Mother and boyfriend face additional charges in death of 3-year-old Elijah Vue

Additional charges were filed against Elijah Vue’s mother and her boyfriend Thursday afternoon in Manitowoc County for the 3-year-old’s death.

Prosecutors believe Vue was threatened with extreme punishment before his death and charged those they say terrorized the boy.

Vue’s mother, Katrina Baur, faces additional charges of chronic neglect of a child resulting in death, neglecting a child and resisting or obstructing an officer. Her boyfriend, Jesse Vang, is charged with physical abuse of a child, repeated acts causing death, hiding a corpse and resisting or obstructing an officer.

Baur was charged in February and pleaded not guilty to one felony count of being a party to child neglect and two misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing an officer. Vang was charged then with one felony count of being a party to child neglect. He also pleaded not guilty to the February charges.

The boy disappeared in February when his mother’s boyfriend announced he was missing from his apartment in Two Rivers.

Two Rivers Police Chief Ben Meinnert said someone found Vue’s remains in early September on their private property in Two Rivers as they were preparing the grounds for hunting season. Forensic experts confirmed the bones belonged to a human, and the Wisconsin Crime Lab matched the DNA to Vue.

Vue’s remains were found roughly three miles northwest of where he went missing, Meinnert said. Several searches had already been conducted in the area.

“This is not the outcome that we hoped for. The family’s devastated, we’re devastated, the community’s devastated,” Meinnert said. “I never met Elijah, but I watched that 3-year-old boy bring out the best in this community. I cannot thank the public and our businesses enough.”

Bauer and Vang are expected to be in court Friday morning.