TWO RIVERS (NBC 26) — The FBI offers $15,000 to anyone who can help Elijah Vue return safely home.
- A look inside the news conference at Two Rivers City Hall a week after Elijah Vue's disappearance
- The three-year-old boy's family tearfully pleads with the community to keep searching
- The FBI is offering a reward of up to $15,000 for any information leading to Elijah Vue's return or the arrest and conviction of the people involved
- The Two Rivers Police Department is offering a $1,000 reward
- Donations for the reward fund are currently being accepted at City Hall
- The Two Rivers Police Chief confirms searches have been happening in other parts of Wisconsin
- Elijah Vue's hometown of Wisconsin Dells has also been searched
- NBC 26 spoke to the FBI Public Information Officer who said the FBI is solely assisting the police department in the investigation
- Anyone with information about the child's disappearance or where he could be now is asked to call a tip line at (844) 267-6648
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
The FBI offers $15,000 to anyone who can help Elijah Vue return safely home. I'm Pari Apostolakos at Two Rivers City Hall where earlier today his family asked everyone to keep searching for the three-year-old boy.
"I want my grandson to be home with my family. So, I want everybody to continue. Don't stop just searching for my baby Elijah."
Elijah Vue's family thanked the community for their support in the search for the missing child a week after he was first reported missing.
"The emptiness left in his absence is a void that cannot be filled by anything else. Elijah, if you can hear us, know that you are deeply missed and loved, and we will not rest until you are safely back in our arms."
Two Rivers Police Chief Ben Meinnert would not say whether or not investigators believe they will find Elijah alive.
"I'm not going to speculate. What I'm going to do is continue to search for Elijah Vue. We are doing everything in our efforts believing that he is still out there, we will find him and we will bring him home."
"Chief, Pari Apostolakos NBC 26, you mentioned that there are search efforts in other parts of the state. Can you speak to what those have included? You mentioned here we've been searching landfills and waterways. You said there have been searches going on in Wisconsin Dells, what have those looked like?"
"Those are all things that we're following up on leads on. Any lead, we'll leave no rock unturned."
The Chief would not answer questions regarding Elijah's mother Katrina Baur and her boyfriend Jesse Vang, both of whom face charges of child neglect.
Two Rivers Police are offering an award of $1,000 for anyone who can help find Elijah. They are also taking donations at city hall.
Anyone with information about Elijah Vue's disappearance or where he could be now is asked to call a tip line. The number is (844) 267-6648. In Two Rivers Pari Apostolakos NBC 26.
