Florida police said on Thursday that murder charges have not been filed in the death of a 13-year-old girl whose body was found earlier this month.
Kissimmee Police Chief Betty Holland said there likely will be no updates until they receive the medical examiner’s report revealing Madeline Soto’s cause of death. Holland also claimed that the prime suspect, Stephan Sterns, 37, is not cooperating with their ongoing investigation.
Sterns is Soto’s mother’s boyfriend who lived with them. Soto vanished on February 26, and Soto claimed he dropped her off at school that day. However, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said they now believe that wasn’t true and that “she was already dead at the time and that Stephan Sterns moved her body in the early morning hours on that day.”
READ: Prosecutors File 60 New Charges Against Prime Suspect in Florida Girl Madeline Soto Case
Soto was allegedly seen discarding a child’s items in a dumpster the morning of Soto’s disappearance. Authorities reportedly found a laptop and backpack in the dumpster.
On March 1, Soto’s body was reportedly found in a wooded area in Osceola County. Stearns was said to be in the area changing a tire days prior.
Despite this, Sterns has not been charged with Soto’s death. He remains jailed as he is charged with various crimes against children, including sexual battery of children under 12, sexual battery of children 12-18, lewd and lascivious molestation, and possession of child sexual abuse material.
Investigators said they recovered evidence of Sterns abusing an 8-year-old girl in 2019, according to WFLA.
Sterns is scheduled to stand trial on the child sex charges this spring.
[Feature Photo: Madeline Soto/Orange County Sheriff’s Office]
