A missing 5-year-old boy was found dead one week after he was first reported missing.
According to reports, neighbors of Elijah Lewis and his mom, Danielle Denise Dauphinais, told police officials that they had not seen the boy outside his house for six months. But further investigation confirmed that the 5-year-old was spotted at home in mid-September.
However, it was only on Oct. 14 that he was reported missing. Immediately after, officers searched Ames Nowell State Park in Abington, Massachusetts, about 72 miles north of Merrimack.
Police initially unable to find missing boy
There was still no sign of Lewis earlier this week, so officials believed that they would no longer find him alive.
"We were hopeful that Elijah would be found alive. We're now facing the prospect that he is not. And we do have a belief at this time that Elijah is deceased," Ben Agati of the New Hampshire attorney general's office said via NBC News.
Lewis' mom and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, were arrested and charged with witness tampering and child endangerment following the boy's disappearance. Both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Missing boy's cause of death to be revealed
On Saturday, a body believed to be Lewis' was found. And an autopsy will be performed to confirm his exact cause of death and official identification. After getting the autopsy result, authorities will decide what other charges could be brought to the case.
Governor Chris Sinunu released a statement thanking the law enforcement in New Hampshire and Massachusetts for their efforts in finding the missing boy, according to NHPR.
New Hampshire murders over the years
Lewis is not the only person from New Hampshire who was tragically murdered. Earlier this year, a 4-year-old girl was confirmed to be one of four victims who were stuffed into two 55-gallon drums in the New Hampshire wilderness decades ago.
At the time, a serial killer named Terry Peder Rasmussen went on a killing spree. And reports revealed that one of his last victims was his own daughter. Rasmussen's daughter's body was found near Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, according to Kiro 7. Rasmussen died in 2010 while he was serving his time in prison. He was 67.
Last week, Vermont State Police also found the body of a 22-year-old woman from New Hampshire who vanished while on a trip with her husband. According to WGME, Emily Ferlazzo went on a vacation this month, and her family reported her missing.
Authorities revealed that Ferlazzo and her husband got into a heated argument while driving their camper van to Vermont. The husband alleged that his wife got out of the van and started walking to a nearby store. When he came down to find her, Ferlazzo was allegedly gone. But surveillance footage revealed that their camper van was parked near their friend's house.
In August, two dead men were found at the Country Inn and Suites Hotel in Bedford. An autopsy confirmed that Nathan Cashman, 28, died from multiple chop wounds from the head, neck, and body. Davin Hanford, 60, was strangled to death, according to Boston. Theodore Luckey, 42, of New Jersey, was arrested on second-degree murder and held on preventative detention while the murders remain under investigation.
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