The parent of a 3-year-old Wisconsin boy who has been missing for over two weeks was in court on Thursday to deal with a new accusation: chronic neglect of a child, WITI reported.
Katrina Baur, 30, was already facing charges of being involved in child neglect and two counts of resisting/obstructing an officer, as CrimeOnline reported.
Baur allegedly left Elijah Vue with her supposed boyfriend, 39-year-old Jesse Vang, “for disciplinary purposes” because she wanted Vang to teach the toddler “to be a man.”
Vang reported the child missing on February 20. He stated that he instructed the boy to stand and pray, a common punishment he used on the child, and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the boy was gone.
Vang is facing charges of neglecting a child.
A total of $25,000 in combined rewards is offered for information regarding the missing boy. On Monday, Two Rivers police announced that they had seized a “vehicle of interest” and were asking homeowners and business owners to check security footage for the vehicle on February 19 between 2 and 9 p.m. The car is a 1997 beige Nissan Altima with Wisconsin tags that begin with A and end with 0.
[Featured image: Elijah Vue/Wisconsin State Police]