Wisconsin man pleads not guilty to child neglect amid search for 3-year-old boy
Jesse Vang entered a not guilty plea to a charge of chronic child neglect in relation to the disappearance of 3-year-old Elijah Vue in Wisconsin.
Key points:
- Vue was under the care of Vang when he vanished in late February from the 39-year-old’s residence in Two Rivers. After a judge ruled there was enough evidence to proceed to trial, Vang appeared in a Manitowoc County court on Tuesday, pleading not guilty.
- Vang is the boyfriend of Vue’s mother, Katrina Baur, who also faces charges of party-to-a-crime child neglect and two counts of resisting or obstructing an officer.
The details:
- In February, Baur sent his son to stay with Vang as a form of punishment and to impart lessons on masculinity, claiming the child had displayed bad behavior.
- But on Feb. 20, Vang reported Vue missing, stating that he had taken a nap with the child in his bedroom and upon waking up three hours later, he was nowhere to be found.
- Baur also entered a plea of not guilty during her arraignment. She is scheduled to return to court for further proceedings on April 26. No one has been charged in the boy’s disappearance.
- Authorities have described Vue as a 3-foot-tall, 45-pound child of Hmong descent, with sandy hair, brown eyes and a birthmark on his left knee. He was last seen wearing gray sweatpants, a long-sleeved dark-colored shirt and red-and-green slip-on shoes featuring dinosaurs.
- Despite extensive searches conducted since, the child’s whereabouts remain unknown.
What’s next:
- On Friday, a magic show will be held at 6 p.m. at the Mikadow Theatre to support the ongoing search for Vue. The event, where a minimum donation of $5 is requested for entry, aims to raise funds for essentials like food, drinks and supplies for volunteers involved in the search efforts.
- Authorities urge anyone with information regarding Vue’s disappearance to contact the police. A combined reward totaling $40,000 is being offered for information leading to his whereabouts.
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