Photo: Columbia Police Department
Her husband, Joseph Elledge, 23, said she was gone when he awoke at 5 a.m., but he did not report her missing for more than 36 hours, until about 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 10, according to police.
Joseph Elledge.Boone County Sheriff’s Office
The child neglect charge stemmed from the investigation of that disappearance, after a woman alerted police on Oct. 18 that Megqi had called her last February, claiming to have photos that showed a female child’s bruised buttocks, according to the probable cause document, reports KCRG.
The female child’s mother had wanted to call police but was persuaded to back off after Joseph allegedly promised not to strike the child again, according to the document, the AP reports. But the mother nonetheless forwarded a photograph of her child’s bruising to a third party, and police who recovered the mother’s iPad located additional images and videos of the injury.
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He was arrested the same day on those accusations andbooked on a $500,000 bond, reports KRCG. His attorney, John O’Connor, entered a plea of not guilty to the charges at Joseph’s arraignment on Monday.
“I don’t know where she could have gone,” he told the outlet. “I know she was supposed to meet somebody in the morning. I didn’t know who else she was going to meet or what else she was going to do. It was really weird that she didn’t take her phone or anything else like that.”
At the time, he expressed hope for her return, telling KRCG: “I think she is confused and scared.”
source: people.com
