Adoptive parents of girl whose remains were found buried in Rose Hill backyard arrested
The adoptive parents of a child who disappeared and was never reported missing, and whose remains were later found in the backyard of a Rose Hill home in September 2024, were arrested Monday.
Crystina Schroer, 50, and Joseph Schroer, 53, both of Rose Hill, were arrested in connection with the death of Kennedy Schroer, who was adopted by the couple in November 2019.
Joseph Schroer was arrested on suspicion of child abuse, interference with law enforcement, felony theft and Medicaid fraud. Crystina Schroer faces charges of first degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, child abuse, felony theft, forgery, Medicaid fraud and desecration of a corpse, the Rose Hill Police Department said Monday.
Authorities believe Kennedy, who was named Natalie Garcia at birth, died in late 2020. She was born on July 14, 2014, the Eagle previously reported.
After a months-long investigation, a Sedgwick County Forensic Center report said the girl’s death was caused “probable suffocation,” and was ruled a homicide.
Discovery of remains
On Sep. 10, 2024, Rose Hill police responded to a call of a barricaded adult threatening to harm themselves in the 1400 block of North Meeker Court. The next day, authorities dug roughly 2 feet in the backyard and unearthed the decomposed remains of a child inside a trash bag.
The remains were identified as Kennedy Schroer on Sep. 27.
Butler County tax information shows the Schroers owned the home where the remains were found since at least 2019.
Christia Helm, Kennedy’s biological mother, told KSN in an interview that Kennedy was one of three daughters she gave up for adoption. Rose Hill Police Chief Taylor Parlier said Helm’s children were in the custody of the Schroers and were placed in protective custody after the incident.
Helm questioned why one of her children had been unaccounted for so long.
“How does nobody know this child is missing?” Helm told KSN. “Why was (Kansas Department for Children and Families) not checking up on her?”
In response to questions, including how a child was not accounted for for years, in an email, DCF spokesperson Erin LaRow said: “DCF is treating this case’s disclosure as . . . a situation involving the death of a child not in the custody of the secretary. Therefore, your questions are better directed to local law enforcement, which leads the investigation and is responsible for filing any charges, if warranted, in the case.”
When asked how Kennedy went unaccounted for for so long, Parlier said: “Accounting for the child is the primary focus of the investigation at this time and therefore I cannot speak more to that question.”
“She was a beautiful child, with an infectious smile,” Parlier said in the news release.
Agencies involved in the investigation included the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, Andover Police Department, Butler County Attorney’s Office, FBI, IRS, Kansas Attorney General’s Office and the Kansas Department for Children and Families.
Contributing: Michael Stavola of The Wichita Eagle