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.

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.