Content warning: This case deals with child abuse
Three-year-old Elijah Vue has now been missing for over a month. He disappeared on the morning of Feb. 20, and the very next day, charges were brought forth against the mother and her boyfriend.
A month later, on March 20, Elijah’s blanket was found nearly 4 miles from where he reportedly disappeared. But so far, Katrina Baur and Jesse Vang have stuck to their story: Elijah disappeared while Vang took a nap.
The pair face child neglect charges, which, for Baur, were in a March court hearing upgraded to chronic child neglect. In court, the prosecutor read a letter from Baur’s mother requesting that her daughter’s bond not be lowered, providing compelling testimony as to Katrina’s flight risk.
Where is Elijah? What was done to him?
Katrina Baur had sent her son Elijah to Jesse Vang for disciplinary reasons, what they euphemistically called “boot camp.” What Vang subjected Elijah to would be unethical and harsh even if the toddler were a full-grown adult. This included things like making Elijah remain standing for up to three hours straight or throwing him into cold baths – which reminds one of the Timothy Ferguson prolonged abuse and subsequent death case.
However, unlike in Timothy’s case, Elijah has yet to be found dead or alive.
As per The Independent, some of the couple’s text message correspondence is worrisome, to say the least:
Vang: “I told you to trust me… I’m a make sure he hates me and being here.”
Baur: “Don’t want him to *hate* YOU. Just fear you.”
Before Elijah’s disappearance, Baur took multiple photos of the ongoing series of punishments, some of which revealed bruising on the three-year-old.
New court documents allege Baur was the victim of sex trafficking, in which Vang was involved, having reportedly assaulted her along with another man at a hotel. However, when she got together with Elijah’s father, Jimmy Vue, Katrina asked law enforcement not to investigate the incident. Vue has been arrested on child abuse charges since before his son went missing.
Katrina has another child, a six-year-old, which she also allegedly neglected by leaving them alone in the car in cold temperatures for over an hour, while she went to have sexual relations with Vang.
All of this combined makes one wonder how baby Elijah was never taken away by Child Protective Services. What is most pressing at the moment, however, is to find where the three-year-old might be. The finding of the blanket has brought renewed hope to the volunteers who devotedly continue to search for Elijah.
