Elijah Vue’s mother’s friend pleads not guilty in missing toddler case
Jesse Vang, the man who was caring for 3-year-old Elijah Vue before the boy disappeared in February, has pleaded not guilty to charges connected to the disappearance of 3-year-old Elijah Vue.
Vang, 39, enter a not guilty plea to a charge of chronic child neglect as party to the crime. Prosecutors said Vang is in a relationship with Katrina Baur, Elijah’s mother. Baur allegedly sent her son to stay with Vang for “disciplinary reasons” and to teach him how to “be a man”.
Vang has been accused of forcing Elijah to stand in place for hours at a time and for forcing him to take cold showers, despite only being 3-years-old.
The boy was last seen at around 8am on 20 February on the 3900 block of Michicot Road in Two Rivers, a town on the shore of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, where Vang lives.
Two Rivers Police Department said they received a missing persons call at 10.59am that day from an “adult caregiver”, who later turned out to be Vang.
Ms Baur reportedly told police that she had sent her son to Mr Vang so he could teach the boy how to be a man.
On 20 March, messages between Mr Vang and Ms Baur in the days leading up to Elijah’s disappearance were detailed in court filings.
“I told you to trust me… I’m a make sure he hates me and being here,” Mr Vang told Ms Baur on 18 February.
She responded that she doesn’t “want [Elijah] to *hate* YOU. Just fear you.”
