1 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:20,400 Speaker 1: Buddy Backs with Joseph Scott Morgan. When I was thirteen 2 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: years old, I played baseball. And the reason I bring 3 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: that up is that I always thought that I would 4 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: never be able to. But something clicks when you hit 5 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,199 Speaker 1: that age twelve or thirteen. I was never a very 6 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 1: good baseball player prior to that, I was not naturally 7 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 1: gifted at it. But when you hit twelve or thirteen, 8 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 1: like so many other things at that time in life, 9 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: there's something that rises within you as a child where 10 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: you begin to kind of see your way just a 11 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: little bit. Certainly not all the way. I've had middle 12 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: schoolers in my house, trust me, they haven't seen their 13 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:04,520 Speaker 1: way clear in all things. But there's something that happens 14 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: at that magical age where your future begins to brighten 15 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: a little bit. You kind of go from being a 16 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: child into that teen world and you start to on 17 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: those wobbly legs, get your footing. But you know, for 18 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: many kids, unfortunately, like the one we're going to speak 19 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: of today, the future doesn't brighten. It gets darker and 20 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: darker until there's no light at all. Today we're going 21 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:55,639 Speaker 1: to talk about the homicide of Matt So I'm Joseph 22 00:01:55,640 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: Scott Morgan and this is body bags, Dave and weary brother. 23 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: I'm weary and I'm tired of covering these cases. It 24 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: seems like they just will not stop. They are and 25 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: you know, i'd like to say that it you know, 26 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: and of course Harmony is a lot younger, but it 27 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: seems like every time we turn around, there is another 28 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:27,639 Speaker 1: one of these cases in the news where children have 29 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: been failed. And it's like it's a broken record. It's 30 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: like we can just insert, you know, that that little 31 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,359 Speaker 1: bit of sound into these episodes that we do. The 32 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: children have been failed. The children have been failed over 33 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: and over and over and over and over again. 34 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 2: Coming on the heels of Audrey Cunningham, this story made 35 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 2: both the you and I sick to our stomach because 36 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 2: we had just put that horrid story. At least we 37 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 2: had a conclusion, we had somebody in jail, and it 38 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 2: was again, I know, we're not supposed to do this, Joe, 39 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 2: but as a parent, as a father, if something happens 40 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,119 Speaker 2: to my child under my watch, it's my responsibility. It's 41 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 2: our job as parents to protect our children from the 42 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 2: monsters and the bad people. And when we introduce the 43 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 2: monsters and bad people into their life, then it's on us. 44 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: In Madeleine's case, she's found out in this horrible abandoned 45 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: area where she's recovered by law enforcement and the investigators 46 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 1: out there after having searched for her. 47 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 2: At a same time, the story of Madeleinesoto began as 48 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 2: a thirteen year old girl is missing. And because that's 49 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 2: how I end up coming into these stories with Nancy 50 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 2: Grace and some of the other stuff that we do. 51 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 2: You dig it from the very beginning. She's missing, and 52 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 2: here was the drill. She was being taken to school. 53 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 2: She's thirteen by her mother's longtime boyfriend, not some short 54 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 2: time guy she just met, but a long time influence 55 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 2: in their home, and he took her to school. Now, 56 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 2: the first thing we were told is that maybe at 57 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 2: that age, Madeline said she was embarrassed of his car 58 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 2: and didn't want him to drop her off at school, 59 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 2: so he dropped her off a couple of blocks from 60 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 2: the school so nobody would see her, so she wouldn't 61 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 2: be embarrassed. Now that story made sense in a very 62 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 2: small way, because I've had a thirteen year old daughter 63 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 2: that was embarrassed if I breathed, and so I understand that. 64 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 2: But as we started following it, there was another thing 65 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 2: that came up, and that was on her cell phone. 66 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 2: There was a note that she wrote to a friend 67 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 2: that when she turned thirteen, she was going to move 68 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 2: out and live in the woods. So police looked at 69 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 2: that and said, hey, we got to go check the woods. 70 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 2: She might have done it. She just turned thirteen. But 71 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:45,479 Speaker 2: in my mind, when I saw that, Joe as somebody 72 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 2: who reads these stories and follows them up and has 73 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 2: to research them, I thought she was saying, there's a 74 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 2: monster in my house, in my life, I got to 75 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 2: get away from. 76 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, what's so what would compel a thirteen year old 77 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: to want to put that, to leave the comfort of 78 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: her home to go live in the woods in. 79 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 2: Florida ad Orlando where it's humid? 80 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, yeah, what's going to make you leave 81 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: the comfort of your you know, environmentally controlled air conditioning 82 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: and soft bed with a pillow and food to eat. 83 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: And also the other thing you have to consider. I 84 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 1: think as an investigator, you start to talk about kids, 85 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: and you know, I was reflecting back, you know, the 86 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: changes that kids go through it at this age and 87 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: this age. For some reason, the twelve and thirteen year 88 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: old age. You've got this introduction in hormones that are 89 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: raging throughout the body. I know that's road to say that, 90 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: but it's the truth, you know. And you'll have kids 91 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: that will just suddenly for no reason. I know, parents 92 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: in the sound of my voice can identify with this. 93 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: You'll have a child that will just start raging in 94 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: front of you and there's no explanation. You know, it 95 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: just comes out of nowhere. And there are a lot 96 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: of kids. You know, you got the old image of 97 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 1: the you know, the old hobo walking down the road 98 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: with the stick on his shoulder. You know, he's got 99 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: his you know, his belongings tied up and the handkerchief 100 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: hanging off of his back. And you're thinking, you know, 101 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: kids are going to run away, and kids do run away. 102 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: That's been that's been an issue for years and years, 103 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: you know, milk cartons and all these sorts of things. 104 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 1: But you know, when you're getting out to the heart 105 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,280 Speaker 1: of it as an investigator and you begin to kind 106 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,679 Speaker 1: of peel peel these layers back, you think, okay, now, 107 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: was there something some kind of stimulus if you will, 108 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 1: if you look at it. You know from the perspective 109 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: of of you know, scientific experiment that was introduced into 110 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:45,600 Speaker 1: the equation that's going to compel this child to leave 111 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: that environment. Why why would she you know, would she 112 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: do that? 113 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 2: I don't think they did that. Okay, you and I 114 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:58,160 Speaker 2: both know that they're in an investigation. There's not just 115 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 2: a parallel investigation that the police force runs. They're also 116 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 2: running game on the media. They give the media the 117 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 2: story they need to cover so they get the information out, 118 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 2: especially if you're actually looking for a thirteen year old girl. 119 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 2: And then the parallel investigation of here's what the evidence 120 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 2: looks like. It looks like maybe she met somebody at 121 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 2: this church where he'd where her mom's boyfriend dropped her off. 122 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 2: But the reality is we need to take a really 123 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 2: good look at mom's boyfriend because he's probably the most 124 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:34,239 Speaker 2: likely story here. So the police are doing two things 125 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 2: and telling us a third. So, okay, they have the 126 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 2: story that she wrote something about wanting to live in 127 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 2: the woods when she turned thirteen, Well, why thirteen If 128 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 2: you're going to live in the woods, what's the difference 129 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 2: between twelve and thirteen? That's for starters. But second of all, 130 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 2: the story was that she was embarrassed by the car, 131 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 2: so he dropped her off to save her the embarrassment. 132 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 2: And we the media, we were told that there was 133 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 2: video showing her at this church, right there on the 134 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 2: main road, and that it appeared she was waiting for somebody. 135 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 2: So that led us to believe that maybe she had 136 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 2: been talked to online, had communicated with somebody who made 137 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:12,360 Speaker 2: arrangements to meet her at this location at this time, 138 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 2: and that she had been picked up and she was gone. 139 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 2: And that has happened so many times, and we've done 140 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 2: plenty of stories on those that don't turn out good. 141 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 2: And so there was that story, and then there was 142 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 2: the sheriff. The sheriff was very public. He called press conferences. 143 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 2: He said, this is what we're doing, this is what 144 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 2: we're looking for. This is what we have found, very direct, 145 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 2: very fast. Something you and I have brought up over 146 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 2: the last several shows, Joe, the number of video cameras 147 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 2: that exist in surveillance. People have them at home now 148 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 2: with our doorbell cameras. Many building schools, churches have digital 149 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,319 Speaker 2: coverage of surveillance cameras because they are inexpensive, so they 150 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 2: have access to all these cameras that can follow movement 151 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 2: and so police having that on top of having cell phones. 152 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 2: And by the way, one of the things things police 153 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:05,079 Speaker 2: caught onto very early on was that Madeline didn't take 154 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 2: her cell phone with her to school. Now, if she 155 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:09,680 Speaker 2: was going to school that day and she her plan 156 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:11,680 Speaker 2: was to either meet up with somebody else or to 157 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:14,119 Speaker 2: go off on the wood, whatever it was, her communication 158 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 2: with the world started and ended with her phone and 159 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 2: she left that at home. So there were a number 160 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:20,960 Speaker 2: of things going here that had the police really on 161 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,320 Speaker 2: target with what they were doing. They were able to 162 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 2: track down the uh boyfriend's cell phone and while they were, 163 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 2: you know, they have to do all sorts of different 164 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 2: legal thing wrangling. They can't just grab your phone. Hey, 165 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 2: let me look at your phone. They can't do that. 166 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 2: And if you're unwilling, you know, they'll ask you for it. Hey, Dave, look, 167 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 2: you're not a suspect or anything. Well, they know they 168 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 2: won't say that. They never say you're not a suspect. 169 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:47,200 Speaker 1: They say no, they'll never tell you that. 170 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 2: They tell this, Dave, Look, we really want you to 171 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:53,160 Speaker 2: help find your you know, your daughter, your girlfriend's daugh 172 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 2: or whatever. 173 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:55,559 Speaker 1: Try to appeal to your humanity. 174 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 2: Look, you're man. We know you're not We know you're 175 00:09:57,920 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 2: not involved. Can I take a look at your phone? 176 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: Yeah? 177 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:02,839 Speaker 2: No, you can't take a look at my phone. I 178 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 2: don't know if you're I don't know what kind of 179 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,199 Speaker 2: person you are. No, you can't look at my phone. Okay, 180 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:10,200 Speaker 2: then we'll get a search for it. And when they 181 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 2: get then they're going to get a search warrant for that, 182 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 2: and then they're going to find out what's on your phone. 183 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 2: And that's what actually tripped up Steven Stearns. That's where 184 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 2: the truth of the investigation came out because the police 185 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 2: put him under arrest. We got stuff on his phone. 186 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:26,959 Speaker 2: They didn't give us a lot of very specific stuff, 187 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 2: if you remember Joe, they're very vague, but it was 188 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 2: enough for us to believe there was some type of 189 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,079 Speaker 2: child pornography found on this man's phone that led them 190 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 2: to believe he was not just involved, he was the 191 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 2: person behind the disappearance of Madeleinsoto. And when the police 192 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:45,199 Speaker 2: announced while we're still looking for her, hoping he had 193 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:47,200 Speaker 2: stashed her somewhere, that she was hidden, that she was 194 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 2: I mean, hoping all these horrible things would be true. 195 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 2: Because all those horrible things were better than the fact 196 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 2: that she would be dead, and the police came out 197 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 2: three days in and said, we believe she's dead. They 198 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 2: never do that. Police never do that, Joe, Have you 199 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 2: ever seen police come out during a search when we're 200 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 2: looking in the woods, we're looking off the road with dogs, 201 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 2: we're looking in that I wrote that down on our 202 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 2: questionnaire for you. Have you ever seen a sheriff come 203 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 2: out and say, we believe we're looking for a body 204 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 2: she's dead. 205 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 1: Yeah. The one thing that investigators can impart to family 206 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: and friends and those that are vested in the life 207 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:33,320 Speaker 1: of a child like Madeline is hope. But as we 208 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 1: can tell, it turned out early on that i'll hope 209 00:11:38,800 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 1: in Madeleine's case was lost. You think about what must 210 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 1: it be like when you're looking for a child and 211 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:09,200 Speaker 1: you're an investigator, and you do have hope at that 212 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: moment in time, and suddenly suddenly there is that instance 213 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: where something that you're holding in your hand, as small 214 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:25,480 Speaker 1: as a smartphone, for instance, opens up a world to 215 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: arguably some of the most evil that could be perpetrated 216 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: upon a child. It's no wonder that hope is lost 217 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: at that moment time, because suddenly you have a key 218 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: that unlocks this door. When you begin thinking about what 219 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,440 Speaker 1: happened to her, I think that police when they saw 220 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: all of this data, Dave, you can see how the 221 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 1: police at that moment time began as zero in on Stearns. 222 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 2: At this point we were four days into the investigation 223 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 2: of looking for three days actually when the sheriff sheriff 224 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 2: said we do not believe she's alive. It shocked me, 225 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 2: as somebody who covers these it shocked me when he 226 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 2: said it. But then I thought he'd already told her mom. 227 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 2: He'd already talked to the family and said and gave 228 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 2: them the reason why. Now we didn't know it at 229 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,959 Speaker 2: that moment. What the family knew, the family had already 230 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 2: been told, the evidence they had, and the evidence that 231 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 2: they had against mister Stephen Sterns, the man who had 232 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:27,439 Speaker 2: been living in that home together with as stepdad, even 233 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 2: though he was mom's boyfriend, he had been there for 234 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:32,439 Speaker 2: a number of years and had been a father figure 235 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 2: for Madeline Soto. And what the police told them was, well, 236 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:41,320 Speaker 2: first things first, we saw him saw Steven Stearns on 237 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 2: video at about seven thirty in the morning the day 238 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 2: he was supposed to take Madeline to school. We saw 239 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:52,199 Speaker 2: him putting her backpack and her school issued laptop into 240 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 2: a dumpster in the back of your apartment complex. 241 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:02,839 Speaker 1: Yeah, that amazes me that people that gauge in this 242 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:05,959 Speaker 1: this kind of activity as dark as this is, and 243 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: trust me, this is very dark. It's not so much 244 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: that what was contained in her backpack was dark or 245 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: what was on her It's probably a chrome book. I 246 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: think that a lot of these schools are iss chrome books. 247 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: It's not that that stuff's dark, it's just that they 248 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: know what else they have. I think, what's going to 249 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: tie them back to the location of a missing child 250 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: or a child that is a homicide victim. They would 251 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: be so bold as to try to distance themselves from 252 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: any kind of evidence of her existence, as if she's 253 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: you know, vanished off of the face of the earth. 254 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 1: That they have to have an awareness, Dave that CCTV 255 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: is round, But yet they will go to go to 256 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: a place like a dumpster and toss this stuff in. 257 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 1: And you know, and the thing about the thing about dumpsters, 258 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: you know, when we begin to search them, and I've 259 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:00,520 Speaker 1: had to go I've had to climb inside of dumpsters 260 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,200 Speaker 1: for years and years and dig through look for items. 261 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: I've had to look for elements of the body parts, clothing, 262 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 1: all kinds of stuff. And you know, someday I'd plan 263 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: on doing a show on nothing but landfills and searching 264 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,960 Speaker 1: for bodies and those kinds of locations. But you know, 265 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,200 Speaker 1: we have a method to do this, and it's painstaking work. 266 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 1: But you know, when you have when you have CCTV 267 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: that gives you an idea of where you know where 268 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: something might be. It kind of narrows it down for 269 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: you. You know, something that might that might have connection. And 270 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: the quality of the video has to be really good 271 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 1: because they were specifically able to identify this book back 272 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 1: and then you know, once they get their hands on it, 273 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:47,800 Speaker 1: they can tie it back to her directly. And you 274 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: got this guy that's that's placing the stuff in here 275 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 1: without a care in the world, right at least seemingly. 276 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 2: And this is a time well before he was supposed 277 00:15:57,760 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 2: to take her to school. 278 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's yeah. And so that again goes back 279 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,119 Speaker 1: to a post mortem toon line because. 280 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 2: Well, let me ask you, because Joe, you know, we 281 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 2: had we live in an area. Joe and I both 282 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:10,040 Speaker 2: live in the same area. I don't know if y'all 283 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 2: know that, but we do. Yeah, even though we're both 284 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 2: from very different parts of the country and we work 285 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 2: on national television and radio broadcast networks, but we lived 286 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 2: within fifteen minutes of each other. 287 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:20,080 Speaker 1: We never knew. 288 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 2: It was never funny, but in our area, children tend 289 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 2: to go to school their uh elementary and junior high 290 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 2: schools take in about seven thirty eight o'clock in the morning. Well, 291 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 2: at the school that Madeleine Soto went to, her school 292 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 2: day did not begin until nine thirty, and so police 293 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 2: already had a few things in their back pocket that 294 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 2: we were unaware of. I look at it from my standpoint, 295 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 2: I was thinking about when my children would go to school, 296 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 2: and well, eight thirty in the morning, okay, where was he? 297 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,160 Speaker 2: He was dropping her off near the school at eight thirty, 298 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 2: according to Stephen Stearns. But police were like, why were 299 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 2: you dropping her off there? An hour before her school 300 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:05,960 Speaker 2: day was going to begin. So police knew certain things 301 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:08,120 Speaker 2: they were not putting out to the public, and that's 302 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 2: where this came in. Two hours before he's begin to 303 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 2: take her to school, he's getting rid of her school 304 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,600 Speaker 2: issued laptop and her backpack. The backpack that we do 305 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 2: know was described because we had it as part of 306 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 2: our descriptors of things she had with her. 307 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:25,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, because you know, they're listen, the police are 308 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,480 Speaker 1: not going they're going to exhaust every avenue, you know, 309 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,040 Speaker 1: if they're if they're invested in this case, and in 310 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 1: most cases involving kids that are missing, they're going to 311 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,479 Speaker 1: pull every bit of footage that they possibly can in 312 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,680 Speaker 1: order to try to track these kids down. Any child are, 313 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: you know, even an elderly person that's at risk, They're 314 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,639 Speaker 1: going to try to do everything that they possibly can to, 315 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:51,919 Speaker 1: you know, kind of tighten down the focus so that 316 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:54,639 Speaker 1: they can begin to understand it. That's why I'm so 317 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: shocked by the fact that not that, and I'm glad 318 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:00,880 Speaker 1: that he didn't take more care, but he didn't. It's 319 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 1: like he had very little self awareness. And I think 320 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: that you can see that thread running through all of 321 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,119 Speaker 1: this behavior, very little self awareness until it gets to 322 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:11,840 Speaker 1: this critical moment and then where her life ends. 323 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:15,120 Speaker 2: Joe, the part that got me in all of his 324 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 2: friends is that, according to the affidavit that we've now 325 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:24,400 Speaker 2: seen that's thirty six pages long, they actually have Stearns 326 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:28,720 Speaker 2: allegedly on video driving the car, and they can see 327 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:32,359 Speaker 2: Madeline's body in the vehicle and she was already dead. 328 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, so he's yeah, go ahead, no sorry, I'll 329 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:36,639 Speaker 1: can say. Is that? 330 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:38,679 Speaker 2: So here you've got a guy that is on video 331 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 2: throwing away her backpack and her laptop and then he's 332 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 2: driving with her dead body in the car. Yeah, and 333 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:48,880 Speaker 2: they can see it from these surveillance cameras. You said 334 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:53,119 Speaker 2: he had no awareness. That points to zero awareness of 335 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 2: what was he thinking? Was he in some kind could 336 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:58,480 Speaker 2: he use that as a defense, Joe, You've seen this everywhere. 337 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 2: But would he be able to say that he was 338 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 2: so out of himself, he was so crazed by whatever 339 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 2: had taken him over in that moment that he wasn't 340 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:09,720 Speaker 2: thinking smart enough to even cover that track. 341 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: Well, let's don't give him that idea for the defense 342 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 1: because they'll probably snap it up. And here's what I've 343 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:17,880 Speaker 1: always thought about these cases that are over the top 344 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 1: like this that I work on, or not work on, 345 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:24,160 Speaker 1: but cover in the media. It's almost as if the 346 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:28,359 Speaker 1: more grotesque and the more absurd things are, as you know, 347 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: they reach such a level of horror that is used 348 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: by the defense many times to attempt to demonstrate that 349 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: the person is in some way incapacitated mentally, you know, 350 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,400 Speaker 1: they're not capable of making good decisions, whereas I think 351 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,120 Speaker 1: that maybe years and years ago they would have said 352 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 1: this is evidence of evil, right, and so it's not 353 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: necessarily like that anymore. You've got a man And again 354 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:57,680 Speaker 1: we have to go back to the timeline, and I'm 355 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,879 Speaker 1: hoping that we're going to learn more putting a finer 356 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 1: point on the post mortem interval relative to her remains. 357 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: When that finally does come about, when you're looking at 358 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,640 Speaker 1: her and you're thinking, well, first off, he's got her 359 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: riding about in the car with him. The police at 360 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 1: least have alluded to the fact that they could tell 361 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:26,160 Speaker 1: that she was deceased. Now what does that mean. That 362 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: means that she's obviously goes without saying she's not moving, 363 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 1: But was she postured in some particular way where it 364 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 1: looks like she's unconscious, she might be leaning on the door, 365 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: she's slumped over, or was it something else. Did they 366 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: have such a high elevation of the camera where they 367 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: could see down into the interior of the vehicle and 368 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: appreciate some kind of other odd posturing within the vehicle, 369 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: and I'd like to know, and hopefully this is going 370 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: to come out as well as what the status of 371 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 1: her clothing was. And I think that that plays a 372 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:03,200 Speaker 1: very key role here, Dave, because as we know, and 373 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:07,919 Speaker 1: as we're about to reveal, what does child endured, what 374 00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 1: she went through from the perspective of this individual being 375 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:18,080 Speaker 1: in her life are things that even I on this 376 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 1: show will not even begin to describe. I hesitate to 377 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 1: use the word relief. I think there's an abiding sadness 378 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 1: with it. Though. If you're on a search team and 379 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: you're trying to find a child and you're hoping against 380 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: hope that they might be alive, I don't know that 381 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:08,160 Speaker 1: you feel relief when you come across the broken body 382 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 1: of a small child. You know that that sort of 383 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: thing haunts haunts those of us in investigations. It does 384 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:18,760 Speaker 1: for years and years. I can still see the faces 385 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:21,360 Speaker 1: of children from forty years ago. 386 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:21,680 Speaker 2: David. 387 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:24,880 Speaker 1: You know, they never they never leave you at all. 388 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 1: And I can promise you that these heroes that were 389 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:36,520 Speaker 1: out there doing this search are going to be haunted 390 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: by what they saw and what was rawed at the 391 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:40,960 Speaker 1: hands of this monster. 392 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 2: And that's where maybe because I don't know. I only 393 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:51,840 Speaker 2: know what I'm told. Rarely do I even see pictures 394 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 2: unless I have to. It's a choice for me, thankfully 395 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:57,960 Speaker 2: that I don't have to dig in that far. I'm 396 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 2: not one of those people that is out there doing that, 397 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:03,679 Speaker 2: but my heart breaks every time I do, because my 398 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:07,159 Speaker 2: mindset when somebody is missing, which is why I was 399 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,199 Speaker 2: so shocked that the police came out and said, we 400 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,960 Speaker 2: know she's dead. We believe she's dead because I always 401 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:15,160 Speaker 2: think of JC Dugard. I think of her, in particular, 402 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 2: being gone, taken right in front of her stepfather, snatched 403 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 2: right off the street, and being gone for eighteen years 404 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:27,680 Speaker 2: and turning back up, and I think about that every 405 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,240 Speaker 2: time some child goes missing. Well, there's always a chance, 406 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 2: you know, there's always a chance. And then my heart 407 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 2: breaks when we got it, you know, you find out, Okay, 408 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 2: now we've got another boyfriend. He has usually they have 409 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 2: a criminal record, but now we find out that his 410 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 2: phone is eat up with horrible things. 411 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:43,639 Speaker 1: We know that. 412 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 2: The minute they gave him a chance to speak, he 413 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:49,040 Speaker 2: lawyered up. He said, lawyer, won't you just talk to us? Look, 414 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:51,359 Speaker 2: you've got to have some relationship with this girl. You 415 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 2: know you were in her life since she was eight 416 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:57,160 Speaker 2: years old. Please help us, help us lawyer, help us 417 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:02,239 Speaker 2: find lawyer. So when they did find her, Joe, what 418 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 2: did What did police discover when they found the body 419 00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:08,920 Speaker 2: of Madeline Soto? 420 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:11,719 Speaker 1: Well, we we don't really know what they found at 421 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: this point in time because they're not releasing a lot 422 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:18,679 Speaker 1: of information. We do know that she was recovered in 423 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: a wooded area. And look, and I understand, I think 424 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:28,679 Speaker 1: that a lot of us that that are familiar with 425 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:31,400 Speaker 1: this case and that have been hoping against hope that 426 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:37,920 Speaker 1: she would resurface alive. We were hoping, we're hoping to understand, 427 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 1: you know, precisely what did happen to her. But you know, 428 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,720 Speaker 1: we we don't have that data as yet. We do 429 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: not have a cause of death in Madeline's case. I'm 430 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 1: still trying to understand why that has not been released 431 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:55,720 Speaker 1: to this point. But can I just tell you what 432 00:24:55,760 --> 00:25:00,479 Speaker 1: we do have, Dave, we and let me let me 433 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: just kind of throw a date out to you, Okay, 434 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:05,800 Speaker 1: a date range, And I want everybody to listen to this. 435 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:16,159 Speaker 1: We have date ranges on Stern's phone that begin you ready, 436 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:25,760 Speaker 1: June nineteenth, twenty nineteen, and it ends February twenty sixth, 437 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,440 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. You know what's contained in that day, 438 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,440 Speaker 1: Graphic images, graphic images going back all these years. Now, 439 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: let's do let's do a little arithmetic here. Madeline is thirteen, right, 440 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:45,480 Speaker 1: and so let's do the calculation on that. It's twenty 441 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:49,720 Speaker 1: twenty four right now, and let's just say we'll ballpark 442 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:55,120 Speaker 1: it and say that Madeline was born in what year 443 00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:57,400 Speaker 1: two thousand? 444 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:03,600 Speaker 2: If she had just turned thirteen when you were missing? Yeah, yeah, son. 445 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:08,880 Speaker 1: Twenty eleven, Dave, So, twenty years old, twenty nineteen. Day, 446 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 1: this child, this precious angel, since twenty nineteen, when she 447 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 1: was eight years old, Dave, she all of her teeth 448 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:28,720 Speaker 1: have not come in yet, Mark that. Just think about that. 449 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 1: She's still experiencing growing pains throughout her body. Mom's having 450 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:37,399 Speaker 1: to buy new clothes because she's growing. We know what 451 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:42,280 Speaker 1: that's like if you're a parent. Bedtime, bedtime's supposed to 452 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:44,680 Speaker 1: be at eight or nine. Got to get to bed, honey, 453 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,440 Speaker 1: It's time to go to bed. The child cannot yet 454 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:54,199 Speaker 1: fully take care of themselves. Eight years old, eight years old, 455 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:58,639 Speaker 1: and there are images on this person's phone, going back 456 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: all those years now for us, you know, as old 457 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: people in the audience, I count myself as old. Twenty 458 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:13,199 Speaker 1: nineteen doesn't seem that long ago. But when you're living 459 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,399 Speaker 1: in a hell like this, and trust me it was, 460 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 1: it probably seemed like an eternity for her. Back to 461 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:27,400 Speaker 1: your earlier comment, Dave, the comment that she had actually made. 462 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:32,960 Speaker 1: I think she would have rather have lived in the woods, 463 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:38,719 Speaker 1: in the heat, in the humidity, covered with bugs than 464 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: live this existence. And she even had that awareness, you know, 465 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:48,560 Speaker 1: going back, you know all this time, she knew that 466 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,639 Speaker 1: it was bad, even at her young age, that she 467 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:53,880 Speaker 1: knew that there had to be something that was not 468 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,479 Speaker 1: abnormal like this, that it would be more normal and 469 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 1: more secure for her to live from her home than 470 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:07,160 Speaker 1: to endwell this structure with this person because of everything 471 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:07,919 Speaker 1: that he had done to her. 472 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:09,639 Speaker 2: Day. Now, Joe, when you and I look at this, 473 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,400 Speaker 2: we're coming from the standpoint of, how is it possible 474 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:17,480 Speaker 2: that you could have somebody in your world that is 475 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,399 Speaker 2: living with you, is around you and yours every minute 476 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,280 Speaker 2: of the day, and you don't know anything's going on. 477 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 2: How is that possible? Now, I'm not blaming the mother, 478 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,159 Speaker 2: I'm questioning the mother, that's all. And I don't think 479 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,560 Speaker 2: that's an I don't think that's a bad thing to do, 480 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:34,840 Speaker 2: because this thirteen year old girl is dead. Joe, I 481 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 2: didn't do it. You didn't do it. Somebody who knew 482 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 2: that girl since before all of her teeth came out. 483 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 2: As you mentioned, I have a grandson that's eight, Joe, 484 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,560 Speaker 2: and I know the children he's around. I know because 485 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 2: of the friends you know I And it breaks my 486 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:52,719 Speaker 2: heart to think that nobody was watching out for her 487 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:56,680 Speaker 2: from that age until she's thirteen, where she's writing I'd 488 00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:01,560 Speaker 2: rather be in the woods. I'm not. I'm just saying, 489 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:03,640 Speaker 2: do you have somebody in your life that is around 490 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 2: your child that you don't that's been around them for 491 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:07,720 Speaker 2: years and you don't know this? 492 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:09,080 Speaker 1: How do you? Well? 493 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 2: Before I lose my crap here, this guy had so 494 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:22,440 Speaker 2: many pieces of inappropriate child pornography on his cell phone 495 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:26,880 Speaker 2: that I have to wonder, Joe Scott Morgan, how is 496 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 2: it possible somebody can have that on their phone and 497 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 2: you wouldn't know that? Doesn't I mean, how do they 498 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 2: What are they doing in their world that they can 499 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:36,960 Speaker 2: have Are they that crazy they can have this whole 500 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:38,600 Speaker 2: thing going on over here in the eye it from you. 501 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 1: You don't see it, Yeah, I don't. I don't understand 502 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:43,880 Speaker 1: that either, that you could be so numb and lack 503 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,360 Speaker 1: such self awareness that you don't know that this is 504 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:50,200 Speaker 1: that this is going on. And there have been when 505 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 1: it comes to Stephen Stearns, there have been sixty new 506 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,680 Speaker 1: charges now to this point at the time of this recording. 507 00:29:57,720 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 2: I got to ask you about these, Joe, because of 508 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:01,800 Speaker 2: the number, because I don't understand the charges. I mean, 509 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 2: I understand them, but I don't know what they actually mean, 510 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:07,719 Speaker 2: and I know you do. So let me start off 511 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:12,080 Speaker 2: with one thing, and it goes back to when police 512 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 2: saw what they said was Madeline in the car with 513 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 2: Stephen Stearns. I want to get this Timeline square away, 514 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 2: so you know where she was when they found her. 515 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,960 Speaker 2: You mentioned that we don't know that much about it. Well, 516 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 2: we do know that the morning that they saw Stephen 517 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:31,920 Speaker 2: Sterns getting rid of her backpack and her laptop in 518 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:36,080 Speaker 2: the dumpster behind their apartment complex, that he came back 519 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:40,640 Speaker 2: to the apartment complex and was leaving again around eight 520 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 2: nineteen that morning. He was That's where they saw Madeline 521 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,680 Speaker 2: in the car, in the vehicle with Stearns, and they 522 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:52,040 Speaker 2: believe she was already dead. 523 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:52,959 Speaker 1: At that point. 524 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:57,520 Speaker 2: Now near where her body was found. It was out 525 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:00,480 Speaker 2: in this area off of Old Hickory Tree Road, in 526 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:06,400 Speaker 2: a very rural part of Astola Oceola, Ostiola County. Now, 527 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 2: she was found in this area where Steven Stearns was 528 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:13,680 Speaker 2: seen for about an hour and a half changing the 529 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 2: tire on a vehicle. So what they're trying to and 530 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,520 Speaker 2: she was found in the clothing she was described as 531 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:25,720 Speaker 2: wearing that morning, we do know that much. So they 532 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 2: saw her what they believed to be dead in the 533 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:29,959 Speaker 2: back of the in the car, I don't know if 534 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 2: it was back or front, but in the car with 535 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,120 Speaker 2: him at eight nineteen that morning and then out in 536 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:36,680 Speaker 2: this rural area. He was based on his cell phone 537 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:39,640 Speaker 2: and other information eyewitness accounts of the car being there 538 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:43,000 Speaker 2: for an hour and a half, and she was found 539 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:47,080 Speaker 2: near that area where he was allegedly changing the tire 540 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:53,120 Speaker 2: on the car. We don't know what he don't know 541 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 2: everything that he did to her in life. We don't 542 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:56,680 Speaker 2: know everything he did to her in death. But that 543 00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,040 Speaker 2: does kind of set the stage for you of what 544 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 2: he did to get rid of of her body. He 545 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:03,640 Speaker 2: wasn't thinking things through when he threw the bag in 546 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 2: the back and the dumpster. 547 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 1: No, he wasn't. And I wonder, I wonder relative to 548 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 1: the changing of the tire, if that was if that 549 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:16,240 Speaker 1: was planned, you know, to give was that a stage 550 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:19,920 Speaker 1: saying yeah, so that you can kind of alibi yourself 551 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 1: relative to that you're moving about. People see you take 552 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:27,600 Speaker 1: a tire out, they might mistake that if you're removing 553 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:30,600 Speaker 1: the remains of a thirteen year old child and you're 554 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:32,640 Speaker 1: walking them off the road. But yet you come back 555 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: and you're you know, you're still feigning changing your tire. 556 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,760 Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe his tire was flat, but we 557 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:41,640 Speaker 1: do know that her remains were found, you know, close 558 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: out there. I think one of the sidebars on this 559 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:49,760 Speaker 1: whole thing that was unfortunate was that the sheriff had 560 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:52,640 Speaker 1: actually sent out on social media an image that was 561 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:57,160 Speaker 1: apparently intended to be something that had something to do 562 00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:01,120 Speaker 1: with the retire community in that in his jurisdiction, but 563 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:04,840 Speaker 1: unfortunately it was actually an image of Madeline's body at 564 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:08,480 Speaker 1: the scene. And I know that there's tremendous regret over that, 565 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:12,680 Speaker 1: and again, you know, with phones, you never know, you 566 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:14,480 Speaker 1: know what you're going to be sending out or what 567 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 1: you know, what folks are going to be exposed to. 568 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:21,680 Speaker 2: Said a great day with smiley emoji. 569 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, and that's that's certainly a tragedy. 570 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:27,600 Speaker 2: And no it's not. 571 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:30,520 Speaker 1: I mean I don't think that that's the case. But unfortunately, 572 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,440 Speaker 1: this child who has just you know, I mean, look, 573 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:39,920 Speaker 1: it's it is. It's just kind of the exclamation point 574 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,720 Speaker 1: on all of this. And and I think that from 575 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 1: the perspective of she this child is going to be 576 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:52,760 Speaker 1: when this does go to trial, that jury that's impaneled 577 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,800 Speaker 1: in this case, Uh, they're going to be exposed to 578 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:01,120 Speaker 1: all of this, these horrible images that are there. And 579 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:05,160 Speaker 1: you know there's sixty charges right that have been filing. 580 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:08,520 Speaker 2: What does it mean when of those sixty charges there's 581 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:10,880 Speaker 2: eight counts of sexual battery of a child in their 582 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:13,600 Speaker 2: twelve What does that tell you, Joe, Well. 583 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:18,839 Speaker 1: It tells me that you know, she's thirteen, right, I mean, yeah, 584 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:25,160 Speaker 1: we did the calculus on that that they had that 585 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 1: this was going. Yeah, you know, when we go back 586 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:31,279 Speaker 1: to that date, that solid date, that benchmark and tom 587 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:34,799 Speaker 1: that they discovered on him, there's some kind of tom 588 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,480 Speaker 1: stamping there that goes all the way back to twenty nineteen, 589 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:41,600 Speaker 1: Dave that this abuse has been happening. They can document this, 590 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:45,560 Speaker 1: and this is key here. They can document this all 591 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:48,520 Speaker 1: through this time. And one more thing I think that 592 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:52,600 Speaker 1: I'd like to address here that and I don't want 593 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:55,440 Speaker 1: to go too far field into forensic psychology where people 594 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:57,680 Speaker 1: you know, like you know, my friends like Karen Stark, 595 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:01,560 Speaker 1: you know kind of they they're in that world of 596 00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:06,759 Speaker 1: forensic psychology. But I do know this with sexual predators 597 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:12,480 Speaker 1: and child sexual predators, they will actually they have time 598 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:15,800 Speaker 1: brackets that they work in our age brackets. Age brackets 599 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:21,600 Speaker 1: is the appropriate term where when a child ages out, 600 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:26,839 Speaker 1: they have no more utility for the abuser, they begin 601 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,480 Speaker 1: to look for somebody else that fits within that bracket. 602 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:33,600 Speaker 1: And this has been demonstrated several times over through in 603 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:37,239 Speaker 1: cases all over the country over the years. And the 604 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:40,359 Speaker 1: tragedy of this she's you know, we're saying that she's 605 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:43,359 Speaker 1: fully clothed, she's actually in the clothing of the day. 606 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:51,440 Speaker 1: If and when they charge him with homicide in Madeline's murder, 607 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:56,560 Speaker 1: I'm wondering if if there's not necessarily going to be 608 00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:00,120 Speaker 1: any kind of disruption or clothing. If he made this 609 00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:07,760 Speaker 1: decision at this moment time allegedly to take her life, 610 00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:10,520 Speaker 1: if it was just like okay, he purposed that morning 611 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:13,440 Speaker 1: to end her life and place her body out there 612 00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:17,520 Speaker 1: she had just aged out. Or is it going to 613 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:20,319 Speaker 1: be where we see some kind of trauma on her, 614 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:23,480 Speaker 1: where he's beaten her to the point because she threatened. 615 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:25,719 Speaker 1: Perhaps she said I'm not going to live like this. 616 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:27,640 Speaker 1: Remember what she said? And I think that this is 617 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:30,399 Speaker 1: very important what you alluded to early on. She said 618 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:32,160 Speaker 1: she didn't want to She didn't want to in twell 619 00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:35,960 Speaker 1: this world anymore. She wanted to live out in the woods. Well, 620 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:38,279 Speaker 1: maybe she had expressed that to him at that point 621 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:41,919 Speaker 1: in time. And look, he's got everything to lose here, 622 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,920 Speaker 1: because he's going to go in as the old timers. 623 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:48,080 Speaker 1: You say you're going in all day, pal, you know 624 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:51,319 Speaker 1: you're going in forever and ever. Amen, you're not going 625 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:52,800 Speaker 1: to see the light of day again. 626 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,080 Speaker 2: There was another thing on here too, Joe. Okay, we 627 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:57,000 Speaker 2: had the eight counts of sexual battery of a child 628 00:36:57,120 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 2: under twelve, Well we have five counts of sexual battery 629 00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:06,279 Speaker 2: with a child between twelve and eighteen. Would that basically 630 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:10,680 Speaker 2: incorporate the time because they have video evidence, yes, on 631 00:37:10,719 --> 00:37:11,160 Speaker 2: his phone? 632 00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:15,360 Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, and it's not just photographic, it's video evidence. 633 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:20,359 Speaker 1: So you've got apparently there's evidence of this going on, 634 00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:23,319 Speaker 1: and I refuse, I'm not going down this road. I'm 635 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:27,800 Speaker 1: not going to get so deep into this, particularly given 636 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:31,680 Speaker 1: what we know at this point. If people want to 637 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:35,560 Speaker 1: read the affidavit, you know, you can find it. It's there, 638 00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:39,279 Speaker 1: but it implies and what we're talking about here, and 639 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:41,560 Speaker 1: the reason this is important is that there are breaks 640 00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:44,239 Speaker 1: in time here. It's not breaks, it's more like these 641 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:47,879 Speaker 1: benchmarks in time, and that's why this case is so strong, Dave, 642 00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:51,120 Speaker 1: the electronic evidence, and of course what we're going to find, 643 00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:55,719 Speaker 1: I think probably physically that she had gone through. There 644 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:58,440 Speaker 1: will be evidence of abuse. Oh yeah, this is a 645 00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:00,960 Speaker 1: young girl, this is a grown man, and there will 646 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:04,040 Speaker 1: be evidence of abuse that has gone on forever and ever. 647 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:09,160 Speaker 1: And I would imagine that many times with children that 648 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:13,480 Speaker 1: have been sexually abused, they will act out in inappropriate 649 00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:17,880 Speaker 1: manners many times. And when they go back to interview 650 00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:22,320 Speaker 1: people that were peripheral to her, say in school, like teachers, 651 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:26,479 Speaker 1: perhaps hopefully a counselor if they took time to spend 652 00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:31,680 Speaker 1: time with Madeline, maybe she demonstrated something in the classroom 653 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:36,880 Speaker 1: or in social situations that seemed odd. And if you 654 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:40,080 Speaker 1: have someone that is a forensic psychologist that can go 655 00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:42,719 Speaker 1: back and look at this and say they can say, well, 656 00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:46,440 Speaker 1: she fits a pattern. Here, she fits a pattern, and 657 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:49,000 Speaker 1: we can kind of identify this, and that would in 658 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:51,880 Speaker 1: fact be addressed in court. I got to tell Stearns 659 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,160 Speaker 1: is looking at a real uphill battle as they try 660 00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:57,400 Speaker 1: to move forward with this case. But I do know 661 00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:05,840 Speaker 1: this right now, somewhere out there there are other children 662 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:15,160 Speaker 1: like Matteline. It's incumbent upon us to be aware of 663 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:18,520 Speaker 1: that this is going on. It goes on every day, 664 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:24,759 Speaker 1: and unfortunately we have a light that has dimmed and 665 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:27,360 Speaker 1: it's now been snuffed out. The only thing that we 666 00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:30,640 Speaker 1: can hope for is that there will be an ultimate 667 00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:37,120 Speaker 1: price to be paid for these crimes. I'm Joseph Scott Morgan, 668 00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:39,640 Speaker 1: and this is body