Elijah Vue latest: Two Rivers police chief urges people display blue and green as large-scale rural search planned
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TWO RIVERS — As the search for missing 3-year-old Elijah Vue continues, Two Rivers Police Chief Ben Meinnert said March 1 people can support the effort to bring the boy home by displaying blue and green ribbons and lights.
Elijah has been missing since Feb. 20 despite daily search efforts by local, state and federal law enforcement officers that have included canvassing urban and rural neighborhoods; searching rivers, shores and a landfill in Calumet County; and K-9 teams “checking and rechecking various areas.”
In a news release at 4:45 p.m. March 1, Meinnert said Elijah’s favorite color is blue and green is a symbol of hope for the recovery of all missing children, which is why those colors were chosen for people to display.
The chief also said search efforts March 2 would focus on expanding rural search efforts with large-scale coordinated operations.
“We request the community’s cooperation with those efforts to ensure we are thorough,” he said in the release. “Team leaders of those operations will always have law enforcement identification and badges with them.”
Meinnert provided no further update on the search for Elijah in the March 1 news release.
The FBI has offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to locating Elijah or convicting those responsible for his disappearance, and Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers has offered a $1,000 reward.
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Coordinated community effort continues in search for Elijah Vue.
Elijah's family, along with hundreds of people from the community, have turned out each day to search public properties.
A coordinated civilian search effort is being organized with the Mikadow Theatre, 1118 Washington St. in Manitowoc, as a base of operations. People coordinating the searches are now at the theater every day 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and will assign volunteers to areas that need to be searched.
People and businesses have also donated food and drinks to the law enforcement officers conducting the search. The Two Rivers police ask that anyone who wishes to donate contact their business line at 920-793-1191 to make arrangements.
Two Rivers Police Department has asked the public in Two Rivers and Manitowoc County to check their own property with the following guidelines:
Check anywhere a small child could hide, climb or fall.
Check your own property for items that don't belong to you which could include anything from Elijah such as the red-and-white plaid blanket or dinosaur-printed shoes.
Check your surveillance systems from Feb. 12-20. Look for anyone matching Elijah's description in the surveillance footage.
Search public land for the same items or anything relevant to the investigation.
Do not touch anything you find, but contact the tip line (1-844-267-6648) or Two Rivers police (920-686-7200) right away.
Do you have information about Elijah Vue?
Elijah was reported missing from a Two Rivers apartment building in the 3900 block of Mishicot Road at 10:59 a.m. Feb. 20. His caretaker, 39-year-old Jesse Vang, said he had last seen Elijah at 8 a.m. that day.
Vang was taking care of Elijah for a week before the boy went missing. He has since been charged in Manitowoc County Circuit Court with felony child neglect in relation to Elijah's disappearance and is being held on $20,000 cash bond at Manitowoc County Jail.
According to a criminal complaint, he and the boy's mother, Katrina B. Baur, 31, of Wisconsin Dells, were in a relationship and Baur told police she wanted Vang to teach Elijah "how to be a man."
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Baur is being held at Manitowoc County Jail on a $15,000 bond and is suspected of felony child neglect in connection with the disappearance of her son.
Police describe Elijah as being of Hmong and white ethnicity with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He is approximately 3 feet tall and has a birthmark on his left knee. He was last seen wearing gray pants, a dark-colored, long-sleeve shirt and a pair of red-and-green dinosaur slip-on shoes. He may also be carrying a red-and-white plaid blanket.
If you have information that could help the Two Rivers Police Department find Elijah Vue, contact their tipline at 844-267-6648 or submit information via the Crime Stoppers app P3.
People who share information that leads to finding Elijah or the arrest of anyone involved in or responsible for his disappearance could be eligible to receive a reward of up to $1,000 through Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers or $15,000 through the FBI.
Contact Brandon Reid at 920-686-2984 or breid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @breidHTRNews. Alisa M. Schafer is a reporter for the Herald Times Reporter in Manitowoc. She can be reached by email at aschafer@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Elijah Vue missing in Two Rivers, police plan extensive rural search
