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Sarah Wondra Arrested In Michael Vaughan Disappearance

Sarah Wondra has been arrested in the disappearance of Michael Vaughn who was reported missing in 2021. According to police reports Sarah Wondra has been arrested and charged with failure to notify authorities of a death however more charges are pending. Sarah Wondra who apparently posted a number of TikTok videos which had the missing person poster of Michael Vaughan in the background. Michael Vaughn who was reported missing weeks after his fifth birthday from Fruitland Idaho.

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Idaho police announced a woman’s arrest Monday in connection with the 2021 disappearance of Michael Joseph “Monkey” Vaughan, a Fruitland boy who vanished weeks after his fifth birthday – and whose missing person flyer she had posted on her refrigerator 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 Monday that officers had arrested Sarah Wondra.

Wondra faces a charge of failure to notify authorities of a death, court records show, but the probable cause affidavit has been temporarily sealed by the judge to protect additional leads, and police hinted that additional arrests are likely.

In multiple TikTok videos, she speaks to her camera while standing in front of a missing person flyer for Michael – including one in which she mentions having spent time in prison.

The 35-year-old who lives on the property where investigators believe the boy’s remains may be buried. It is just a few minutes’ walk from his family’s home.

Police investigated more than a thousand tips over the past 16 months before a tipster led them to Wondra’s home, the chief said, where they have been searching since last week.

On Sunday, hours before the announcement of her arrest but days into the search of her property, YouTuber Jonathan Lee Riches posted a video showing clips of Wondra speaking in front of the flyer.

“That’s very, very disturbing to see a flyer of a missing person on a possible suspect’s refrigerator,” he said.

The next day, Huff told reporters about the arrest while speaking outside her home

“Our investigation determined Sarah Wondra may have had knowledge of Michael’s death and failed to report it,” he said, according to KTVB. “We do not believe she is the only person that has knowledge of this, and we will be seeking out those people who could possibly be connected.”

Huff did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital. His office said he is expected to release a statement in the near future but could not provide specific details.

Prosecutors earlier this year dismissed a slew of felony charges against Wondra in connection with an unrelated firearms case that also involved her husband, Stacey Wondra

She is due back in court for a status conference on Nov. 21. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for the next day.

Police and volunteer K-9s had searched hundreds of acres in the area without success before zeroing in on Wondra’s home.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/idaho-woman-arrested-boys-disappearance-made-tiktok-posts-standing-front-his-missing-person-flyer

Danielle Dauphinais Charged With Sons Murder

Danielle Dauphinais has been charged in the murder of her five year old son Elijah Lewis. According to police reports Elijah Lewis was reported missing back in October 2021 and apparently he had not been seen in a month prior to that date. Along the way Danielle Dauphinais and her boyfriend Joseph Stapf were charged with intimidating witnesses and child endangerment.

In late October 2021 the body of Elijah Lewis would be found in a park in Ames Nowell State Park in Abington, Massachusetts. Now a Grand Jury has indicted Danielle Dauphinais with one count of first-degree murder for purposely causing the death of Elijah Lewis and one count of second-degree murder for causing the death of Elijah Lewis recklessly with extreme indifference to the value of human life

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The mother of a 5-year-old Merrimack boy whose body was found buried in a Massachusetts park last year has been indicted on a charge of first-degree murder.

A grand jury returned an indictment on Friday charging Danielle Dauphinais, 35, with one count of first-degree murder for purposely causing the death of Elijah Lewis and one count of second-degree murder for causing the death of Elijah Lewis recklessly with extreme indifference to the value of human life

She was also charged with three counts of tampering with witnesses.

“Every murder is difficult,” said Attorney General John Formella. “It’s especially difficult when we’re dealing with a young child. Like I said, our team has been working hard on this and will continue to work hard as the case moves forward.”

Dauphinais and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, were previously charged with witness tampering and child endangerment. Dauphinais has been held without bail on the earlier charges.

Elijah was first reported missing on Oct. 14, 2021, and police said he had not been seen for about a month before he was reported missing. Ten days later, a New Hampshire cadaver dog located remains in a grave covered in soil at Ames Nowell State Park in Abington, Massachusetts.

Dauphinais and Stapf were arrested in New York days before Elijah’s remains were found.

Neighbors of the home on Sunset Drive in Merrimack where Elijah lived with his mother said the new charges start to bring some closure to the case. A sign in front of a neighbor’s house asks the public to Google the case, and the residents said they want to keep the focus on Elijah.

Bill Roy said he’s moving into the house where Elijah lived and is now painting the outside of the home.

“I’m basically going to help buy it, and I’m fixing the place up,” he said. “I’m trying to clean up the misery.”

Neighbors said the house was being rented for the past few months while Dauphinais was in jail.

https://www.wmur.com/article/merrimack-boy-dead-massachusetts-state-park-murder-charge/39752901#

Troy Driver Charged In Naomi Irion Missing Case

Troy Driver has been charged in the missing person case of Naomi Irion. According to police reports Troy Driver has been arrested in the case of Naomi Irion who was reported missing two weeks ago in Nevada. Surveillence cameras from the area show Naomi Irion get into her vehicle when allegedly Troy Driver forced his way into the driver side of Irion vehicle. Three days later Naomi Irion vehicle was found abandoned. Troy Driver has been arrested in connection to the missing person case. Troy Driver is a convicted violent felon

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A 41-year-old Fallon man was taken into custody Friday evening for the kidnapping of 18-year-old Naomi Irion.

Troy Driver was taken into custody at a home off Alcorn Road by the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office just before 5 p.m. on March 25, 13 days after Irion disappeared from the Walmart parking lot in Fernley

Police also impounded a pickup truck they believed to be involved in the case. The truck is being searched for evidence.

As of Friday night, authorities continue to search for Irion. A second community search is still on for Saturday morning in Fernley, according to Irion’s family members.

Driver is being held on kidnapping charges. Police have not released any information about whether Driver knew Irion prior to the incident but her family members believe her kidnapping was planned.

https://mynews4.com/news/local/police-take-in-naomi-irion-kidnapping-suspect

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suspect in the kidnapping of a Fernley woman has been taken into custody by the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office and assisting agencies.

Troy Driver, 41, of Fallon was arrested Friday afternoon.

“We have also impounded a pickup truck that was possibly involved,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

Authorities have been searching for Naomi Irion, 18, since she went missing on March 12. The sheriff’s office said Friday that they are still searching for her and will provide additional information as soon as possible.

Irion’s car was found but there was no social media or cellphone activity from her after a man entered her car in a Walmart parking lot where she planned to catch a bus to her job at a Reno-area Panasonic facility.

Surveillance video showed the man forcing his way into her car and driving away with her in the passenger seat.

https://elkodaily.com/news/state-and-regional/crime-and-courts/update-fallon-man-arrested-in-fernley-kidnapping/article_098fd2e1-fe4b-5581-927d-73d3c0c34b45.html

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The small town of Willits, Calif. was rocked in April of 1997 when several teenagers were implicated in the murder of a 19-year-old methamphetamine dealer.

According to the Ukiah Daily Journal, Paul Steven Rodriguez was killed after his 17-year-old girlfriend waited for him on a darkened road and shot him in the head with a shotgun.

According to reports, Alissa Marie Moore and two teenage boys staged a a vehicle breakdown on the road and waited for Rodriguez to appear. When he was looking under the hood of the vehicle, Moore came up behind him and shot him.

Carl Herbert Dulinksy, 19, and Troy Driver, 17, both of Willits, helped to dispose of the body in a nearby woods along with Rodriguez’s burned out vehicle. His remains were located two weeks later, and the three defendants were shortly taken into custody.

The murder of Rodriguez was one of several killings by youths that occurred in the area during the 90s, according to a Los Angeles Times article. Between 1993 and the murder of Rodriguez, six young people had been involved in slayings. Then, while the three teenagers were in custody awaiting trial, another two teenagers were arrested for killing a homeless man after throwing him off of a bridge.

In Aug. 1997, Driver pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder after the fact, as well as three charges of second-degree robbery of a Ukiah Circle K convenience store and Chevron Service stations in Willits and Rohnert Park, Calif. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary in connection with a break-in of a hardware store.

Driver was sentenced to 15 years in state prison for all of the crimes, and would have to serve 85 percent of his sentence, approximately 12 years.

Now, almost 25 years later, Troy Driver has been arrested again as a suspect in the abduction case of 18-year-old Naomi Irion in Fernley, Nevada.

Vine Link reported Driver’s full name as Troy Edward Driver, stating he was booked on Friday, March 25, 2022 at 8:28 p.m.

In a press release sent Friday, Lyon County Sheriff’s Office deputies stated that Troy Driver had been taken into custody and held on charges of kidnapping. The suspect truck had been impounded and taken into evidence, and law enforcement is still seeking Irion and information about her whereabouts.

Vinelink listed Troy Edward Driver as being 41, and a search of property records showed that he had addresses listed in Ukiah, Calif., Elko, NV and Fallon, NV. His first residence in Ukiah, Calif. was recorded in 2013, 15 years after he was sentenced to prison

https://www.carsonnow.org/story/03/26/2022/suspect-fernley-abduction-case-has-violent-criminal-history-california

Joel Mosso Merino Wanted For Hannah Choi Murder

Joel Mosso Merino is a man from Virginia who is wanted for the murder of Hannah Choi. According to police reports Hannah Choi was reported missing on March 6, 2022 from a home she shared with Joel Mosso Merino in Alexandria Virginia. When police began to investigate the missing person case they had an immediate feeling that something was not right. Using surveillance cameras in the area they knew that Joel Mosso Merino and Hannah Choi were both home the morning before she was reported missing. Police believe that Joel Mosso Merino either killed or significantly injured Hannah Choi inside of the home before taking her out of the home and disposing her body. The car that Joel Mosso Merino was driving would be found abandoned in Washington DC. If you have any information regarding this case you are asked to call 1-866-411-TIPS

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Fairfax County police have charged 27-year-old Joel Mosso Merino in the murder of missing woman Hannah Choi. They do not have Merino in custody and say he’s on the run.

Choi, 35, was reported missing on March 6 after she was last seen around 7 a.m. on March at the home she shared with Merino in the 5300 block of Jesmond Street in the Alexandria area of Kingstowne.

Merino is being charged with second-degree murder and the disposal of a body, announced Chief Kevin Davis.

Police said they know something bad happened and that Choi is deceased. Search and rescue teams are currently searching for Hannah’s body in Piscataway Park in Accokeek, Maryland.

“We believe that Joelle Merino took Hannah’s body and disposed of her body in a park in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Piscataway Park,” Davis said.

A search for Merino is also underway. They believe he fled south to Georgia, but they believe he may have since left the state or could be back in Virginia.

Our victim, 35-year-old Hannah Choi, did nothing wrong,” Major Ed O’Carroll said.

Friends went to her home on March 6 when she couldn’t be reached.

“Her friends contacted law enforcement at the serious concern for her well-being,” said O’ Caroll. “Officers our patrol officers rapidly responded and ultimately check the house and the house appeared generally to be an order, except for bedding — which appeared to be missing from one of the bedrooms.”

Through interviews with friends and neighbors, they believe Merino and Choi argues on March 5. Surveillance footage captured the two together that evening.

Detectives believe at some point Hannah was “significantly” injured inside the home and Merino removed her body from home and took her to another location.

Police identified a vehicle operated by Merino that night and the next day. Police later found that vehicle in Washington D.C. on March 7.

Evidence from the car suggests Hannah was harmed prior to her disappearance, police said.

Choi, who is described as 5-foot-4 and 125 pounds with black eyes and brown hair, has a tattoo of a Chinese symbol on her ankle.

Working with U.S. Marshals, police believe Merino fled the state.

“He’s actively wanted for murder, so use caution,” O’Carroll said. “If you know his whereabouts call 911 immediately notify law enforcement right away.”

They believe he was in the Atlanta, Georgia area at some point after he fled, but he may have returned to Virginia.

Police also are focusing their search for Choi in Piscataway Park because Merino spent time in the park the night and into the next morning of her disappearance.

Police say Merino doesn’t have a criminal history. and there are no history of calls to the home.

“He’s on the run. He’s desperate and desperate people are prone to violence,” police said.

Police are asking the public to help them find Merino or to share any information they might have on the case. Merino is described as 5-foot-7 and 230 pounds.

https://wjla.com/news/local/hannah-choi-missing-woman-fairfax-county-police-case-search-second-degree-murder-charges-suspect-alexandria-virginia-boyfriend-joel-mosso-merino-domestic-abuse-kingstowne-piscataway-park-accokeek-maryland

Sherri Papini Charged For Faking Kidnapping

Sherri Papini is a woman from California whose kidnapping made national news as when she was found she was branded and had a broken nose when she was found tied up on the side of the road, turns out the whole story was fake. Sherri Papini who told authorities that she was kidnapped by two Hispanic women at gun point and that she was tortured during the time that she was missing. Sherri Papini would even give the FBI two full descriptions of her alleged assailants. However when her family and friends were worried sick about her disappearance Sherri Papini was living it up with her boyfriend in Costa Mesa and would injure herself to make her story bulletproof. Of course when the FBI comes into play and learns that they have been played by this woman people were calling Super Mom you are going to end up with some serious Federal charges. So far Sherri Papini has been charged with making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer and engaging in mail fraud and is facing 20 years in prison.

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Officials announced that 39-year-old Sherri Papini of Redding was arrested Thursday on charges of making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer and engaging in mail fraud.

According to the criminal complaint filed in this case, on Nov. 2, 2016, Papini was reported missing, and extensive searches were conducted for her in Shasta County and California as well as in several other states.

The Department of Justice says at that time, Papini told law enforcement officers and others that she had been abducted and held by two Hispanic women at gunpoint and held against her will. She also provided details of the alleged abductors to an FBI sketch artist. Based on her account, law enforcement agencies were on the lookout for Hispanic women matching Papini’s description. The investigation eventually showed, however, that this was a false narrative Papini fabricated.

The DOJ says that in truth, Papini had been voluntarily staying with a former boyfriend in Costa Mesa and had harmed herself to support her false statements.

“When a young mother went missing in broad daylight, a community was filled with fear and concern,” said U.S. Attorney Talbert. “Shasta County Sheriff’s Office immediately began investigating, calling on the assistance of the FBI. Countless hours were spent following leads, all in an effort to bring this woman back to her family. Three weeks later, she was found 146 miles south of where she disappeared, and the focus went from trying to find her to trying to find her abductors. Ultimately, the investigation revealed that there was no kidnapping and that time and resources that could have been used to investigate actual crime, protect the community, and provide resources to victims were wasted based on the defendant’s conduct.”

According to the DOJ, in an interview conducted by a federal agent and a Shasta County Sheriff’s Office detective in August 2020, Papini was warned that it was a crime to lie to federal agents. She was presented with evidence that showed she had not been abducted. Instead of retracting her kidnapping story, Papini continued to make false statements about her purported abductors. In addition, Papini caused the California Victim’s Compensation Board to pay victim assistance money based on her kidnapping story. From 2017 through 2021, Papini’s request for victim assistance caused approximately 35 payments totaling over $30,000, including for visits to her therapist and for the ambulance that transported her to the hospital after her return.

“The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office is very thankful for the partnerships with all of the local, state, and federal allied agencies that have been involved with this investigation for the last five-plus years,” said Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson. “The arrest of Sherri Papini was made possible by the outstanding hard work of a multitude of agents, detectives, DOJ criminalist, forensic analyst, crime scene investigators, and support staff members that were assigned to this investigation. Everyone involved in this investigation had one common goal; to find the truth about what happened on Nov. 2, 2016, with Sherri Papini and who was responsible. The 22-day search for Sherri Papini and subsequent five-year search into who reportedly abducted her was not only taxing on public resources but caused the general public to be fearful of their own safety, a fear that they should not have had to endure. The Sheriff’s Office has appreciated the support and patience from the citizens of Shasta County and abroad. This investigation has always been a priority to get solved for the Sheriff’s Office as well as for our investigating partners at the FBI and the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Forensic Services and Bureau of Investigation.”

Per the DOJ, If convicted of making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer, Papini faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. If convicted of mail fraud, she faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

https://krcrtv.com/news/local/sherri-papini-arrested-for-making-false-statements-about-her-kidnapping