Michael Vaughan

What happened

Michael Joseph Vaughan, a five-year-old everyone called Monkey, vanished from outside his home in Fruitland, Idaho, on the evening of July 27, 2021, and he has never been found. Police and volunteers searched the fields, irrigation canals and Snake River country around Fruitland, and followed more than a thousand tips.

In November 2022, acting on a credible tip, police excavated the backyard of a house on Redwing Street; Chief J.D. Huff said investigators believed Michael had been buried there and moved, but he was not found.

In October 2025, Stacey Wondra was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and destruction or concealment of evidence; he has pleaded not guilty. In November 2026, Sarah Wondra was booked on the same charges. Both are charged, not convicted, and are presumed innocent. Michael would be ten years old today, and he is still missing.