The weekslong search for Wisconsin 3-year-old Elijah Vue continues as court documents reveal shocking details, the toddler’s mother faces criminal charges and local and federal agencies across the U.S. join forces.
Elijah went missing from a home in Two Rivers, a city in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, on the morning of Feb. 20, Two Rivers police said in a Facebook post.
Now Elijah’s mother, Katerina Baur, 31, and her boyfriend, Jesse Vang, 39, have been charged with felony child neglect, police said.
Manitowoc County District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre said Baur had sent Elijah to stay with Vang in Two Rivers for “disciplinary purposes.” When questioned by police, Baur lied and said she was staying at her home in Wisconsin Dells and not in Two Rivers when Elijah went missing, according to LaBre.
“She intentionally sent that child for disciplinary reasons for more than a week to the residence,” LaBre said in a statement to the court. “She was aware of the tactics (Vang) used and the lack of care (he) provided.”
Criminal complaint says Baur sent Elijah to stay with Vang to learn how to ‘be a man’
A criminal complaint obtained by the Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter, part of the USA TODAY Network, may have shed some light on how Elijah was treated while staying with Vang.
When questioned, Vang told police he ordered Elijah to stand next to his bed and pray before the toddler’s disappearance, according to the complaint. When Vang woke up from his sleep three hours later, he said Elijah was gone so he called 911, the complaint continued.
Vang and Baur are described as being in a relationship, the complaint says.
Baur dropped Elijah off at Vang’s home Feb.12 and he was supposed to be returned to his mother’s home in Wisconsin Dells by Feb. 23, according to the complaint.
FULL STORY: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/elijah-vue-know-missing-wisconsin-225722444.html
