HENDRY COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida man has been arrested and charged with murder in the death of his ex-wife after her remains were found in a burn pile on his property, officials say.
According to a news release from the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office, after a few days into their investigation of missing person Katie Baunach, 39, HCSO’s major crimes unit arrested her ex-husband, Ian Christopher Baunach for her death.
HCSO said Ian Baunach was arrested on September 30. About 13 different kinds of steroids were allegedly found in Ian’s house. He was arrested and charged with 13 counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.
According to NBC News, Ian was also charged by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida with possession of an unregistered firearm after investigators found about 13 silencers inside his house.
He was officially charged with Katie’s murder on Friday, according to HCSO.
According to court records obtained by NBC News, Katie was last seen dropping her two children off at a friend’s house on September 29 around 9 p.m. She allegedly told her friend she was going to get some of her personal items from Ian’s house. She was reported missing a day later to HCSO.
According to court records that a month earlier Katie had reported to HCSO that Ian was physically abusing one of their children and she had gotten an injunction for domestic violence against him, NBC News reported
According to HCSO, deputies arrived at Ian’s house and were unable to contact him or his ex-wife so detectives obtained a search warrant. Once they got it, HCSO along with the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team, arrived at the house. Investigators found steroids which Ian was arrested and charged for.
An additional search warrant was obtained by HCSO for the house after they were still not able to find Katie. It was on this later search that detectives said they found remains that were determined to have belonged to her.
According to HCSO, Ian was arrested on Friday around 5 p.m. and charged with first-degree premeditated murder, destruction/concealing physical evidence, use of two-way communication device to facilitate felony, cremating a dead body 48 hours after death and failure to report the death to a medical examiner.
Ian is currently being held in jail with no bond, said HCSO.
According to NBC News, his preliminary hearing will be held on either October 20 or October 21.
No further information has been released.
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