The mother of a missing Wisconsin toddler and the temporary caregiver who reported the boy missing appeared in court Monday to face formal charges of neglecting the child before his disappearance.
A criminal complaint says that 3-year-old Elijah Vue was reported missing at about 11 a.m. on February 20 by Jesse Vang, 39, The Herald Times Reporter said. Vang said brought the boy into the room with him at about 8 a.m., ordering him to stand next to the bed and pray. He fell asleep, and the child was gone when he woke up three hours later.
Vang told detectives that he had been in a relationship with the boy’s mother, 31-year-old Katrina Baur, and that the boy had been staying with him because he “had behaviors,” WBAY reported. Baur, who lived more than 100 miles away, occasionally helped take care of the child “but not continuously,” he said. Vang told detectives he saw himself as the “enforcer” of discipline.
Baur previously told investigators she’d left the child with Vang “for disciplinary reasons,” as CrimeOnline reported. The complaint against her said she’d left him with Vang on February 12 and was going to pick him up again on February 23. She said she wanted Vang to teach the toddler “to be a man.”
Baur told investigators that Vang “was the enforcer of rules in the relationship, and that was the reason for sending [Elijah] to stay with Vang.” She said she talked about limitations to the discipline Vang used on the child but that “she is fine with whatever discipline Vang enforces.”
Elijah Vue Criminal Complaint by Leigh Egan
Vang told detectives he forced the boy the stand for up to three hours at a time while praying or repeating “I’m sorry, Mommy,” although he could not explain what behaviors required the punishment. He called the punishment “time out.”
According to the Times Herald Reporter, the complaint says that officers recovered texts from Vang to Baur in which the “enforcer” says that he is angry with the child for overfilling his diaper. He gave him a cold shower to clean him off, something the boy seemed to fear. He also said on the morning he disappeared, he didn’t change the child’s diaper.
“He’s fine,” Vang reportedly told detectives, WBAY said. “It’s not like his knees are shaking and about to fall over you know.”
Vang told detectives that the toddler was at his home as “punishment” for unspecified “bad behavior” and that he wanted the child to think “going home is like a privilege for him. He said the toddler was initially afraid of him but he changed that and now he “respects me.”
The complaint also detailed Baur’s conflicted statements about where she was during the time her son was with Vang and charged her with obstructing an officer.
Baur and Vang appeared briefly in court Monday afternoon and were formally charged, Vang with neglect of a child and Baur with party to the crime. They have a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 7. Neither have been charged in Elijah’s disappearance, and the probable cause statements for their arrests remain sealed.
Meanwhile, the search for the missing child continued Tuesday in Manitowoc County, where crews began their eighth day of combing the area.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Elijah Vue/Wisconsin State Police]
