Kissimmee police, in cooperation with the DA’s office, are taking their time to build a case against Madeline Soto’s killer. Many of the press conferences given in recent weeks seem to reiterate facts the public is already aware of. Patience is needed in such delicate cases, but no frustration on the part of the public could compare to what Maddie’s family, including her father, Tyler Wallace, are going through.
If Wallace has confidence that law enforcement will bring Madeline’s murderer to justice, the public should share the sentiment. If a suffering father can withstand the silence of waiting for answers, so can anyone who’s had their eyes on this high-profile case.
Who is Tyler Wallace? Does he have a partner?
Tyler Wallace never married Jennifer Soto. In fact, not too long after Madeline was born on Feb. 22, 2011, Tyler tied the knot with Tatiana Wallace in April, with whom he’s still married and living in Texas, many miles away from where Maddie lived with her mother in Florida. But he was, by all accounts, a present, interested parent.
Whenever possible, Tyler would see his daughter, the last time being when she visited them in Texas in October. He paid regular child support, plus, he’d also send additional money for things like Maddie’s flute lessons. The last time Tyler spoke with his daughter was the day of her birthday party, the day before she went missing.
For a while, the paternal side of the family kept quiet, likely grappling with a new tragic reality that may still seem too surreal. But now that they have spoken out, they’ve cleared up what their position is, and it is everything one would expect from grieving family members who want to respect the process but are rooting for justice for their little girl.
In the vigil in Madeline’s memory, which took place around the location where she was discovered, Tatiana made a statement to honor her stepdaughter, visibly emotional, voice breaking when recounting particularly evocative memories such as the simple but precious action of brushing Maddie’s blonde hair. She went over all the future things, all the stages of Madeline’s life, that the family was robbed of. Toward the end of her speech, Tatiana shared some words of advice for every parent watching: to have the courage to converse with one’s children about certain topics, and not shy away from having the uncomfortable but necessary talk about sexual abuse.
The painful wait for justice
On top of sitting down for interviews with WFTV, candidly opening up about their side of the story, the Wallaces traveled to Florida to retrieve Madeline’s ashes. Reportedly, the family’s lawyer has acquired the ashes from Jenn without issue.
Tyler did not put any restrictions on the questions the interviewer could ask him. That said, thinking of other fathers out there, he did request to be asked why he had no idea about what seemed to have been happening under Jennifer Soto’s roof.
Tyler was warned that his daughter had gone missing when he was called by anxious-sounding Jenn. In regards to Jenn, Wallace said that, while he doesn’t know how he’s going to be able to excuse this, he has yet to learn the full truth. Meaning, similarly to the public, Tyler doesn’t have enough pieces of the puzzle to wholly condemn Jenn. First, he needs to hear more. As things stand, he does not have enough knowledge to believe one way or the other, so he does not feel right about “sending mobs and pitchforks.”
But to make matters worse, Wallace relayed to the interviewer how he had to warn his parents to be mindful of some internet trolls who may feel tempted to share the accidentally posted crime scene photo.
When asked about Stefan Sterns, the prime suspect, Tyler said he had interacted a couple of times with him on social media but those did not give away any prominent red flags. And, although he did not want to get into it, Maddie’s father let it be known that “every father knows what [he’s] thinking right now.”