Elijah Vue: Authorities offer $40K reward for information and safe return of missing Wisconsin toddler as search enters 4th week

TWO RIVERS, WISCONSIN: Numerous volunteers are lending a hand in the search for Wisconsin toddler Elijah Vue, who went missing on Tuesday, February 20. The operation has spread to multiple new locations after the search for the missing 3-year-old Wisconsin toddler entered its fourth week.

Authorities are now offering a $40,000 reward to get information about the 3-year-old toddler's location and his safe return.

Community-led search operations with funds raised

The Bubolz Nature Preserve in Outagamie County is now the site of expanded community-led search operations. 

In the meantime, the Two Rivers Police Department (TRPD) declared earlier this week that the reward fund for information leading to Elijah has reached $40,000 due to additional funds raised by the department.

In addition, $10,000 from Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers, $15,000 from the FBI, and $15,000 from the city are included. Elijah is described as having brown eyes and dark blond hair, and he is of Hmong and White ethnicity.

The lighthouse in Fond du Lac, the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay, the Pine Oak Forest State Natural Area in Wisconsin Dells, and the Mikadow Theater in Manitowoc are all conducting simultaneous searches.

“Anybody who has kids and a lot of people who don’t have kids… it touches your heart,” search volunteer Lacey Beduhn told WBAY, before adding, “Just to hope he’s found. I mean, it’s such a sad, sad thing and I’m just trying to help them out the best I can.”

Elijah Vue was last seen in Two Rivers neighborhood 

Elijah was last seen on February 20 at an apartment in the Two Rivers neighborhood of the 3900 block of Mishicot Road.

Jesse Vang, his caregiver and mother's boyfriend, was subsequently taken into custody on suspicion of neglecting a child. Elijah's mother Katrina Baur was also detained and accused of participating in the neglect of her child.

Vang said that due to reported behavioral issues, Baur let Elijah live with him for a few weeks beginning on February 12.

According to a criminal complaint, Vang reported the child missing, saying that at about eight in the morning, he took Elijah into a bedroom and gave him instructions to stand by the bed and pray. 

Elijah weighs about thirty to forty pounds, is three feet tall, and has a birthmark on his left knee.

When last seen, he was donning a dark, long-sleeved shirt, gray pants, and dinosaur slip-on shoes in red and green. He might have had a red and white checkered blanket with him.   

The state tip line at 844-267-6648, Two Rivers police at 920-686-7200, or the P3 app for anonymous tips are the places where anyone with information is asked to get in touch.