The mother of 3-year-old Elijah Vue, whose remains were found a wooded area of Wisconsin six months after he disappeared, has been charged in connection with his death.
Katrina Baur is facing counts of chronic neglect of a child resulting in death, child neglect and obstructing an officer, Manitowoc County District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre said in a news conference Thursday.
Baur’s boyfriend, 39-year-old Jesse Vang, was also hit with felony charges, including repeated physical abuse of a child causing death, hiding a corpse and obstructing an officer.
The couple were previously charged with a count of child neglect following their arrest back in February. Baur at the time was also charged with a felony count of chronic child neglect as well as two misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing an officer.
“Elijah was a young boy whose life was tragically cut short,” LaBre said during the press conference. “This is an incredibly tragic situation that has shaken our community. My thoughts and deepest condolences go out to Elijah’s family who are in unimaginable pain.”
Elijah was last seen on Feb. 20 around 8 a.m. in Two Rivers, a town on the edge of Lake Michigan, some 40 miles southeast of Green Bay. After a sweeping, months-long search, his remains were discovered on Sept. 7 in the woods on private property about 3 miles from Vang’s residence, where the boy had been staying prior to his death.
According to a criminal complaint, Baur told police she left Elijah on Feb. 12 with Vang, who she’d hoped could teach her son “to be a man.” She added that she planned to pick him up on Feb. 23, but Elijah went missing before she returned.
Vang confirmed to authorities that he’d been watching the boy on and off. He claimed he fell asleep the day Elijah disappeared, and that the toddler was gone when he woke up.
