1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,680 Speaker 1: Crime Alard hourly update, breaking crime news Now. 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 2: I'm Sydney Sumner. The Orange County Sheriff's Office is releasing 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,719 Speaker 2: new information in the murder of thirteen year old Mattie Sodo. 4 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:15,520 Speaker 2: Evidence shows Mattie's stepfather, Stephen Stearns, strapped Mattie's lifeless body 5 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 2: into the passenger seat of his car and dumped her 6 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,279 Speaker 2: body in a rural area. Mattie was reported missing when 7 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,080 Speaker 2: she never came home from school that day, with Stearn's 8 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 2: claiming he dropped her off about a block from her 9 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 2: middle school that morning. Mattie's friends, however, tell mom Jennifer Soto, 10 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,520 Speaker 2: that Maddie wasn't in school at all. 11 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 3: I think at this point I had called before I 12 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 3: went to the school. I actually called her best friend 13 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 3: and I said, hey, with you, I can't find her. 14 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 3: She didn't walk to the office, and she wasn't at 15 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:44,480 Speaker 3: school when I was to pick her up. She said 16 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 3: she never made it. It's a first second period. And 17 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 3: I'm like, what do you mean I dropped her off 18 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 3: or we dropped off close to school, and she said 19 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 3: she didn't make it the first second period. I said, 20 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 3: please check with the rest of your friends. She did. 21 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 3: She got back to me and said none of them 22 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 3: saw her today. I emailed one of her teachers. Her 23 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 3: teacher texts me her attendants for the whole day and 24 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 3: told me she wasn't in school at all. That's why 25 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 3: I knew something was wrong and I freaked out. 26 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 2: During the investigation, officers recover hundreds of photos from Stephan 27 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 2: Stearn's cloud storage that show he had been molesting Maddie 28 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 2: for years under her mother's roof, beginning when Mattie was 29 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 2: just nine years old. Before Mattie's body is found, Jennifer 30 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 2: Soto sat down with investigators from the Orange County Sheriff's Office. 31 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 2: Soto has shown evidence proving Maddie is not alive. They 32 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 2: also show her photos from Stephan Stearn's phone that removes 33 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,279 Speaker 2: all doubt as to what has been going on between 34 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 2: her thirty eight year old boyfriend and his victim, her 35 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 2: thirteen year old daughter. 36 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 3: I look back at it now, I'm just like he 37 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 3: was lying, he was baking. What else has he been 38 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 3: lying to me about? I know he's like a mastermind manipulator, 39 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 3: because he's done, He's started to his parents and he's 40 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 3: told me and showing me the lies he's done to 41 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 3: his parents, But I don't know why. I never thought 42 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 3: not me. 43 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 2: Jennifer Soto still did not want to believe Stearns was 44 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 2: responsible for Mattie's disappearance and at the time, presume. 45 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 3: Death when you guys showed me the picture of her. 46 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 3: I believe the sexual stuff, but I didn't want to 47 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 3: believe that he had done anything equal to her. I'm like, no, 48 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 3: what if she what if he did this? Stop buying? 49 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 3: But what if she's still missing out there? What if 50 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 3: somebody took her. I still wanted to believe his I 51 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 3: believed him. I believed his whole story. So I was 52 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 3: just like, I kept repeating that part. I'm just like, 53 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 3: what if what if she did I dropped off? What 54 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 3: if she got abducted? What if she's missing. 55 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 2: During the interview, investigators asked the mother about motivation. Why 56 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 2: would Stearns kill Maddie? Investigators and her mother wonder, is 57 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:57,799 Speaker 2: it possible Maddie was pregnant? 58 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 4: You can go here worse she's primate. 59 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 3: Thanks, That's what questions last night led me to believe. 60 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 3: When we started talking about. 61 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 4: Her period, I was told that her and her friend 62 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 4: and granted I'm male, never had a period, but that 63 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,239 Speaker 4: somebody found it weird that they were no longer in 64 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 4: the same cycle. Could be different because she's a teenage girl. 65 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 4: Could be that she missed her gerry. Have you ever 66 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 4: found a pregnancy test at home that wasn't yours? 67 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 3: I have two underneath the kitchen the bathroom sink, but 68 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 3: I haven't seen if there's. 69 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 4: Still there or not. 70 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 2: Investigators have not yet confirmed if their theory holds water. 71 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 2: The investigation is still ongoing. For more on Mattie Soto's murder, 72 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 2: tune into Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Doctor Phil's 73 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 2: Merritt Street Media at six and nine pm Eastern, or 74 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 2: listen to crime stories on your favorite podcast app. More 75 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 2: crime and justice news. After this nown to a missing 76 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 2: person's case that ended in heartbreak, remains found by South 77 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 2: Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents have now been identified as 78 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 2: twenty year old Jessica Barnes. Jessica was reported missing by 79 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 2: her mother more than a month after she was last seen. 80 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 2: Here's Nancy with the details. 81 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: Jessica Barnes, twenty leaves the Pendleton, South Carolina home she 82 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: shares with her husband and two roommates after an argument 83 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,719 Speaker 1: with the husband. She calls her mom, Cecilia Vivara, to 84 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 1: talk about the argument while walking. Cecilia assumes Jessica eventually 85 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: went home, but a month later she gets a text 86 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 1: from Jessica that sounds nothing like her daughter. Cecilia reports 87 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 1: Jessica missing and learns no one has seen her since 88 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: she left home that morning. August first, Pendleton PDS searched 89 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: several locations no leeds. 90 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,479 Speaker 2: DNA testing revealed that remains found weeks earlier in nearby 91 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 2: Pickens County are that of Jessica Barnes. The twenty year 92 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 2: old been strangled. After the discovery, Pendleton police and SLED 93 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,360 Speaker 2: agents questioned husband Brandon Barnes and the couple's two roommates, 94 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 2: Kendall Mims and Victoria Tippett. All three eventually confess with 95 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,719 Speaker 2: the same story. Brandon Barnes killed his wife when she 96 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 2: returned after their argument, then Mims and Tippett helped Barnes 97 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 2: dispose of the body. Brandon Barnes is now charged with murder, 98 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 2: Tippett and Mims charged his accessories after the fact and 99 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 2: failing to report a crime. For more Crime and Justice news, 100 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 2: be sure to follow the Crime Alert hourly update on 101 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 2: your favorite podcast app with this crime alert. I'm Sidney Sumner.