ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WEAR) — Authorities in Florida said they are confident that missing 13-year-old Madeline Soto is dead.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said deputies told the "devastating news" to Soto's mother Thursday night. The Kissimmee Police Department is now taking over the investigation and is working it as a homicide.
Soto was reported missing Monday after she didn't show up to school in the morning. Detectives later arrested the mother's boyfriend, Stephan Sterns, on child porn charges during the investigation -- and also named him the prime suspect.
In an update Friday, Mina said video evidence shows Sterns discarding items in a dumpster at the family’s Kissimmee apartment complex at 7:35 a.m. on Monday. Investigators later found Madeline’s backpack inside the dumpster.
At 8:19 a.m., video shows Sterns returning to the complex with Madeline visible in the car.
We believe she was already dead," the sheriff's office said in a release.Mina said investigators believe Sterns killed Soto that morning and "moved her body in those early morning hours."
Officials are continuing to search for Soto's body.
Sterns is being held in Osceola County Jail. Authorities say he is not talking about Soto's disappearance and instead requested a lawyer.
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