A red plaid blanket that belongs to missing 3-year-old Elijah Vue was found along the side of a Wisconsin roadway, nearly one month after the toddler’s disappearance, police said.
The discovery was made on County Goodwin Road, east of County Road B, in Manitowoc County, about 4 miles away from where Elijah was last seen. The Two River Police Department, in a press release on Monday, confirmed the blanket belonged to the missing boy.
“We continue to request the public’s assistance in checking all urban and rural areas, including water, to find Elijah and locate any evidence related to his disappearance,” police said.
Elijah was last seen on Feb. 20 around 8 a.m. in Two Rivers, a town on the edge of Lake Michigan, some 40 miles southeast of Green Bay.
Both his mother, Katrina Baur, and her boyfriend, Jesse Vang, have been arrested in the weeks since he disappeared. They’re each facing a felony count of child neglect, and Baur has additionally been charged with a felony count of chronic child neglect as well as two misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing an officer.
According to a criminal complaint, she told police she left Elijah on Feb. 12 with Vang, who she’d hoped could teach her son “to be a man.” Baur said she planned to pick him up on Feb. 23, but Elijah went missing before she returned.
Vang confirmed he was in a relationship with Baur and that Elijah had been staying with him for a month, “but not continuously,” he told investigators. At the time of the toddler’s disappearance, Vang claimed he was taking a nap, and that Elijah was gone by the time he woke up.
During a court hearing last month, Manitowoc County District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre emphasized that Baur “intentionally sent that child for disciplinary reasons for more than a week to the residence.”
“She was aware of the tactics used and the lack of care provided,” LaBre added. “This was an intentional thing by her.”
Vang’s disciplinary tactics allegedly included time-outs that forced Elijah to stand in the corner for hours at a time. He also was made to pray and, on at least one occasion, was forced to take a cold shower after soiling his diaper.
Both Vang and Baur have denied playing a role in Elijah’s disappearance. The reward for information leading to the discovery of the toddler has climbed to $40,000.
