Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Neighbor Arrested in Brutal Kidnap and Murder of Michael Vaughn

Episode Date: May 3, 2026

Residents of a small rural Idaho town of turn out in force to join authorities searching for a 5-year-old boy reported missing. He was last seen in a field near his family home. Ultimately, tips lead police to the home of a neighbor, Sarah Wondra.  Police spent more than a week excavating the home's backyard. FPD Chief JD Huff says police believe Vaughan's body was buried in Wondra's backyard and then moved to another location.  All the cadaver dogs used in the search "alerted" in the yard. Ground penetrating radar also detected "anomalies." Additional evidence was found in the home. Now Sarah Wondra's husband, Stacey, is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, destruction of evidence and more.   He pleaded not guilty to all counts.    In the last days,  the judge overseeing Wondra's preliminary hearing  found probable cause that he kidnapped and killed Michael Vaughan, then destroyed evidence.  During closing arguments the prosecution alleged Michael died by suffocation.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Five-year-old Michael Vaughn, five years old playing in his front yard when he was taken, according to prosecutors. In the last hours,

a judge brings down the hammer, paving the way for a neighbor man, Stacey Wondra, to go to trial for murder. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us. That's right. Michael Vaughn, a beautiful five-year-old little boy last scene, playing outside his family home in a rural and tight-knit town, Fruitland, Idaho. That's about 50 miles from Boise. The five-year-old tots disappeared.

parents shattered the small community. At the time, less than 6,500 people live there, and its police department, the entire department, had a total of 12 officers. Well, the search for Michael stretched the police force, but with the help of dozens of local police agencies, plus the FBI, and volunteers, over 3,000 acres of land, including 29 miles on the Snake River, were searched. But years went by, no sign of Michael. For over four years, his mother, Brandy, tirelessly seeking answers, working with police, trying to locate her little boy that she called Monkey. but in the last months, a neighbor who lived just blocks away is charged with murder,

kidnap, and destruction of evidence. What do we know about the disappearance of little Michael? Michael Vaughn was last seen in the area of Southwest 9th in Arizona in Fruitland. He was wearing a light blue Minecraft shirt and dark blue boxer briefs with sandals. Officers have scoured through 3,000 acres of farmland, drained irrigation ditches, searched through garbage cans, and a septic tank. I've got a lot of questions. Let's introduce an all-star panel to break it down and put it back together again.

First of all, joining me 27 years. Metro major case, including SWAT, now lawyer, James Shelnut at Shelnutlawfroom.com. Dr. Angela Arnold, renowned psychiatrist, joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, Karen L. Smith, forensic expert, lecturer, University of Florida, and host of a hit series Shattered Souls podcast. Eric Grossarth now joining us from the area with the East Idaho News.com, and you can find him on Instagram, Twitter, at Eric Grossarth. Eric, I don't understand how this little five-year-old boy just goes missing. Who was supposed to be watching him? You know, that's something that investigators haven't necessarily told us yet.

We do know that he was in his neighborhood. It is a neighborhood in a small, small community, but those streets end up right there on farm fields. So you got acres and acres of farm fields and then the interstate right from there and then the Snake River. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. That was a lot of information, Eric Grosar. Eric Grosar joining me from east Idaho news.com.

Let me take that one line at a time because I'm hearing open field, then I heard you say all the streets converge at this location, a very small community, but you're leading me to believe it is a residential community like a suburban community, and near an interstate and near the Snake River. All of that means potential locations for this five-year-old little boy. We're talking about Michael Vaughn. What happened, Derek? Let's just start at the beginning. Yeah. So Michael was last seen around his house around 6.30 p.m. that day. And at some point, his family or whatever. Wait, Eric, Eric, do you have children? Eric, just curious. I do. Okay. So then you know, 630 for children this young, it's getting about suppertime. If they

have an order, you know, they like to eat it 4.30 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. So at this point, I would assume the parents are home from work. I'm just speculating here. I don't know this. You got to help me. And the child is there at 6.30? What in the hay is he doing out in a field after that? And, you know, that's the million-dollar question there associated with this case.

Somebody just said that they saw him walking along that street in the clothes that Minecraft, he showed what they saw. And he vanished. A lot of these details. hadn't been released yet just because there is a lot of unknowns. But he did at some point walk, wander away from the house, and we all know with kids how easy it is they can walk long distance very quickly. No, actually, I don't. I don't.

I know that other people say that, but I can tell you this. If the twins at age five or at home at 6.30, I don't know how they would have gotten out of the house and wander away without anybody noticing anything. I will tell you this, Eric Grossarth. On our back door, we had, of course, the door handle would, you could lock it. And then we put a, what, yes, yeah, thank you, Jackie, a side bar. Slide bar.

Well, listen to this, Eric. There were some steps going upstairs right beside that back door. I mean, we could stand on the step and open the door, the doorknob. It's right there together. John David Lynch and Lucy Lynch, by the time they were 18, two years old, could go up two steps and reach up and change a slide bar. So we had to put something even higher up so they couldn't reach it, like little monkeys. So I'm not saying he can't get out because they could do that at two years old.

And this, Michael, is five. but how has he gone that long and nobody noticed, Eric, and why aren't police telling us what happened? You know, this is one of those that they're still trying to piece together everything that happened. There's a lot of information, including the search. There is several investigators that have been called in to talk to people. There's been witnessed after witness, hundreds of them that have been coming in with different tips, and they need to come in and talk with all of these people, search these homes, talk to different investigators.

So there's a lot. They have said that Michael's parents have been cooperative with investigators, but they still have a lot to talk about. And there's still a lot of unknowns in a case like this, especially where you still have this person missing, Michael's one of the few people that would probably know exactly what happened at that moment when he walked away that would tell them what happened to me. Yeah, I mean, I know the child knows what happened.

happens if the child is still alive. You were earlier hearing our friends at Idaho News 6. Now take a listen to our cut to this is Kristen Skoriva, Idaho News. The search for a missing Treasure Valley boy escalates as it goes into a second day. Police officers in Fruitland need the community's help and locating that little boy. Five-year-old Michael Joseph Vaughn is considered endangered and was last seen at his home near Southwest 9th in Arizona in Fruitland. It was around 6.30 Tuesday evening, and search efforts have began immediately to find him with teams walking through nearby neighborhoods, searching by air with drones, and even a helicopter. The Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue team brought their search dog to help with the efforts.

Vaughn is about three and a half feet tall. He has blonde hair and blue eyes. He also goes by the nickname Monkey. I'm just thinking about that. Just three and a half feet tall. He's a little bitty thing. goes by the nickname Monkey. I'm looking at him right now.

Big, beautiful smile. He's very, very tiny. Allegedly goes missing from a field near his home. Now, I'm looking at the field right now, and I notice that people going through the field are with the FBI. Now, I'm very curious as to why the Idaho State Police, has called in the FBI to help find Michael. But something about this story is not hanging together for me.

Now, tell me about the area. That's one of my problems here at Grossarth, joining me from east Idaho News.com. You're saying it is a residential community. I'm looking at the field that, I think this is the one where he was last seen. I don't see anything in the distance I see. what I think to be a structure with a few outhouses around it, but it looks like a farming structure. So is this a residential neighborhood or what?

Yeah, so this is kind of common out here in Idaho. You'll have these small communities with maybe 5,000, 6,000 people, and there'll be a residential community. And then it's surrounded by farm fields. I'm in a larger town. My parents' houses here, but their backyard is farm fields, and it goes on for miles and miles. So there are these residential communities and these farm fields. But something else to point out that this is only about an hour from Idaho's largest city of Boise. You hop on Interstate 84 there in between Idaho and Oregon.

So you're near larger communities, but there's still lots of these farm fields. And when we talk farm fields, that's another thing that investigators have been searching is canals. They've got to bring the water into these fields. So there are lots of canals and different waterways throughout all of this is a maze of little waterways and fields in these small communities in Idaho. So yes, there is that residential aspect, but it's right next to the Western farming communities. Take a listen now to our friend at the Fruitland Police Department. This is Chief J.D. Huff. Listen. Today, the Fruitland Police Department, in conjunction with the State Police, multiple.

Treasure Valley law enforcement agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we continue to search for missing and endangered five-year-old Michael Joseph Vaughn, MJ to his family and friends. Michael was last seen near his residence on Southwest 9th Street in Fruitland at approximately 6.30 p.m. on July 27, 2021. Operations to date include the methodical search of the area near Michael's residence, which included two irrigation runoff ditches, which were drained by the Fruitland Public Works Department in an extensive search and rescue effort, including the use of canines, aerial, and marine, and land support. Idaho Fish and Game officers are continuing to search the river by boat for four to five miles downriver, and back up and in the sloughs of the Snake River as well. Joining me an all-star panel, let's go straight out to James Sheldnut, 27 years, metro major case including SWAT, now lawyer at shelnutlawfirm.com.

James, why typically would the FBI be called in on a case like this? Well, so the FBI has a policy, Nancy, that says that if a child is of tender years, then the FBI will get involved in the investigation of a missing child. Under years to the FBI means a child is under 12 years old. So if a child is under 12, all that has to be done is a call place to the local FBI office, and they will send FBI agents to come out there. Typically, the FBI does not get involved in adult cases unless there's some indication that there's some type of interstate crime going on.

But with a child that young, the FBI's policy is to get involved and provide assistance anytime it's requested. Let me understand something else, Eric Grosar, joining us from East Idaho News.com. Michael's last thing wearing a light blue Minecraft shirt, dark blue boxer briefs, and size 11 blue flip-flops, child 11. Does that mean he had on his

underwear? That's what they're saying is that he had his t-shirt and then his boxer brief underwear and then his shoes. So he is running around that day in his underwear. And it's my understanding that he has two siblings And I'm curious about their ages. For those of you just joining us, the tip line is 208-64-2-6-0-0-606. That's the Fruitland Police repeat.

208-6-4-2-6-0-0-6. Joining me, forensic expert, Karen L. Smith. So he's home at 630. How did he get out? And who saw him in the field? Good question. You know, he's fine. He's little.

You said that your kids were able to unslide the lock when they were two. So I don't know about if he was out there and nobody knew. The reporter mentioned somebody seeing him on the street. Do we have any more information about that? Who was the last person to see this child? Which direction was he going? You know, was he running? Was he playing?

Was he walking? Was he lost? Did he lose track of which house was his? These are all questions that should have been asked and answered already, Nancy. The frantic search goes on for a five-year-old little boy who goes missing, seemingly right under his parents' nose. Who is this little missing boy, Michael Vaughn? Again, if you could describe for me, Eric Grossarth, what he was wearing. Yeah, so Michael was last seen wearing this blue Minecraft t-shirt.

It's been plastered all over the missing person's, uh, report there. He also was wearing, I guess, a black boxer briefs with a line green stitching and then size 11 flip flops. So he was in his t-shirt, in his boxer briefs and flip-flops lasting on his street running around the neighborhood. And that neighborhood, again, is surrounded by fields and canals and all of that farm community that we talked about a minute ago. You know, part of it to Dr. Angela Arnold, I'm renowned psychiatrist, joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, is that, much like where I grew up, there's a very, very low crime rate, and people think they can let their children go play outside without watching them

because nothing has ever happened in the neighborhood before. So under those circumstances, the parents probably thought there was no problem letting him go outside. I'll tell you the burning question that I'm having inside, is this a typical behavior? Like, do they, do the kids typically run around outside at night after dinner? And as, as you also pointed out, Nancy, where were his siblings? Like, if everybody runs around outside at night, that's one thing, isn't it? But why was this the only kid and are his siblings older or younger than him? But why was he the only one that was outside playing at this time of night? Now, I understand Eric Grossart that the parents, I want to follow up on what Dr. Angela Arnold just said, the parents saw him in the home at 630.

And you still can't tell me who saw him out in the field? What I can tell you is that the investigators are keeping that close to them during this investigation. They've been talking to a lot of the neighbors going from home to home looking through surveillance video. but he was the last scene near his house at 6.30 p.m. on July 27. So they were searching shortly after that time that he disappeared. The first alert for the neighborhood, like a reverse 911 call, was around 8.20 p.m. So a couple hours later, and investigators were searching through that neighborhood. So it wasn't like he was missing for days when he was reported missing.

And it was just moments after he was last seen in that neighborhood that investigators were called out and they began their extensive search. You know what? The search has been extensive, but we've still got a big gaping hole in the timeline because I don't know who saw him out in that field. I know that the missing endangered child alert goes out at 8.20 p.m. but who saw him last at 630? Was that in the home or was that out in the field? How far away is the field from his home, Eric? So what we do know, all investigators have said again is that a person,

we don't know who that person is, but they said that somebody saw him near his home on this Southwest 9th Street, which dead ends into a farm field at 630. So investigators haven't released to us who last saw him, but somebody saw him on the street, which again goes toward the field. Guys, take a listen to more from the Fruitland Police Chief, J.D. Huff. We also want to emphasize that Michael's family continues to be 100% cooperative with our investigation, and we're asking you to be extremely respectful of their privacy during this situation,

and we would appreciate that super difficult time, as you would know. So Michael's last scene wearing a light blue Minecraft T-shirt over here on my left dark blue blocks your briefs child size 11 sandal and he stands three foot seven inches tall

he's 50 pounds he's got blonde hair, blue eyes and he answers to the nickname monkey crime stories with Nancy Grace a neighbor Stacy Wondra a man who live just blocks away from Michael Vaughn now to stand trial.

The five-year-old little boy last seen playing in his front yard when he was kidnapped, according to prosecutors. Now we know a neighbor's yard was dug up in the search for Michael Vaughn. Stacey Wondra, now facing trial. Why? Because an Idaho judge has ruled there is enough evidence for Wondra to stand trial in the death of Lundra. Little Michael. After a three-day preliminary hearing, district magistrate Judge Brian Lee says there is PC to move forward with the case, presenting the case to a jury. The prosecutors put up testimony

from nearly a dozen witnesses, making out what they believe happened to Little Michael. This is what we know. Take a listen to our friends at KTVB. We are in the fifth. We are in the fifth day of law enforcement and search and rescue crews excavating the backyard of that house. 1102 Red Wing Street in the town of Fruitland just four minutes away from the Vaughn family home. We've had heavy machinery here the last few days today, mostly people here with shovels. They're taking the dirt from that backyard and they're bringing it to a location offsite and they're analyzing that dirt. Okay.

That's never a good sign when people are searching for your child and they bring in an excavation crew. Now, you may ask, why are they taking soil samples from the backyard, taking it away from this home, several homes down from Michael Vaughn's family home? Why are they taking dirt to the crime lab? We've got an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now in the recent development and the case of missing taught Michael Vaughn. But first, let me go to Joseph Scott Morgan, Professor Forensics, Jacksonville State University, and author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, Starving New Hit series Bodybags with Joe Scott.

Joe Scott, please explain in regular people talk Joe Scott why they are taking soil samples, and I want you to harken back to the case of Kristen Smart. Remember? Remember, the killer's backyard had a dick. And cops went under the deck with ground penetrating sonar and found a disturbance of the dirt. And they went in and actually took soil samples. So this is similar to the Christian Smart case in that respect.

Explain. Yeah, it is in the sense that you're looking for elements that would be connected to human remains and human decont. Excuse me. Are you trying to say they're looking for blood in the dirt? Well, no, it's not just blood. You're not just looking. You're looking for any kind of biological sample that might be. Human decomposition. Anything related to decomposition. Certainly blood is part of that, you know, is part of that. But you have to consider all elements. And the fact, the fact that they're brought in an excavator, this is not delicate work like Kristen Smart. They're taking huge, huge samples of Earth. And they're going to sit through every bit of that, but they're having to be very, very careful, Nancy. Let's talk about ground penetrating radar. I guess Robert Crispin joining me, private investigator, former Federal Task Force officer, U.S. Department of Justice, DEA.

It goes on and on and on. You can find me at Crispin Special Investigations.com. That's Crispin Investigations.com. Robert, you and I have both worked with ground penetrating sonar. it's just like sonar on a fishing boat, right? Because the sonar on a fishing boat, you can actually look, kind of looks like a sonogram. Get it, sonar, sonogram?

You see a black area, and then you see gray waves. When you do a sonogram on a mom, you see the baby in a gray shadow. When you do sonar with a fishing boat, you can actually see the fish, gray figures swimming under or around your boat. boat. Ground penetrating radar sonar would show the earth where you're looking is black or gray, but then you see waves in it. You can see where dirt has been disturbed. That should not have been disturbed. And it's done with something that looks like a metal detector. Have you ever seen that done, Robert? Oh, I have. And it brings to light a couple of things. And

And it's only been a year since they've actually start to dig and have a lead to do something like this. And they're hoping that because it's only been a year that when they put this sonar out there, that they're going to see something that is either there and not decomposed already or a picture of a body that's still somewhat intact or dirt that hasn't been rained on so much that it's kind of filtered its way and gone back to its normal setting of how it was. in the beginning. So this is a very, very amazing technique that they use, but there's some very specific things that are coming to light about how much they're digging after they're doing the sonar. You know, they're saying they're going three and four feet. That's very specific. That came from somewhere. You're right. They're going down three to four feet, and that's a very specific dig. And you know, you said it's amazing technology. And I agree with you. But Robert and Chris, but it's not, it ain't rocket science, okay?

It ain't brain surgery. It's like a metal detector. Haven't you been to the beach? Dr. Bethany Marshall joining me. Psycho-Alanl to the Stars at Dr. Bethanymarshal.com. Dr. Bethany, have you ever been to the beach and you're enjoying the waves and the sand and the seagulls? And you're like for one minute you're not working. Yeah, yeah.

And you see somebody, some guy is usually either kids or an old one. white mail with a metal detector blipping along trying to find somebody's where they've dropped money or a watch or a ring that's what this looks like you ever seen that i have definitely see that or they're looking for a wedding ring a diamond you know some treasure there and that's exactly what this looks like guys we are learning that down the street from this tot boys home the bag yard is dug up, but where did the whole thing start? Take a listen now to our friends at Idaho News 6. Fruitland police are searching for a missing and endangered five-year-old.

The boy, Michael Vaughn, was last seen in the area of Southwest 9th in Arizona in Fruitland late Tuesday. He was wearing a light blue Minecraft shirt and dark blue boxer briefs with sandals. Anyone with information should call 911, the Payette County Sheriff's Office or Fruitland Police. Nancy, if I could jump in, you know, wasn't there a description of what he was wearing on the day he went missing? Yeah, we just heard that, and I said it earlier. Right. Sandals. Go ahead.

Well, they wouldn't just be looking for decomposition. They would be looking for that clothing, right? It's been a year. Clothing doesn't completely degrade in a year. The body would not be degraded in one year. Okay. It would at least be skeletal remains at the very, very least. But I would suggest that there would still be, it's hard for me to talk about.

about connecting it to this little boy, Michael Vaughn, but there would be a substantial amount of his body left if it had been buried at the very least skeletonized remains. But what they're looking for right now in this person's backyard for Pete's sake is any disturbance in the ground. Sydney, some are joining me, crime online.com investigative reporter, Sydney, thank you for being with us. let's just go back to the day that Michael Vaughn seemingly disappears.

Who, where, when, why? Just hit me. Gotcha. July 27th of 2021 is the last time anyone saw Michael Vaughan. He was at home with his father and his baby sister. And while his father stepped out of the room to change the baby's diaper, Michael must have left. His mom suggests that he left through the garage, thinking that they would have heard him had he left through the front door. and there's reports that he was going around to several neighbors' homes to try to find a child to play with outside. Okay, let me just drink in what Sydney Sumner has just told me. Okay, let's go to high-profile lawyer out of Jacksonville, former FBI agent, former cop, author of arrest proof yourself.

You can find him at Dale Carsonlaw.com. Dale, let's analyze what Sidney Sumner just told us. And everybody, remember, this is not high tea at Windsor Castle. Jump in. Dale. So dad changes baby daughter's diaper and in that time Michael Vaughn, five-year-old tot boy wearing sandals. I think there's strap-on sandals like, you know, Birkenstocks, boxers and a light blue Minecraft t-shirt leaves the home purportedly to find somebody to play with. I find that troubling, but believable.

I think I told you this story, Dale Carson, my longtime friend, Joy Jones, lives across the street from us growing up, very rural area, four brothers and sisters in her home, three in our home. The first time we ever met, I was about, I don't know, four, and I wandered over there, knocked on the door, and asked for a cookie. It can happen. So that is not, many people are arguing Dale Carson, well, wait, why didn't he notice? How long did it take to change a diaper? It can happen. It's not beyond the realm of possibility, Jill Carson. No, not at all.

In fact, you know, children have a way of being curious, particularly the boys, perhaps. I don't know why you're saying that. You're stereotyping, but okay, go ahead. Well, I'm speaking. Let's see if I can dig a kernel of rationale out of what you're saying, yet women aren't curious. Did you hear that, Dr. Bethany? Forget all the questions you've ever had in life because girls aren't curious, Dr. Bethany. Remember that. Okay, go ahead, Carson. I did hear that. No way. This is personal experience. I'm five years old. I run away from the house on a tricycle.

I'm naked running around the damn neighborhood. Finally, someone finds me and brings me home. I mean, that's certainly possible that the child simply wandered off. But of course, those individuals with the last connection with the child are the most likely suspects in general cases. Well, what do we know, Jackie, can you find out about that? Because I bet somebody has suggested mom and dad take a polly. And again, let me remind everybody, it's not Mommy and Daddy's backyard that's being dug up right now. It's a neighbor down the street.

A female neighbor down the street. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Five-year-old Michael Lawns remains. have never been found. Despite years of law enforcement searching, volunteers, other police agencies, you name it. 29 miles searched along the Snake River. And what do we know about the actual search? Take a listen to our Chief J.D. Huff.

Today, the Fruitland Police Department, in conjunction with the state police, multiple Treasure Valley law enforcement agencies, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we continue to search for missing and endangered five-year-old Michael Joseph Vaughn, MJ to his family and friends. Michael was last seen near his residence on Southwest 9th Street in Fruitland

at approximately 6.30 p.m. on July 27th, 2021. Operations to date include the methodical search of the area near Michael's residence, which included two irrigation runoff ditches which were drained by the fruitland public works department in an extensive search and rescue effort including the use of canines aerial and marine and land support Idaho fish and game officers are continuing to search the river by boat for four to five miles down river and back up and in the sloughs of the snake river as well. Another thing that police have let slip is that

this is really no longer a search for a live taught boy. They're no longer looking for a live five-year-old Michael Vaughn because they stated they have reason to believe more people know about the abduction and death of this little boy. Who? Who are they talking about? Who knows more than they're telling about the kidnap and murder of a five-year-old little boy allegedly wandering the neighborhood looking for somebody to play with. Well, what are police saying about Michael Vaughn's family? What do we know about that? To Sydney Sumner, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter,

what, if anything, are they saying? Police have actually said that the parents are cooperating much more. Tyler and Brandy are Michael's parents, and they are both being extremely cooperative with the investigation and seem to just want their son home. Interesting. Interesting because, you know, Dale Carson, high-profile lawyer joining me out of Jacksonville, a lot of times the family is not entirely cooperative. All right? Remember in the John Meney Ramsey case, at a certain point, the family stopped talking to police without a lawyer. Go ahead. That's our first clue, is that when people are not cooperative, there's a reason that they're not cooperative, particularly in a situation where you have a child without yours. that's missing.

According to what the dad told police at the time, he was out of Michael's sight for 10 to 15 minutes. What does that mean in the real world, Robert Crispin, that the boy had to leave the home and get kidnapped in 15 minutes? How far could he have gotten on foot in 15 minutes? I mean, clearly gives him the window to get out if dad's distracted. and he doesn't really have to go that far. These kids get abducted right off their front lawn sometimes.

You're right. That is exactly what happened in the case of Samantha Runyon, with her grandmother looking through the window at her, playing with other children in the front yard, and a guy pulls up in a car, grabs Samantha, who is two or three years old at the time, and leaves. And within a couple of hours, she's been raped and murdered. I just have a huge issue with, and correct me if I'm wrong,

but he starts to look, but then doesn't he call the mother rather than, 911 first. Yes, you're right about that. Guys, take a listen now to News Channel 7. Huff says that it has been a thorough search. They have looked at 200 homes. They have interviewed the residents. They have drained a septic tank. They have drained nearby canals. That search is up to 3,000 acres. Huff also says they've looked at 29 miles along the riverbank. And Huff added, there are 60 different security camera footage tapes they need to look through, that are continuing to look through, and 163 tips.

They continue to ask people to come forward with any information. Huff is making it clear the department is committed to this search. It's my childhood neighborhood. That's where I spent my childhood years. My children are growing up here and my law enforcement partners are mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and friends of children that are just like Michael. So you need to believe me when I tell you

that we are all in. You know, I'm comparing Joe Scott Morgan to the Kelly Anthony case, better known as Totman Casey Anthony case, the killer, but a huge search was conducted to find Kelly when she was about 10 houses down from the Anthony home the entire time.

And you just heard our friends at News Channel 7 talking about the thousands of acres that have been searched by land, by air, searching in the water, hundreds of tips. But now they're digging within a half a mile right there in the neighborhood. They're digging up a woman's backyard. Yeah, that goes to specific information. You know, why would you initiate that as a law enforcement organization, you know, to put those resources toward that specific area?

It's not like it's a wide swath. You're talking about a location that approximates where this child was last seen, and they're going to great efforts. And trust me, you know, you got to think they know that the media is going to be watching them as they're doing this. So they're really sticking their neck out on this. Why would you go this deep into this? Literally, you're talking about a depth here of three to four feet. That's pretty deep. We refer to that as layering through the strata of the backyard of this place.

they're looking for disturbed soil that's back there. They would have to have a targeted area to go into to see if the soil has been displaced in any way whatsoever. But now it sounds like they're just kind of going through the entire backyard. So again, from an investigative standpoint, that's very, very specific, man. It's wrong because when you look for a body buried in the soil, you want to layer it out very specifically so you can find evidence that might indicate who burying. the child. And so to go into a backyard and simply take it all and put it in a dumpster is not the way it's supposed to be done. Yeah, it's kind of, it's kind of non-scientific. You know, you're not being very methodical about it. You know, and again, you have to measure what's being said at this point in time.

Also, we don't know exactly what they did. They could have done the ground penetrating sonar and looked and then start taking the dirt. Yes, I would agree. It should have been dirt taken in specific samples. We don't know that they didn't do that. Here's the other point. Here's the other point. It's been a year. There's been no progress whatsoever in responding to the case from a criminal perspective.

What do we know? And why are police digging in this woman's backyard? Take a list in our forensic crime online. Fruitland police have fielded more than 1,500 leads and tips since Michael Vaughn disappeared. And one of those tips considered credit. leads investigators to the home of Casey and Sandra Wondra. The Wondra's are neighbors of the Vons living just four minutes from where Michael Vaughn went missing. The tipster says Michael's remains may be behind the home.

Sandra Wander has posted TikTok videos where Vaughn's missing poster can be seen hanging on her refrigerator. Police are conducting an extensive search of the property using excavating equipment and two cadaver dogs in their investigation. Fruitland Police Chief J.D. Huff says the intent is to dig three or four feet deep. Cruz placed what has been dug up in dumpsters. Huff says Cruz will not stop until the entire backyard is excavated. Jill Carson, what were you saying about this woman? Well, look, she has made a confession, but there's no... I don't know that I would call that a confession.

What exactly did she say? She said, God on high told me that my husband killed the child and buried him out. back near a shed. But interestingly, we don't see the husband arrested. Well, because she's not right mentally. I don't know about that. And so they have to charge her with something. Well, I mean, she's in analysis right now. I mean, she's in therapy right now to determine whether she's competent to stand trial. Dale Carson, you know the game better than anybody. Putting someone, having someone analyzed or tested for mental defect does not mean that they have a mental defect. Look at Lori Valet.

They've been analyzing her for a couple of years now, and now they've decided she's fit to stand trial. I mean, defense attorneys always, as a last resort, argue, they're mentally unfit. Now, sometimes you actually do have a mentally unfit defendant. But that's just a card that's always thrown out by the defense when they don't know what to do. They declare mental incompetence.

But when you say she, gave a confession. What she did was that she said she had a vision from heaven that her husband was a killer and had buried the baby in the backyard. What more do we know? Take a listen to our friend Abby Davis, KT, ZB. A grieving community reeling from the disappearance of the five-year-old Michael Vaughn last July. Now potentially one step closer to finding closure. We are all very emotionally tied to this case, just as our community is. I would say probably the country. Frulem Police Chief J.D. Huff spoke with us Sunday afternoon about a credible tip. He says let authorities and rescue crews to dig up the backyard of a house in connection

with Michael's death. Huff said on Monday, that credible tip came from someone inside of the house. We received a search warrant and we started excavating the backyard of this residence due to the fact that there's potential for Michael's remains to be in this backyard. Straight out to well-known private investigator, Robert Crispin, what do you make of that? They got a serious credible tip because you hear how these cases have 1,500 tips came in, but how many times you hear a credible tip came in? Let's talk about a credible tip. What is that?

That's something that can be independently verified by law enforcement that they're going to run with. And I believe that this is probably why the affidavit is still. sealed because I think they're onto something and I think that credible tip from the person that came inside from that inside that house is not the lady who was arrested. Well, that's my concern. They say the tip came from inside the house. Is that her? I mean, is she the one that made the tip? I don't think so. I honestly don't think so. And if they think that she's mentally crazy, then they should have her baker acted. You know, why do we have an arrest? We have a very specific

arrest with a very specific crime. So, I mean, if we choose confessed to doing that crime. No, she hasn't. Don't. Don't say that. She did not confess that she did the crime. She said she had a vision that her husband

did it and buried the body in the back yard. I mean, that is not a confession. But she didn't report it. That's the crime she's charged with. You know a report a death. I know that. That's a later down the road charge. That's what she's charged with right now. She's being held on failure to report a death. That $500,000 bond. Does that mean she's the one

that committed the crime? Not necessarily. And that's the hang up right here. Guys, take a listen again to Abby Davis, KTVB. Chief Huff told me they finished processing the yard and house that Sarah Wondra lived in. Wondra has been charged with failure to report a death. But her status conference was reset, rescheduled to December 23rd because a judge ruled that she is mentally unfit to assist in her own defense and she needs treatment. Just to clarify, Wondra was the person who lived in the house that they have been digging up the backyard and searching the house for. So Huff told me that they're not quite sure that he said that they're looking to provide more information about what actually came out of that search. Another thing I would be interested in is whether the

husband that she's pointing the finger at, whether he also lives with her or is he long gone. Because we don't see him implicated in any way. This after 1,500 tips in the search for 5-year-old Michael Vaughn. Now, we also understand that she is about a half a mile from where Vaughn, where Vaughn's father said, he last saw the boy. What do you make of that, Joe Scott Morgan? This is basically right under the family's nose. Yeah, it is.

But, you know, for all we know, she's whipped up into a frenzy. you know, emotionally and, you know, she thinks she's vested in this. She thinks that she's a junior investigator. And suddenly she starts getting visions from God where she's telling them that God told them that her husband, whatever his status is at this point in time, kill this poor baby and buried them in their backyard. You know, how does she not have an awareness of this already? It took God. It took God on high to give her this message that her backyard had been dug up and a little boys remains have been placed there. I'm just not on that. Joe Scott Morgan is absolutely correct. And I'll put clinical language to it. She's what four minutes from the family home. She has the

flyer on a refrigerator. Perhaps she has what we call involutional psychosis, meaning she goes in and out of psychotic states. Because the language, I got a vision from on high, has kind of a psychotic quality to it. Joe Scott Morgan said she was whipped up into a friend. say absolutely people who are psychotic will incorporate into their psychotic episodes whatever the heck is going on around them and what's going on around her a little boy's been missing for the last year what's going to get incorporated into her psychosis the fact that her husband killed him why who know maybe she's mad at him that day maybe he threw his dental floss on the counter and she's pissed off of him because he didn't put it in the trash and you know she incorporates this anger into a

psychotic episode. Psychotic people do this all the time. But another thing we know about missing children, psychosis and all of that is usually the body is found within less of a third of the mile from the family home. Right. We've covered these cases again and again. Stereotypical abduction where a stranger takes the child, transports them overnight more than 24 hours away or to another state is less than 1%. Look at Kaylee Anthony. Everybody's search and searched and searched. Where was she near the house? So it's always in close proximity to the house, almost always. But I would say that most certainly this woman has some kind of a, I don't use the word mental illness. I would say loss of contact with reality and people like that become very preoccupied.

Well, what about the phenomena of people that just want desperately to be involved in case. Now, earlier, I was talking about the husband. I do know that the husband, Stacey, Wanda, does share the home with her. So that leaves me the choice of her or him

that called in this tip. I'd be willing to put money on it, Joe Scott Morgan, that it was her. Fruitland literally sits, literally sits immediately adjacent to a major interstate highway. If there's a predator out there, they could be

in that neighborhood and back on, I think it's I-84, headed toward Portland and headed up the western seaboard into Canada, if they so wish, in the blink of an eye. And no one would be any of the wiser at that point in time. Prosecutors claim, Little Michael was kidnapped from outside of his Fruitland, Idaho home in July, while out there playing in the yard. They say Wondra, who lived few blocks away, brought the boy to his home. where they claim Wondra, his former wife and two roommates, raped, taped Michael's hands,

legs, and mouth before stuffing him in a duffel bag. And to you, Joe Scott Morgan, or to you, Robert Crispin, wouldn't cadaver dogs have hit on that earth where the body was buried? I think absolutely, of course. Sure. Yeah, and not just that. Even further, I think one point was made by Bethany earlier, Nancy, any kind of clothing this child would have had on if the child, assuming that the child would have been still clothes when buried. If there's any synthetic blends in there, this clothing's not going to degrade to any great degree. You would see evidence of that, and it would really pop out against that. You could see it with the unaided eye, essentially. You know, once you stuck spade to show a spade the dirt at that point time and started turning the dirt, you would see it.

It would be there, not to mention the remains that had been left behind. A critical police presser, the home search has been completed. During that excavation process, the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue, Mountain State's detection dogs deployed multiple certified human remains detection dogs on the property. all of them alerting to the presence of human remains. Ground penetrating radar was also used and deployed, detecting anomalies in the backyard. We completed the excavation of the entire backyard and removed over 250 yards of dirt. Prior to backfilling the yard, the dirt was meticulously sifted for any potential human remains. We did not find Michael's remains.

Although the remains of Michael Vaughn were not recovered, we strongly believe, based on evidence, that Michael was abducted and is deceased, and that his remains were buried and later moved from the property. According to court documents, the Wonders and one roommate took Michael to another home and left him there overnight. The boy died of suffocation. Prosecutors say the body was hidden and then moved to go. concealed the evidence. Police also say surveillance video, statements, and interviews helped crack the case, leading to the arrest of Wondra and the confiscation of his vehicle.

Cadaver dogs track the boys sent to the Wundra property and a nearby heavily wooded area. We wait as justice unfolds. and baby Michael Vaughn, rest in peace. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.