Elijah Vue: Torture Disguised as Discipline

Elijah Vue Case Introduction: The Call

The morning quiet of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, was shattered at 10:59 a.m. on Tuesday, February 20, 2024. The 911 call came from Jesse Vang, reporting that the three-year-old boy in his care, Elijah Vue, had vanished. According to Vang, the child had simply disappeared from his apartment sometime after 8:00 a.m. while Vang himself was napping.

The report conveyed immediate and desperate urgency. A toddler, possibly clutching his favorite red-and-white checkered blanket, wandering alone in the harsh conditions of a Wisconsin winter was a scenario that demanded an immediate, massive response. Within hours, an Amber Alert was issued, blanketing the region with Elijah’s photo and launching a search effort that would captivate and grieve a community for months to come.

1. The "Boot Camp": An Arrangement for Discipline

Elijah had been staying with Jesse Vang since February 12, 2024. This arrangement was not a typical babysitting agreement. Elijah's mother, Katrina Baur, had brought her son to her boyfriend, Vang, for what they termed a "boot camp." The stated purpose, according to criminal complaints, was to teach Elijah "how to be a man."

This seemingly protective goal, however, masked a horrifying reality. The methods of this "boot camp" would later be revealed as a systematic campaign of abuse, documented in chilling detail by the perpetrators themselves.

Stated Disciplinary Goals	Actual Abusive Methods
• Teaching respect	• Forced standing in a "praying position" for 1-3 hours
• Learning "how to be a man"	• Punishments with cold water and cold showers
• Using prayer and memorizing rules	• Sleep deprivation
	• Being kept in "baby prison"

The arrangement, intended to correct a toddler's behavior, was in truth a descent into calculated cruelty that investigators would painstakingly uncover piece by piece.

2. A Community in Anguish: The Search for a Missing Boy

In the wake of the Amber Alert, the community of Two Rivers and law enforcement agencies launched a search of staggering scale. Hundreds of volunteers combed through frozen fields, wooded areas, and city storm drains. Local businesses transformed into support hubs, providing meals and supplies for the exhausted search teams. K-9 units and helicopters with thermal imaging swept the landscape, all fueled by the hope of bringing a little boy home safely.

On February 25, the search yielded a heartbreaking discovery: Elijah's red, white, and black checkered blanket was found in a ditch 3.7 miles from Vang's apartment. Forensic analysis later confirmed the blanket contained Elijah's DNA. This forensic link was the first piece of physical evidence that transformed the case from a search for a wandering child into the investigation of a potential crime.

The community's support was a powerful force against the growing despair:

• Social Media Mobilization: A Facebook group, "Remembering Elijah Vue," swelled to over 10,000 members, becoming a central hub for coordinating volunteer efforts and sharing verified information.

• Reward Fund: A combined reward of $40,000 was established, with specific contributions of $15,000 from the FBI, $10,000 from Manitocowoc County Crime Stoppers, and $15,000 from community donations.

• Local Support: Restaurants provided free meals to searchers, hardware stores donated flashlights, and halls opened as warming stations, demonstrating a community united in its mission.

  
  

Yet, as the community held onto hope, the official investigation was already following a trail of digital evidence that pointed not to a lost child, but to a carefully constructed lie.

3. The Investigation Unfolds: Cracking Alibis and a Coordinated Cover-Up

From the outset, investigators doubted the narrative that Elijah had simply wandered away. The digital footprints left by Katrina Baur and Jesse Vang soon proved their stories were a coordinated deception designed to hide an unthinkable crime.

Vang's Alibi: Vang claimed he was at home watching the movie Ready Player One on Netflix on the evening of February 19, the night before Elijah was reported missing. This was the "Netflix Deception." Surveillance footage proved he was not home. Cameras captured him driving a borrowed 1997 Nissan Altima and, at 7:06 p.m., stopping at the St. Vincent de Paul donation center to dispose of a dark-colored suitcase. Forensic analysis would later confirm that the suitcase contained Elijah Vue’s DNA, making this act a clear disposal of evidence, not a simple donation.

Baur's Alibi: Baur initially denied being in Two Rivers at all between February 12 and February 20. However, cell phone location data placed her device at Vang's apartment on February 14 and again on February 16-17, directly contradicting her statements.

The Cover-Up: The most damning evidence of a coordinated cover-up came from messages Baur sent Vang on Facebook immediately after his 10:59 a.m. 911 call. Though she later deleted them, digital forensics recovered the instructions she sent while Vang was still on the phone with dispatchers. These messages were not the words of a panicked mother, but the cold calculations of someone constructing a false narrative to obstruct a police investigation. They were trying to hide a truth far more horrifying than a missing child.

4. A Chronicle of Abuse: Evidence from the Inside

The digital evidence recovered from Baur's and Vang's phones provided investigators with a real-time chronicle of the abuse Elijah endured. The reality of the "boot camp" was one of systematic torture, documented by the perpetrators themselves.

The most chilling piece of evidence was a photograph Baur took at 3:13 a.m. on February 14. The image, which she deleted less than an hour later, showed Elijah with a blindfold over his eyes and visible bruising on his jaw, neck, and upper arm.

Dr. Hilary Petska, a child abuse pediatrician who reviewed the evidence, concluded that the pattern of maltreatment was "consistent with torture." The documented abuse included multiple forms of cruelty:

• Forced Positioning: Elijah was forced to stand for one to three hours at a time, often in a "praying position," as punishment.

• Sleep Deprivation: Vang sent Baur a video of an exhausted Elijah, his head bobbing as he struggled to stay awake, with the message, "I won't let him sleep he's very tired." Baur's reply was, "I see that lol."

• Temperature Abuse: After Elijah soiled his diaper, Vang forced him into a cold shower, a punishment he knew the child feared. He texted Baur that Elijah was "clean but scared."

• Psychological Terror: The goal of the abuse was made explicit in messages from February 18. Vang wrote, "I'm a make sure he hates me and being here." Baur chillingly replied, "Don't want him to hate YOU. Just fear you."

  
  

This documented chronicle of escalating torture made it tragically clear that the 911 call was not the beginning of Elijah's ordeal, but the final act in concealing its fatal conclusion.

5. The Tragic Discovery and Forensic Truth

On September 7, 2024, the seven-month search for Elijah Vue came to a devastating end. A deer hunter discovered skeletal remains in a wooded area near Kristy Bob Lane in rural Manitocowoc County. The location was tragically significant: it was the same area Vang had been zooming in on using Google Maps on his phone on February 19, the day before reporting Elijah missing.

DNA testing confirmed the remains belonged to Elijah Vue. After 206 days, the Amber Alert—the longest in Wisconsin history—was canceled. The community that had prayed for a rescue now mourned a homicide.

The forensic analysis of the remains yielded two critical findings that exposed the full scope of the violence Elijah had endured:

1. The Fond du Lac County Medical Examiner officially ruled the death a homicide by unspecified means. The condition of the remains prevented a determination of the exact cause of death, but the manner was clear.

2. A biological anthropologist discovered a healed skull fracture on Elijah's cheekbone. This injury, which would have required significant blunt force trauma, proved that Elijah had been a victim of severe violence for weeks, if not months, before his death, and represented a critical missed opportunity for intervention.

   
   

These discoveries provided the scientific certainty needed to transform the case and pursue legal accountability for Elijah's death.

6. The Path to Justice

Following the medical examiner's homicide ruling, prosecutors filed upgraded charges against both Jesse Vang and Katrina Baur on October 17, 2024.

• Jesse Vang:

- Physical Abuse of a Child, Repeated Acts Causing Death (Class A felony, potential life sentence)

- Hiding a Corpse

• Katrina Baur:

- Chronic Neglect of a Child - Consequence is Death (Potential 60-year sentence)

- Obstructing an Officer

Both Vang and Baur pleaded "not guilty" to all charges. The legal proceedings have moved slowly, hampered by the sheer volume of evidence—over 7,000 pages of police reports, digital communications, and forensic analyses. As of late 2025, the case was still awaiting trial, leaving a community and family in agonizing suspense.

7. Legacy: From Grief to Action

In the face of unthinkable tragedy and the slow grind of the justice system, the Two Rivers community responded with resilient compassion. Their collective grief was channeled into powerful, positive action to honor Elijah's memory.

The most prominent initiative was "Operation: Elijah," a holiday toy drive. In a direct and meaningful response to the cruelty and deprivation Elijah endured, the community partnered with the Two Rivers Police Department's "Shop With A Cop" program to collect toys for hundreds of local children in need, ensuring they would experience the joy that was stolen from Elijah.

The case exposed profound systemic failures, from the loopholes in informal childcare arrangements that require no background checks to the many missed warning signs of escalating abuse. While justice for Elijah moves slowly through the Wisconsin courts, his story has ignited a powerful movement of community vigilance and action, serving as a permanent and painful reminder of society's collective responsibility to see, to speak for, and to protect its most vulnerable children.