Body believed to be Elijah Lewis found in Mass. park
Oct. 23—After more than a week of searching, remains that police believe are those of 5-year-old Elijah "Eli" Lewis were found buried Saturday in a state park in Massachusetts.
Prosecutors said Friday they had developed information that led them to Ames Nowell State Park in Abington, Mass., a suburban town about 30 minutes southeast of Boston.
On Saturday morning, a New Hampshire State Police cadaver dog located what prosecutors believe to be Lewis' body buried in the park. Authorities have not yet identified the body, but said the appearance and condition of the remains lead investigators to believe that the body is that of Lewis.
Lewis' mother, Danielle Dauphinais, and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, were arrested in New York on Oct. 16 and charged with witness tampering and child endangerment.
No one has yet been charged in Lewis' death.
"This is the beginning of the investigation at this point," said Plymouth County, Mass., District Attorney Tim Cruz said. "We need to go where the facts take us."
The Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy Sunday to determine how Lewis died. It is not yet clear where he died, which means it is not certain which state's prosecutors will handle any charges related to Lewis' death.
Cruz said investigators would not discuss the conditions of Lewis' body.
Law enforcement began looking for Dauphinais and Stapf on Oct. 14, after the state Department of Children, Youth and Families told Merrimack police that Lewis had not been seen in months. Later, police said Lewis had been seen within the last month.
Dauphinais and Stapf were arrested in New York City on Sunday, Oct. 17, and the two had been returned to New Hampshire on Tuesday.
They were arraigned in Hillsborough County Superior Court in Nashua on Wednesday, charged with witness tampering and child endangerment.
Prosecutors allege Dauphinais and Stapf encouraged others to lie about Lewis' whereabouts, according to witness-tampering charges.
After several days of searching for evidence near the Merrimack home where Lewis and Dauphinais lived, a search of Ames Nowell State Park in Abington, Mass., began on Friday.
Prosecutor Susan Morrell of the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office said law enforcement commonly uses surveillance video and phone records in investigations, but she would not speak about how investigators were led to the park, more than 70 miles from Merrimack.
Prosecutors are now investigating Lewis' death as suspicious and ask anyone with information to contact the Merrimack Police Department's Crimeline at (603) 424-2424 or New Hampshire State Police Communications at (603) 223-4381 or 603-MCU-TIPS (603-628-8477).
