Prosecutors filed new charges Thursday against the mother of a 3-year-old Wisconsin boy who vanished last month, and a judge rejected her request for a bond…
Elijah Vue, 3, vanished on Feb. 20 from an apartment, where he was staying with his mother's boyfriend, Jesse Vang, and a judge rejected her request for a bond reduction after new details surrounding accusations of the days leading up to Elijah Vue's disappearance were revealed.
Katrina Baur's son, Elijah, has been missing since Feb. 20 at a residence in Two Rivers where prosecutors said she had sent him to stay with her boyfriendSearches by police and residents over the last two weeks have so far not located the boy, and the reward for information in the case has grown to $25,000. During Thursday’s hearing, Baur’s attorney, Ann Larson, told the court that “there’s a lot of high emotion going on, but there’s also a lot of high emotion going on with Ms. Baur. She’s been worried sick not knowing where her son is.” Baur, of the Wisconsin Dells, was charged last month with one felony count of party-to-a-crime child neglect and two misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing an officer. The 31-year-old is being held on a $15,000 cash bond. Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weeklyManitowoc County prosecutors amended the felony count on Thursday to a charge of party-to-a-crime chronic child neglect and also filed a misdemeanor charge of neglecting a child against Baur. Prosecutors told the court they had evidence Baur left the 3-year-old unattended for at least an hour Feb. 16 as she and her boyfriend, Jesse Vang, traveled to other locations throughout Manitowoc, reported. They also said they had evidence Baur left a 6-year-old child unattended in a vehicle Feb. 14 for about an hour in temperatures below freezing without the vehicle running. A judge denied Baur’s request for a bond reduction Thursday and rescheduled both her preliminary hearing and Vang's preliminary hearing from Thursday until March 14.Vang, 39, of Two Rivers, was formally charged in February with one felony count of party-to-a-crime child neglect. He is being held on a $20,000 cash bond. Baur told police she had left her 3-year-old with Vang on Feb. 12 because she wanted him to teach her son “to be a man,” and she had intended to pick him up Feb. 23, according to a criminal complaint. Vang called police Feb. 20 and reported the boy missing, telling officers he had taken a nap and brought the 3-year-old in the bedroom with him, but when he awoke some three hours later, the toddler was gone, according to the complaint. Despite expanding their search efforts this week, police said Elijah had still not been found as of 1 p.m. Tuesday. "Law enforcement from all over the state, in addition to FBI, DCI, and DNR, assisted in searching rural areas in Manitowoc County this morning, and will continue to do so into the afternoon," the Two Rivers Police Department"Our interest is not with the current owner of the vehicle," the department said, noting that they are instead focused on finding any potential camera footage of the vehicle captured on Feb. 19, the day before Elijah was reported missing, between the hours of 2p.m. and 9 p.m.Authorities said the vehicle of interest was in the possession of law enforcement. Police released pictures of the car, a 1997 four-door beige Nissan Altima. The vehicle has a Wisconsin license plate that begins with"A" and ends with"0." Neither Elijah's mother, Katrina Baur, nor the man who reported the toddler missing, Jesse Vang -- both of whom have been charged with child neglect in connection with the case -- are the owners of the vehicle, police said.Elijah was last seen Feb. 20 at a residence in Two Rivers, where prosecutors said his mother had sent him to stay with a man now charged with child neglect. Searches by police and residents have so far not located Elijah.On Tuesday, police expanded their rural search efforts with large-scale operations and assistance from law enforcement from across the state, according to the Two Rivers Police Department. This past weekend, crews from the Wisconsin National Guard conducted ground searches, while the Department of Natural Resources helped dive teams check near the shorelines of Lake Michigan and Twin River, Baur told police she had left Elijah with Vang on Feb. 12 because she wanted him to teach her son “to be a man," Manitowoc County District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre said Friday that Baur had sent Elijah to stay with Vang for disciplinary purposes and that Baur wasn’t in Two Rivers, located about 30 miles southeast of Green Bay, when Elijah disappeared. Vang called police on Feb. 20 and reported Elijah missing, telling police he had taken a nap that morning and brought Elijah in the bedroom with him, but when he awoke about three hours later he was gone, the complaint states. Vang told police he was in a relationship with Bauer and had been trying to help with her son's bad behaviors, according to the complaint.He said that Elijah was afraid of him, and the boy was disciplined using"time outs," including being forced to stand for 1-3 hours and requiring him to pray at times, documents stated. Vang also forced the 3-year-old to take a cold shower and regularly threatened him with cold water for not complying, the criminal compliant stated. Both Baur and Vang maintained that they didn't have anything to do with Elijah's disappearance.the Two Rivers Police Department requested that homeowners and businesses review surveillance footage captured between 2 and 9 p.m. on Feb. 19 as they continued to search for Elijah. Police urged residents in the Two Rivers area to review video, as well as those in adjacent counties.Anyone with information on Elijah's whereabouts was asked to contact the Two Rivers Police Department at 844-267-6648 or submit a tip online at On Feb. 27, the FBI announced a $15,000 reward for anyone with information leading to Elijah's return and the arrest of whoever may be responsible. A Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers reward for information leading to the location and return of Elijah or the arrest and conviction of those responsible for his disappearance has risen to as much as $10,000, Two Rivers Police Chief Ben Meinnert said in a news release.
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