John Jefferson
Left: Kennedy Schroer. Insets top to bottom: Crystina Schroer, Joseph Schroer (Rose Hill Police Department). Background: Home in Rose Hill, Kansas, where Kennedy was allegedly killed (Google Maps).
Authorities in Kansas arrested a couple accused of killing their adopted 6-year-old daughter in 2020 and burying her in a makeshift grave in their backyard.
The death of Kennedy Schroer apparently went unnoticed by authorities for four years until police in Rose Hill, a town of 4,000 people southeast of Wichita, learned in September that the girl was dead, according to a press release. Now her adoptive parents, Crystina Elizabeth Schroer, 50, and Joseph Shane Schroer, 53, are behind bars.
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Crystina Schroer stands accused of murder, four counts each of child abuse with torture and forgery, along with aggravated kidnapping, felony theft, Medicaid fraud and desecration of a corpse. Her husband is facing charges of child abuse with torture, felony theft, Medicaid fraud, interfering with law enforcement and liability for crimes of another.
Rose Hill Police Chief Taylor Parlier told Law&Crime the investigation began around 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10 while officers were responding to the Schroer home in the 1400 block of North Meeker Court when someone was having a mental health crisis. While there, they learned someone could be buried in the backyard. Cops went to the home early the next day and began their search.
They encountered some hurdles right away. The vegetation was so overgrown that they had to take a bush whacker to clear the way so cadaver dogs could search the area. Once completed, the dogs alerted investigators to some areas of interest.
Hours into the forensic dig, cops uncovered the remains of young girl inside a trash bag in a makeshift grave about 2 feet deep. A couple weeks later a DNA test positively identified the body as Kennedy.
Detectives learned Kennedy was born Natalie Garcia on July 14, 2014. Her birth parents relinquished their rights to the state and she was put up for adoption. The Schroers adopted her in November 2018 and changed her name. Police believe she was suffocated to death in late 2020. Her death was ruled a homicide.
“She was a beautiful child, with an infectious smile,” cops said.
Since the discovery of the body, police have spent some 2,000 hours building a case against the Schroers, working with local, state and federal law enforcement, including the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and Wichita’s Exploited and Missing Children’s Unit.
“This case was built through the development of timelines spanning more than four years, which is the primary reason for the length of the investigation,” cops wrote.
Investigators also allege that the suspect parents had been receiving Medicaid payments after Kennedy’s death. The parents had three biological children and two adopted kids. The surviving children all have been placed in custody of the state since the discovery of Kennedy’s body.
Some unanswered questions, such as why it took four years for authorities to learn a child was murdered and buried in the backyard, will be revealed once the probable cause arrest affidavit is released after the Schroers are formally charged, Parlier, the police chief, said.
Both are in the Butler County Jail without bond. They are scheduled to appear before a judge on Wednesday.
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