Sheriff says the victims’ bodies were found in garbage bags in a ravine near Medina Lake after a welfare check and same-day arrests.
MICO, Texas — A 29-year-old woman and her boyfriend are accused of killing the woman’s mother and stepfather at a home in rural Medina County, then dumping the bodies in a deep ravine near Medina Lake, authorities said.
The case moved quickly from a missing-person concern to a capital murder investigation. Deputies began looking into the deaths after Stephen Rehbein failed to show up for work on April 8. By that evening, officers had located the suspects in the Corpus Christi area, and early the next morning investigators said they found the bodies of Cherry Rehbein and Stephen Rehbein hidden in large black garbage bags. The sheriff’s office said the investigation is still active.
Sheriff Randy Brown said investigators believe the killings happened Monday evening at the couple’s home in the 3300 block of County Road 265 in Mico. Brown said Cherry Rehbein, 54, was believed to have been killed first. Stephen Rehbein, 58, was later killed when he returned home from work, according to the sheriff. The investigation started Wednesday, April 8, after a coworker asked for a welfare check because Stephen Rehbein had not reported to work. Deputies reached the home around 1 p.m. and got no answer at the door. Brown said a deputy then spotted bloody items in a trash can left at the curb. Criminal investigators were called in, and a search warrant followed. From there, officers gathered information about the couple’s vehicles and used tracking technology to help follow one of them to the Corpus Christi area.
Authorities said Cassandra Lange, 29, and Joby Williams, 30, were inside the vehicle when Corpus Christi police stopped it Wednesday afternoon. Two children were also in the car: a 6-year-old girl and a 1-month-old infant, investigators said. Brown said Lange is the biological mother of both children, while Williams is the biological father of the infant. The older child was turned over to her father, and the baby remained in Child Protective Services custody as of the sheriff’s Friday briefing. Brown also said Williams had a fresh hand wound that required stitches after treatment at a San Antonio medical facility. A Medina County chief deputy and a Texas Ranger later interviewed the suspects in Corpus Christi. Brown said Lange confessed that she and Williams killed her mother and stepfather and then disposed of the bodies in a ravine. Brown said Williams first gave investigators an account that did not match the evidence.
The search that followed focused on ravines and dry creek beds around Medina Lake. Brown said investigators worked through the night after the confession. Early Thursday, April 9, a deputy saw what appeared to be trash off FM 1283 near the lake. Deputies pushed through cedar brush and climbed down about 73 feet into a ravine that could not be seen from the road, Brown said. There, investigators found two large black garbage bags containing the victims’ bodies. Fire personnel helped recover the remains, which were taken to the medical examiner for autopsies. Brown said the medical examiner will determine the official causes of death. Still, he said investigators recovered multiple weapons and believe strangulation and a knife were involved. The sheriff also said several items were missing from the home, including guns, money, tools and the victims’ vehicle. Investigators were tracing the firearms and checking pawn shops for other missing property.
Both suspects were booked on capital murder charges. Brown said the pair were in custody by about 7 p.m. Wednesday, roughly six hours after the original welfare call. Bond amounts first set below $200,000 were later increased to $1 million surety bonds each, according to later local reporting. As of the Friday briefing, Lange had already been returned to Medina County, while Williams remained in the Nueces County jail awaiting transfer. Authorities have not publicly laid out a motive. Brown said he would not speculate while the investigation remained open. It was also not clear Friday whether prosecutors would seek additional charges tied to stolen property or any evidence collected from the home and vehicle.
The case stunned a quiet stretch of Medina County west of San Antonio, where homes sit among cedar, ranch roads and steep land near the lake. What began as concern over a missed day at work turned into a search spanning counties and multiple agencies. Brown credited deputies, Corpus Christi police, a Texas Ranger and fire personnel for moving quickly. He said the speed of the investigation helped officers secure the suspects and recover the victims within hours. Even so, key parts of the case remain unsettled, including the final autopsy findings, a clearer picture of motive and whether court records will add more detail about what happened inside the home before the suspects left the area with the children.
The suspects remain jailed on capital murder charges, and investigators are still waiting on autopsy results and additional evidence reviews. The next public milestone is likely a court appearance in Medina County after Williams is transferred from Nueces County.
Author note: Last updated April 13, 2026.