How Did Missing Three-Year-Old Elijah Vue’s DNA End Up in a Suitcase at a Thrift Store?

**Tony Brueski** (0:01)
This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Brueski and Robin Drake.

**Tony Brueski** (0:08)
The investigation, let's go, how law enforcement took apart the story that Vang and Baur allegedly tried to build. Vang called 911 on February 20th and said Elijah wandered off during a nap. Within 60 seconds, Baur was messaging him to say what to say. A message she deleted and investigators later recovered. What followed was a seven-month search involving the FBI, state investigators and hundreds of community volunteers. While the real case is being built on surveillance footage, digital forensics and DNA evidence, both have pled not guilty. Let's go back to the 911 call at 1059 Within a minute, Baur sending him the now deleted message telling him what to say.
Obviously, they have their cover story. He wandered off when I fell asleep. And that's the story.
And then from there, we get into covering up a crime. But prior to that, prior to the covering up of the crime, you still have the two of them communicating about how to set this child straight, this three-year-old hooligan that's running the streets with his thugs. You know, I mean, it's kind of insane. It's insanely insane that these two are even thinking this way. But give me some insight into what you found about those communications going back and forth between the two of them, because they seem to really believe their own bullshit. They mean they really seem to believe that they were on a path for disciplining and getting this child in line. There really didn't seem to be a whole lot of red lights that were going above their heads going, maybe this isn't right. Maybe this is a bit too much.

**Robin Drake** (1:57)
You know, she actually was in Two Rivers, I think the night before or a night and a half, two nights before, Elijah went missing, came by, came down to Two Rivers to meet and have some time with Jesse. So there's that going on. And all these conversations and texts, I want him to fear you. And, you know, Jesse's like, I don't want him to fear me, but he will respect me.
And one of his favorite things to do to make him respect or to punish him was to throw cold water on him or put him in the shower with cold, cold water. That's painful. A three-year-old. A three-year-old. That was one of the things he would do. If he started getting upset, he would say, do you want the cold water?
And that, of course, would upset the child even more. So that's some of what was going back and forth. How do we discipline little Elijah? And, you know, it was a lot of what I would call physical punishment requiring him to kneel, to, you know, all of this was to make it to where mom was the authority figure, which mom should be. But mom should also be doing this herself, not sending it to a child, to a...

**Tony Brueski** (3:32)
Well, no one should be doing this themselves, but yes.

**Robin Drake** (3:35)
Well, you know, when it comes to disciplining your child.

**Tony Brueski** (3:38)
Yeah.

**Robin Drake** (3:39)
Your child should be disciplined by you. But she needed help and this is what she did.

**Tony Brueski** (3:48)
So there are two other children here in this picture. There's... She has another, he has another. Let's start with him. So if he's... If she's dropping this kid off in the thought process is, oh, well, he has a son with special needs. He's dealt with this before, even though her son didn't have special needs, but he's three.
Well, however that thought process goes. So he's got a track or he's got some reps, I guess, in quote unquote, raising a child, if that's what you want to call it.
What's the story with that kid? Where is that kid?

**Robin Drake** (4:24)
He, as far as I know now, he's being taken care of, but he's non-verbal. So he's higher on the autism spectrum.
And he went to school every morning and then came home in the evenings. So I don't-

**Tony Brueski** (4:45)
To him?

**Robin Drake** (4:46)
To Vang, yes. And he would take him to school sometimes and other times he would have him get the bus.

**Tony Brueski** (4:52)
Is there mom in that picture or is it just Vang that's running this show with you?

**Robin Drake** (4:56)
Just Vang running the show.

**Tony Brueski** (4:58)
Wow. What about the other daughter of her?

**Robin Drake** (5:02)
She actually got allowed to see her. Originally her, you know, when they set bond and stuff, was not allowing her to see any minor children, but she fought that and fought that so that she could see her daughter. But again, ooh, Tabasco sauce down the throat? Oh my gosh.