GUILTY MO - Mengqi Elledge, 28, found deceased, Columbia, 9 Oct 2019 *husband arrested*

[heuristicsdepartment]

Joseph Elledge indicted by grand jury for child abuse, endangerment

The indictment filed added the second charge of child endangerment, citing that Elledge "knowingly acted in a manner that created a substantial rsik to the life and body and health of [redacted] a child less than seventeen years old, by separating Mengqi Ji from [redacted]."

 

[Laughing]

May be a repeat, 3 charges, more of the same:

Husband of missing Columbia, Missouri, woman facing new charges


Check for yourself here:

https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/nameSearch.do

Elledge, Joseph Duane

 

[heuristicsdepartment]

Police plan to resume search for missing Columbia mother in Cooper County

COLUMBIA — Columbia police investigators planned Friday to resume their search for the body of a missing Columbia mother.

Columbia Police Spokesman Jeff Pitts said investigators were in the process of deciding when to resume their search. Pitts said search operations were difficult because of several feet of debris under the water. Divers spent more than a week searching near Cooper County’s Highway 41 Bridge. Sonar experts were unsuccessful after using high-powered detection equipment.

 

[Knox]

Question: if Mengqi's body is not found. Will the DA file a murder charge against JE?

 

[Dre]

Question: if Mengqi's body is not found. Will the DA file a murder charge against JE?

As it is, I would say no... but quite honestly they may have a lot of evidence that we have no idea of, so let’s hope that’s the case and they’re playing this one close until arrest is made...
Moo

 

[carbuff]

Yeah, that's my understanding. Having a body might make the prosecution easier, but in most states it's possible to prosecute without a body if they have sufficient evidence that she's dead.

 

[alexwood]

Husband of missing Columbia woman speaks on her disappearance


Here’s a video where the husband speaks. I know everyone deals with grief differently, but I get an eerie vibe from his body language.

Husband says in interview: "I knew she was talking to someone else, on the side . . .."

 

[KJ's Mamu]

I hope they do have the evidence to prosecute without a body as I'm beginning to doubt she will be found. Mengqi and her child deserve justice!

 

[Knox]

I hope they do have the evidence to prosecute without a body as I'm beginning to doubt she will be found. Mengqi and her child deserve justice!

Yes, they do! I haven't seen anything recently on the custody hearing? Gosh I really feel awful for her parents!

 

[heuristicsdepartment]

Trial set for Columbia man charged with child abuse, search for missing woman continues

Joseph Elledge has been indicted by a Boone County grand jury on one count of child abuse or neglect and two counts of first-degree child endangerment.

He is scheduled to appear for jury trial on Feb. 25 at 9 a.m. at the Boone County Courthouse.

The new trial date came on a day when dive crews were searching a section of the Lamine River for the body of his missing wife Mengqi Ji.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

On Wednesday, ABC17 crews saw a team of five people go out on a boat upstream around 12:30 p.m. It appeared divers were a part of that team.

Police could not confirm any new information or what was being done Wednesday but stood by their statement from Tuesday.

"CPD will continue its efforts to locate Mengqi Ji Elledge in the area of the Lamine River. There are no specific times or dates when operations may take place and some operations may occur on private property."
Jeff Pitts, Columbia Police Department
Crews continue search for missing mother 3 months after disappearance - ABC17NEWS

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"There are no specific times or dates when operations may take place and some operations may occur on private property," Public Information Officer Jeff Pitts said in an email. "Investigators continue to evaluate leads to determine when and by what means a search of the area may entail."

A Feb. 25 trial date on those charges was set this week. A pre-trial conference date has been set for Feb. 10.

Police and divers have been searching the Lamine River, saying they have solid information suggesting her body may be there.
Columbia Police: Search continues for Mengqi Ji Elledge

 

[heuristicsdepartment]

Man accused in wife's disappearance seeks change of venue

On Friday, Elledge's attorneys filed a motion for a change of venue. The motion cited concerns about "extra ordinary" news coverage of the case and how it could impact the impartiality of a jury chosen in Boone County.

 

[JerseyGirl]

He wants to have his child abuse and endangerment trial moved .

Elledge has been jailed on a $500,000 bond since about two weeks after reporting that his wife, Mengqi Ji Elledge, was missing. He is not charged in her disappearance, although prosecutors say he is the prime suspect.

Missing Missouri woman’s spouse wants child abuse trial moved

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

In the meantime :
by Mark Slavit
Tuesday, January 14th 2020
“COLUMBIA —

Poor weather conditions Tuesday delayed the search for a missing Columbia mother. 28-year-old Mengqi Ji was last seen at her home in the 2600 block of Eastwood Drive on October 8. Columbia police investigators were in the process of gathering up their resources as they continued their search for Mengqi Ji. Investigators never said why they were confident they were searching in the right place.

Members of several law enforcement agencies, including the Mid-Missouri Sheriff’s Dive Team, searched in the Lamine River in Cooper County for the body of Mengqi Ji. They have found nothing so far. Searchers planned to return to the section of the river below the Highway 41 Bridge under better weather conditions.

‘You’ve people who are taking vacation time from their regular jobs in those other agencies and coming out to help us or they are volunteering their own time to come out and help us also,’ Columbia Police Lt. Matt Stephens said. ‘What we are really trying to do is gather up all our resources and deploy those as efficiently as we can when conditions are right for us to actually use those people.’

[SBM]

Investigators said the search would continue in Cooper County as soon as possible.

[SBM]”
Poor weather conditions delay search for missing Columbia mother Mengqi Ji

 

[KDM92]

Weather is definitely not good here right now. Makes me incredibly sad that this is delaying things even more. I just hope that this can be resolved ASAP. As others have said, the family deserves justice and at least some resolution.

 

[heuristicsdepartment]

Prosecutors object to Joseph Elledge change of venue request

Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Knight is objecting to a defense request for change of venue in the upcoming trial of Joseph Elledge on child abuse charges..

In a court filing on Wednesday, Knight argued that Missouri Supreme Court rule 32.04 "requires that an application for change of venue must be filed no later than ten days after the initial plea is entered." He notes that Elledge's lawyer, John O'Connor, failed to meet that deadline.

 

[Knox]

I'm so sad for ME's parents, I'm not very hopeful she will ever be recovered

 

[PommyMommy]

FEB 5, 2020
No venue change for abuse trial of man whose wife is missing
The child abuse trial of a Missouri man whom prosecutors call the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife will remain in Boone County but the jury will be chosen in another county, a circuit judge has ruled.

[...]

 

[heuristicsdepartment]

Elledge granted change of venue for jury selection

COLUMBIA — The Child Endangerment and Abuse case against Joseph Elledge of Columbia will be heard by a jury from a county outside of Boone after a judge Monday approved his change of venue request for jury selection only.