Missing autistic boy who vanished while playing outside found (2025)

The search for a missing autistic boy has ended after the discovery of his body in a river, police said.

Jacob Baer, 7, went missing Saturday while playing outside in a park in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

The park isset just next to the West Twin River, declared an 'area of interest' in the search early Sunday afterItems believed to have belonged to the youngster were found in its icy waters.

Spurred by a sense of urgency, officials from multiple police departments, the Coast Guard, and the state National Guard continued to search into the night.

Cops have now revealed how Baer's body was found inwater five to six feet deep. Recovery operations concluded late on Sunday morning, The Two Rivers Police Department confirmed in a statement.

As locals reacted to the discovery, officials warned just how dangerous ice can be this time of year, when it's very thin. Cold season started this Monday.

They further instructed citizens tostay off the ice and 'keep your children safe by monitoring them closely when around any waterway', in a small town named for its two domineering rivers.

It's also the same town where three-year-old Elijah Vue went missing back in February- sparking a massive search that concluded when his body was found in September. When interviewed Sunday, citizens offered comparisons between the two cases.

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Jacob Baer, 7, went missing Saturday while playing outside in a park in Two Rivers , Wisconsin.

The park is set just next to the West Twin River, declared an 'area of interest' in the search early Sunday after Items believed to have belonged to the youngster were found in its icy waters

'I'm like, geez, you know, I can't believe this is happening again,' resident Kurt Psenick told ABC-7 Chicagoafter the discovery Sunday.'Something bad like this, you know. This town had enough exposure.'

'Heartfelt for the family and everybody that was involved in the search,' addedLisa Maertz, from Manitowoc, in a separate exchange with ABC-2, the Vue case also fresh in her mind.

'I actually have family members coming and joining in and trying to see what they can do. It doesn’t take long for everybody to get together and to try to do what they can to find the young boy.

'Even Elijah [Vue], they were looking for months,' she added. 'So I think it’s a good thing that it didn’t drag out.'

Cops went on to add how Baer, a second-grader with autism, disappeared a little after 4:30pm Saturday after wandering away from his father, who lost sight of him in Veterans Park.

The father quickly reported the child missing, spurring a search of the adjacent river and surrounding area.

'Search efforts located several items belonging to Jacob and they were recovered from the water last night,' the Two Rivers Police Department said Sunday while announcing the search had come to an end.

'This morning the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources was able to identify a possible location, in 5 to 6 feet of water, for what was believed to be Jacob,' the update went on.

Cops Sunday revealed how Baer's body was found the following day in water five to six feet deep

Baer, a second-grader with autism, disappeared from this park just next the river Saturday afternoon after straying away from his father

'Recovery operations continued until late this morning. A body was recovered from that location and was positively identified as [Baer]. We would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance.'

Officers did not say how the child ended up in the water - instead only offering warnings to stay away from the ice.

Investigators also reiterated a need to 'respect the family’s right to privacy', citing how the incident is 'still under investigation.'

Officers on Monday added in a statement that 'no further information will be released at this time.'

Back in September, The same police department called a separate search surrounding Vue to a close after more than half a year, when a deer hunter came across the boy's skeletal remains.

The body was found n a shallow grave in September three miles from the home of of 40-year-old Jesse Vang, who is now being charged in his death.

Prosecutors said he was sent to stay by his mother Katrina Baur, 31, 'to learn how to be a man'.

The unnamed citizen immediately alerted law enforcement, leading to dozens of investigators descending on the private property - a 'remote area' near Girl Scout Camp Manitou-Two Rivers, cops said.

Two Rivers is the same town where another autistic child went missing in February - sparking a massive search. When interviewed Sunday, citizens offered comparisons between the two cases, which concluded in September when cops found the three-year-old's body

As locals reacted, officials warned just how dangerous ice can be this time of year, when it's very thin. Cold season began only this Monday

Back in September, the same police department called a separate search surrounding Elijah Vue, 3, to a close after more than six months, when a citizen came across the boy's skeletal remains

Jesse Vang, 40, and his mother Katrina Baur, 31, are both in custody and facing charges in the boy's death

Vang was Baur's boyfriend at the time of the disappearance, and both are in custody over child neglect charges related to the three-year-old's disappearance.

Vang appeared at Manitowoc County Courthouse last month for a preliminary hearing, as he faces charges that he caused the tot's death.

Baur was arrested in February, charged with child neglect and obstructing an officer.Her next court date is slated December 20.

The Fond du Lac County Medical Examiner's Office has since determined Vue's cause of a 'homicide by unspecified means.'

Missing autistic boy who vanished while playing outside found (2025)
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