PAYETTE, Idaho (Court TV) — A woman accused of kidnapping and killing a 5-year-old boy said little in court as new filings reveal some of the evidence prosecutors say they have against her.
Sarah Wondra appeared virtually in court on Nov. 12, 2026. (KTVB)
Sarah Wondra, 39, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and concealment of evidence in the presumed death of Michael Vaughan, who was 5 when he disappeared from his Fruitland, Idaho, neighborhood on July 27, 2021.
Wondra appeared virtually for her arraignment on Thursday, when she sat silently except to agree to waive her right to a speedy preliminary hearing.
In an affidavit obtained by KTVB, prosecutors said that while the child’s body has never been found, all evidence points toward the defendant, her husband and their roommates as the people who killed Michael.
In her first interview with investigators, shortly after Michael disappeared, Wondra said that she and her husband, Stacey Wondra, had left their neighborhood to tow a vehicle at 5 p.m. on July 27 and weren’t home when the child disappeared, at around 6:30 p.m. But cellphone data and surveillance video from the neighborhood told a different story, prosecutors said. The video showed Wondra driving her maroon GMC pickup truck out of the neighborhood at 7:08 p.m. and returning more than four hours later, towing a silver Mercedes-Benz.
After Michael’s disappearance, Wondra had a noticeable shift in behavior, prosecutors said. “Sarah began to stand along the highway near the Love’s gas station in Ontario, Oregon, with signs stating to repent your sins and that the end of time was near,” the affidavit said. Prosecutors said Wondra also changed her habits online, going from rarely posting on Facebook and TikTok to posting with increasing frequency about religion, repentance and forgiveness. On TikTok, prosecutors said, “Sarah made ‘testimony’ statements regarding her involvement in criminal behaviors and stated that she had broken all ten of the Ten Commandments. It should be noted that ‘thou shalt not kill’ is one of the Ten Commandments. Sarah also alleged in her videos that it did not matter what sins she had committed because God had forgiven her for all of them.” Prosecutors noted that Michael’s missing person flyer is visible in the background of some of the videos.
A poster shows missing child Michael Vaughan. (Scripps News Boise)
Stacey Wondra, who faces the same charges as his wife, told police that he was merely a witness to the child’s killing and placed the blame on his wife and two roommates who lived with them at the time. In interviews with investigators, Stacey Wondra said that he saw his wife carrying Michael in a duffel bag, and said that he witnessed his wife and roommates duct-tape the 5-year-old. Stacey Wondra claimed that the child died accidentally, suffocating while he was in the duffel bag.
The GMC truck that was seen in the surveillance videos was later repossessed, prosecutors said. Law enforcement said that when they contacted the company, the company said the vehicle appeared to have been “thoroughly cleaned” before it was repossessed.
After Stacey Wondra’s arrest and statement to police, investigators served a search warrant on the Wondras’ home while Sarah was home. Officers noted comments she made while they were on the property, including, “Wow, that is a lot; I definitely did not kill that boy,” “Oh, wow, wow, the most high God just told me that Stacey was the one who killed him, and he buried him in the yard of Carson’s house,” and, “He wants me to make sure you understand that I had nothing to do with it.” Officers also said Sarah Wondra repeatedly asked if the officers had “found him yet” while they were in her home.
Stacey Wondra told the police that he saw Sarah Wondra and their roommates bury Michael’s body in their yard. Multiple K-9 officers alerted to areas of the yard, but no remains were found. Law enforcement officers noticed several areas of the yard appeared to have been filled with dirt and resodded.
Sarah Wondra’s preliminary hearing is scheduled to last two days, beginning on March 8, 2027.
