Man accused of murder in missing mom case denied bail

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The man accused of murder in the case of a Columbia missing mom was denied bond Monday afternoon.

Boone County Division 1 Judge Brouck Jacobs said Joseph Elledge is a "danger to the community" and faces felonies with separate victims.

Jacobs set a status hearing in Elledge's first-degree murder case for Jan. 15, 2021.

Elledge was arrested earlier this year charged with murder in the disappearance of his wife Mengqi Ji. For nearly a year, Elledge has been held in Boone County Jail custody without bond.

Last week, the Columbia Police Department finished its search for Ji's remains. Officers searched a portion of the Lamine River for months, but no remains were not found.

Ji was last seen on Oct. 8, 2019, and reported missing by Elledge two days later.

Scott Rosenblum, Elledge's attorney in the murder case, motioned to have his client's bail set at $750,000. The attorney included in the motion that he was okay with his client wearing a GPS monitor. The motion was later denied.

Rosenblum said Ji had an online relationship with another man in China. The defense claimed Ji may have left Columbia to meet the other man.

Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight said during Monday's hearing there is no evidence Ji ever intended to meet the person she met online.

Knight pushed to set a trial date during the hearing - potentially for April or May. As of Monday, Jacobs had not scheduled a trial in the case.