Madeline Soto’s Brutal Cause Of Death Uncovered – Did Mother’s Boyfriend Do This??

[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]

New details dropped in the Madeline “Maddie” Soto case — including her cause of death.

As we previously reported, the 13-year-old was found dead in a wooded area in Osceola County five days after her mother reported her missing. Jennifer Soto was concerned when the teen never showed up for school on February 26 and called the cops. From day one of the investigation, police had a suspect in the case — the mom’s boyfriend, Stephan Sterns. In fact, he was the last person to see Maddie.

Per ClickOrlando, he told law enforcement he dropped her off at Peace United Methodist Preschool at 8:40 a.m. on the day she disappeared, which was down the road from her middle school. Pretty unusual, right? Why wouldn’t he drop her off right in front of the school? Certainly safer, right?

Well, it turned out what he said was a lie. She was nowhere near her school that day! Orange County Sheriff John Mina revealed there was video evidence showing Sterns throwing items, including Maddie’s backpack and laptop, into a dumpster at a Kissimmee apartment at around 7:35 a.m. He was then spotted driving a vehicle — believed to have the teen’s body inside.

Related: TikTok Star Says Stepfather Tried To Murder Her — And She Has The Pics To Prove It!

Despite the evidence against him, police did not charge him with her murder at the time. Instead, Sterns was arrested and indicted on 60 charges in March for what he did to her when she was alive — including capital sexual battery, lewd or lascivious molestation, and unlawful possession of materials depicting sexual performance by a child. During the investigation, police discovered evidence, including several disturbing pictures and videos of Maddie on his phone, that he was sexually abusing her for nearly two years. Jeez. This poor girl went through so much so young.

It wasn’t until April that the Osceola County authorities announced Sterns was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the teenager’s death. Now, months later, new documents released from the Kissimmee Police Department on Monday shed more light on what happened to Maddie.

According to WESH, a “supplement case report” revealed the victim attended a party for her birthday on Sunday, February 25. Her mother didn’t come to the bash as she had to work. When Jennifer came home late, she sent Maddie to bed alone with Sterns because she needed a good night’s sleep.

Mind you, per Fox35, police suspect Jennifer knew about the sexual abuse her daughter endured at the hands of her boyfriend! A detective wrote in an incident report that Jennifer kept protecting Sterns and referred to “the sex stuff” as “not evil” at one point during various interviews conducted with her. If she did know about the alleged abuse and still sent Maddie to bed alone with Sterns, something that happened often, as she also told cops, that is beyond f**ked up. Especially if it means she was actually sending her daughter to her death…

Per WESH, the “supplement case report” stated Maddie was killed either that night or the next morning. Her body was then moved to the wooded area in Osceola County. Per Fox35, the report shared that her remains were found inside a locked, fenced area of Hickory Tree Road in St. Cloud on March 1. That’s the same area a witness told police they saw a “scared” Sterns on the side of the road with a tire iron in his hand near his “broken down” vehicle at around 1:20 p.m. on February 12.  Since the spot was locked — and the lock itself was not tampered with — investigators noted Sterns “would have had to drop Madeline’s body over the barbed wire fence or where the gate was” before moving her body to where they found her.

Notably, the report also mentioned, per WESH, the suspect’s internet history showed he searched online for Sevoflurane, a “volatile anesthetic” used in surgeries, along with the terms “show up in drug test.” The drug can induce hypnosis and amnesia and cause a person to be unable to move their muscles. This Google search naturally was odd to detectives, as they didn’t understand why he would use these terms “when he wasn’t attempting to get a job or he didn’t have any children that were having surgery.” Was he planning on drugging the teen? And wondering if it would show up?

Interestingly, that’s not how Maddie died though…

The document, citing a summary of the medical examiner’s report, listed her manner of death as a homicide and the cause of death as strangulation. So, so awful. This was not a drugging death, it was something much more violent. Awful.

At this time, the investigation remains open. Prosecutors and investigators previously said additional evidence could lead to more charges later. Whatever happens, we just hope Maddie gets justice for what happened to her.

If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. 

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources. 

[Image via Orange County Jail, Orange County Sherriff’s Office]