FRUITLAND, Idaho — The Fruitland community is coming together and holding a candlelight prayer circle Wednesday night in support of the Vaughan family who still is searching for answers after their five-year-old son went missing over a year ago.
Community members will gather at the Fruitland Community Park at 6 p.m. to pray for answers, healing and strength.
This is one of the biggest cases the Fruitland Police Department has seen and they are taking their time with it, to make sure everything is accurate.
What do we know so far about this investigation?
Police are still searching a Fruitland residence which they believe could have Michael's remains after a credible tip from someone living inside the home being searched led them there.
On July 27, 2021, Michael Vaughan went missing and was last seen near his home in Fruitland.
Police and the community quickly set out to start searching for Vaughan. For months, there were no words for any sighting of the missing five-year-old but police continued to receive leads.
About 6 months after Vaughan's disappearance, police say they had received about 830 tips and were exploring any potential.
On June 24, Vaughan turned 6 years old, but still no sign of him.
Fast forward to a year after his disappearance, police had received about 1,000 tips and cleared them all.
That brings us to now – police received credible information that Vaughan's remains could be found in the backyard of a Fruitland home, just a few minutes away from his family home.
After being granted a search warrant, the warrant was served in the late evening on Veterans Day.
When entering the home officers encountered Sarah Wondra. She was arrested and police say there is probable cause to believe that she had knowledge of Vaughan's death and failed to report it to law enforcement.
The next day, November 12, the Fruitland Police Department, joined by multiple others, started excavating the backyard of Wondra's home. Still, no answer, if anything has been found
Wondra was arraigned over Zoom in the Payette county Court and later ordered to undergo a mental competency evaluation.
Due to the findings of that evaluation, Wondra has been committed to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and her preliminary hearing set for Tuesday, November 22 had been vacated
Her next appearance in court will be December 23.
