During their first appearances on Wednesday afternoon, the Schroers appeared at separate times. The couple had been arrested on February 3 on charges relating to the discovery of human remains on their property back in September 2024. Those remains turned out to be their six-year-old adoptive daughter, Kennedy Schroer, who was also known by her birth name of Natalie Garcia, who they found in a trash bag.

Joseph was the first to hold his hearing in front of Judge Jan Satterfield. He was arrested on charges of two counts of aggravated endangerment of a child, one count of making false information, one count of making a false claim in Medicaid fraud, and one count of interference with law enforcement.

He pleaded not guilty while the state recommended $15,000 cash bond. His defense, Darren Patterson, argued that the high bond amount was unnecessary due to the lack of proof of public endangerment and flight risk. He stated that Joseph was a member of the Armed Forces in the U.S. Air Force from 1992-2014 where he received honorable discharge as a Sergeant.

He was then employed at the Wichita Department Corrections at the Wichita Work Release Center before working for the Kansas State Fire Marshals’ Office and currently at the Veterans Administration. He has four adult children in the immediate areas of Augusta, Rose Hill and Wellington.

“There is no basis to believe he will commit a crime while out on bond and during the five months of the investigation he wasn’t considered a safety concern then,” said Patterson.

Patterson recommended $5,000 cash or surety bond.

Judge Satterfield set the bond to $10,000 cash bond is response to the argument.

Patterson also stated that Joseph filed for a divorce although it hasn’t been finalized. The couple shares multiple minor aged, adopted children but they were sent to state custody in the Department of Children and Families, (DCF). The Judge also ordered Joseph no contact with the minor children in DCF custody until after the preliminary hearing and no contact with Crystina. His next appearance in Butler County Courts will be on February 18 at 2:30pm for a preliminary hearing.

During Crystina’s first appearance, her bond was set to $500,000 cash. During the reading of her charges, it was learned that Crystina not only abused and tortured Natalie, but also other children that were in the home. She was arrested on charges of one count of murder in the first degree, three counts of abusing a child under the age of 18 by torture of cruelling beating, one count of making false information, one count of making a false claim for Medicaid fraud, one count of failure to report the death of a child, and one count of desecration of a corpose.

“The state’s alleging that she committed a homicide of her own child, buried that child within a few yards of her bedroom window, bedroom door access of their property and that did not stop the abuse,” said Butler County Attorney Darrin Devinney. “It wasn’t just that one child, you can see that there’s multiple children in the home that are subject to these child abuse charges.”

Devinney indicated that there may be additional charges that the state may file at this point.

Judge Satterfield set her bond to $250,000 cash or surety. If she were to bail out, she would be required to wear GPS monitoring and can’t leave the state of Kansas. Her passport must be delivered to the Rose Hill Police Department so there’s no chance of her leaving the country. She may not be around or anywhere near minor children. A no contact order was demanded with estranged husband. Her next appearance in Butler County Court will be on March 12 at 9am for a preliminary examination.