What's next in Elijah Vue case? Expert discusses filing charges even if no body is found

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- With three-year-old Elijah Vue now missing for more than two months in Two Rivers, we're looking at if and when additional charges could be filed.

So far, investigators have not explicitly said they believe Elijah is dead, but many of the search efforts are consistent with a recovery.

Jesse Vang and Katrina Baur remain in custody on child neglect charges, but at some point, there could be murder charges, even if a body is never found.

A former homicide prosecutor explained why "no body" murder cases are becoming more common to hold people accountable, despite their challenges.

Tad DiBiase is a former federal homicide prosecutor. He said, "It is very difficult to prosecute a case without the body."

But not impossible. "No body" murder cases are still rare, according to DiBiase, but they're becoming more common.

He's tracked nearly 600 such cases and says a body provides critical information like cause of death, and often when and where someone was killed. "Without having that information, it makes it incredibly difficult to figure out all of those things. And therefore, your pool of suspects becomes much larger."

But many prosecutors have filed murder charges even without a body, including in Wisconsin.

In Brown County in 2021, James Prokopovitz was convicted of killing his wife even though her body was never found.

In Door County in 2022, Richard Pierce was convicted of killing his wife back in 1975.

In the past, before advancements in DNA and forensic technology, it could take decades for a missing person case to become a homicide case.

DiBiase said, "Nowadays, what I'm finding is there is a much-shortened timeframe between missing, arrest, to trial. Sometimes as quick as a year."

DiBiase said it's usually easier to determine if a missing adult is dead when there's a lack of phone data, social media posts, or electronic bank transactions.

And young children can't make it on their own so they're rarely missing by choice.

Occasionally, bodies are found after a conviction is secured, but it's often because the suspect has shared information after the fact to bargain for a lesser sentence.

DiBiase said that's especially painful for the family. "By the same token, I understand why the police and the family want to get some closure and would agree to making a deal with the devil, so to speak, so that they could get some closure."

And even if a conviction is secured, families can still go through a lifetime of pain.

DiBiase said, "Even after a conviction, if the body is never found, there's still that little bit of, unfortunately, false hope."

Questions for the Manitowoc County district attorney were not answered Wednesday evening.

Katrina Baur returns to court next Tuesday, April 30, for a motion hearing. Jesse Vang's next court date will be in June.