Two weeks after a 3-year-old boy vanished in Wisconsin, police are strengthening their search. Here’s what we know about the disappearance of Elijah Vue.
Note: The video in the player above is from a previous report on Elijah Vue's disappearance.
A blanket belonging to missing Wisconsin toddler Elijah Vue has been found, police said Monday, two days prior to the one-month mark of the 3-year-old's disappearance.
In a Facebook post, the Two Rivers Police Department said a red and white plaid blanket found earlier in the investigation was confirmed to be the toddler's. The blanket was discovered in an area between Manitowoc and Two Rivers - 3.7 miles from where Elijah was reported.
Elijah vanished from an apartment in Two Rivers on Feb. 20, where he was staying with his mother's boyfriend, Jesse Vang. The boy's mother, Katrina Baur, told police she had left the 3-year-old with Vang on Feb. 12 because she wanted him to teach her son “to be a man,” and she had intended to pick him up Feb. 23, according to a criminal complaint.
Police said on March 11 that the total reward amount has climbed to $40,000 as a result of donations set up by the city, according to a Facebook post.
In an update released on Friday, police said there has been no sign of Elijah since his disappearance - and search efforts have turned up empty so far.
According to police, several searches took place in wetlands, rural areas, the West Twin River and a farm waste container. In recent days, officers also followed up on numerous leads and continued to comb through large amounts of video footage in conjunction with state and federal law enforcement.
As of March 8, additional charges had been filed against Baur, of the Wisconsin Dells, as prosecutors revealed they had new evidence surrounding Elijah's last days before he went missing.
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Prosecutors previously told the court they had evidence Baur left the 3-year-old unattended for at least an hour on Feb. 16 as she and her boyfriend, Vang, traveled to other locations throughout Manitowoc, WLUK-TV reported. They also said they had evidence Baur left a 6-year-old child unattended in a vehicle on Feb. 14 for about an hour in temperatures below freezing without the vehicle running.
Baur, of the Wisconsin Dells, was charged last month with one felony count of party-to-a-crime child neglect and two misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing an officer. The 31-year-old is being held on a $15,000 cash bond.
Vang, 39, was formally charged with one felony count of party-to-a-crime child neglect. He is being held on a $20,000 cash bond.
