Elijah Vue, 3, was reported missing from Two Rivers Feb. 20, 2024. (Photo source: Two Rivers Police Dept.)
TWO RIVERS, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — As the search for missing 3-year old Elijah Vue reached the 52-day mark, Two Rivers Police Chief Ben Meinnert provides an update on the case.
When asked if police were searching for a body, Meinnert said, “We’re searching for Elijah. I don’t know how that will turn out, but we’re searching for Elijah.”
The Two Rivers Police Department continues to lead the investigation that includes local, state and federal authorities.
“I am hopeful that we’re going to find him,” Meinnert said.
Meinnert said it was early on in the investigation when it became clear that Elijah Vue wasn’t abducted and he didn’t walk off on his own.
“We learned that it was several hours prior that he may have walked off, so that changed the whole focus at that point, because now we had an endangered child out with what as reported as possibly a blanket in very cold temperatures in winter at 3 years old. A 3-year-old can’t care for themselves, so that’s when everything changed.”
Since then, Meinnert said authorities have followed hundreds of leads — and conducted dozens of interviews and neighborhood canvasses.
“We literally went into every home, talked to everybody that lived in each home, we checked every room, every cabinet, everything in those homes. It doesn’t get much more thorough than that.”
Investigators have reviewed more than 10,000 video files.
They’ve searched from land, air and water.
They’ve advised citizen searchers who’ve volunteered their time to look for Elijah.
And the chief believes, based on the investigation and tips that have come in, authorities have narrowed down their search area to a specific 15-to-20-square-mile area in and around Two Rivers.
“At this point, I have a strong belief that the areas we are searching are the correct areas and we’ll continue searching.”
While Chief Meinnert said the number of leads coming in have decreased, investigators are constantly coming up with new investigative ideas.
The search for Elijah Vue has been difficult on not only the police department but the also the community. But Chief Meinnert said they’re trying to stay positive in the search efforts because they just want to bring Elijah Vue home.
“Unfortunately, we have to be open to all possibilities. Clearly, some of these areas aren’t pleasant that we’re searching. I wouldn’t be happy if we found him in a sewer or a landfill, for instance. But, at the same time, if that’s where he is and we need to bring closure, we will.”
Meinnert is hoping to organize another drone search soon, before the terrain changes and greens up this spring.
Vue was reported missing on Feb. 20. At the time of his disappearance he was staying with his mother’s boyfriend, Jesse Vang.
Vang, along with Vue’s mother, Katrina Baur, have both been charged with child neglect.
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