Couple accused of murder, allegedly showed child photos of dead victim: police

A couple is accused of murdering a teen after another child who was a victim of their abuse came forward, police said.

Michael Hendricks, 40, and Maggie Ybarra, 30, were each charged with one count of first-degree murder, harassment and sexual misconduct in connection to the death of Kensie Renee Aubry, according to KMBC.

Aubry, 32, was reported missing from Independence, Missouri, in October 2020.

Police were led to a home in the 4000 block of South Buckner Tarsney Road in Grain Valley, Missouri, after testimony from a girl in her early teens who was allegedly sexually abused by the pair, KMBC reported.

According to court documents obtained by KMBC, the teen told police that “Maggie showed her photographs on a cellphone of a female with her hands tied, naked and gagged.”

The teen said Ybarra, Hendricks and the woman “were all sleeping together and Ybarra said Hendricks ‘choked her to death’ and put her in the freezer,” court documents state.

Detectives brought cadaver dogs to Hendricks’ home, where dogs located blood on a circular saw and in a bathroom located in the outbuilding/helicopter hanger, KMBC reported.

The victim's remains were found buried on a property in Grain Valley.

“Our community owes greatly a child victim in this case who came forward and alerted police of the gruesome criminal activity detailed in these charges,” Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said, according to KMBC. “Without her bravery, we might not know Kensie Aubry’s fate.”

Baker added she was also “grateful that we are able to deliver an answer to a family long wanting to know the fate of their loved one. We hope to deliver to them and our community justice as well.”

In court documents, Ybarra told police she was a drug user and prostitute and that her boyfriend and boss was Hendricks, KMBC reported. The two had known each other for a year and a half.

In addition, Hendricks has also been charged with enticement of a child and third-degree child molestation, according to KMBC.

Ybarra faces additional charges of enticement of a child and first-degree sexual misconduct, plus a misdemeanor count of tampering with physical evidence and three counts of tampering with a victim, according to KMBC.

Hendricks was previously charged in June with enticement or attempted enticement of a child less than 15 years old, child molestation of a child less than 14 years old and sexual misconduct, KMBC reported.

Ybarra was also charged with multiple sex crimes in June.