Combined reward in case of missing Wisconsin boy rises to $25,000

TWO RIVERS, Wis. (AP) — The combined reward in the case of a 3-year-old Wisconsin boy who vanished last month has risen to $25,000, a police chief said Tuesday.

A Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers reward for information leading to the location and return of Elijah Vue or the arrest and conviction of those responsible for his disappearance has risen to as much as $10,000, Two Rivers Police Chief Ben Meinnert said in a news release.

The Crime Stoppers reward is in addition to an FBI reward of up to $15,000 in the case, Meinnert said.

The boy was last seen Feb. 20 at a residence in Two Rivers, where prosecutors said his mother had sent him to stay. Searches by police and residents have so far not located Elijah.

His mother, Katrina Baur, 31, of Wisconsin Dells has been charged in Manitowoc County with one felony count of party-to-a-crime child neglect and two misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing an officer. She’s being held on a $15,000 cash bond.

The man Elijah had been sent to stay with, Jesse Vang, 39, of Two Rivers, has been charged with one felony count of party-to-a-crime child neglect. He’s being held on a $20,000 cash bond.

Manitowoc County District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre has said Baur had sent Elijah to stay with Vang for disciplinary purposes and that Baur wasn’t in Two Rivers, located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Green Bay, when Elijah disappeared.

Baur told police she had left Elijah with Vang on Feb. 12 because she wanted him to teach her son “to be a man,” and she had intended to pick him up on Feb. 23, a criminal complaint said.

Vang called police on Feb. 20 and reported Elijah missing, saying he had taken a nap that morning and brought Elijah in the bedroom with him, but when he awoke about three hours later the boy was gone, a criminal complaint states.

Vang told police he was in a relationship with Bauer and had been trying to help with her son’s bad behaviors, according to the complaint.