A sign for missing three-year-old Elijah Vue at the Mikadow Theatre in Manitowoc on Sunday, February 25, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Tuesday marks three weeks since 3-year old Elijah Vue was reported missing from a Two Rivers apartment.
Law enforcement continues to work the case as dozens of volunteers are putting in time searching rural and rugged parts of Northeast Wisconsin, looking for anything that could help lead investigators to the boy.
Vue’s mother, Katrina Baur, and her boyfriend, Jesse Vang, who was caring for Elijah when he went missing, are both in jail facing child neglect charges.
Three weeks after he was originally reported missing in Manitowoc County, the volunteer search for Vue turned to Brown County.
“We are just searching for anything that could be relevant the case. Searching for socks, shoes, anything that could have possibly been dumped,” said Hannah Simonar, who is organizing the Brown County searches.
Searchers spent the morning at Wequiock Falls before turning their attention to the trails near Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary. Last weekend, searches focused on the Baird Creek trails on Green Bay’s east side.
They’re meticulously searching for anything that looks out of the ordinary — marking areas they’ve walked through — trying to stay hopeful, but also be realistic about the situation.
According to searcher Patty Albers of Green Bay, “It’s a needle in the haystack, right? You have to kind of think, if I was this person and I’m in a panic and carrying something, where would I go and what could I do? It’s really hard to put yourself in, and you don’t want to put yourself in those shoes. You don’t want to start thinking like that. But, you have to think, where could this person have put this little boy?”
While law enforcement says they continue to follow up on leads, searchers aren’t willing to give up yet either.
“Put yourself in the shoes of the grandparents and aunt and uncles and all the rest of the family members, and think wouldn’t you want everybody to try and help you if you were the one looking for your grandchild,” added Albers.
And that’s why Jackie Damiano, who works for Bellin Health, came up with the idea of collecting items that can help in the search. She said, “I had been helping the family with handing out posters to the companies and there were actually some companies who had resisted having this child’s poster posted.”
Damiano says Bellin was on-board by sharing the wish list. It’s looking to collect things like small flashlights and batteries, compasses, whistles, bandages, single-use first aid ointment and hand sanitizer, as well as vinyl gloves.
“This leads the way for us to give back to try and bring him home, even if we can’t dedicate the hours that other searchers are able to,” said Damiano.
Searches for Elijah Vue continue all week in different Northeast Wisconsin communities. Donations for search items will be collected at Bellin’s Two Rivers and Manitowoc locations until March 25.
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