HENDRY COUNTY, Fla. — Ian Christopher Baunach was indicted by a grand jury on first-degree murder, abuse of a dead body, and tampering with evidence charges in Hendry County.
He is accused of killing his ex-wife 39-year-old Katie Baunach in September after
she was reported missing shortly after Hurricane Ian.
Hendry County Sheriff Steve Whidden said he got a knock on his door from a friend of Katie Samantha Baunach on Friday, September 30, 2022, reporting that she was concerned for her safety.
She reported that the night before Katie had left her two children in her care to go to the home of her former husband Ian Baunach to retrieve some of her personal items. Friends and family had not heard from her nor had been able to reach her on her cell phone.
After looking into the report of a missing person Hendry County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit arrested the victim's ex-husband.
Sheriff Whidden said there was “overwhelming evidence that Katie died at that residence.”
“Her car was still at the defendant’s home,” when the sheriff’s office arrived to investigate her disappearance, said State Attorney Amira Fox.
Hendry County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit charged Ian Christopher Baunach with 1st Degree Pre-Meditated Murder, Destruction/Conceal Physical Evidence, Use of Two-Way Communication Device to Facilitate a Felony, Cremate Dead Body 48 hours after Death and Failure to Report Death to Medical Examiner on October 10, 2022.
Ian Christopher Baunach is currently being held in the Hendry County Jail.
