Episode 360

0:00Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

0:12And when you guys showed me the picture of her, I believed the sexual stuff, but I didn't want to believe that he had done anything equal to her. I'm like, no, what if he did this stuff fine?

0:29Some of the stories we tell here on Sword and Scale will make you sick. They'll tug at your heartstrings They'll change your whole perspective On humanity They're the ones you can't get over The ones you can't really shake And they stay with you for a long time The story we're about to tell you Is one of them This is part one of a two-part series Let's go

1:06Thank you.

1:529-1-1, what's the location of your emergency? The call is coming out of Kissimmee, Florida, in a quiet suburban pocket near Hunter's Creek Middle School. police fire or medical police possibly I'm reporting a missing child and is she white black or Hispanic she's white okay and dirty blonde hair blue eyes okay hold on with me here okay and then how long has it been though since you guys have last seen her since this morning she was dropped off at school this morning and apparently she never showed up we called everyone we knew no one seen her. She was last seen at the church next to Hunters Creek Middle School.

2:35I think it's called Peace Church. I'm not sure if the exact address. She was dropped off that morning, just steps away from the school, but she never made it inside. By that afternoon, no one had seen her. Not her friends, not her teachers, not a single person at the school. She was dropped off, then just disappeared. Her name was Madeline Soto, and she was just 13 years old. This was her best friend. She came to school in the middle of the year in fourth grade. She was like the new kid, so everybody kind of just picked on her and stuff. She was in a different class than me. She got picked on a lot by people that nobody really liked and stuff.

3:21And then one day, I kind of went up to her and I was like, hey, what's your name? And then we got to know each other. Ever since then, we've just been best friends. As best friends, she and Maddie talked every day. Like every single day. She texts me every morning I wake up, and I always get a text from her unless she... But usually, I thought it was fishy yesterday when she didn't text me at all, because usually even if she doesn't go to school that day, she texts me like the night or the day I'll wake up early just to like text me like, hey, I'm not going to school. And she didn't yesterday, but I didn't think everything of it because I thought she slept in or something.

3:57That morning, February 26th, 2024, was supposed to be routine. A ride to school, maybe breakfast on the way. It was the kind of morning you don't think twice about until something goes horribly wrong. That morning, her mother's boyfriend, Stefan Stearns, drove her to school. Stefan, she was always on a call with him. She loved him. They were really close. They left earlier than usual. They had time to spare and talked about stopping for breakfast at McDonald's. But she changed her mind, as little kids do. She was sleepy, but she also just wanted to get to school early to hang out with her friends.

4:39Instead of waiting in the insufferable car line, she asked to be dropped off about a block away. She would walk the rest of the way to find her friends. Apparently, no matter who was taking her to school, Maddie preferred to be dropped off in the near vicinity. This was usually at the church across the street, where a lot of parents dropped off their kids to avoid the long lines. That morning, the car pulled over. Maddie got out and started walking. They're going to the pool to double check and everything, but from what we know, she wasn't there. So they should be back soon, too, because it's right next to her.

5:17That's fine. So if at least one of you remains there to meet with an officer, that's more than fine, okay? Yeah, I'll be here. I'll be here. Okay, then. All right. Thank you so much, ma 'am, and I'll go ahead and let you go. We'll be out there as quickly as we can, okay? When someone goes missing, every second matters. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how much you want a limited resource like law enforcement. If there's no cops available, there's no cops available. What do you expect after years of demonizing law enforcement? All cops are bastards, you say? Yeah, that has a negative but opposite effect.

5:54Duh. Police and medical. Hi, um, I called not that long ago reporting the missing child. I just want to know how long the cops are going to take to get here. Okay, hold on. Let me open up the call and let's see. The call is still currently pending to have the deputies respond out there, but we don't have any available deputies. We still have the call up the holding. Okay, so no one's on their way yet? Not yet, no. Does it take long for them to respond to the call? If there's a big emergency in the area and there's no units available, they put the calls on hold. But as soon as one becomes available, they respond to the next pressing call.

6:31I'll go ahead and update them with their information. All right, thank you. because this happened very recently, so we just want to get everyone here. She's been missing since 8 a.m. At the same time, her family started calling the school, reaching out to teachers to see if anyone had seen her. But no one had. Yeah, what's going on? They need police or medical. No, it's not a medical issue. We have a missing child since this morning. We already called three times, and the police didn't show up yet. Yes, ma 'am. I see it. There's a way for a deputy to respond. They haven't come here yet. I'm worried, ma 'am.

7:09I see it. They're waiting for a deputy to respond. They're waiting for a deputy to respond? Yes, ma 'am. And how long do we need to wait? It's a child missing. I understand, ma 'am, but I'm just not able to get by ETA. I don't know when they'll be there. So how long do we need to wait? This is an emergency. We have the information, but they're trying to get there as soon as possible. So this is not informed for you guys? Really? No, we're very busy in the area. Look, I understand they'll be there soon as they can, okay? They didn't just call 911 once. They had to call three times. The first call came in at around 4.43 p.m., then again at 5.16, and then another one at 7.21.

7:55It took officers almost three hours to arrive, and they didn't get there until 7.37 p.m. Deputy logs show the call sat waiting because no deputies were available. Units were tied up with other emergencies, and this one had to wait its turn. But before you blame dispatchers, understand that the people answering those calls weren't the ones heading out to search. They were taking information and waiting for someone in the field to clear. They did their jobs correctly, by the book, exactly as instructed. Maddie's mother was later told there were other missing children that day. Seems like an epidemic, right?

8:40Resources were stretched thin. In fact, nearly 1 ,000 children are reported missing in the United States every day. That works out to about one child every 90 seconds, or roughly 350 ,000 children under 18 each year. Think about that for just a sec. That's roughly the capacity of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. So yeah, an Indianapolis Motor Speedway's worth of children goes missing every year. But to Maddie's parents, family, and friends, statistics didn't really matter at the moment. This was serious and urgent. This was their own daughter. An entire day had now passed with no one seeing Maddie.

9:33Does she have a cell phone that she might keep on her person? She doesn't. She had one when she left it at home conveniently today. Okay. It was no surprise that Maddie left her phone at home. This was a common occurrence, and it wasn't just because she was forgetful. Okay, is she diagnosed with any medical mental conditions at all? I know she takes medication for ADHD and I think that I'm pretty sure that's it. At 7.37 p.m., officers pulled into the condo complex in Kissimmee, where Maddie lived with her mother, Jennifer Soto. Also in the home was Jennifer's boyfriend, Stephan Stearns, who was frequently there despite an on-and-off-again relationship.

10:16The unit itself was shared, with rooms rented out to other women. and the condo was owned by Maddie's grandfather. It was a crowded living arrangement with multiple people coming and going and limited space inside the home. By the time deputies got there that evening, both Jennifer and Stephan were there, answering questions and helping officers piece together the last known details from that morning. Officers started with the basics, documenting what Maddie was wearing and establishing a clear timeline. Hey there. Hey there. What's going on? So I was dropped off close to school this morning, but never made it.

10:56I went to school. I'm sorry. One second. Go ahead, sir. Are we looking for another kid or we have a kid? Looking for another one. Like I said, an epidemic, especially when Disney World is in your backyard. So she was supposed to be dropped off at school. Didn't make it to school. Didn't make it to school. I went to pick her up from school today, and she never came out. They announced it over the speaker, and I'm just like, maybe she walked here, because sometimes she'll walk here to this office. I came here, nothing. I went back to the school. They were closed. I got a notice, an email from the school saying she was absent, but I also messaged her teacher, and he looked at her entire attendance today and saw that she was completely not at school today either.

11:41Okay. So she never made it. Okay. What's her name? Madeline. M-A-D-E-L-I-N-E. M-A-D-E-L-I-N-E. I-N-E. Last name? Soto. S-O-T-O. S-O-T-O? Yeah. Date of birth? February 22nd, 2011. February 27th, 2000? 22nd. Oh, sorry. 22nd. 2011. 2011. Just had a 13th birthday. He said it quietly, but Stephan just pointed out that Maddie had just turned 13. In fact, just the day before, a Sunday, the family had a birthday party. Her mother Jennifer and her mother's boyfriend Stefan were not there, but her best friend was. But on Monday evening, back at the scene, officers needed to know what Maddie was wearing when she was last seen, so they talked to her mom and Stefan.

12:35Green hoodie. Green hoodie. White Crocs. White Crocs. Either blue or black pants. I think black shorts. Black shorts? Yeah. Black shorts? Mm-hmm. Okay. Black shorts. Alright, do you know she has like friends in the area? She does, but she doesn't know where they live. She doesn't know where they live, okay. I asked all of them. Okay. Is this like, does she like have any places that you guys know that she'll usually be at? Any friends' house? Any places that like she likes to hang out? Typically no. Not typically? No. Weight? 110 pounds. 710, 112. Hair color? Blonde. Blonde, like a dirty blonde.

13:22Like a dirty blonde? Okay. Eye color? Blue. Does she have any markings on her, like any scars? She has a distinctive beauty mark on her face here. On her face? On the face, like below the nose? Yeah, like right in that area there. It's very distinctive. You'd know it if you saw it. While one officer was talking to Maddie's parents, another was speaking with staff at the church, where she was dropped off that morning. Surveillance showed a child sitting in a parking lot for about 10 minutes before getting up and walking away. After that, the trail disappeared. At that point, investigators were still working through possibilities, including one that seemed plausible, that Maddie may have left on her own.

14:07It's possible that she came here and sat in the parking lot for a while. It's a blurry video, but it looks like an analyst child sitting right there, and she's hitting. The people here said that they were adamant they seen her on the property. But, like I said, it's a blurry video, and I don't see her getting into anybody's car in the video. I see her sitting on property for, give or take, 10 minutes and then locking off property. I don't know which way she went from there. The video was blurred, he said. But clearly it showed a child lingering for a bit and then walking away. Could it have been Maddie?

14:53There were signs, even messages and comments about wanting to leave. About going off on her own and living in the woods when she turned 13. Why the woods? Why 13, you may ask? Who knows? But wouldn't we all like to just go off the grid from time to time? Regardless, this half-baked plan was something she had confided about with her friend. We were walking around the bus loop, and she was like, she was talking about a gator. And then she was like, um, you know what would be, like, so cool to do? And I was like, what? She was like, if we like rent the woods, like, you know, that trail behind the scope.

15:35I was like, yeah. And she was like, it'd be so cool to like go there and just like build a little house. And I was like, the woods, like with like animals and stuff. And I was like, where are you going to get this like wooden stuff to build this house? And she was like, I don't know, I'll figure it out. And I thought she was joking and stuff because she kind of like smiled when she did it. So I thought she was joking, but I didn't take her seriously. And then when I found she was missing, that popped into my mind, and I told my dad. Her saying if she were to run away, go into the woods and find a place and stay there.

16:11If this were true, if she really had planned to leave, then where did she go? He dropped her off a couple of block away and drove away. Did she ever go to school? No, we called school. She was walking in that direction. She was rifling through her backpack. Just literally something I thought maybe she was just looking for headphones before she got her walking on. Yeah. But she was just kind of, you know, shambling over in that direction. It looked the same as any other morning. Okay. But it wasn't just like any other morning. On any other morning, Maddie would have been safe in school all day.

16:46But she wasn't. She would have made it home after school like every other day. But she didn't. Whether Maddie ran away or something far worse happened, the truth was that she wasn't just missing. She had vanished. She had just turned into a teenager, and now her family feared she would never make it. To adulthood.

17:53The End On the morning of February 26, 2024, she was dropped off just a short distance from the schoolyard, a walk she had made before, and one that, at the time, didn't seem unusual. But that morning, she never made it inside. Hours passed before anyone realized something was wrong. Her family made calls to the school, then to 911. By the time deputies arrived that evening, Maddie had already been missing for hours, and no one could say where she had gone after getting out of the car. At first, there were explanations. Maybe she left on her own. Maybe she wandered off. She had allegedly made comments about wanting to leave, about going off into the woods when she turned 13.

18:43Maddie lived with her mother, and she also spent time with her grandmother. From the time she was about six, her mother's boyfriend was also in the picture. Jennifer and Stefan were in an on-again, off-again relationship for years. For the majority of that time, they lived under the same roof. According to Jennifer and other family members, Stefan was like a dad to Maddie, and they had a great relationship. But she also had a great relationship with her biological dad and her sister, who lived miles away. If she didn't take off to live in the woods, maybe she took off on a bus or plane to see them.

19:24Her friend remembered her preoccupation with getting money for her birthday. Once I turn 13, I'm going to leave this house and never come back. Why 13? Because I think, because she would always brag, because I said that I can't wait until my birthday. And she was like, are you having a birthday party? I said no. And she was like, oh, I get a whole month of money, like$500 something. dollars on my birthday you know like that's like so much money and I was like yeah like I get money but like not like that and I don't really like having birthday parties the last birthday party I had was so much drama so then she was like oh okay she would always talk about getting money for her birthday and um I didn't give her money and I already had given her a gift I brought it to school um she kind of got mad that I didn't give her any money or anything I was like I spent money on this.

20:14I didn't physically give you any money, though. And then when we also got there, I was like, how many presents did you get? And then she was like, I barely got any money yet. Like, I'm kind of mad because, like, I want more money. I think she was waiting to turn 13. That way she could get all the money and go. She talks to her sister. Her dad is in Washington, D.C., and I think her sisters too. Her and her sister are close. Missing her biological dad and sister weren't the only reasons Maddie may have taken off without telling anyone. Her friend said she didn't always get along with her mom and she had ADHD and other challenges.

20:54Based on what I know, I think she kind of just wanted to be free and kind of just not live under, like, her... The word mom, or mom's rules, was redacted. But that's a reasonable inference. That she didn't necessarily want to live under her mom's rules. She had just turned into a teenager. Was she, like, defiant? Like, didn't like to follow the rules? Sort of, yeah. I mean, it depends if she took her meds. If she doesn't take her meds, then she's like really crazy and she doesn't think, she just does stuff. Like impulsive? Yeah. When investigators took a closer look at what actually happened that morning, Maddie's disappearance seemed less like a troubled teenager looking for escape and more like a vulnerable girl who may have been abducted.

21:47On the morning of Maddie's disappearance, Stefan drove her to school. This wasn't unusual. In fact, they had a routine for the days he took her to school that included stopping at McDonald's. But that day was different. Maddie was more lethargic and slept the whole way. She refused breakfast twice. 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 7 30 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 you still want it wasn't interested in mcdonald's anymore so we continued on and she wanted to be dropped off a little down the ways from the school.

22:52She's got this phase that she's been into lately where she's very particular about what car she's seen getting out of in front of the school. 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 overpass, 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 go find them and hang out and wait for her friends.

23:32And 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. Jennifer was happy to have Stefan in her life. He was a huge help to her. He was able to give insight to Jennifer about Maddie's ADHD because he, too, had ADHD. According to Stefan, his ADHD was severe. But Jennifer had issues of her own, including bipolar disorder, which she was medicating for. Typically, the medicine would help regulate her moods and her sleep.

24:16But at times, she'd forget to take it, or her dose needed to be adjusted. She often didn't sleep well and appreciated that Stefan and Maddie had a solid father-daughter-like relationship. And he could pick up the slack. In this next clip, take particular notice of how she's explaining her behavior that night. As if she's trying to explain away a question that hasn't been asked yet. I got home around 1030. I started getting ready for bed myself. I started eating and taking my meds because I have to take meds. When I went to take my meds, I realized, oh my God, I forgot to take my Saturday night's meds.

25:00which is why I felt so weird, so abnormal, and not myself Sunday while I was at work. Everyone at work noticed I was acting different and not being myself. Like, I couldn't smile in front of the guests. I felt this wave of depression that I hadn't felt in years. It was my bipolar symptoms coming up again, but I just, I've been medicating myself for all this time. So Sunday you took your meds. What meds, if you don't mind me asking, what meds do you take? I'm like, how does it, do they put you to sleep deep? Does it help you fall asleep? Or does it help regulate you? what kind of happens when you take the beds?

25:32So they do all of the above. They make me sleepy. They help me stay asleep. And they help me function. So I'm stable all day. They only work well if I've got a good night's sleep and if I've eaten with them the night before when I take them. Or the night I take them. The medication is called Giodoc. Generic brand is called Zipfrazidone. I took my meds, and then I told them to start getting ready for bed, to start heading upstairs and get ready because it was already almost 11 o 'clock. It's past her bedtime. She needs to go sleep. Even by her own account, when Jennifer did take her medication, it didn't just help her sleep.

26:17It knocked her out. She described feeling groggy, disoriented, and sometimes not fully aware of what had happened the night before. Sleep was very important to Jennifer in general, so the next morning she remembered Stefan coming into a room to get the dog and take him for a walk before he took Maddie to school because she needed to sleep in and didn't want to take her. Stefan confirmed that he took the dog for a walk and then he said he and Maddie had an early start. Other than Maddie being excessively sleepy and not wanting McDonald's, this was a typical trip to school. Then she just dropped off the radar.

27:00Dropping off the radar wouldn't be as easy for Maddie as it would for other students. Her teachers were paying attention. She had an IEP, Individualized Education Program, or Special Ed, as it used to be known. She has been in my class all year around. She's always very sweet and she struggles a bit. I mean, all my kids, kids, kids, kids, so they're the students who are struggling. She was on my door decorating team. She was actually chosen to be my student of the week from two weeks ago for helping us win our door decorating competition with her friends. She had been reading a book a couple months ago and it had kissing in it.

27:40And it was a graphic novel and she was like scandalized that there was a kissing scene. Seventh grade was the year sex education was introduced in this school system, so it wasn't surprising the kids would make a big deal about a graphic novel. But she also remembered something Maddie's friends told her after Maddie went missing. I was shocked when the kids were telling me about the live in the woods conversation. I was shocked to hear something like that. She was very excited about her birthday. She had just been made student of the week. She was quiet, she struggled, and she was happy about her birthday.