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U.S. NEWS Thursday 20 February 2020

Missouri man charged in Chinese wife's death despite no body

By MARGARET STAFFORD posed of an not located for
Associated Press some time," the statement
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The says.
American husband of a He did not leave a note for
Chinese woman who has his wife, locked the door
been missing since October and took her apartment
was charged Wednesday key when he left their home.
with first-degree murder in "Joseph did not have any
her death, even though her plans for if Mengqi returned
body hasn't been found. while he was gone," the
Joseph Elledge, of Colum- statement says.
bia, Missouri, was charged Elledge, who quickly was
with first-degree murder in named as the prime sus-
the death of 28-year-old pect in her disappearance,
Mengqi Ji, who has been was already charged with
missing since October, ac- child endangerment and
cording to court records. abuse of a child. Prosecu-
Prosecutors have request- tors say Elledge separated
ed a $5 million cash-only his wife from their 1-year-
bond. old daughter and that the
According to a probable separation created "a sub-
cause statement, Elledge stantial risk" to the girl. Her
did not report his wife miss- maternal grandparents
ing for more than 24 hours and paternal grandparents
after he woke up and share custody. This undated file photo provided by Boone County Sheriff's Department in Columbia, Mo., shows
Joseph Elledge.
found her gone on Oct. 9. An after hours call to Associated Press
He instead spent time play- Elledge's attorneys' office
ing video games and con- seeking comment was not Recordings of conversa- police search efforts so far, Ji Elledge, received a mas-
tacted his mother and a immediately returned. tions between the couple but are concerned there ter's degree in mechanical
friend without mentioning Amy Salladay, the attorney before Ji disappeared is no clear plan for further and aerospace engineer-
that she was missing, even for Ji's family, said the fam- showed him to be "openly search efforts. She said the ing from the University of
though her disappearance ily was "very supportive" of hostile and at times threat- family would prefer a multi- Missouri in December 2014.
was unusual, according to Boone County Prosecutor ening to Ji." At one point disciplinary team working She previously attended
the statement. He didn't Dan Knight's decision to file in June 2019 he said "I'm together and taking ad- the East China University of
mention he didn't know charges now rather than ready to be done talking to vantage of all the profes- Science and Technology in
where she was until one wait until her body is found. you forever" and in August sional volunteers who have Shanghai.
of her friends came to the "They understand the risks said he wanted a divorce, offered their help. Elledge was studying at the
house the next day at the associated with double according to the state- Ji, whom law enforcement University of Missouri when
request of her parents. jeopardy but they also ment. initially identified as Mengqi he was arrested last year.q
At that point, he put his need resolution for their Authorities have been
wife's mother on a video granddaughter," Salladay searching for Ji's body
call and told her Ji was said. "They have full confi- in the Lamine River near
missing and then began dence that Mr. Knight has Boonville.
contacting her friends to carefully considered all the Elledge's cell phone re-
see if they knew where she factors related to filing the cords show he drove to that
was. None of her family or case now." river for about 45 minutes in
friends have had contact Knight, who could not be the hours after his wife went
with Ji since she went miss- reached for comment missing, the statement says.
ing and there has been no Wednesday, had de- Two police cadaver dogs
activity on her financial ac- scribed Elledge as a "jeal- alerted to the presence of
counts. ous, controlling, manipula- human decomposition in
During the hours after his tive psychopath," during a the river. The area has been
wife disappeared, Elledge November hearing. searched several times with
took two drives with the Her mother told police different methods but the
couple's 1-year-old daugh- Elledge was a controlling "complicated nature" of
ter to rural areas and to a husband who would not al- the area has prevented a
popular biking and hiking low Ji to have a social life comprehensive search, the
trail with access to a river. and would get upset if she statement says.
"These locations are places left the house for trips that Salladay said Ji's family ap-
where a body could be dis- he thought were too long. preciates the Columbia