Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - 9 Bombshell Details About Michael Vaughan Disappearance

Episode Date: November 12, 2025

Five-year-old Michael Vaughan disappeared on July 27, 2021 from his home in Fruitland, Idaho. Now longtime suspects Stacey Wondra and his estranged wife, Sarah Wondra, have been charged in his kidnapping and murder. A newly-released probable cause affidavit reveals Stacey confessed to his part in Michael's kidnapping and murder in 2022 and provided horrifying details about Michael's last hours. Detectives also detailed evidence in the case. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes through the critical details in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Therapy with NOCD is 100% virtual, and covered by insurance for over 155 million Americans. Plus, they provide support between sessions, so you're never navigating this alone.If any of this sounds familiar, visit nocd.com to book a free call with their team. That's N-O-C-D.com to learn more and get connected to someone who can help. https://learn.nocd.com/CRIMEFIXHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest:Will SvilarProducer:Jordan ChaconCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. New horrific details are coming out about the disappearance of Michael Monkey Vaughn as two of the people suspected of kidnapping him face criminal charges. Literally every send that you see being committed today is already forgiven. I'll tell you why police say Sarah Wanderer's TikTok videos matter when it comes to the death and disappearance of Little Michael. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy, and this is Crime Fix.

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the most effective treatment available. Plus, no CD, it's 100% virtual, provides support between sessions, and it's covered by insurance for over 155 million Americans. Visit nocd.com to book a free free. call and get connected to someone who can help. For years now, Sarah Wondra and her former husband, Stacey Wondra, and two of their friends have been on detective's radar in the death and disappearance of Michael Monkey Vaughn. And now Sarah and Stacey are being charged with Michael's kidnapping and murder. They're also being accused of destroying evidence. The details about what

Stacey Wondra told police about what happened to Michael are absolutely horrific. And they're contained in a probable cause affidavit filed in Payett County. A Fruitland police detective claims that Stacey Wondra told them in 2022 that he and their friends kidnapped Michael with the plan to sell him. The affidavit says Stacey told detectives that it was the idea of their roommate, Adrian Lucian, to kidnap a child. And for selling the child, the Wondras would get a $10,000 cut. Unbelievable.

The affidavit states that Stacey told his mother in a jail. House phone call in November 22 that Sarah Wondra killed Michael by accident when she put duct tape over his mouth to keep him quiet and that Michael suffocated as a result. Detectives say after Stacey Wondra confessed. He wrote a letter to Michael's parents apologizing and then tried to hang himself but staff at the Washington County Jail saved him. Michael Vaughn vanished from his home in Fruitland, Idaho on July 27, 2021, sometime after 6.30 p.m. Michael's father called 911. at 7.21 p.m. when he couldn't find him anywhere, and police started searching for him. There was no sign of Michael. Dogs were deployed to track his scent, and the handlers reported back

that the dogs only showed interest in one house out of 300 in Fruitland, and it was the house where Stacey and Sarah Wondra were living. Another interesting bit of information, a woman in the neighborhood told police that she saw Michael riding a tricycle outside of the Wondra's home on the day he disappeared, that tricycle would become an important piece of information because another witness said she saw one in the Wonder's garage earlier that year. And another witness said that he actually found a tricycle tossed away at a bluff near the neighborhood. Now, in the affidavit, the detective wrote, Stacey Wonder is captured on surveillance footage driving a white Lexus and pulling into the parking area of the splash pad in the neighborhood on Southwest 8th Street at 15

23 hours on July 27, 2021. Stacey is seen exiting the driver's door walking around the passenger side of the car and appears to be testing the exterior door handle to see if it is locked. Stacey then walked back around the driver's side of the vehicle where he got into the driver's seat and exited the area. Police also tried to identify the man walking near the splash pad on July 27, 2021. The affidavit states, video surveillance shows an adult male walking in the area of three rivers way at 1808 hours on July 27, 2021, and the same male is captured walking in the area of the neighborhood splash pad at 1818 hours. The last image of the male is captured at 1828 hours as he walked through the wooded area to the west back towards the area in which the wondrous lived. Brandon Shirtleaf was identified in 2022 as being this person

and told detectives during an interview that the surveillance video captured him as he was walking and searching for a missing child on the date that Michael disappeared. This video captured Brandon walking prior to Michael being reported missing. Brandon reported he was living with the Wondras on that date. Brandon Shirtliff is one of the four people that police say are involved in Michael's disappearance and death along with the Wondras and Stacey and Sarah Wondra. Brandon's mother told police her son was not the same after living with the Wondress. In August 2021, police went to the Wondress home to talk to them, and they said when they arrived,

they found a man named Adrian Lucian hiding in a closet. Police said Adrian was vague when they interviewed him, and he wouldn't commit to a statement, and he also wouldn't provide his social security number, and he also gave Stacey's phone number as his own. On that date, police say that Stacey and Sarah claimed that they slept until noon that day and denied being home around 6.30 p.m. the night that Michael vanished. But police say cell phone data showed that all four of these people, Stacey, Sarah, Brandon, and Adrian were in the neighborhood that night. After Michael's disappearance, police said they noticed a big change in Sarah's social media habits. She started posting a lot about Jesus and she would stand along the roadway

holding signs that said things like, repent for your sins. Sarah Wonder's TikTok account by O'Line states, Jesus is coming soon. Jesus is the only way he loves you, accept him today. There are more than 420 videos on Sarah Wonderous TikTok account.

In many, she talks about God, Jesus, and in some, she even reads the Bible. If you're not being directed by the Holy Spirit, you're not going to understand the deeper things of God. And if you haven't accepted Christ as your Savior, you're not going to be able to have the Holy Spirit within you. In one video, detectives said that Sarah admitted to breaking all 10 commandments, and one of them, of course, is thou shall not kill.

Police said Sarah made inconsistent statements about why she was seen driving a GMC truck out of the neighborhood around the time that Michael vanished. Police also said that Sarah and Stacey sold their phones or lost and sold their vehicles and got rid of their furniture after Michael disappeared. Police also interviewed Sarah Wunderer's mother about that tricycle I told you about. She told police that her DNA might be on that tricycle because she actually found it in some bushes before Michael's kidnapping. But the cops, they don't appear to believe that story. Months later, in October 2022, the police met with Sarah Wondra again, and they said she became emotional and told them that God was going to help her find the boy.

Sarah also suggested that God had forgiven Hitler for his sins and that God had redeemed her for her sins. The next month, in November 2022, Stacey Wondra asked to speak with detectives. He was in jail and he dropped a bombshell. The affidavit states, Stacey then said that when he first saw Michael, Sarah was carrying Michael into their home. Stacey said Michael was put into a duffel bag to transport him out of their house into branded. house in CUNA. Stacey said Sarah was frantic, trying to figure out what to do, and Brandon interjected, I have a duffel bag. Stacey described Michael as crying. And to prevent him from moving or making noise, Stacey described how Sarah taped Michael using duct tape. When asked who put

Michael in the bag, Stacey said Brandon grabbed the bag and gave it to Sarah. Sarah picked up Michael as Adrian helped hold the sides of the bag open as they shoved Michael in the duffel bag. Stacey described Michael was wiggling, trying to get away. Stacey said he could see Michael in the bag with his knees bent up in the fetal position. While describing and demonstrating how Michael was taped and stuffed into a duffel bag in his living room, Stacey had a physical reaction and began violently vomiting. When asked if he was vomiting because of the chewing tobacco he was using, he indicated he was throwing up because of the stress of talking about Michael. What Stacey Wendra confessed to is horrifying.

Then came information about the GMC truck stopping that I mentioned earlier. The affidavit states, Stacey provided two reasons they stopped in the GMC at the corner of Southwest 8th Street and South Arizona in Fruitland. One, for Stacey to put power steering fluid into the vehicle and two, so Brandon could check to see if Michael was still alive because Michael was bound to with duct tape and stuffed into a duffel bag in the bed of the truck. Stacey said he was able to hear Michael making noises like a dull scream. Stacey said they were worried about being seen because they saw a car parked off of South Arizona. Detective said that Stacey Wondra told them that when they arrived at Brandon's home in CUNA, Michael was no longer making noises and no one had checked on him.

Stacey said they left Michael there and went back to get his body the next day. And then Adrian and Sarah dug a hole in the backyard to bury him. The affidavit mentions other instances of Sarah's mother, mentioning the couple's dog actually digging holes in the backyard. In an interview, Stacey stated that Michael had a stuffed animal, some sort of a stuffed animal. I want to say like a dinosaur or monkey. And what I saw was a monkey.

It was green and looked like a green monkey. In one interview, Stacey advised the lime green monkey was a dog toy that he and Sarah gave to keep him quiet while he was sitting on the couch in their living room. This led to a search of the yard for Michael's remains in November 2022. The affidavit states about Sarah. Sarah Wondra, who was located in the residence at the time, was detained as officers read to her the search warrant. Sarah made several strange statements. Wow, that is a lot.

I definitely did not kill that boy. The most high God already told me who did it. So, 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. She also said, the Most High God told her Stacey was the one that killed him, and he buried him. The Most High God just told me that Stacey was the one who did it. He wants me to make sure you understand that I had nothing to do with it. He said that Stacey buried him in the backyard by the shed. It wasn't actually Stacey who harmed the boy. As officers started to

search the residence. Sarah asked several times if the officers had, quote, found him yet. Michael's body was not found during that search, but police wrote that they believe Sarah Wondra could have moved his remains since Stacey was in jail at the time. Sarah is now serving time on unrelated charges in an Idaho prison. And all of what I have told you led police to file murder and kidnapping charges against Stacey Wondra and Sarah Wondra. Michael's mother, Brandy Vaughn, she said the charges were coming earlier this year. Take a look. I Pinky Promise, Monkey.

We will never give up. None of us here have or ever will. Sarah, Stacey. Brandon. Adrian. When are you going to help us bring me? Michael home. The charges for all of you are drawn.

Be the one to help Michael come home. I have had a few more conversations recently with the DA's office. I am very, very confident in the team at Mike Duke's office as well as as the additional experts that have been assisting in Michael's case, the amount of information that Fruiton Police Department, other agencies, and the DA's office has gathered, gives our family solid reassurance that justice will be served for Michael. So to discuss these horrific details,

I wanna bring in Will's V-LAR. He is a retired police commander with the Chicago Police Department, Will, Since the last time we talked about this, we have learned all of these new details about the investigation into the death and disappearance of Michael Vaughn. And I just want to know your thoughts

because the last time we talked about this, you know, we knew a little bit. Now we know a lot. You know, in a case like this, and I've seen quite a few murders in 32 years working, you know, homicide 27 of the 32 years, I've seen a lot of murders. When you see something like this,

it's impossible not to internalize it a little bit. And you try not to do that in my job because you can't, there's too many of them. But when you think about a five-year-old innocent kid who had no choice to do any bad behavior or anything that would cause this to happen, and you think about the last moments of this little boy's life, it's just horrifying. And it's just, it's impossible not to internalize it. And I read the indictment or I read the affidavit for probable cause. And it's just horrible. Yeah, it's absolutely horrible.

You know, Stacey Wondra told law enforcement that his sublet is tenant, if you will, this guy living with them, Adrian Lucian, came up with this idea that they could sell a child and that they would get a $10,000 cut. I mean, where this guy comes up with this idea, allegedly, I don't know. And so apparently they go out and they find Michael Vaughn, who's out outside of his house playing, you know, on a July night in 2021, they take him back to the house, according to Stacey. He's sitting on the couch. He's got, they give him a dog toy to keep him occupied. And then they, they decide to stuff him in a duffel bag and, and they put tape over his mouth and he suffocates. I mean, horrific, horrific, awful horrific. stuff. They could have ended this a long time ago. I mean, a long time ago. But according to all of the

facts we're reading in this affidavit, they have let Michael's family continue to suffer. You know, you think about what kind of people are these? What kind of who sits around for people who decide? Here's a plan. Let's steal a child and sell a child. And then three people go along. So you know what? That's a pretty good idea. Let's try to do that. And then like you said, they know they did what they did they killed this boy now they try to get rid of this boy they're they're kind of coming around with stacey comes around with a confession saying how he thinks things went down why not say where this boy is why not are you clinging to the fact that maybe if you can't find a body they won't be able to have a prosecution uh or you just that evil

obviously they're evil stacey one drop according to everything that we're seeing in this affidavit confessed in 2022 they say that he wrote a letter apologizing to Michael's parents and then tried to, you know, end it in the jail. The deputies find him and they stop him from doing that. But he offered a full confession, it sounds like. And he tried to point the detectives, the cops, to where Michael's body was buried. They're implying in these documents that Sarah likely knows where Michael's body is. She's sitting in prison on unrelated charges right now and allegedly found God, yet she's not revealing where his body is. What are your thoughts on that? You know, you see it quite often where the last

refuge is religion. Maybe religion can save me from doing these horrible things. But if she was truly repentant, and I'm no preacher or anything like that, but if she was truly repentant, she would finish her thought, and she would tell these people where this little boy is, and she absolutely knows where this little boy is. All the evidence where the cadaver dog sit on the yard, the boy was in that yard. They moved that boy. They moved remains of that boy, and they know where they put him. And I don't know if it was Stacy knows

or Sarah knows or the other two know. But one or all of them know where that boy is, and they could end this for this family. By doing the right thing, I guess you'd say after all of this, but doing the good thing, the proper thing. But she's not doing that. She's using religion. She's forgiven. And that's what she believes, I guess. And one of the things that really grosses me out about something she allegedly said was that she tries to say that God has forgiven Hitler for his sins. So he, of course, has forgiven her for her sins. I don't think she read into the whole how the forgiveness thing were.

works. But what a ridiculous thing to say. I mean, again, it's what kind of behavior do we expect from these type of people? But what a ridiculous thing to say to compare yourself to Hitler. And Hitler's okay because he's forgiven so I can be forgiven for killing one little boy. Horrible. Yeah, totally horrible. There are still two people on the run, on the lamb, if you will. The cops have been looking for them now for a while. Brandon Shirtloff and Adrian Lucian, the two other people of interest in this case, the suspects, if you will, as far as we know, they're not charged at this point. Who knows maybe they will be very soon. But why is it so hard to find these two? I mean, the one guy, Adrian, he was picked up in South Bend last month

for a traffic citation and then let go. Well, you know, it shouldn't be too hard to find them. I mean, it's hard to get lost in this day and age between, you know, they tracked all their phones that they got rid of prior to this. So they, they tracked all their movements before that. They got new phones. It's not, it's not impossible to find these people. They'll turn up. The thing is, you have to have paperwork in the system. You have to have a warrant in the system if they're going to be stopped. If he's stopped in South Bend and he's got a warrant that's in the leads and it's extraditable, they would have held him. But if I, as I read that affidavit, there's probably cause for all four of them in there. You tweak it here and there when you

write it for each individual person, but there's probably cause for all four of them. And at some point, I believe they'll probably get warrants. And they're going to charge, definitely going to charge Sarah. And I think they're going to charge the other two. But you have to get a warrant in place for other law enforcement agencies to know that they're looking for this, those other two. I will be interested to see if somebody is offered a deal in this to testify against all of the others. I don't know. In a case like this, hard to offer. a deal. I don't know what that deal would be other than maybe like 30 years or something like

that, but you might need somebody to turn on somebody else. It sounds like Stacey already has turned on all of them. Yes, Stacey's charged. So Stacey can say everybody else did it, but we talked about this before until that other, whoever's going to cooperate has to accept the deal and it has to go through or else you can't use their statement against the others. And Stacey can say what you want. Stacey's culpable, Stacey's charged. Now, the other two, the mastermind who came up with the idea of stealing a child or the other one, which one? And that's the thing.

Who do you offer this deal to? Who do you offer a deal? And what is the deal? You're right. Because it's not going to be, we're going to let you walk. You cannot do that. You can't offer someone complete and total immunity from something like this. You just can't do it.

Circumstantially, they have a case right now. Direct testimony from someone who witnessed. the murder and what they did with the boy, that would really bolster the case, would make the case better. But, I mean, a good prosecutor, and, you know, thank God, we got a jury system in this country, they could probably make the case now, but it would be better if somebody could, you know, give direct testimony and also find that little boy. Yeah, it's horrific. I really hope they can find Michael for his family. His poor mother, Brandy Vaughan, I mean, it's just heartbreaking.

Will Sveolar, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Absolutely. Brandy Vaughn sent me the following statement in an email. At this moment, I would like everyone to know how hard Fruitland Police Department, the prosecuting office, and all of the agencies that have worked endlessly and are still making any and all the efforts to bring Michael home. We are forever grateful for their tenacity, dedication, and endless support these 15161 days.

endless nightmare years. It has been an endless nightmare for our family. Now as charges are being brought forth to these monsters. It truly feels like our hearts are being ripped out all over again. We are asking the public to continue to share Michael's beautiful face and his story. We still do not have Michael home and these four suspects and possibly more people may know the location of Michael. All we want is to bring Michael home. That is all we've been begging and asking for these four years. We believe Michael will get his justice, and these four suspects will be punished to the extent of the law. We understand you are innocent until proven guilty. With that being said, our family, our community, and so many around the world will stand strong as the truth comes to light.

And we will, of course, continue to follow this case very closely for you. That's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time. Thank you. Thank you.