Two Rivers, Wisconsin (WFRV) – Police said at a news conference on Friday night that the bones found on September 7 belong to Elijah Vue, a 3-year-old Wisconsin boy who was reported missing in February.
The body of Vue was found on private property by someone who was getting their land ready for shooting season. It wasn’t on the grounds of Manitou Girl Scout Camp in Two Rivers, which is 37 miles southeast of Green Bay. Instead, it was in a thickly wooded area with a lot of underbrush.
The body parts were found three miles northwest of the first place where Vue was reported missing. The area has been searched several times by police. When the bodies were found, they were taken to the Wisconsin Crime Lab to be tested for DNA. The results showed that the bodies belonged to Elijah Vue.
It was with sad hearts that Two Rivers Police Chief Ben Meinnert told the crowd that the body parts had been identified as those of Elijah Vue. “That’s good news, and the Amber Alert will end after this briefing.”
The find clearly upset Police Chief Meinnert, who went on to say that he had never met Elijah but had seen how he brought out the best in the people of Two Rivers.
Meinnert said, “I can’t thank the people and our businesses enough.” He then paused for a moment. “Thank you to DCI for continuing to lead this investigation, the FBI for their help, and all of our local, state, and federal fire and police departments, as well as many other agencies in the area.”
The investigation that began as a search for a lost person has now turned into an investigation into a death. The Two Rivers Police Department says they’ll keep the public up to date as they can, but they ask that people be patient because the case will take a long time.
“Now that we know where Elijah was found, which is near Christy Bob Lane and Manitou Drive, we ask that anyone with information please contact us if they haven’t already or if they think it could help with this investigation,” Police Chief Meinnert said.
Vue, who was 3 years old when he disappeared on February 20, was last seen by his mother’s boyfriend, Jesse Vang, in the 3900 block of Mishicot Rd. in Two Rivers.
Vang was taking care of Elijah on the day he went missing. He told police that he fell asleep and when he woke up, the child was gone.
A police report seen by Nexstar’s WFRV claims that Bauer left Elijah with Vang, whom she reportedly called the “enforcer of rules,” to teach the boy how to “be a man” and fix some of his “bad behaviors.”
Charges have been made against Vang and Baur in the Wisconsin Circuit Court system. Vang is charged with having been a party to a crime and neglecting a child for a long time. Another charge against Baur is chronic abuse of a child as a party to a crime.
He is also charged with two counts of resisting or obstructing an officer and neglecting a child. Now that it is known for sure that Vue died, Baur and Vang could be charged with more crimes.
Baur told police at first that she wasn’t in Manitowoc County from February 12 to 20, but the criminal charge says she came back on February 16.
Phone records and reports from witnesses show that Vang and Baur drove around Manitowoc together early on February 17. Vang went into a bar while Baur went to a Kwik Trip shop.
The Two Rivers Police Department released a picture of a vehicle they were interested in on March 4 and asked people to look at any surveillance tape from February 19 between 2 and 9 p.m.
At this point, police have the description of the wanted car as a 1997 brown Nissan Altima with four doors and a Wisconsin license plate that starts with A and ends with 0. Officers also made it clear that Jesse Vang and Katrina Baur do not own the car.
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On March 18, the police confirmed that the blanket they had found earlier in the probe belonged to Vue. The blanket was found 3.7 miles from the last place he was seen.
For months, police from all over the country and in Manitowoc County searched the area but only found small hints.
As of Friday afternoon, no one has been charged with the murder and missing of Elijah Vue.