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Bones found in Wisconsin confirmed to be those of missing 3-year-old boy Elijah Vue
TWO RIVERS, Wis. (CBS) — Authorities confirmed Friday afternoon that skeletal remains found by a deer hunter in Wisconsin this past weekend were those of a preschool-age boy named Elijah Vue, who has been missing since February.
At a news conference Friday afternoon, Two Rivers, Wisconsin police Chief Ben Meinnert confirmed that the remains had been positively identified as Elijah’s. He made the announcement “with a heavy heart.”
This past Saturday, Manitowoc, Wisconsin County Sheriff Daniel Hartwig contacted Two Rivers police about a report of someone who found skeletal remains in Two Rivers.
The remains were found on private property by someone getting land ready for deer hunting season. The wooded area with heavy underbrush where the remains were found was just north of Girl Scout Camp Manitou, Meinnert said.
The location was just over three miles northwest of where Elijah initially went missing, he said.
The remains—confirmed to be a skull and bones—were taken to the Wisconsin Crime Lab for DNA testing, Meinnert said. As soon as they were identified, Elijah’s family was notified, Meinnert said.
“This is not the outcome that we hoped for,” Meinnert said. “The family is devastated. We’re devastated. Our community’s devastated.”
Elijah went missing on Feb. 20. He was 3 at the time.
An AMBER Alert was issued.
Milwaukee Police Department
In March, his blanket was found about 3.7 miles from where he was last seen.
Law enforcement, private teams, and other various search and rescue operations had searched the area several times—and had kept on searching despite turning up nothing throughout different seasons and in different conditions, Meinnert said. But all this time later, a hunter found the remains.
Elijah’s mother Katrina Baur and another man, Jesse Vang, were arrested and charged with child neglect on Feb. 21.
WDJT reported that local authorities said that Baur handed Elijah over to Vang for “discipline.” The Vue family told the station that they don’t know how Baur knew Vang, who served six years in prison for the distribution of methamphetamine. WDJT later described Vang as Baur’s boyfriend.
It was Vang’s apartment from which Elijah disappeared, police said, and Vang who reported him missing.
Both Baur and Vang maintain that they had nothing to do with Elijah’s disappearance.
A few weeks ago, community members held at fourth birthday party for Elijah at Kiwanis Park in Appleton, Wisconsin—while expressing hope that he would still be found.
Tupperware and some of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the once-iconic food container maker said in a statement late Tuesday.
The company has suffered from dwindling sales following a surprise surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, when legions of people stuck at home tried their hands at cooking, which increased demand for Tupperware’s colorful plastic containers with flexible airtight seals.
A post-pandemic rise in costs of raw materials and shipping, along with higher wages, also hurt Tupperware’s bottom line.
Last year, it warned of “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep operating in light of its poor financial position.
“Over the last several years, the Company’s financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment,” president and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement announcing the bankruptcy filing.
“As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward,” Goldman said.
The company said it would seek court approval for a sale process for the business to protect its brand and “further advance Tupperware’s transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company.”
The Orlando, Florida-based firm said it would also seek approval to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and would continue to pay its employees and suppliers.
“We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process,” Goldman said.
The firm’s shares were trading at $0.5099 Monday, well down from $2.55 in December last year.
Tupperware said it had implemented a strategic plan to modernize its operations and drive efficiencies to ignite growth following the appointment of a new management team last year.
“The Company has made significant progress and intends to continue this important transformation work.”
In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Tupperware listed assets of between $500 million and $1 billion and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion.
The filing also said it had between 50,000 and 100,000 creditors.
Tupperware lost popularity with consumers in recent years and an initiative to gain distribution through big-box chain Target failed to reverse its fortunes.
The company’s roots date to 1946, when chemist Earl Tupper “had a spark of inspiration while creating molds at a plastics factory shortly after the Great Depression,” according to Tupperware’s website.
“If he could design an airtight seal for plastic storage containers, like those on a paint can, he could help war-weary families save money on costly food waste.”
Over time, Tupper’s containers became popular that many people referred to any plastic food container as Tupperware. And people even threw “Tupperware parties” in their homes to sell the containers to friends and neighbors.
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