The grandmother of a 3-year-old Wisconsin boy who vanished last week spoke out publicly for the first time Tuesday at an emotional press conference about the ongoing search for Elijah Vue.
Vue was reported missing in Two Rivers on the morning of Feb. 20 by Jesse Vang, the boyfriend of the toddler’s mother, who told police she’d sent her son to stay with Vang so he could teach the 3-year-old “how to be a man,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Manitowoc County.
Vang told police he’d taken a nap and woke up that morning to find that Vue was gone.
Both Vang and Vue’s mother, Katrina Baur, have been locked up on charges of child neglect in the wake of Elijah’s disappearance. At a Tuesday evening press conference, police said they would not be commenting on the cases against Baur and Vang.
“A child missing for any amount of time is everyone’s worst nightmare,” Two Rivers Police Chief Ben Meinnert told reporters. “That’s why we’re here today. Elijah, a 3-year-old boy, has been missing for a week today. For the past week, we utilized hundreds of resources and worked around the clock in our attempts to bring Elijah home,” he said, adding that drones, helicopters, and canines had been used to search all across Manitowoc County.
Vue’s grandmother, who was not named at the press conference, spoke through sobs as she thanked search and rescuers and begged them not to give up.
“Continue, don’t stop, searching for my baby Elijah,” she said. “We want him to be safe and with my family.”
Elijah’s aunt described him as “a joyful and curious boy, full of life and love.” She appealed for anyone with information on his whereabouts to come forward, saying: “He is a precious child who deserves every chance of happiness and his absence is deeply felt by all who know him and love him.”
Elijah is of Hmong and white ethnicity with dark brown hair and brown eyes, police say, and he was last seen in gray pants, a dark long-sleeve shirt, and red-and-green dinosaur slip-on shoes.
On top of a $1,000 reward offered by the Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers, the FBI is now also offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to Elijah’s whereabouts or the arrest of anyone responsible for his disappearance.
Manitowoc County Sheriff Dan Hartwig, who closed out the press conference with one final plea to the public for information, appeared to fight back tears as he thought of the missing 3-year-old: “Everybody’s seen that kid’s photo,” he said. “It’s pulling at everybody’s heartstrings. We need to find him.”
