MANITOWOC (NBC 26) — It is Day 18 in the search for Elijah Vue. It has been a wild week in the search, and I have been covering it closely. To end the week, searchers met once again at the Mikadow Theatre, and I went out with one of the groups.
- A week of turns in the search for Elijah Vue comes to a close with searching still going out.
- Ashlee Maldonado drove more than an hour today and said she did so because of her own children.
- Elijah has now been missing for 18 days, but the Vue family says they plan to continue to search into next week.
Ashlee Maldonado came all the way from Watertown.
"We're all from Wisconsin,” she said. “We should take care of each other."
She is a mother and says her kids are why she feels so strongly for Elijah.
"They just look at their little brother and they just couldn't imagine him going through what Elijah has gone through,” said Maldonado.
The week began with searches expanding all the way to Sheboygan. On Tuesday, police released images of a car, asking for any information on its whereabouts dating back to February 19th.
Finally, on Thursday, Katrina Baur and Jesse Vang appeared in court. Both of their bails remained the same. $15,000 for Baur and $20,000 for Vang.
A week with turns and emotion. But searchers will not give up.
"The family needs answers,” said searcher, Lori Supal. “Justice. It's the right things to do."
"No innocent child deserves any of this. None,” said Sheboygan searcher Lori Perl.
"We just keep going. We just keep going,” search director, Laurie Hamblen said. “We keep planning, scheduling groups out, organizing, and going ahead."
The drive is more than an hour for Ashlee, but it is worth it.
"I’m glad that I came out here,” said Maldonado. “I can't totally relax, but I feel a bit better"
With all the effort, Elijah is still not found and is at the forefront of everyone's mind.
"I’m just bothered by it. I'm thinking about him all the time,” said Maldonado. “I feel like I won't fully rest until he's found."
The Vue family says that they are not giving up hope and they will continue to search for the rest of the week and say they have plans to search again next week. Once again, based out of the Mikadow Theatre in Manitowoc.
