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A memorial set up along Hickory Tree Road southeast of St. Cloud near the spot where 13-year-old Madeline Soto’s body was discovered grows, as well-wishers can leave notes of hope, praise or prayer and attach it to the fence. PHOTO/KEN JACKSON
Hickory Tree Road, between U.S. Highway 192 on the east and the new zero-lot line subdivisions of homes going up near Deer Run Road, is one of the few remaining quiet, desolate stretches of road left in Osceola County.
The nearest house is a mile and a half away in either direction, around at least one bend, so one can mostly do as they please in the area about a mile east of Lake Gentry Road, between Alligator Lake and Brick Lake.
It’s this spot, surrounded by open ranch land southeast of St. Cloud’s city limits, where the body of 13-year-old Madeline Soto was found on March 1. She was reported missing from her Kissimmee home and Hunter’s Creek school five days prior, kicking off a police investigation that went from a search to a recovery, to a dive into when young Maddie was killed, when, where, how, and by who.
Kissimmee Police Department investigators have a lead into at least the last part. Stephan Sterns, the boyfriend of Maddie’s mother Jennifer Soto, was arrested two days after her disappearance—and two days before her body was found— on charges of sexual battery and possession of child sexual abuse material after detectives found files depicting “the sexual performance of a child” on his phone. Those charges ballooned to 60 charges filed by the State Attorney’s Office, but those counts do not include murder, or charges against the teen’s mother, Jennifer Soto, and he remains in an Osceola County Jail cell.
During a press conference last week, Kissimmee Police Chief Betty Holland, while admitting that KPD didn’t, “Have anything new that you don’t already know,” noted that return of the Medical Examiner’s report from the crime scene will be key to filing those murder charges. Osceola County does not have it’s own examiner’s office—it shares one with Orange County and it’s population of 1.3 million people—and results in a typical case can take around two weeks, or three to four if toxicology reports are included, to return.
“Death investigations are complex,” Holland said. “We are fueled by our unwavering commitment to uncover the truth.
Down on Hickory Tree Road, Maddie’s memory is kept alive by a colorful, stirring memorial of stuffed animals, candles, and notes left by well-wishers along the roadside where here body was discovered. The memorial continues to grow; part of it includes a plastic box containing slips of paper, a couple of markers and plastic ties that well-wishers can use to write a note of hope, praise or prayer and attach it to the wire fence.
It is generally a very quiet stretch of road used by some locals to cut from Canoe Creek Road to 192 near Harmony. An informal traffic count Friday showed 60 cars passing by the spot in both directions—an animal carrier was counted twice as it passed westbound, then back east a bit later carrying a horse—in about 30 minutes. Because of the stark quiet, one can hear traffic coming from either direction from at least a quarter mile away.
There are gates on both sides leading to larger fields—the first break in the fence line on either side of the road coming from the west—with alcoves that can be used to park a car Police investigators have shown video evidence that Stern’s Lincoln MKX was in this area between 1-2:30 p.m. on Feb. 26, the day she was reported missing, on Old Hickory Tree Road at Nolte Road and at U.S. Highway 192. This is about six miles from where the body was found.
Osceola Schools response: whether related to this case or not, Monday, the Osceola County School District has made adjustments to its school attendance call-out procedure, “With a primary focus on enhancing the safety and security of all students, and is especially important in situations where a student may be unexpectedly absent from school without prior notice,” a District release said.
In short, parents of high school students will get a call as early as 9 a.m. if their student misses first period. Elementary school and New Beginnings Education Center attendance calls will start going out at 10:00 a.m. · Middle school, K-8, and Osceola County School for the Arts attendance calls will start going out at 11 a.m. Another round of high school calls “reflecting attendance by period for the school day” will go out at 3:45 p.m., except for Osceola County School for the Arts calls, which will go out at 5 p.m.
Parents are able to view daily attendance by clicking the “Attendance” link in the Parent Portal. Parents may set-up a free Parent Portal account by visiting https://osceola. focusschoolsoftware.com/focus/auth/
