Episode Details

Jesse Vang had a felony conviction for harming a child when he was seventeen. He’d been charged with conspiracy to commit human trafficking — with the alleged victim being the same woman who later placed her three-year-old son in his care. He had a federal drug conviction. He was still on supervised release when Katrina Baur drove her son Elijah Vue two and a half hours across Wisconsin and left him in Vang’s apartment for what she called “disciplinary reasons.” She told investigators she wanted Vang to teach Elijah “how to be a man.” The child was three years old.

According to the criminal complaint, Vang described the arrangement as “boot camp.” He forced Elijah to stand for up to three hours at a time as punishment. He subjected the boy to cold water. He took away the child’s only toy. He changed his diaper once a day. Their text messages show two adults coordinating what was happening to this child — and Baur’s deleted photograph, recovered by investigators, showed Elijah blindfolded with bruising on his face and neck at 3:13 in the morning. She erased it within the hour. Eight days after Baur dropped Elijah off, Vang reported him missing. He told police the boy walked away while he slept. Within one minute, Baur messaged Vang telling him what to say. She deleted that message too. Investigators found it anyway.

The community searched for seven months. Elijah’s remains were found in a wooded area three miles from the apartment — discovered by a hunter on private property. Doctors found healed fractures on his skull and face. His death was ruled a homicide. Vang now faces life in prison. Baur faces up to sixty years. Both have pleaded not guilty. The evidence in this case raises a question that goes beyond the courtroom: how does a three-year-old end up in the hands of someone like Jesse Vang — and who is supposed to stop it?

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This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

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