BREAKING: CPD will host 7 p.m. news conference on “new evidence that could pertain to the 2019 disappearance of Mengqi Ji.” pic. twitter.com/Nv9Uvxf0ux
- Lucas Geisler (@LucasABC17) March 25, 2021
▲ On the evening of March 25, Columbia Mayor Brian Trice and Police Chief Jeff Jones said the skeletal remains found may be those of Mengqi Ji, a Chinese woman who has been missing since October 2019. Photo according to the Columbia Tribune
The remains of Chinese woman Mengqi Ji (pronounced Mengqi Ji Elledge) have finally been found 17 months after she disappeared from her Home in Columbia, Missouri.
According to the Associated Press, a skeleton, credit cards, clothing, driver’s license and other personal items were found while hiking in a remote corner of Boone County’s Stonebridge State Park in Columbia on the afternoon of March 25, local Time. Later that evening, Columbia Mayor Brian Trice and Police Chief Jeff Jones said it may be the remains of Mengqi Ji, a Chinese woman missing since October 2019, although there has been no final confirmation.
Ji Mengqi, 28, disappeared from her home on Oct. 8, 2019, sparking a more than year-long search. Her husband, Joseph Elrich, is currently in prison awaiting trial on charges of murdering his wife, Ji Mengqi, and abusing their 1-year-old daughter, Anna.
Husband calls police only 36 hours after wife’s strange disappearance
On Oct. 10, 2019, the Columbia Police Department received a call from Joseph Elledge that his 28-year-old Chinese wife, Mengqi Ji, was missing.
Elledge told police he last saw Ji Mengqi at his home around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 8. When he woke up the next morning around 5 a.m., he found his wife no longer at home. According to Elledge’s account, she had taken only her wallet with her, while other items such as her cell phone, passport, clothes and their one-year-old daughter, Anna, were left at home.
Last night, our community felt what many would call “relief” from the possible discovery of Mengqi Ji. We ‘ve been covering her disappearance since 2019 and will continue until we get all of the answers you need. /want to talk about Mengqi Ji, my DMs are open. pic.twitter.com/sdCMtWYJmP
- Alyssa Jackson (@thealyssaj) March 26, 2021
It’s worth noting that Alyssa called the police to report his wife missing only 36 hours after she disappeared.
A friend of Ji Mengqi’s said she was chatting with herself on WeChat the night before she disappeared (Oct. 8) and that there was nothing unusual about her. The friend also revealed that on the third day of Ji Mengqi’s disappearance (around 10 a.m. on the 12th), Ailiqi had used Ji Mengqi’s WeChat to ask if his wife had contacted her, and he mentioned to the girlfriend that the two had recently fallen out, even unintentionally revealing his suspicion that Ji Mengqi had a third party.
WeChat records show that when Ji Mengqi’s best friend asked if the two had quarreled before, Ariki replied, “No, there was no quarrel. But in recent months, she has been a little distant from me, and at the same time, she has been talking to other guys. 3 days ago, she disappeared in the night.”
After human remains were found at RockBridge Memorial State Park, find out why Columbia police areattempting to verify the remains as Mengqi Ji on ABC 17 News at 10. https://t.co/CJawAShzLz
- ABC 17 News (@ABC17News) March 26, 2021
Mengqi Ji’s best friend replied: ” You both have daughters, how can this happen? I don’t believe it. Where are your daughters now?” Elledge said, “Yes, I think it’s strange too. I can’t believe she would do something like this either. But now she is indeed missing, and her Family and friends have not heard from her. My daughter is now safe and is with me.”
After that, when Ji Mengqi’s close friends sent another WeChat asking for news about Ji Mengqi, they never received a reply.
On Oct. 15, 2019, a week after his wife’s disappearance, Elledge gave his first interview to local media outlet KRCG13 News.” I think she was just confused and maybe scared, I don’t know if she felt alone, but I really wanted her to come home and I was really worried.” Elledge said, yet at one point he smiled wryly and even laughed out loud while talking about his wife’s disappearance on camera.
As to why his wife’s disappearance delayed the police, Elledge responded that he thought she might have something to do.” I don’t know where she would have gone, I know she was meeting with someone the next morning. But I don’t know who else she would have met with or what else she would have done. It was really weird that she didn’t have her cell phone or anything like that.”
Not only that, but Elledge also revealed in the interview that he and his wife had been going through a difficult time.” We’ve kind of drifted apart over the last few months, and I know she’s talking to another person.” Elledge added that Timonki loves her daughter Anna very much and that she is a very great mom and the best mom ever.
Elledge said in the interview that he believes Anna will see her mother again and said he will try to repair the couple’s relationship as much as possible.” I think she’ll come back, I just don’t know where she’s gone. I hope she’s safe and I’ll try to be a better husband.”
Found daughter abused by husband, blamed police
On Oct. 25, 2019, Elledge was arrested and jailed on child abuse charges.
According to KRCG-TV, while investigating the disappearance of Ji Mengqi, police received a report from a woman named K.R. that Ji had called herself in February 2019 to report finding bruises on her daughter’s buttocks. Ji Mengqi had told the woman that she had asked her husband about the bruises on her daughter’s body and he explained that they may have been accidentally done in the shower.
Body of Chinese woman Mengqi Ji Elledge,missing since October 2019, may have been found in Missouri river https://t.co/E2KXGnBj3s pic.twitter.com/JiaLhn1KDZ
- Zyite.news (@ZyiteGadgets) March 26, 2021
Police said in a statement that after his arrest, Elledge admitted he ” did injure the child 7 to 8 months ago,” saying the child couldn’t stop crying. In his testimony, Elledge said it may have been caused by choking his daughter as a distraction, or by holding her too tightly. However, police said in a statement that “the injuries do not appear to be consistent with bruising caused by choking or holding tightly, and appear to be bruises from some sort of assault impact.”
After noticing the bruises on the child, Ji Mengqi tried to call the police, but said she could give Elledge another chance after he promised not to hit the child again, according to the Associated Press. Nonetheless, Ji Mengqi forwarded photos of the child’s bruises to a third party. The police then found Ji Mengqi’s iPad and found pictures and videos of the child’s injuries.
Prosecution says husband killed wife or to avoid expensive divorce fees
Through further investigation, police said that Ji Mengqi’s disappearance was suspected to be related to the murder and officially upgraded to a criminal case, with the main suspect being none other than her husband, Elitch.
It is reported that the police found during the investigation that Elitch ” noticed ” his wife missing on October 9, 2019. But it was not until the next day, after Ji Mengqi’s family lost contact with him, when his mother requested a friend to check the home, Ailich told his family and friends about Ji Mengqi’s disappearance, and called the police that afternoon. However, on the night of the 10th, Elledge also met with a friend to play games together online, and did not look anxious to find his missing wife.
In the subsequent investigation, the police found that after the disappearance of Ji Mengqi, Eliech’s whereabouts were very suspicious. He had driven to a remote area of Columbia and spent about 45 minutes at a hidden entrance to the local Lamine River.
A #drone view of the area in Rock Bridge SP south of Columbiawhere the remains of Mengqi Ji were found shortly after noon by It is 1/4 mile from the Gans TH. CPD is on the sceneprocessing for evidence. @HallReports has live reports from the park on @KOMUnews at9/10. pic.twitter.com/PagXlaeigk
- Major King (@AirMajorImages) March 26, 2021
▲Missouri law enforcement officials have been searching for Munch’s body. Photo according to the Associated Press
Police also found several ” threatening” recordings on Elledge’s phone. During a court hearing in November 2019, the prosecution played four recordings of Elledge and Ji Munch arguing. In the recordings, Elitch said ” I don’t like being with you”, ” I can’t wait to end this relationship”, ” I will bury you in the ground”, ” I know you are looking for a fight”, ” This is not abuse” …… Elitch raised his voice several times during the argument between the two sides. He also mentioned in the recording that he wanted a divorce and ” the sooner the better”.
In the months since Ji Mengqi disappeared, police have been searching for her remains, even using divers, sonar, police dogs and building a levee to help searchers access the watershed where the remains might be found, but there has been no progress.
The Associated Press reported that on Feb. 19, 2020, Elledge was formally charged with first-degree murder, along with child abuse, child endangerment and third-degree domestic violence, yet he pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Columbia Police Department confirmed thatthe site of the memorial matches the site where detectives searchedand excavated human remains discovered Thursday afternoon. https://t.co/vfeplQCIK9
- KOMU 8 News (@KOMUnews) March 26, 2021
The Columbia Police Department said in a statement that Elledge likely strangled his wife while he was giving her a massage. No blood was found in his car or apartment, nor were there any self-defense injuries on Elitch’s body.
During the search, police found that after killing his wife, Ji Mengqi, Elledge also wrote a note reminding him to talk about his wife, whose whereabouts were unknown, in the ” present tense,” according to People magazine.
The prosecution described Elrich as a ” jealous, controlling and manipulative psychopath” and argued that he killed his wife to avoid an expensive divorce and to prevent her from returning to China with her daughter. In a recorded phone call in August 2019, Elitch had confessed to Ji Mengqi that he wanted a divorce but was worried that it would ” cost a lot of money.”
Ailich is currently being held pending trial and is barred from posting bail. Police said a more extensive identification of the skeleton found will be conducted, including DNA testing and dental records. The next trial is scheduled for Nov. 1 of this year.
Pregnant, Quit Home, Husband Was Under Her
According to the Columbia Tribune, Ji Mengqi, a native of Xi’an, Shaanxi province, was born on April 18, 1991, and loved to draw in her spare time. She received her undergraduate degree from East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai and came to the University of Missouri-Columbia for graduate school in 2012 through an exchange program.
After graduation, Mengqi Ji worked as a supervisor at Nanova, a local company that manufactures dental products and denture materials in Columbia, where she met her subordinate, Elijah, and married Elijah on September 22, 2017. Anna was born. After her pregnancy, Monki reportedly quit her job at Nanova, choosing to stay home to care for her daughter. When she was killed by her husband, her daughter Anna had just celebrated her first birthday and was still breastfeeding.
Her Parents arrived in the United States shortly after her disappearance. According to the prosecution’s statement, Ji Mengqi’s mother, Ren Ke, had recounted that her daughter had been on daily video calls with them in Xi’an. Therefore, when they did not hear from her on Oct. 9, 2019, they immediately sensed something was wrong and asked a friend to visit her home.
Renko said that her daughter was a social person before she married Elitch. However, Elledge was very controlling and did not allow Ji Mengqi to have a social Life. Renko said that Elric did not like Ji Mengqi to go out with her friends and that Elric would get angry if she left her residence for too long.
” Ji Mengqi’s strange disappearance is the worst thing that has ever happened to our family.” Ji Mengqi’s family said in a statement in 2020.
On March 25, Amy Saladi, an attorney representing Ji Mengqi’s family, confirmed to KOMU 8 News that she had received a call from police that Ji’s remains had been found. Saladi said Ji Mengqi’s family is trying to digest the news and is somewhat comforted by the development.
“As parents of a missing child, they have been hoping for their daughter’s return, and this will become a nightmare. At the same time, they want to know what really happened to Ji Mengqi, and the latest information allows them to finally have closure and (finding the remains) will allow them to arrange a funeral for Ji Mengqi.” Saradi wrote.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Police believe humanremains found near Rock Bridge State Park belong to Mengqi Ji #KTVONews https://t.co/ r3E6V7qeS2
- KTVO Television (@KTVOTV) March 26, 2021
On October 26, 2019, Mengqi Ji’s parents, who have been quietly searching for their daughter after her arrest and incarceration, spoke out to the media for the first time, formally asking to raise their granddaughter until the case is solved, saying that Elledge’s family has been withholding information from them.” Knowing that our granddaughter Anna was abused by her father in our daughter’s absence is deeply disturbing to us, and we are seriously concerned about Anna’s safety and health and want to help care for her until our daughter Ji Mengqi returns home.” Ji Mengqi’s parents added, ” We have been praying for Ji Mengqi’s speedy and safe return home, and for our granddaughter to grow up healthy.”
Meanwhile, on Oct. 31, Elledge’s mother, Joan Elledge, also filed a petition to get custody of her granddaughter Anna, according to court documents.
In November 2019, following a hearing, Ji Mengqi’s parents shared custody of Anna with Elitch’s mother. And the trial regarding the final custody of Anna will take place after the conclusion of this criminal trial.
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