for her actual phone. Got it. Okay. Yeah, I mean, that's all I can really think of at the moment. I think I have a phone number for you. I tried calling you earlier, but you might have just been asleep. Yeah. So sorry.

No, it's okay. 256, 1832. That's correct. Gotcha. What's your address when you see? stay down so. When I'm done stout, it's, uh, it's my parents' house, though. I did not like being there if I can't help it. Yeah, well, I mean, it's nice to you to help them out. Yeah, it's just a stressful environment, full of poodles and deaf old people.

So after, uh, after you drop at around 820 or so, you didn't, um, is the, to get to the vape shop, do you have to, like, swing back, run? at all to where the school area is. Is there any chance she saw your car or something and was flagging you down or? No, I basically just turned around right there. Okay, so there's no chance she would have like seen you from that church parking lot when you were swinging back around to the Dave Shop. I would have already been gone at that point. Okay, got it. Yeah, I mean at this point I'm just trying to figure out, you know, what might have cost her to go there and then what cost her to leave because I think she did stay there till about 8.50 just before school starts at

when to school start 930? 915 I think it's the latest that they should be there by. I think it starts around 920 officially. Gotcha. Is she familiar with that parking lot at all? Is that somewhere she hangs out? A lot of the kids will sort of rendezvous there before heading into school. Gotcha. Do you recall seeing any other kids walking in the area when you were dropping her off? We were early. Earlier than usual, she was confident that it was. Okay. Did she mention that to you at all?

Yeah, I asked her, you know, because we were a little early, we saw some time to go. She said, no, just dropped me right here more. Okay. But she normally passed anyway. It wasn't out of the ordinary. I agreed to it. She was making the way towards the school. And I went on with my day.

All right. Well, I appreciate you talking to me. I'm going to go ahead and end this. 12, 23 hours. Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the internet, and then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers.

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My listeners can get $50 off of GLP1 weight loss treatments at Effecti.com with code Hidden True Crime at checkout. That's Effecti.com, EFFF-E-C-T-Y.com and use code Hidden True Crime to get $50 off your first month of GLP-1 weight loss treatment. No hassles, no memberships, and no hidden fees. Get started today. Case number 24-11313. Today's date is February 27, 2024. The time is 1916 hours. We're in Kissimmee speaking with Stefan Stearns. Okay, so we just, I know that you're already supposed to be the other detective, right, about everything that kind of happened today. If you can just kind of go over with us one more time, the timeline from like when you, you guys woke up and took her to school and all that.

So we woke up early. The plan was that we were going to get McDonald's breakfast on the way. So we made amazingly good time. I don't mean time to interrupt you, okay? Neither of us were here yesterday. So if you can be kind of like specific about like times and stuff like that, okay? Woke up around 7.7.15 somewhere around there, which is an early start for us. But we had talked about getting McDonald's breakfast beforehand.

So we wanted to make good time. We did make good time. We got out the door maybe 730-7-45-ish, maybe. Got over to that area. She was asleep in the car most of the time, just snoozing until we got there. We got to McDonald's. We're close to McDonald's.

I said, do you still want it? She wasn't interested in the McDonald's anymore, so we continued on. And she wanted to be dropped off a little down the ways from the school She's got this phase that she's been into lately Where she's very particular about what cars she seemed getting out of in front of the school So cars are my cars are I guess kind of empty

I get it it's an image thing But that was Sometime probably between 820 and 840-ish Somewhere in there It was along the stretch of the road that On the right side it has all the communities on it Before you get to the overhaul pass, you could see the overpass from where it was. So it was on that side on that stretch of road,

and that's where I dropped her off. She said she was going to go wait for her friends. She was going to find them and hang out and wait for her friends. And I asked if that was going to be okay. She said, yeah, it's fine. Kids get dropped off early enough as it is. It's not totally unusual for that to happen. It's just not usually that early that I drop her off. I do school runs every once in a while for her. I said, okay, let her out, have a good day. Love you. Thanks, love you too. And I turned around and was driving away and was watching her in my review

mirror to make sure that she was from where she was to go. And she was moving in that direction, but she was rummaging around in her backpack or something. What I assumed was probably headphones or something like that. I find out later that she forgot her phone here, so she may have been rummaging for her phone. but she was still kind of making her way towards that direction so it looked okay

looked like in the other day and I just continued on okay when you said you dropped her off like in the area kind of like where exactly did you drop her off so if you pulled down the street going towards a school you've got that whole strip of communities on the right side there it was in that stretch of sidewalk there we pulled in and maybe maybe about halfway up the street or So she was like right here's good. Was it like in one of the apartment complexes? The church? And it was outside when the apartment,

it was just on the sidewalk on the side of the road there. Just like a tuck and roll, you know? Okay. So like if I were to be on the road, where, like what do you remember seeing that you dropped her off at? I remember the overpasses up ahead. Mm-hmm. The sidewalk was on the right.

row of trees there's i think a median in the middle um and then there was another community maybe across from that before you get to the church so it was like before the church so town luke boulevard's that street that connects to the school yeah that is that the the street that you is this which one so that's town boulevard right and where's the school located here school's right here school's right there okay so the school would be on a the left in this case. Here's the overpass I was talking about. Yeah, we came from town loop, I think. We came from town center, yeah. So we made it right here and then pulled somewhere, somewhere about. So you came from town center and turn onto town loop. Yeah, where's the church?

Is this the church here? Uh, there was a, yeah, that's the church. Okay, so we weren't up to the church yet. So we were pulled on to here and then we pulled maybe about halfway up here and I dropped her off somewhere in this area here. And she walked from there to the school? Yeah. It's a pretty long way. It's maybe a block or so, but it's not out of the ordinary for her.

She likes to do that sometimes. She likes the cold weather. She's wearing her hoodie. She likes the cold walls. So you dropped off near Lylek? Does that sound right? Yeah, it wasn't at a cross street. It was just a bit of the sidewalk there.

So did you merge into the sidewalk, or did you stop in the middle of the street? or I just pulled over to the sidewalk there. Let her hop out. How often do you drop her off? This might be the fifth or sixth time I've ever done it. Okay. And when you drop her off, where do you normally drop her off at?

Normally down the street from the school. She requests that a lot. Like the same area or somewhere else? Especially if it's sometimes in the church parking lot, sometimes just wherever she tells us to let her out, as long as it's close, you know. So it was halfway between town loop and town center and the church? Yeah, it was like, it's just in this stretch right here.

Like we got about maybe halfway up and... I was there. The McDonald's that you guys were going to stop at. Did you pull into the plaza at any point? No, she, 86, the idea before we even got there. What do you mean by 86? Poooooo, the idea, didn't want it anymore. Okay.

Wasn't the move anymore. At any point, while you were driving to the school. Did you make a U-turn? Yeah, I tried to sell her on McDonald's a more time because I was still kind of hungry, but at that point she was also just wanting to get to school. Okay, we turned right back around.

Where did you make that U-turn out? Actually, the school park, not the school parking lot, the church parking lot. I pulled into that, turned around and pulled back out. Did a U.E there and went back to the McDonald's, and she still wasn't having it. That's when we came back. See, the McDonald's is on the same town loop or town center.

It connects to the same road that the school was on. Yeah, so it's like a straight shot. So you guys came from, just so I can kind of get a good visualization, town center, and where did you come from, town center? Town center, so where was the McDonald's? I'm so bad at reading these, I'm sorry. So we came... This is all town center.

So we came across on town loop, I believe. Is that the school that... Is that the road that the school is on? No, this is town center. So you said you were on town center, and then you made a right on town loop, which is the one that takes you to the school. Yes, correct.

Right? I think you must do it. But what I'm saying is before town loop... I'm sorry, for town center. What street did you take? I'm so sorry. I'm bad with the street. around here. How do you usually get to the school?

I just take John Young and then wait till I see the McDonald's and make a left there and then follow that around and that goes straight into the road that the school is on. Just use the landmarks and I don't memorize the street names. Is that J.Y.P? Yeah, so this is J.Y.P. I made it at the McDonald's you turn right? And then you said you made it left at the McDonald's? So that's Young Parkway.

going north of McDonald's and then go around and then that shoots straight into the road that she's on. Okay. Because that's... I believe that's the correct road. Yeah, well, that's the fastest way to get there. But you told me you came from town center and town loop. I'm sorry. I don't know the street names.

Okay. I'm sorry. That's okay. So now that we know that you came from Jung Parkway and you made a left on town loop. Mm-hmm. So you passed the McDonald's. Yeah, that was when she said no to McDonald's the first time. Okay.

So you guys keep on going on town, Luke? Yeah. But at that point, we still had a lot of time to kill. Very early. So what did you guys do? Drove towards the school, made a U-turn, came back, tried to do the McDonald's thing again. She didn't want it. So where did you, one more time, where did you do the U-turn at?

It probably was right by the church, because it was still. way too early for school. So it was on that stretch of road. They had the meeting there and the separation. So that left turn where the church is, they make you turn there. And then after you dropped her off, what did you do?

They talked to her for a minute to make sure, you know, is it all right that you're going early? Because it was still early. She said, yeah, it's fine. I'm going to hang out with my friends to get there, which she does sometimes. so it didn't sound outrageous or anything.

That was it. Told her to have a good day. I loved her. She told me she loved me too. I turned around to leave, and I was watching her in my rearview mirror. She looked like she was walking in the right direction. She was rummaging in her bag a little bit,

like they said, but still sort of just shambling in the right direction while she was doing it. So it looks. It looked normal. It looked okay. Okay. And then what did you do after you left the area? I left to go to the local vape shop because I needed some more vape juice. They weren't quite open yet, so I ended up going back home,

hung out with Jen for a little while. We needed about an hour or so and then went back and checked the vape shop again. It was open, so I got what I needed there, and came back home and hung out with Jen again for a while. Do you remember what time you came home? The first time was probably right around 10 close to it. And then I waited here and went back to the vape shop. Probably finished at the vape shop and came back home again in a little after 11. Okay.

You said the first time that you hung out with Jen for a little bit, right? Was Jen here when you got here at 10? Okay. I think so. She might have been at her blood appointment. Let me double check. I know she had a blood appointment. at some point during the day.

It's okay. We don't have to ask her right now. Sorry, everything's a blur. So she might have been here, she might have not have been here at the first time. I believe she was here because she was sleeping in as much as she possibly could because she's been messed up with a new work schedule. So she had to be here because she didn't want to sleep in.

Okay. I'll double check, but yeah, I believe she was here. And then what time did you say you left again to the smoke shop? Maybe after an hour or so, maybe 11 or so. Okay. And then what time did you get to the smoke shop? It's maybe two minutes away, so not long after that. I stopped in and got some juice. What's the name of the smoke shop?

Eastwood or online. It's just over off of John Young. It's not far from the school. And then after the smoke shop, what did you do? Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

At least until 1230, 1245 or something like that. And then what did you do after that? I had a couple errands to run over on 192. She was talking about making a BJ shopping list. She just wanted to make sure I was back in time for us to both go pick up. So I was visiting some card shops around the area on 192. I'm kind of a nerd. so we had a new trading card game release

and I was seeing what the situation was with it. Do you remember what places you visited? Yeah, Coliseum of Comics. Stop by a couple targets and I was going to go to House Rules games down by Oak and 192. I didn't make it that far. I got a flat tire on the way. Do you remember where you got your flat tire?

It was on 192. I pulled into one of those blasers somewhere. It's been about 10 years since I switched out of tire, though, so I made a lot of rookie mistakes. And I ended up pinning my thumb between the frame and the jack. Yeah, I'm lucky it's not a lot worse than it could have been. Do you remember the name of the plaza by any chance? Do you remember, like, what stores were in the closet? It was like right before you got to Oak, though.

So it was one of those little strips. Okay. But I did not make it back in time because of that. I thankfully had the spare. I put that on and tried to get back in time, but caught every red light on the way, and she ended up leaving me. I called her and let her know what happened.

I apologized profusely, because I promised I'd be there with her to go pick her up. Just sat and waited. After that, she had already gone together, so I just sat and hung out, straightened up the house a little bit. Then we got the call. What do you mean?

You got to call. I got to call to her, and started making a call to her family, be on the lookout. She might be walking to you. Is it normal for her to not have her phone? Unfortunately, she's severely ADHD as in my end. So it is not uncommon at all in that very, very usual thing for her to forget.

She'd forget her head if it wasn't screwed on me. We're forgetful about, you know, writing her about that. It will remind her, and then it will leave our mind, and she'll say, okay, and then it will leave her mind. And is she on medication for this stuff? Normally, yes. She's been staying with her grandparents a lot this week, so she has not been getting her mental a lot. Okay. So she was released. Where?

Disney, concierge is going on. What changed in her hours that she needs all this thing? She's training, so it's not a set schedule yet. Okay. It's just early this day, late closing training this day. So different hours. Yeah, no, that takes a toll. So I came up here. She needed help. I split my town between two and two places.

If you needed a visit, we all needed to be a little happier together. This is a green hole in July. Just tell me, too. And where's the McDonald's? Where? We're just trying to figure out your direction of travel, right? I'm so sorry. I'm so bad with that area over there, Hunter's Creek.

You said you made a U-turn at the church to go see if she wanted McDonald's again, correct? Yes. Did you go anywhere else? Because I know you said you had time to kill. Yeah. Did you guys go anywhere else? No, we didn't go anywhere else. Is there a reason why you would be back on John Young Parkway?

When we tried to go back to McDonald's a second time, we would have made a left over there instead. We just leaked around again. What do you mean? Just made a circle. Made a circle house. Can you show me on the map? So this is the McDonald's right here, right? That's the McDonald's right. Correct.

So going back down and then just straight shot back down. You would come down this way? I can't leave there. I'm so sorry. Where's the McDonald's? McDonald's is right here. This is Town Lou. So this is John Young Parker.

You guys are coming up. This is the McDonald's. And the school's on this point. Correct. Somewhere over here. So we come back out here, there, and then we can take a straight shot back down to the school there. there. They connect. Town Loop and Town Center connect. Right.

So where did you make the U-turn? The U-turn was on the street when we were going to go back to McDonald's. And we drove down the McDonald's here. Right. So just so I don't get confused. You're going up Jung Parkway, right? You're going North Bend. Originally, yes. Right. You make a left at the McDonald's. Go towards the school. Okay. How far did you get? before you made the U-turn. So you got.

Is this the school right here? Yep, that's town town lift. So we got up to here and then maybe you turned over here. Pass the medium. Okay. So. Back to McDonald's. On Winkin, town loop.

Still time to kill. She still didn't want the McDonald's, but I did give her a raspberry and cheese Danish. So did you go through the drive-thru? Did you go inside? No. Didn't go inside. Where did you get the Danish from? Oh, the intimans that I brought from home.

I gave her a couple of those. Okay. So she wasn't without food totally. So we just continued past it again and turned around and said, screw it, you know, just dropped you off early. Okay, so you came back around to the McDonald's. And then right onto the school. What's, is that back on John Young Parkway? Yeah, back on a John Young Carpillar.

It comes down here. And then here's town center again. So then you took the town center, the second time around? Yes, and then made it right down to the school. Do you remember what time you dropped her off? I estimated it to be sometime between 820, 840. Are you on your phone? Do you have Google Maps?

I do, but I wasn't mapping it. When you're giving her rights, does she sit in the front or the back? She sits in the front. Do you mind if I look at your maps for a bit? Yeah. And just to confirm, also, you said, so the second time around, you said you went up John Young Parkway, you went to town center this time,

made it right on town loop, and then you said you dropped her on. It was right here in this stretch area. Around this area, okay. Which was before the underpass? Correct. Before the underpass, just before the chair. The church was ahead on the left.

The underpass was just beyond that. The school is just on the other side of the underpass. Okay. On the left hand side? Maybe a block away. Okay. And you said that that's typical of her to walk that distance? Yeah.

She likes the morning walks when it's cool. She doesn't like being seen getting out of certain cars. You know, being in middle school where it's an image thing. And she will sometimes like to hang out away for her friends. She's known to do that. Do you want to just take a picture of your history? Yeah, that's fine. And that time would have been, you said, around 8.

8.20, 8.30, sometime between 820 and 840. What time does she go into class? She has to be there. No, later than 915, doors open at 8. I mean, doors open at 9, I think. And school officially starts around 920 or 928, I think. Okay. And when you dropped her off, is that earlier than typical, later than typical around the same time? Earlier than typical.

We had made really good time that morning. And with the subtraction of McDonald's, we had more time than usual. Okay. She said it was okay. She was very confident, convincing that it would be fine. And you saw what direction she walked to after you dropped her? Yeah, it looked like she was moving towards the direction of the school like she was supposed to. Was she still on the right side of the road or did she cross over?

She was when I left her. Yeah, she was still on the right. side. What phone is this? S23. I don't know how to work this thing. I'm sorry. I barely know how to work

at myself. I'm an iPhone person. Is it okay if I go in your settings real quick? I just want to see if you're logged on to your Google. I am not logged on to my Google with that, actually. Is it okay if I check? Yeah.

Does she have any other devices besides that phone? Any electronics? She had her school laptop with her. Is that So supposed to be with it? Still supposed to be with her, yes. What kind of book bag?

Does she care? Black book bag with like gray, grayish blue hibiscus flowers on it, like a print. When she leaves in the mornings, what do she usually put her from? Either in her backpack or like her back pocket. Kind of wherever she just thinks to put it at the time. Hold on.

I don't know how like you just is this fun. Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt. I don't know you've probably been asked already, but she's never ran away or been away for longer than a certain period of time. I think she'd know what to do if she did run away. She's not the type. She's a good kid. Besides the ADHD, is she diagnosed or anything else? Yeah.

She was tested a while back and had some symptoms of autism. So she's potentially on the spectrum there. Okay. She was officially diagnosed with it when she was younger, when she was retested and said, well, she shows symptoms of being on the spectrum, but maybe not full on autistic. Is this what you used to go places? Yes.

Go places, search addresses, look at store hours, write reviews. It's a pretty new phone, though. Do we had any updates? We literally have like 50 people right now on scene looking I don't know if there's any updates The best person would be the other detective Because he's the one But is in charge of all this

I don't think I've beaten anything since yesterday Yeah I'm sure you guys were here When did you come back to help Jen, is that hurting? Yeah What do you mean? Like, because you lived down south, right? When did you come back up north?

help her? Um, I just got here this weekend. Do you remember what day it was? Sunday was her birthday party, so yeah, it was the evening after her birthday party, Sunday. Okay. Do you remember what time you got here on Sunday? Um, 8.30-ish, maybe. Okay. Just in time to make sure that she was doing all her nighttime routines. Do you live in North Pole, right? Yeah, I split my time between the two. Is that I don't split my time between the two? Is that Broward County or? Sarasota County or Charlotte County. It's my parents' house. They're old and they need help these days

and they've got a house full of poodles. It's chaos. That's why I needed to come back up here and just get away from that. Between two deaf old people yelling at each other and poodles yapping all the time, it's enough to drive anyone up a wall. It's very happy to be back here.

Did you... When you guys were looking for the... You guys look. Me and her stayed local. It was all the rest of the family that mobilized and was beating the bushes. Did you guys drive together or separate? I don't think we drove anywhere when we were looking. You didn't drive anywhere?

Not that I recall. Did you guys go anywhere last night? Is that media? Maybe. I think Fox 35 or something was going to be. If it is, let me tell them. Okay. I don't recall. You have to ask her if we went anywhere.

I don't recall. I was so zonked out on Ativan at that point. I was a wreck. And this would have been when? I don't recall it's going anywhere last night, but honestly, at that point my brain was mush and I was on so many tranquilizers to keep me stable. He's just...

You said Ativan? Yeah. Do you usually take that? Yeah, I have a prescription. I haven't needed it in a long time, though. What's that for? Anxiety. Okay.

I was having these rolling panic attacks and breaking down crying, and I just... Oh, okay. I got one. Sorry. Thank you. And it was the only way I could get to sleep this night. And then again this afternoon, that's why I missed your calls. I'm sorry.

I took an ad of van and conked out for a few minutes. It's a long time when I'm not crying. It's okay if I just pop down real quick. So we're trying to get just a good idea, times, all that stuff. I'm so sorry. I'm giving my best recollections. I'm not a morning person as it is. So a lot of the times are best guess.

But we know that you go up Jong-Yung Parkway. That's the road you usually take. Yeah. To take her. And then you make a left at that McDonald's, right? Which is the town loop. You can make a left to get there either at the McDonald's or at town center itself. They both lead to the school.

So if you leave her at, just so you get a sense of direction, Jong-young Parkway goes northbound and southbound. So you're going northbound into Orange County, making a left at the McDonald's, which is the town loop. You said when you did drop her off at that medium, You said it was around 820, 8.30-ish, somewhere around that time? Somewhere in there, yeah. It was early, but not, like, outrageously early, you know.

So what would you estimate when you made a left at that McDonald's to be? After I dropped her off? No, I'm saying when you dropped her off. Oh, first left by that McDonald's. Yeah, when you first go, that first left that you make at the McDonald's. It had to have been around maybe eight, maybe, maybe, quarter after eight sometime in there. Okay.

Sometime between eight and a quarter after, I think. All right. So just so it's, you can kind of picture it here on the map. So you're going northbound. You make it left here around like 8, 10, 8, 15. Let's say 815 around there. When you get over here, you change your, you make a U-turn, you go back to the McDonald's,

but you said that she still doesn't want the McDonald's. She was just going to eat the Danish's that I had given. So you're going up here now, still northbound on Jung-Yung Parkway. You make a left at town center this time. Town center, then make a right on to, yes. And then you drop her off around like eight. Dropped her off around halfway up the road there. So keep in mind, all of this is still northbound.

Okay. Right? You're still northbound on Jung Parkway. So why is your car seen going southbound at 8-10? at I'll show you what location it is McDonald's is over here at 8.10

your car is seen going southbound at this intersection so meaning going toward Kissimme I had forgotten my gate clicker I'm sorry I forgot I had gone back to the house real quick after we left

because I forgot my gate clicker I actually had to go through the front gate and use my parking pass to grab my clicker. So it was a wrong time. I'm sorry. Like I said, I was guesstimating these times. I'm not a more in person.

Okay. So yes, we've gone out. How far did you get before you came back down when you realized you forgot your clicker? Nearly all the way, nearly all the way to the school. And then we turned around. We had plenty of time to kill, so it was time to go back.

I rushed back, got the clicker, and that's when I came back here this way. So you guys came back here to get your clicker? Correct. So when we look at the cameras in the front, it's going to show you coming back in here. Correct. With her in the car. Yes, with her in the passenger seat, yes. I know it sounds like we're asking you stupid questions, okay?

We just want to verify the times. I'm sorry, I'm not being more help. I'm not a morning person. I was half to sleep as it was. I'm trying. The clickers to get to get where? into our neighborhood. Okay. And you forgot the clicker where?

I've forgotten the clicker here. So how did you get in? I was able to use my parking sticker for them to scan to let me through. So could you not have done that after you dropped her off? I could have, but I also like to come back in from the back gate a lot of the times. And I didn't know if I would be back right away. And sometimes they're busy up front, so it's better not to wait in the line. What time is security usually there at the...

front gate? They were there when I came through. He scanned my ticket. So would it have not just made more sense to drop her off and come back since security's already there? I don't know if it made more sense. It's just what I did. Anything else that we haven't asked you if it was important? Maybe that might help us out. I'm sorry I'm having trouble recollecting everything. I'm going to step away for a second.

Anything that you remember, maybe she might have told you. She didn't mention anything in particular. I made a joke about her crocs. She wears crocs and socks. She's where you're joking about that. Would she say she's usually like a happy, go lucky girl? Very happy. She brings a lot of joy.

She's a very good girl. It definitely doesn't feel the same around here if she's not here. She was so happy, too. She was looking forward to my visit here. She was looking forward to us all being together She was just happy She was just very happy So you guys

You'd say you guys have a pretty good relationship Yeah Definitely have a very strong bond Since she goes to when It's in a fight with her And she needs someone to comfort her And that person for her You know

How's Good most of the time You know Three not long ago So she's getting the PMS mood swings as well as you can expect. But otherwise, very loving. Very loving.

This girl knows nothing but love here in this house. She hardly ever hears the word now. Double-edged sword, that is. How is she in school? So-so. She's so-so in school. Like grade-wise or behavior-wise? She's doing a lot better, though.

Apparently she just made student of the week. Oh, nice. Okay. Yeah. So we're very proud of her. singing choir. She's sounding just amazing. She sang for me last night, I immediately wanted to show her the movie Sister Act because of the choir singing was so pretty. It reminded me. I told her I was very proud of her. Do she have, um, did she like video games, anything like that? She does like

video games, yeah. She plays Roblox, Minecraft. I think those are the two big ones that I know of. You don't know her to, like, ever have any friends on there that she talks to, anything like that? She does. She does group chats. She does, like, voice chatting, too on it. Usually with, like, her cousins or her friends. And they'll all be playing Roblox or something, you know, yelling at each other on the phone. When's the last time you all live together?

December. December. I said the reason was for your parents down there. Yeah. Going down to help them because they're getting on an age. and they're making their end-of-life plans and they need someone to help out. Can you unlock this one more time?

Sure. I have a question. Yes. Sorry, are you guys done? No, for you. The other detective mentioned that you did not have your phone yesterday? Correct.

Tell me about that. I left my phone at home in the morning, too. I was so busy riding her to the door on time that I left my phone. She left her phone. We both left our phones. Did you have your phone when you went to the smoke shop? Not the first time after I dropped her off.

I was still without it. I got my phone and went back to the smoke shop later when I got home. And then I also noticed, I was checking your call history. I noticed that you don't have anything before this morning. Is that unusual on your phone? No, it's a new phone. stupid. I went to do an update yesterday morning, and I don't know what the fuck. Pardon me. I don't know what the heck I did, but somehow during the massive OS update,

I managed to factory reset my phone and lose all of my contacts, all my information. What time was that? Do you remember? Oh, sometime while I was hanging out with Jen. might know. I looked at her and said, what did I just do? Okay. She might know better. I don't know what time it was. It was when I was here with Jen. I don't think I have any other questions. Do you go? I don't know where my head was yesterday. It was so far up my backside. That's okay. We understand. In the meantime, while we're waiting for all this to get sorted out, I am going to hold on to your phone, okay? I'll give it back to you when we're done. Okay. Do you have any questions for you?

How long are you going to need my phone? I'm not sure. I'm waiting for my supervisor to call me. My dad. It's just my dad's using that to get a hold of me and get updates. They can call it Jensphone. Okay. Did the other detective give you his business card? I believe so. Okay, well here's mine in case you want it for any reason.

Okay. Okay? Do you swear that everything you told us is true? Yes. Okay, thank you so much. Thanks for your time. We appreciate it. I know it's a little hectic right now.

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