ELROY, Wis. – An ex-con wanted for three homicides in New Lisbon 11 days ago was captured was captured 12 miles away near Elroy. Juneau County Sheriff Andrew Zobal announced the capture of 42-year-old Virgil Thew. Details were not available immediately, but this much was released:
> 11:51 a.m.: The multi-agency police dispatcher in Mauston, the county seat, received a report of a suspicious individual in woods near Elroy.
> 12:18 p.m. A deputy identified the individual as Thew, and arrested him without incident.
The sheriff said that details on the arrest would be forthcoming. He thanked the public for tips on Thew’s whereabouts. Over 11 days there had been citizen 172 tips, he said. Meanwhile, the criminal complaint accusing Thew of three count f of first-degree murder showed these early details on the investigation:
> Thew picked up his stepdaughter, Alexandria Taylor, 12, on December 29 at an address, in neighboring Monroe County.
> Alexandria’s father called police the next day that she had not returned home.
> Skyla Sorenson’s father in New Lisbon reported her also missing and that her online Snapchat account showed location at the Thew house.
> New Lisbon Police Chef Kyle Walker went to the Thew address on West Bridge Street.
> Thew’s mother, for whom he was care-giver, said she had seen the girls together.
> Police broke through multiple locks on a bedroom door. In the bedroom were the bodies of Elizabeth Kolba, 33, who was Thew’s girlfriend and who also lived in the house, and the Tylor and Sorenson girls. All had been shot.
> A man living just out of town on McEwen Road, for whom Thew had done carpentry, reported running across him on the property. He said Thew explained he was looking for his dog.
> The McEwan Road man pointed to where he had seen Thew’s car. In the vehicle police found a key to the bedroom on Bridge Street where the bodies had been found. Also in the car was a 9mm handgun.
> Several sightings of Thew were reported over the next few days, many with his dog.
Elroy profile
Elroy is in southern Juneau Countu on the Baraboo River. Population 1,350. It is 60 miles from LaCrosse to the west and 30 miles from Wisconsin Dells to the east. The Ciutyis in Nausin, 12 miles away. It’s popular for hikers and bicylists along abandoned railroad routes. In Elroy’s heyday the town had major roundhouse service facilities for two major lines from St. Paul — the Milwaukee Road and the Chicago and the Omaha Road.
Thompson Park. The arrest was at the Allen Thompson Memorial Park, a small campig site a mile west of Elroy on U.S. Highway 71. The park has been closed for the season since Labor Day. The park has 13 tenting sites with fire rings, a water pump and toilets.