A worst-case scenario in the disappearance of missing 3-year-old Elijah Vue. During a press conference Friday (September 13th) afternoon, Two Rivers Police Chief Ben Meinnert gave more details about remains found in the Town of Two Rivers last week:
The TR police chief stated, “It’s with a heavy heart that I announce to you today (September 13th) that those remains were identified as Elijah Vue.”
Meinnert explained that he was called by Manitowoc County Sheriff Dan Hartwig when his department was called after human remains were reported by a landowner getting his land ready for hunting.
What was found left was a skull and human bones.
Meinnert said his agency helped numerous other crime agencies recover the remains, but then: “Reports went out on social media and other platforms, some of which were false, and most of which had yet to be confirmed,” he explained.
Meinnert corrected some information, including that Elijah’s remains were not found on the Manitou Girl Scout camp property but in a thickly wooded area with heavy underbrush north of the camp off Kristy Bob Lane and Manitou Drive.
Law Enforcement took the remains to the Wisconsin Crime Lab before identifying them as Elijah’s.
Meinnert thanked the Wisconsin DCI for leading the investigation and the churches, schools, and search and rescue groups for their efforts to try and help find Elijah. Meinnert and Assistant Police Chief Mellisa Wiesner both remembered the missing toddler.
“I never met Elijah, but I watched that 3-year-old boy bring out the best in this community,” Meinnert said. “I can’t thank the public and our businesses enough.” Weisner exclaimed, “Elijah was a little guy, but he left a huge impact on all of us and he will not be forgotten.”
The Amber Alert that’s been active since February will end and the case of Elijah Vue now becomes a death investigation.
Meinnert says Two Rivers Police will continue to share any information provided by Wisconsin DCI and the Manitowoc County District Attorney’s Office when they get them.
Elijah’s mother, Katrina Baur, and her boyfriend, Jesse Vang, remain in the Manitowoc County Jail on chronic neglect charges in incidents that happened before Elijah went missing in February.
The DA’s office has filed no new charges at this point.
Baur is scheduled to return to court next month, while Vang is supposed to return later this month.
