Honk News (Topeka, KS) – Authorities have taken into custody the adoptive parents of a six-year-old girl whose remains were discovered buried in a Kansas backyard five months prior.
Crystina Schroer, 50, and Joseph Schroer, 53, are now confronting serious allegations, including first-degree murder, child abuse, and kidnapping, linked to the tragic death of their daughter, Kennedy.
“We believe that these are the only two that are responsible,” Rose Hill police chief Taylor Parlier said, per KAKE. “At this time, we have no evidence that there should be anybody else that’s going to be charged.”
Authorities initiated an inquiry into Kennedy’s vanishing on September 10, following a response to the 1400 block of North Meeker Court in Rose Hill, roughly 20 miles southeast of Wichita. This action was prompted by reports of a resident who had confined themselves to a room and was reportedly making threats of self-harm with a firearm.
Authorities subsequently discovered that the individual was unarmed and later transported them to a nearby medical facility. However, authorities allegedly discovered information regarding a previous homicide, according to a statement from the police at that time.
Authorities discovered what could potentially be human remains buried in the backyard the next day, as stated in a press release from the Rose Hill Police Department.
Authorities utilized a “brush hog” to manage the dense vegetation, according to the announcement, and subsequently introduced cadaver dogs to investigate the area, although their initial efforts did not yield results.
Subsequently, authorities initiated a search at a different site, and after several hours, they reported that Kennedy’s remains were discovered within a trash bag.
A coroner subsequently concluded that the girl, originally named Natalie Garcia, passed away due to “probable suffocation, and her manner of death was a homicide,” as stated in the release.
The couple welcomed Kennedy into their family through adoption in 2019, according to a report by the Topeka Capital-Journal. Authorities suspect that Kennedy passed away towards the end of 2020, according to the report.
Crystina Schroer faces serious allegations including felony theft, four counts of forgery, Medicaid fraud, and desecration of a corpse. Joseph Schroer is also confronting charges related to accountability for another’s crimes, obstruction of law enforcement, grand theft, and Medicaid fraud.