TWO RIVERS, Wisconsin — The FBI has offered a reward of up to $15,000 for a 3-year-old Wisconsin boy who disappeared last week, a police chief said Tuesday.
Elijah Vue was last seen on Feb. 20 at a home in Two Rivers, where prosecutors said his mother sent him to stay with a man now charged with child neglect. Searches by police and residents have so far not found Elijah.
The FBI on Tuesday offered a reward of up to $15,000 for information leading to the boy’s location and return or to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for his disappearance, Two Rivers Police Chief Ben Meinnert said at a news conference.
The FBI reward is in addition to the $1,000 Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers reward set Saturday, Meinnert said.
Elijah’s mother and a man her son was staying with were formally charged Monday with child neglect in connection with the boy’s disappearance.
His mother, Katrina Baur, 31, of Wisconsin Dells, was charged in Manitowoc County with one felony count of neglect of a child in the commission of a crime and two misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing an officer. She was held on a $15,000 bond.
The man Elijah was staying with, Jesse Vang, 39, of Two Rivers, was formally charged with one felony count of child neglect. He was held on a $20,000 bond.
Baur and Vang both appeared for their first court hearing Monday afternoon. At the time, preliminary hearings were scheduled for March 7, according to court records.
Manitowoc County District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre said Friday that Baur sent Elijah to stay with Vang for disciplinary purposes and that Baur was not in Two Rivers, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Green Bay, when Elijah disappeared.
Baur told police she left Elijah with Vang on Feb. 12 because she wanted him to teach her son “how to be a man,” and that she planned to pick him up on Feb. 23, according to a criminal complaint.
Vang called police on February 20 and reported Elia missing. He told police he took a nap that morning and took Elijah into the bedroom with him, but when he woke up about three hours later, he was gone, the complaint said.
Vang told police he was in a relationship with Bauer and had tried to help with her son’s bad behavior, the complaint said.