What we know about the disappearance of Wisconsin toddler Elijah Vue
WLUK
By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN
(CNN) — It’s been nearly two months since 3-year-old Elijah Vue was reported missing in Wisconsin while in the care of a man who was in a relationship with his mother.
Since then, investigators have been steadfast in their search and rescue efforts, providing almost daily updates on Facebook; reviewing more than 10,000 video files; canvassing by land, air and water; conducting dozens of interviews; and following hundreds of leads, the police chief in Two Rivers, a city on Lake Michigan, told CNN affiliate WLUK.
“We literally went into every home, talked to everybody that lived in each home,” Chief Ben Meinnert said a week ago. “We checked every room, every cabinet, everything in those homes.”
And yet, they haven’t found the toddler.
Meanwhile, the little boy’s mother and the man who’d been watching him have pleaded not guilty to felony child neglect and other charges stemming from alleged incidents before the toddler’s disappearance, court records show.
Here’s what we know about Elijah and the ongoing investigation:
Who is Elijah Vue?
Elijah has dark, sandy blond hair and brown eyes and is of Hmong and White ethnicity, according to police and a February 20 Amber Alert. He’s about 3 feet tall and 45 pounds, with a birthmark on his left knee.
The toddler was last seen wearing gray pants, a long-sleeved dark shirt, and red and green dinosaur slip-on shoes, it says.
His favorite color is blue, his family told Two Rivers Police.
A month ago police confirmed Elijah’s red and white plaid blanket had been discovered earlier in the investigation some 3.7 miles from around where he was reported missing.
“We cannot express the depth of our sorrow nor the desperation that consumes us as each moment passes without news of Elijah’s safety,” his aunt Linda Vue said at an early March news conference, describing his unexplained absence as “a torment no family or child should ever face.”
Meanwhile, several Facebook groups – the largest amassing over 18,000 members – have surfaced, with people in and outside Twin Rivers discussing theories and details about the case – one-time strangers now with a common goal of finding the little boy.
What led up to the toddler’s disappearance
Elijah was reported missing February 20 by his caretaker at the time, Jesse Vang, who was in a relationship with the child’s mother, Katrina Baur, according to a criminal complaint filed in Manitowoc County.
About a week later, Baur, 31, and Vang, 39, were charged with felony child neglect unrelated to the boy’s disappearance, court documents show. Baur also is charged with misdemeanor offenses: two for resisting or obstructing an officer and one for child neglect, according to court records.
CNN has reached out to attorneys for Baur and Vang. Baur and Vang are being held at the Manitowoc County Jail, according to online jail records.
Vang had been helping care for Elijah off and on for about a month, in part trying to correct what Vang called Elijah’s “bad behaviors,” according to the complaint. Baur wanted Vang to teach her young son “by example how to be a man” and had spoken to Vang about the “limits of what discipline she did not want used,” she told a detective, according to the complaint.
Vang told a detective Elijah’s discipline included standing for one to three hours while required to pray or say, “I’m sorry, mommy,” the complaint said.
The toddler was mostly bottle-fed and was not potty-trained, Vang told a detective, the complaint states. The boy was not allowed to play with the one toy he had at Vang’s home from February 12 to 20 because he was in “time out,” Vang said, according to the complaint.
While Baur was out of town February 17, Vang told her he was angry Elijah had overfilled his diaper and gave him a cold shower, Baur told authorities, the complaint reads.
The evening before the 3-year-old was last seen, Vang had three 12-ounce beers and a muscle relaxant as a sleep aid, he told police, according to the complaint.
Vang told police he noticed Elijah was missing when he woke up from a nap at his home, according to the complaint.
“At no point did she (Baur) admit she was in the city of Two Rivers between February 12, 2024, and February 20, 2024, or had any face-to-face contact with” her son, the detective who spoke with Baur recalled, according to the court document.
How the investigation has unfolded
On the afternoon of February 20, Twin Rivers Police made the first of many social media pleas for help finding Elijah, sharing photos of him and asking anyone with information to call the department.
Then on March 5, the agency asked the public to review any surveillance camera footage for what it called “a vehicle of interest” – a beige 1997 four-door Nissan Altima with a Wisconsin tag starting with “A” and ending with “0.”
Police already had the sedan, which did not belong to Vang or Baur, they said, adding they were keen to see any footage of it captured February 19 between 2 and 9 p.m.
That same week, a judge denied Baur’s request for a reduction of her $15,000 bond, court documents show. Bond for Vang is set at $20,000, records show.
During Baur’s bond hearing, her mother – Elijah’s grandmother – wrote a letter to the court opposing a lower bond for her daughter, citing the woman’s pattern of erratic behavior, poor judgement and inability to take responsibility for her actions, WLUK reported.
“Her story always depends on her audience,” the letter read, the station reported. “At this time, rather than aligning in locating her son, she feels the need to reiterate what a good guy Jesse is and is fully defending him and his actions. By aligning with him, she could potentially have access to his extended family and ability to flee the area.”
Baur on March 22 pleaded not guilty to charges against her, court documents show; her next court appearance is April 26. Vang on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to the felony child neglect charge and is due back in court June 28, according to WLUK.
As Baur and Vang have attended court hearings, investigators have continued looking for Elijah. Two Rivers Police almost daily still provide online updates laying out where and with what agencies they searched that day, plus give updates on Baur’s and Vang’s court proceedings.
Sometimes, they also share details of vigils planned for the missing little boy.
CNN’s Paradise Afshar contributed to this report.
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