PAYETTE COUNTY, Idaho — Sarah Wondra, the woman arrested for failure to report the death of then 5-year-old Michael Vaughan, will have her case set back another month while she is residing in a state hospital in Blackfoot.
A Payette County judge prolonged her case further on Friday by issuing another status hearing, set for Jan. 23 at 9 a.m.
Wondra was declared mentally unfit to proceed in the case, transferred to custody of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare for treatment and was later placed in the state hospital on Dec. 6.
The commitment order indicates she was found unfit to assist in her own defense. Therefore, proceedings against Wondra are on hold.
Wondra, 35, was arrested Nov. 12. She was one of the occupants of a house on Redwing Street in Fruitland that investigators began searching a day earlier, after receiving a lead that came from what Fruitland Police Chief J.D. Huff called "a very credible tip" related to the disappearance of Vaughan, who was 5 years old when last seen in his Fruitland neighborhood in July 2021.
Wondra is charged with failure to notify or delaying notification of a death, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $1,000 fine if found guilty. At her initial court appearance on Nov. 14, the judge ordered a competency evaluation. A report on the evaluation was completed three days later.
Idaho does not have an "insanity defense," but under state law, "no person who, as a result of (mental illness), lacks capacity to understand the proceedings against him or assist in his own defense shall be tried, convicted, sentenced or punished... so long as such incapacity endures." Competency evaluations are conducted by at least one court-appointed psychiatrist or psychologist.
Meanwhile, Michael Vaughan is still considered missing. Anyone with information that may help solve the case is encouraged to reach out. Submit tips to Crime Stoppers at 208-343-COPS (208-343-2677) or email findmichael@fruitland.org.
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