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The missing body Florida Girl Madeline Soto was found in a wooded area Friday afternoon, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said, hours after the department said they believed the 13-year-old boy was dead.
His mother’s boyfriend is suspected of moving her body and the case is a homicide investigation. Sheriff John Mina said at a news conference later that day.
Madeline’s body was found around 4:30 p.m. by Osceola County Sheriff’s Office search crews in a wooded area near Hickory Tree Road, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in an update.
“Madeline’s family has been notified. We have no additional information to release at this time. Kissimmee Police are the lead agency in this homicide investigation. That work continues,” the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office previously said Madeline She was last seen Monday morning when her mother’s boyfriend, Stephan Sterns, 37, dropped her off a few blocks from Hunter’s Creek High School in Orlando.
Evidence now reveals that she was never dropped off near her school that morning, Mina said in a Friday press conference.
Sterns, whom authorities call the “primary suspect” in the case, was arrested Wednesday night on separate charges of sexual assault and possession of child sexual abuse material after detectives found “disturbing images” and videos that were “of a criminal and sexual nature.” during a forensic examination of his phone.
Madeline is believed to have been murdered in Kissimmee, where her family lived in an apartment, and that Sterns moved her body in the early hours of Monday morning, Mina said.
“We have evidence that shows that Stephen Stern returned to the complex and that Madeline was visible in that vehicle. We believe she was already dead at that time,” the sheriff said. Authorities did not indicate what time the images were captured.
Video evidence recovered by authorities showed Sterns throwing items into a dumpster at the Kissimmee apartment complex at 7:35 a.m. on Monday, February 26. Detectives later recovered Madeline’s backpack and her school-issued laptop from the dumpster.
Detectives informed Madeline’s mother of her presumed death Thursday night. She is not considered a suspect in the investigation.
The Kissimmee Police Department will take over the case now that it has become a homicide investigation.
Kissimmee Police Chief Betty Holland had asked the public to come forward with tips as the search for the boy continued.
Sterns was seen driving a silver 2010 Lincoln MKZ on Monday between 1 and 2:30 p.m. in the area of State Road 192 and Old Hickory Tree and Nulty roads. It is believed that he had a flat tire and may have been seen changing the tire in this area.
Mina said Sterns has not spoken to anyone about the case. He was taken to the Osceola County Jail, where he is being held on capital sexual assault charges filed by Kissimmee police.
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