4 possible suspects in killing, kidnapping of Idaho boy. Only 1 has been charged

FRUITLAND (Idaho Statesman) – Weeks after the neighbor of an Idaho boy was charged with his first-degree murder, authorities haven’t publicly identified any other suspects — despite court records indicating three other people were involved in his abduction and killing.

Michael Vaughan, who was 5 at the time of his disappearance, went missing from his home in Fruitland in July 2021, triggering a nationwide search for the little boy that involved law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels.

“We haven’t stopped,” Fruitland Police Chief JD Huff told reporters in 2022. “Every day we have unfinished business, and I’ll tell you that every day is an anniversary of the disappearance of Michael Vaughn for us.”

Still, another three years later, neither Michael nor his body has been found. Despite that, Payette County Prosecutor Michael Duke announced in October that his office was “moving forward with charges against the individuals” involved in Michael’s disappearance and killing.

“After a robust investigation by the Fruitland Police Department and countless assisting agencies, we have unfortunately been unable to locate Michael to recover his remains,” Duke wrote in a news release. “Our foremost hope has always been to recover Michael, but delays now risk further harm to his loved ones.”

Duke’s office didn’t identify any of the individuals, and court records show that only one person, 33-year-old Stacey Wondra, a former neighbor and prior suspect, has been charged in Michael’s death.

But a probable cause affidavit written by Fruitland Police Detective Juanita Kelleher indicated that three other people, including Stacey Wondra’s then-wife, Sarah Wondra, were involved in Michael’s death. The Wondras lived less than half a mile away from Michael’s Fruitland home when he disappeared in 2021.

The Wondras’ backyard was excavated in search of Michael’s remains in November 2022 after Stacey Wondra confessed in an interview with the Fruitland Police Department that he, Sarah Wondra, and their two roommates “were all involved in the abduction and killing” of Michael, according to the affidavit.

The Wondras, along with the roommates, were named as people of interest in Michael’s death in December 2022 after the property was excavated. Cadaver dogs alerted authorities to human remains, but none were found. Huff said at the time that the Wondras “were involved” in Michael’s abduction.

The Wondras have since served time for crimes unrelated to Michael’s killing. Stacey Wondra was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm in 2023 and was sentenced to federal prison, where he was in custody before being brought back to Idaho.

Sarah Wondra is incarcerated at the South Idaho Correctional Institution, south of Boise, after she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and destruction of evidence, according to online prison records. She could be eligible for parole in February.

The Payette County Prosecutor’s Office didn’t respond to an email asking whether anyone else would be charged in Michael’s case. A search of the state’s online public court system didn’t turn up any related charges for Sarah Wondra or the roommates.

Stacey Wondra is facing four felonies, including first-degree murder, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by the Statesman. He’s also charged with second-degree kidnapping, destruction of evidence and an enhancement for being a persistent violator, which can be added by prosecutors when someone has been convicted of at least three felonies.

If he’s convicted of the murder charge, Wondra could face up to life in prison or the death penalty. His next hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. March 2, online court records showed.

Affidavit details Michael’s abduction, death

When Stacey Wondra first saw Michael, Sarah Wondra was carrying him into their home, he told the detectives, according to the affidavit. He said she was “frantic trying to figure out what to do” when one of their roommates said he had a duffel bag, the affidavit said.

Together, Sarah Wondra and the roommates bound Michael with duct tape and shoved him into the duffel bag, Wondra recounted to the detectives. Michael was “wiggling, trying to get away,” the affidavit said.

He said that the idea to take Michael was initially so they could sell him for money and each get a $10,000 cut, according to the affidavit.

Stacey Wondra told the detectives that after placing Michael in the duffel bag, the group drove him to a house in Kuna and put him in the spare room, the affidavit said. None of them checked to make sure Michael was still alive.

The next day, they brought his body back to their house in Fruitland and buried him in their backyard, the affidavit said. Stacey claimed he was inside the house while one roommate was “on guard” and the other roommate and Sarah Wondra dug the hole together, the affidavit said.

He told the detectives during the interview where to find Michael’s body, but when law enforcement excavated the Wondras’ property in November 2022, Michael’s remains weren’t found. Sarah Wondra could have moved “any evidence from the property without Stacey’s knowledge,” the affidavit said.

When officers searched the property, Sarah Wondra made several “strange statements,” according to the affidavit. She denied killing Michael, alleged that the “most high God” told her that Stacey Wondra killed him, and then backtracked by saying it wasn’t actually Stacey Wondra who harmed him, according to the affidavit.

She also asked officers several times during the search if they’d “found him yet.”