The remains of a three-year-old missing boy have been found by a hunter months after he went missing.
Police confirmed on Friday that the skeletal remains were that of the boy who vanished in Northeastern Wisconsin in February.
Elijah Vue was last seen at the home of his mother’s boyfriend in Two Rivers, a city of 11,270 people about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Green Bay, police said during an afternoon news conference.
A hunter preparing his property in the town of Two Rivers, a rural municipality that encircles the city, for deer season discovered the skeletal remains on September 7, Two Rivers Police Chief Benjamin Meinnert said. A forensic anthropologist at the state crime lab identified them as Elijah Vue.
“This is not the outcome that we hoped for,” Meinnert said. “The family is devastated. We are devastated. The community is devasted.”
Elijah’s mother, Katrina Baur, 31, of Wisconsin Dells, was charged in February with one felony count of being a party to child neglect and two misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing an officer. She has pleaded not guilty. Her boyfriend, Jesse Vang, 39, of Two Rivers, was charged the same day with one felony count of being a party to child neglect. He also pleaded not guilty.
According to a criminal complaint, Bauer had left her son with Vang on February 12 because she wanted Vang to teach him “to be a man.” Vang called police on February 20 and reported the boy missing, telling police he had taken a nap and brought the boy in the bedroom with him. When he woke up three hours later he was gone.
The boy’s remains were found about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) from where he was last seen, Meinnert said.
The chief said the investigation into what happened to Elijah will continue.
Baur’s attorney, Amber Gratz, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The phone at the office of Vang’s attorney, Timothy Hogan, was malfunctioning on Friday afternoon and no one immediately responded to an email left in the office’s general inbox.
