Idaho police announced on Monday the arrest of a woman in connection with the 2021 disappearance of Michael Joseph “Monkey” Vaughan, a boy from Fruitland who disappeared weeks after his fifth birthday – and whom she had posted a flier about the missing person on his fridge in several TikTok videos.
Michael, now 6, was last seen on July 27, 2021, according to Fruitland Police Chief JD Huff, who told local reporters on Monday that officers arrested Sarah Wondra.
Wondra faces a charge of failing to notify authorities of a death, according to court records, but the probable cause affidavit was temporarily sealed by the judge to protect further leads, and police have suggested that further arrests are likely.
In several TikTok videos, she speaks to her camera as she stands in front of a missing person flyer for Michael – including one in which she mentions spending time in jail.
SEARCH FOR MICHAEL JOSEPH VAUGHAN: MOM, IDAHO POLICE ISSUE MISSING CHILD
The 35-year-old man who lives on the property where investigators believe the boy’s remains may be buried. He is only a few minutes walk from his family’s house.
Police investigated more than a thousand tips over the past 16 months before an informant led them to Wondra’s home, the chief said, where they had been searching since last week.
On Sunday, hours before his arrest was announced but days after his property was searched, YouTuber Jonathan Lee Riches posted a video showing clips of Wondra speaking in front of the flyer.
“It’s very, very disturbing to see a missing person’s flyer on a potential suspect’s fridge,” he said.
The next day, Huff told reporters about the arrest as she spoke outside her home.
Fruitland resident Sarah Wondra, left, has been charged with failing to report a death to authorities more than a year after Michael Vaughan disappeared.
(Sarah Wondra/Facebook, Fruitland Font)
“Our investigation determined that Sarah Wondra may have known about Michael’s death and not reported it,” he said, according to KTVB. “We don’t believe she is the only person aware of this, and we will be looking for people who may be connected.”
Huff did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital. His office said it should issue a statement in the near future, but could not provide specific details.
Michael Joseph Vaughan and his mother, Brandie Neal, are gone.
(Fruitland Police Department)
Earlier this year, prosecutors dismissed a series of felony charges against Wondra in an unrelated firearms case that also involved her husband, Stacey Wondra.
Vaughan, who goes by his nickname “Monkey,” went missing near his home in Fruitland, Idaho on July 27.
(Fruitland Police Department)
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She is due back in court for a status conference on November 21. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for the following day.
Police and K-9 volunteers had searched hundreds of acres in the area without success before concentrating on Wondra’s home.
