Elijah Vue: Missing toddler’s mother pleads not guilty to child neglect charges as search enters fifth week
MANITOWOC COUNTY, WISCONSIN: The mother of missing 3-year-old Elijah Vue entered a not-guilty plea to child neglect charges on Friday afternoon, March 22.
The court hearing for 31-year-old Katrina Baur only lasted two minutes, as per NBC News.
Katrina Baur pleads not guilty
Though neither Baur nor her boyfriend, Jesse Vang, are charged with the boy's disappearance, they are both facing identical counts of child negligence charges.
Four counts are brought against Baur: one misdemeanor of child negligence involving another child, two misdemeanors of obstruction, and a felony of child neglect.
A trial date was not established. If they so desire, prosecutors have until April 26 to extend any plea deals.
“I was kind of shocked,” said Yolanda Godfrey, a Two Rivers resident who has been part of volunteer searches for Elijah. “I honestly thought she’d just give it up and say guilty.”
Over the past month, Godfrey and other locals of Two Rivers have regularly shown up to Baur and Vang's court dates. According to court records, Elijah was brought by Wisconsin Dells resident Baur to Vang on February 12 so they could remain at his house in Two Rivers.
She desired that Vang teach the three-year-old what it is to be a man. On February 20, Vang went to the police and reported Elijah missing, saying he had woken up from a nap and found Elijah had left his house. Ever since, Godfrey and other worried locals have been searching for the boy.
What did Godfrey say?
Godfrey said, "As a stranger, all these hundreds of other volunteers are out there looking for your son and we're on day 32 and still no Elijah, so yeah I'm a little bitter.”
The not guilty plea, however, hasn't destroyed Godfrey's hope that Elijah can be found. “I pray all the time that he is safe,” said Godfrey. “I got goosebumps just thinking about it.”
Although there was no update from Two Rivers Police on their investigation on Friday, volunteers were to pick up their search after taking the day off due to the snow. Police verified a blanket that had been discovered earlier in the investigation belonged to Elijah.
Any information that might be connected to the case can be reported online at Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers or by calling 1-844-267-6648.
Rewards totaling $40,000 are being offered in the case. Elijah Vue is described as having dark blond hair and brown eyes. He is about three feet tall, weighs about 45 pounds and has a birthmark on his left knee, as per Daily Mail.
