Hello. Are you Meline's mom? >> Yes. >> Did she come home? >> Officers have just arrived at the home of Jennifer Sodto on the hunt for her daughter Maline who went missing 4 hours ago. And right now, Jennifer has no clue that the man behind her disappearance is standing inches away. >> She never made it to school cuz she was dropped off by him close to the school. >> Because this is Stfan Stern, Jennifer's boyfriend. For years, Stfan has been hiding skeletons in his closet while living with Jennifer. And right now, he has meticulously planned out exactly how to hide what he's done to Meline, leading officers on a goose hunt for the next 4 days, unaware that Maline is already gone. >> A living nightmare. It's a living nightmare. >> Do we really know, Steph? Can we honestly [music] say we really know? >> I'm pretty sure you know what some of those pictures are about. >> He's just been lying this whole time. Like, he's [gasps] the [ __ ] At around 5:00 p.m. on February 26th, 2024, 35-year-old mother Jen Sodto made a phone call to her daughter's school that confirmed her worst fear. Her child was missing. 13-year-old Maline Sodto had been dropped off about two blocks away from her school that morning, but hadn't shown up to a single one of her classes. Somehow, in this short 10-minute walk, Maddie had vanished. Throughout the day, Jyn hadn't received a single call or text from the school indicating that her daughter hadn't shown up in class. It was only hours later when Mattie failed to come home that Jyn called and spoke to administrators who told her that her daughter hadn't been seen on school grounds at all that day, [snorts] which meant Mattie Sto had already been missing for several hours by the time her mother began making frantic 911 calls asking for help. >> Do you need police, fire, or medical? uh police possibly. I'm reporting a missing. She was dropped off um at school this morning and apparently she never showed up. We called um everyone we knew. No one seen her. >> After about an hour of waiting, no officer had arrived at Jen's home, so she called again, desperate for an update. >> Hi. Um I called not that long ago reporting. I just wanted to know how long the cops have been going to take to get here. The call is still currently pending. So no one's on their way yet? >> Not yet. No. >> 2 and 1/2 hours after Jyn had made the initial call, begging for help finding her missing daughter, police still hadn't arrived at the home. Unbeknownst to her, the case had been listed as a probable runaway, which moved the investigation to the very bottom of the priority list for first responders. But for Jyn, there was nothing more important. So, she called again. >> 911, what is the location of your emergency? >> We have a message. We already called three times and the police didn't show up yet. This is an emergency. >> We have the information, but it just need they're trying to get there to someone as soon as possible. >> So, this is not important for you guys. Really? >> 3 hours after the first call, the police arrived to get initial statements from the family. Little do they know, as they stand in a local business chatting about a girl they believe is a runaway, they're actually talking to the one behind what happened to her. >> Hey there. What's going on? >> So, my daughter was dropped off close to school this morning, but never made it. I went to school. >> I'm sorry. One second. >> Yeah. >> Go ahead, sir. >> Are [snorts] we looking for another kid or we have kids? >> Looking for [snorts] another one. reached out. >> 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 they announced it over the speaker and I'm just like maybe she walked here because sometimes she'll walk here to this office. >> 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. >> Okay. [clears throat] >> Um, so she never made it. >> Okay. What's her name? >> Meline. >> She know history. >> Possibly. I don't know. She got dropped off. She was like, [clears throat] I >> So, she's a murderer by this car. So, she didn't want to be dropped off at school. She wanted me dropped off a half a block away so she can walk. >> She's in the face. >> But, um, he dropped her off half a block away and drove away. >> Okay. Did she ever go to school? No, we called. >> She was walking in that direction. She was rifling through her backpack squid or something. I thought maybe she just went to her headphones before she caught her walking on. >> Yeah. >> Um but she was just coming, you know, chambling over in that direction. Looked the same as any other morning. >> Okay. >> Um what was the last thing you asked? >> She went to school. >> So So I got confirmation from the school that she never made it. to send me an email saying she she didn't make it, but I also spoke to her or emailed one of her teachers directly and he looked at all of her attendants for all her periods and told me she she didn't make it at all today. >> The creature standing here is 37-year-old Stfan Sterns, Jen's onagain, off-again boyfriend of 7 years, who refers to himself as Mattiey's stepfather. He was the last person to see Maddie before her disappearance on the morning of February 26th. He claimed that rather than drop her off at school, he dropped her off nearby at a local church so she wouldn't have to be seen getting out of his old beat up car, which she allegedly thought was embarrassing. Jen trusted Stfan implicitly when it came to caring for her daughter. Little does she know, as she stands beside him, that he is the last person she should have trusted. But as officers head to the family home to do a comprehensive search to ensure Maddie isn't hiding in a vehicle or nearby home, there are some odd interactions that start to unravel the doting dad act that Stfan has put on. Starting with what officers find in his back seat. >> Silver Lake is mine. Well, it's actually my parents, but uh I go with her right now. It's in better condition. >> This the one that she said she doesn't like to ride in. Yeah, this is the one she was embarrassed to get dropped off in. Okay, I was that age. I understood. >> I got you. >> Oh, forgive the donut there. I got a flat tire. >> That's fine. You might want to put something cover the firearm in there. Someone will steal that, man. >> Oh jeez. Yeah, I stuck it there when I was changing the tire. >> I got you. Yeah, thank you for that. >> A lot of people they look in cars, if they see that, they'll smash that back window. >> You have to start carrying something. >> Good for you. Police have spotted a gun haphazardly placed in the seatback holder of the vehicle that Stfan allegedly drove Maddie to school with that morning. And while Florida is an open carry state, the placement and timing of it are unsettling because frankly having a gun in a vehicle where a 13-year-old girl was last seen unsecured and unlocked isn't a great look. >> Did she come home? >> Did she come home? >> No. You don't know where she would have gone. everything. >> No. Did she take anything? >> Any clothes? >> Her birthday money is still here. Toothplot and everything. >> Okay. >> So, nothing that she like took with her and went somewhere else. >> I went to the school to pick her up at the end of the day and she never came outside. I drove away thinking maybe she walked to my mom's office cuz sometimes she'll do that if I can't pick her up. >> And my mom's office is less than what would you say? half a mile away. >> Yeah, >> it's pretty close. >> Something like that. >> Uh she would get there. School ends at 4:04. She would get there by 4:35 the latest. She never got there by 4:35. >> I started driving around. I went back to the school. The school was closed. >> Screamed she could maybe walk to her grandma's house, but that's a lot further. >> When the school was closed, I realized something was wrong. I called Sage and I said, "Hey, did you see Maddie today because or is she with you because I I can't find her." >> And she said, "Uh, [sighs and gasps] no. Uh, she never made it to first or second period." And I said, "What do you mean?" I dropped her off at school. And she's like, "She never made it to school." And I said, "Can you please check with the rest of your friends? See if she made it to any of her other periods." At this point, I messaged her teachers directly >> and I asked if any of them saw her. Two of them responded to me. One of them told me he didn't make it. She didn't make it to his period. And he also checked her attendance for the rest of the day. She never made it to any of her periods. >> Uh this is when I knew something was truly wrong because >> you guys haven't had any recent arguments >> recently. No. Apparently on February 2nd, she sent a few messages to her friends stating that she would run away. >> Mhm. Uh, but I must have been from the messages. We must have been arguing or she I must have been upset her because she was very upset in her in her texting friend. >> While police continue searching the family home for clues, Jen and Stfan are put up at a local hotel for the night. There, Stfan consoles Mattiey's grieving mother. All the while, he's harboring a dark secret that detectives are rapidly uncovering. Because tragically, as Stfan sat in a hotel room comforting Mattiey's mother, police discovered surveillance footage from just outside the family home. In the footage taken the morning of Mattiey's disappearance, Mattie is sitting in Stfan's car, slumped over in the front seat. Stfan pulls up to this dumpster and throws out Mattiey's school bag before he leaps back into the car and [music] takes off. The entire time, Maddie doesn't move. And it's clear to anyone watching the footage that the reason Maddie isn't moving is that she is no longer alive. Just as police were dispatched to search the dumpster, Stfan makes an emotional plea to the media, one that unfortunately for him, detectives see straight through. Sadly, his wife standing off in the wings doesn't. And at this point, she thinks they're still in this together. All right. So, Stephan, >> you seem very emotional right now. Explain to us. I dropped her off. Everything looked fine when I drove away. So, last time we saw her. We're just scared. We just want her home. Have you [snorts] a living nightmare? It's a living nightmare. I just want to wake up. Stfan is soon going to wake up, but is going to be to the sound of a cell door slamming. After his interview, he's swiftly brought to the station for questioning. Keep in mind that in all the footage you're about to see, Meline's name is redacted. >> So, he had a birthday recently. She had a birthday party Sunday. >> Sunday. Sunday. Yeah. >> Okay. Sunday. >> Did you come to the party? >> Uh, no. I was I was on my way up at that party. Okay. Uh, so the party ends. Did you pick them up from the party? Someone must have dropped her off. >> Okay. >> She was there when I got there. She had asked me to make sure did her bedtime cheat, which she guess she was already on top of it. So, >> nothing. Okay. >> Uh, what time do you think you got back in CM? uh got into three something like that. >> And I apologize if you've answered these questions before. Uh it's just like I said, we're coming into the game late, so I may ask you things that you've already answered probably three or four times. >> Okay. What do you think? >> Anxiety. having some money troubles lately. She says that so hopefully your money troubles get better. >> I've been medicated by a since probably Saturday. >> Okay, gotcha. >> If I were Stfan, I'd have to be medicated, too. The party that detectives are referring to here took place on the 25th, the day before Maddie went missing. The party was held at her grandmother's house to celebrate her 13th birthday. This is a photo taken that night. It is the last photo taken of Maddie alive because the very next morning she vanished and police have all the evidence they need to point the finger at the man sitting right across the table from them. >> We leave the house. We start making way to the school rest. Make our way over towards her school area. and scare. She's still in recalls. She's up tomorrow. Continued on. Uh, still pretty early though. I think we started time to kill. Wasn't really time to drop off yet. I apparently forgot my clicker key fob for the gate. So, I ended up actually turning around at some point going back to the community to get the clicker. I had to use my parking sticker to get in the scan. Um, I earned it afterwards and saw players time. Um, so we did that, grabbed the flicker, left again, and next morning we drew her school area, dropped her off where I dropped her off. >> Okay. >> Do you remember where you dropped her off? >> Yeah, it was the stretch of I forget the street name. was the stretch of road that the school is on. Uh make it right onto it. It goes down a little ways. There's some some communities over here. And then up further there's a church and there's the overpass and school on the other side of the overpass right there. Dropped her off on that stretch where the communities are. >> So she's walking towards the school. Do you continue straight when you leave? Do you turn around? I turned around and went back the other way. I was watching her in my rearview mirror and she was going the right direction. >> So, it looked okay. [clears throat] >> Yeah. Where did she go after that? >> Uh, the next stop I wanted to go to was the bake shop. It opened at 10, so I had a little while. So, I just kind of meandered around it. Eventually made my way over there to wait for it to open. Um, it did open when it was supposed to. So, when I left, it came home. It went back about an hour later, but I'm sure it would have to be open. Forgot what I needed there and made my way back to home again. >> Police know, however, that that's not the case. Traffic cameras and license plate readers show Stfan driving. I'm going to be too old to a lot of people, too. Too too old to beat around the bush and we seem like we're having a generally good conversation right now. Okay. Uh the only thing that I ask for from you is and I will reciprocate. I want you to be honest with me as much as I'm being honest with you. Okay. There's cameras and all over the place. As you can imagine, nowadays cameras are everywhere. Okay. Uh so we see you coming at the guard shack. >> Okay. Um we see you go by the dumpster. >> Yeah. >> Okay. You may have checked some trash with me. >> What was in the trash? >> House trash. >> House trash. [snorts] >> So it must have been to trash bags on the back seat. Wherever we're going on our way out think >> Okay. >> Was everything in trash bags? >> I'm sorry. >> Was everything in trash bags or was there any items that were just tossed along with the bag? I think it would have been trash bin or some boxes too. >> Some birthday stuff leftovers. Can't remember exactly what >> Okay. Did when you for school, did she have her backpack with her? >> Yes, >> she did. Do did she had her school computer with her? Yes, presum Yes, >> presumably. Okay. >> Should have >> I Once again, this goes back with the whole honesty thing. There was things in that trash bag that got thrown away that probably should have thrown away. >> What? >> Well, we we'll get that in a minute. But right now our main focus is uh find that is our number one fool is right now. >> Okay. Do you have any idea where she may be? >> No. >> None whatsoever. >> Okay. All right. So, you're saying like had her backpack presumably her school computer was in her backpack and you described her wearing green jacket, some kind of dark color shorts, and white crops. >> Okay. Well, I can confidently tell you she did not go to school with her back. >> How was that? because we found in the trash. So Stefan, here's what I'm asking you and pleading with you is to dig down and do some soul searching. Okay, understand I please because this all that we need to find and it's as more time goes around goes by it's tough. I have kids. He's got kids. And this little girl's out there somewhere that he meets nowhere. And I really, really, really think he can almost I mean, you want to get something off your chest. I just don't know. I don't know what it is, but not pleading. I don't know. I don't >> What happened? >> I dropped her off. >> Where? >> I dropped her on the laundry road to school. It's the last I saw her. >> Unfortunately, doing soul searching requires having a soul. And just prior to this interview, police learned that Stfan doesn't possess one. sometime throughout the night on Sunday. Did you guys have any interaction conversations? >> Fight. >> No, I'm not saying fight. I'm just sit up and talk or talk to all this. Make it bo. She was excited about her choir performance coming up. She was singing a little bit. I told her it was pretty existing talking about a crush again. Boy, >> how' that make you feel? >> She knows she's not open to gay. >> I told her to crush on your crush. >> Do you think Zinc, has she had any boyfriends in the past? >> Not per se. boyfriends as whoever they can be early on, but we decided that she was too young. >> Needed to avoid that. >> Yes. >> Being that she's too young, so she should be always. >> She's uh she's all the that stuff. It counts. It's real. Just told her she'd be better all ways. >> Has she ever talked to you about boys? Little bit. Sometimes little bit. >> Has she ever because I asked Jennifer the same thing. Has she ever disclosed to you about being active voice? >> No. [snorts] >> Do you know she's ever active with anybody in the past? >> Not that I'm aware of. >> What are you thinking about? >> Sorry, I'm spacing out. OMG, go sleep. Who else has access to your car? Are you the only one that drives it? >> Um, and your parents have access here. Just send me. >> Yeah, just send me pretty much the only one access to it. >> So, say you're the only male driving that link up. >> Presume BX. I want to get back a little bit to you saying she's not allowed to have boyfriends or anything like that. >> She have crushes. >> Have you and her ever exchanged like do you guys exchange text messages? How do you guys communicate? >> FaceTime. Uh she'll FaceTime me at night when I'm not around for team. I fine. Sometimes when we talk about anything, we just sit there doing our own thing and just show those faces on the phone. Just spend your time, you know. >> What happened? And so the deputies made a comment. So what happened to your phone? >> I have no idea what happened to my phone. I was pushing off doing this update for a while and I ended up trying to do it. I don't know what the hell my head state was. I wasn't paying attention. I ended up somehow doing some sort of option that uh updated the OS, but it ended up like wiping my phone at the same time. Even just now, the phone that my dad set up for me. I literally just pulled it out in my pocket. Good sucker was reinitialized. >> It's just technology right now or just paying attention. >> Did that happen once to your phone or >> How many times you think you updated your phone? >> Think I tried it tried to update it twice and I don't I don't know what happened. >> Okay. And from what I understand that you gave the deputies consent to look through your phone. >> You did. Okay. Um and you voluntarily gave it to them so they could bring it here to it through the extraction and stuff like that. Okay. What do you think was on the phone? >> Text messages. Text messages. >> Mhm. >> Emails. boot gun >> pictures. >> Oh yeah. >> What kind of pictures do you put on there? >> Trainy card pictures, lightsaber pictures, Disney pictures. Do you have a Google account? >> Yeah. >> Do you save pictures to your Google account >> sometimes? >> Or is it automatically? I know sometimes phones sync to a cloud and >> Yeah. Right. to get to get backs up to group >> and then sometimes when you reset uh your phone and your phone updates and puts these apps back on your phone, sometimes they will put the images back on your phone. >> I'm not sure. I assume so. >> Jimmy packed pictures of you and >> probably went to Disney, took selfies on the train. She got back from Puerto Rico and had her hair braided. Got pictures of that. all sorts of patience. So >> family events not as much of a shutter but take on any other pictures I think of. Here's where I'm going to be portally honest with you. And I'm pretty sure you know what some of those pictures are about. You're you're a very intelligent person. And I don't want you to discredit yourself by saying you don't know about all the pictures that are on your phone. You understand what I'm saying? So, do you want to add to the list of pictures? >> No. Should I should I be talking with a lawyer right now? >> I can't answer that question. I'm my sole purpose right now is to see if I can find and I'm really hoping you know me. >> You won't like to try to help but feel like I should probably have a lawyer pressing you at this point. >> So you want an attorney? >> Yeah, I think so. >> Okay, that can happen. Um, I want to let you know you're not free to leave. You're being detained. Okay. Do you want to know what you're being detained for? >> Cap battery and possession. The day that Mattie disappeared, Stfan factory reset his phone and claimed that he had done so on accident. At this point, police are certain that that was an attempt to get rid of evidence he had collected of his inappropriate behavior with her over the past 5 years. Stfan successfully deleted the photos on his phone, but not the ones that were on his Google Drive, which is precisely what has led to him standing in this interrogation room, being cuffed, swabbed for DNA, and photographed for evidence. All right. Do we need to find >> Don't build anything squirly, man. You will carve it. >> Do you understand? I need like a flashlight or a light or something, please. >> That wasn't a size joke, though. Given how dark this subject matter is, we can pretend it was. After having photos taken, DNA samples swabbed, and spending ample time in this potato sack, Stfan was transported to the local jail on several charges related to the photos that law enforcement found in his Google Drive. And now it's time for law enforcement to disclose the existence of these photos to Mattiey's mother and to finally tell her once and for all that they're certain her boyfriend is involved in her daughter's death. It's the most nightmarish thing you can possibly imagine a mother going through. And yet Jen's reaction isn't exactly what you would expect. >> So [sighs] we have these images and unfortunately over the last maybe 2 or 3 years he's been doing and things like that. What makes you guys? >> We have photos. >> Okay. >> We have his phone. We were able to get into his phone. And there are some very, very unfortunate graphic pictures. >> How are you feeling right now? >> I can't breathe. >> Is this a surprise? Is there is there photos of her? >> Mhm. [clears throat] >> I don't want to believe that this is true. >> Can I see some of that evidence? >> Are you sure you want to see that? >> I'll I'll go get it. Are you sure you want to see that? Take my take my word of advice. I'm I wouldn't, you know, blow smoke you, you know, that's that's a fake picture. I wouldn't do that to you. I wouldn't. I'm going to be dead honest with you. I'll be more than happy to show you those images, but I don't know if I would want to see those, but if you want to see them, that's your own prerogative. >> No, I don't mind showing you, but they're they are difficult things to see. >> [snorts] >> understand. >> At this point in the audio interrogation, police present Jen with graphic photos taken inside her home. >> That one right there is enough. >> You saw through the picture? >> I could, but you can turn around if you want. I literally thought I was coming here for the press conference, but this is not what we're here for. >> After being shown the photos, Jen doesn't cry or scream or show any emotion whatsoever. She simply tells the detective that he can turn the photo around if he wants. This completely dull, unsurprised reaction to what should be horrifying news makes detectives think that Jyn may not be the grieving innocent mother that she has presented herself as. Soon after showing her the photos, they question her in a soft interrogation room. She has no idea at this point that her long-term boyfriend has been arrested for the very pictures she's been shown. >> I sent them to sleep upstairs in the bathroom. in the guest bedroom so that I could get a good night's sleep. Um, suggested that we all sleep together in the same bed together, but not the easiest person to sleep with. She rolls around, she punches, she kicks, she'll we have a king-siz bed, and she typically sleeps on one side and she'll end up on my side when we wake up. >> Okay. >> So, I asked her, "No, please. I need a good night's sleep. Um, if you guys can go upstairs and let me sleep. Um, I had asked Stephan to take her to school in the morning. >> I told them to start getting ready for bed to start heading upstairs to get ready cuz it was already 11:00. It's past her bedtime. She needs to go to sleep. Um, so I sent them upstairs. I think he may have come down at one point to pee before bed and then he went back upstairs. He uses my restroom cuz the roommates upstairs don't want to share a restroom with a male. >> Yeah. So, he just he uses my restroom. Um, [snorts] >> sorry. >> You like um Sunday night he came downstairs maybe overnight to use the restroom. >> Yeah. And then he went back upstairs and they went to sleep or I think >> I went to sleep. I was woken up at some time. For the longest time, I've been saying he woke me up at 8:00 in the morning because I assume he was taking her to school and getting ready for school, but Melody, I don't know what time he woke me up. The sun was out a little bit. It was still a little dark. Um, and I was very sleepy when I got up. I was kind of drunk. The sleeping arrangements in the condo should be any responsible human being's worst nightmare. Firstly, the condo has four bedrooms. However, two of the bedrooms are rented out to long-term renters, leaving two for Jyn, Stfan, and Maddie. You would think anyone in their right mind, especially when they have renters staying in their home, would give Maddie her own room and then share one with their spouse, but that's not what Jyn did. Jyn put up a divider for her daughter in the dining room just feet away from the front door that served as Mattiey's room with no lock, no door, and complete access for anyone entering or exiting the home. Meanwhile, Jyn slept in one bedroom and Stfan slept in another. Although, according to Jyn, Maddie never actually slept in her makeshift dining room bedroom. Instead, she would sleep with Stfan in this bedroom with just a twiniz bed. >> He can't sleep in the bed with her or she's not going to be It wouldn't even be a thought process for me. So, that's why I asked because I wouldn't think of it even as a >> Yeah. >> So, when you say you had a rule, I guess I'm asking what prompted the rule. >> Um, sleepovers before. >> Yeah. Like, you want to watch movies and eat snacks? Can you do that? I'm like, no, no, no. We can all watch movies down here together. We can all sleep down here together. um up until I mean up until up until June together all the time. So we were always she would sleep in the middle, I would sleep on this side, he would sleep on the other side. Um it wasn't until June that he got his own bedroom and I sent him upstairs. That's where the that's where the requests for sleepover started. Okay. >> Um and I kept telling her, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not comfortable with that. I'm not comfortable with that." Um but eventually at some point like we just we really want to watch I forgot what movie it was. They really wanted to watch something and I was really tired and I said, "Okay, fine. Um go ahead, but this can't happen often." Um, and yeah, I l to go upstairs and sleep with him. But honestly, I I think I can count on one hand how many times that's happened. It has been many times I have a laughter to have a supper party with him, to be alone in a in a bed with him. I'm usually around all the time. I up until two weeks ago, you know, I was pretty much at home all the time living on disability. Uh if I wasn't at home just, you know, I was substitute teaching, but I was substitute teaching primarily at her school or at the school close by, but I'd make sure I get out around the same time and I'd get out in time to pick her up and take her. So she was with me pretty much all the time. She wasn't at school. Um so yeah, after >> when he's not there, where does she sleep >> with me? >> She never sleeps in her room. >> No, >> in a search of the home, law enforcement uncovered evidence that at times Maddie did sleep in her makeshift bedroom downstairs, though she didn't sleep there alone. >> Do you know? Do you have any idea? >> We currently have upwards probably 200 people working on find right the Orange County Sheriff's Office is involved. The Kissing Police Department's involved, St. Cloud Police Department, Ocula County Sheriff's Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Yes. Under suspicious circumstances. So, anybody who is somebody is involved. >> Yeah. So regardless of the circumstances, those people don't get to go home. Those people don't get to go back to their families. Those people don't get to live their lives, go back to their primary jobs. >> I know the sheriff has probably expressed you that's his number one priority. I'm sure the same police departments expressed that to you. Our detectives, this isn't something that's going to stop or go away. Yeah. >> Right. Anybody who knows something, anybody who may know something, be brought to a room when we talk to whether they're guilty, whether they're innocent is our number one priority. Our job to kind of stopped on any other things we have going on until it's fine because that's the most important thing anybody has going on right now. But with that, a lot of people are going to feel that whatever happened. I can tell you and I know Pete detectives expressed to you that the thought process at this point is this is a homicide investigation. >> Yeah. >> Based on the evidence I've seen, based on the videos I've seen, I do believe >> with that being said and the reason I tell you that is because the thought process with us leads it in a different investigation, a different way. meaning whatever has already happened, >> right? We cannot change what happened most likely on Monday. We cannot change the fact that I believe Stephan killed her, right? All we can do now is find her as quickly as possible. On the the 2% chance we're wrong, that she is alive, that's phenomenal, right? That's the best thing that could happen. On the chance that we are 100% correct and she has passed away, finding her now versus later will bring closure to your family, bring closure to everybody regardless of how it happened or why it happened. Meaning, if you have an inclination, if you know where she's at, if his father knows, that doesn't mean those people get held accountable for what he did. It doesn't mean those people get held accountable for knowing what he did. It means we close out the investigation. >> You know what I mean? You victimized her. You ruined her entire life from childhood until now. I think that there's probably some sense of guilt. And my fear is that sense of guilt is causing you to not want to assist in the location of her. Not because you're a bad person, but because there's that sense of guilt that what was happening was happening under your roof. And now by her being found brings that all to your plate. And it doesn't. >> Oh no. If I knew anything, I would still tell you. I want to leave it if she's dead because you guys tell me your suspicions, but I still I'm not going to believe it until I have her body. After an hour of interrogation, the police confront Jyn with something else shocking that they've learned during their investigation. That she was the one who suggested that Stfan get a lawyer. >> Me? >> I don't care if it's the love of my life sitting next to me. I don't care if it's maternal grandma. If the police come and take my mom's phone and my son's disappearance, I'm not going to offer my mom a lawyer. That's nuts to me. That to me shows you prioritizing Stephen >> because at that point you became more worried about him being falsely accused than any. >> Does that make sense what I'm saying? Whether or not that's what you felt. Does that make sense? >> People having lawyers is their constitutional right. That is a thing that everybody is afforded. But for somebody who's going through what you are going through to offer him a lawyer leads me to believe that there may have been a conversation. There may have been knowledge or there may have been some inclination that you had whether it be his involvement, her location or something to where in your mind there's guilt. >> I promise you because >> you offering him a lawyer is very weird. >> I know. I know. I that was still me under the assumption that I think at one point no at one point you guys interviewed me and when you guys showed me the picture of her I believe but I didn't want to believe that he had done anything evil to her. I'm like no what if she what if he did this stuff fine but what if she's still missing out there? What if somebody took her? I still wanted to believe his I I believed him. I believed his whole story. So, I was just like I kept repeating that part. I'm just like, "What if what if she did get dropped off? What if she got abducted? What if she's missing?" Um, but that was me assuming that you guys had the wrong guy. I wanted to think he was a good guy still, but clearly he's not. After everything you guys have told me and have shown me, I know he's the worst person on this face of the earth. >> We know that now. We know he's a piece of [ __ ] now. >> No, >> but you didn't know that then. >> We didn't. >> Then you offered a guy who the police suspected suspected of kidnapping, abducting, assisting the disappearance. Offer him a lawyer. And then we don't have to round table that. you went back to what you just said is is fine. >> It's not fine. >> But today we are still downloading his Google drives. We are still going through his social medias, his cloud-based servers, and everything else. And we can now piece back her victimization in your house under your care to 2020. I believe you've gone far as far back as in So when I ask they woken up cuddling, did you find things suspicious? Did you have an open she talk to you? Has he made inappropriate statements? It's almost like cheating, right? Have you ever been cheated on? Okay, somebody can only cheat on somebody for so long until or until something comes out or somebody says something, right? So we go back to 2020. We're looking at a minimum of three and a half years. Three and a half years where I'm sure you guys >> Yes. So for three and a half years under your care in your house, not only is he being with you, >> [gasps] >> And I know it's an emotional thing and I know it sucks to hear, but where I'm coming from is it seems like something that you can't hide forever. You guys live in a small space, close quarters. You sleep in the same bed. You guys all talk. You guys all share things. You're an observant person for the most part. I assume outside of taking medications and going to sleep, it seems very difficult. A lot of grown adults can't have an affair with somebody who doesn't look like them. >> Yeah. >> Let alone somebody who does look like them. So, at a certain point, I do believe you became aware of what was going on. >> No, if I knew anything, I promise you I would tell you like I am willing to take a lie detector test. What? But I don't know anything. He's never mentioned anything. I've never seen any signs. I tried watching her like a hawk. I thought I was doing a good job, but I wasn't. I was oblivious to every four years minimum. That's just how f far back the clown goes. And I find it hard to believe for me that you were so worried about how many pills she took at night, but not where she slept or what relationship she was interested in her. >> I thought we were all safe. I thought we could less than that. He hadn't shown me anything so far. Like everything seems fine. Like he seemed like he treated her like >> like he treats you. You just I need you to tell him what you think happened to her. >> I think he killed her that night. >> How? >> I don't know. Could it probably be possible that he could I just don't know how you kill someone and don't leave a mess or don't leave evidence or I mean was there a mess? Was there evidence? I haven't gone upstairs. I don't know what that what what you guys I barely went into the house today so I can just only imagine that I don't know how and not leave. >> How do you think he got her out? >> I have no idea because roommates come in and out of the house at any given point in the morning and we don't know their schedules. They can come in at any time. You guys showed me You guys showed me a picture, I think, of him or her in the car at 7:30 in the morning. My roommate left the house. She's the one who leaves the earliest. She left at 7:45. So, like, what if he had waited a little longer? She would she would have caught him with like carry the house. How did he do that without being caught or sleeping? That's why I don't understand because like did you guys check and see if any of my neighbors have my cameras? >> Any? Nothing. >> I don't know what data we've gotten from them, but at this point I need to know what you think happened to her. I need you to ask us what we found. >> Okay. >> What we found has happened. I need you to come up in your words, in your mind, what do you think happened that night into Monday? because we do not know if her murder occurred Sunday or Monday. All we know is that when he went to bed, they went to bed together and she's no longer here. So, I need to know what you think happened to her, how he got her out of the house, where he went, how he got her in the car, what thought >> I think she Sunday night, Sunday night into Monday morning. I'm thinking he carried her out of the house. I don't know how he didn't get caught by any of my roommates or no one heard. They're saying he drove around all around town. Not sure where he could be going. >> All of the assumptions that Jyn has made have sadly been right. On March 1st, 2024, just 4 days after Maddie went missing, was located along a stretch of road 30 minutes from her home. All evidence suggested that she had been sometime between 2 and 4:00 a.m. in the early morning hours of the 26th before Stfan moved into the car and drove her to the remote location. >> Birthday's tomorrow. >> Thanks. >> Today's the first the worst group. Ultimately, Stfan Sterns was given 21 life sentences for the murder and continued exploitation of Meline Sto. He will no longer be free to victimize anyone, though sadly he was able to for far, far too long. As of the publishing of these videos, Stfan is the only one who has been charged with any crime related to her disappearance. Our thoughts are with the friends and family members of Meline Sto, who cared for her deeply and lost her far, far too soon. We want to end with the victim impact statement of her aunt spoken to Stfan at his trial, which speaks to who Maddie was and the love that she shared with the world. >> I just miss you and your presence, but that [snorts] unfortunately was taken from us. I have [clears throat] so much hatred in my heart specifically for the creature that's sitting in this room today. And no matter what happens or what just could be brought, it kills me that it doesn't bring you back. I would give up my life if it meant [laughter] having you here with us. Even though I was your aunt, you always felt much more like a little sister to me. Doing your hair for the fatherdaughter dances that my dad would take you to. Letting you pick out clothes from my closet. [snorts] doing your makeup and making sure it was very light because your natural your natural beauty was worth more than any makeup product money product money could buy. [snorts] I just miss you every single day and it's left a hole in my heart from the day you've been gone. [laughter] Your innocence was taken from you. And since clearly that wasn't enough for a certain someone, so was your life. You were the bravest little girl I've ever met. [laughter] Full of love, light, laughter, and as any positive thing I could think of. you were all of those things. >> Thank you for tuning in. Nearly 85% of everyone watching isn't subscribed. Your subscription and support would mean the world to us so we can keep bringing you more content just like this. Before you go, check out one of our craziest cases right here or one of my newest ones right here.