Why Did Hundreds of Strangers Search for Three-Year-Old Elijah Vue for Seven Months?

For seven months, the city of Two Rivers, Wisconsin searched for a three-year-old boy named Elijah Vue. The FBI came. The Wisconsin Department of Justice came. Hundreds of community volunteers showed up with flashlights and search dogs. They combed through landfills, dove into storm drains and the West Twin River, and searched private property across Manitowoc County. Volunteers even searched the Avery family salvage yard. A $40,000 reward was posted. Elijah’s grandmother wept at a press conference and said, “Every day without him feels like a piece of our hearts is missing.”

All of that was happening while the two people who allegedly knew the truth — Jesse Vang and Katrina Baur — sat in the Manitowoc County Jail. Vang had called 911 on February 20 and said the boy walked away during a nap. Within sixty seconds, Baur had messaged him telling him what to say. She deleted it. Investigators recovered it. Surveillance footage placed Vang driving a borrowed car around Two Rivers the night before the 911 call while his phone stayed home streaming Netflix. A suitcase he dropped at a donation center tested positive for Elijah’s DNA.

In September 2024, a hunter found Elijah’s remains three miles from the apartment. The community held a birthday celebration for Elijah in August, not knowing he was already gone. Both Vang and Baur face felony charges. Both have pleaded not guilty. Tony Brueski sits down with a reporter who was on the ground through the entire search to talk about what the investigation looked like from Two Rivers — the evidence trail, the community effort, and the seven months between the 911 call and the discovery.

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This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

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