Missing Elijah Lewis: Massachusetts, New Hampshire police search woods for sign of 5-year-old

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Massachusetts police and other authorities are continuing their search for a missing 5-year-old New Hampshire boy on Saturday after learning new information regarding his disappearance.

The New Hampshire Division for Youth, Children and Families (DYCF) notified authorities of Elijah Lewis’ unknown whereabouts on Oct. 14, according to New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella’s office, which said in an Oct. 14 press release that Lewis was last seen six months ago.

Formella, the New Hampshire State Police and Merrimack Police Department are conducting “an ongoing search in Abington, Massachusetts,” Formella’s office said in a Friday press release.

Elijah Lewis, of Merrimack, was last seen by "independent individuals approximately six months ago," the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office said. 
(New Hampshire Attorney General Office)

“The search being conducted in the area of Chestnut Street in Abington based on information learned in the investigation. The search is being conducted by the Massachusetts State Police with assistance from personnel from the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit,” Formella’s office said.

The Abington, Massachusetts, Police Department said in a Saturday morning tweet that the area of Chesnut Street between Hancock Street and North Quincy Street would remain closed and advised residents to “avoid” the area, adding that “updates will be forthcoming as the day progresses.”

Officers with the New York City Transit Authority located and arrested Lewis’ parents, Danielle Denise Dauphinais, 35, and Joseph Stapf, 30, on witness tampering and child endangerment charges in New York City on Oct. 14, the Formella’s office said in a news release on Monday. There was no sign of the boy at the time of their arrest.

Authorities are looking to speak with the boy’s mother, 35-year-old Danielle Denise Dauphinais, and a man she is believed to be with, 30-year-old Joseph Stapf.
(New Hampshire Attorney General Office)

The pair allegedly told people they knew to lie about Lewis and where he was living, knowing that child protection services were searching for the boy.

The Merrimack Police Department immediately began an investigation into Lewis’ whereabouts on Oct. 14 “and was assisted later that day by the New Hampshire State Police and the New Hampshire Department of Justice,” the attorney general’s office said.

“Elijah was never reported missing to authorities prior to this time,” Formella’s office said.

 In an Oct. 14 press release, the attorney general’s office said Lewis “was last seen by independent individuals approximately six months ago.”

Authorities are asking anyone with information about Lewis’ location to contact the Merrimack Police Department’s Crimeline at (603) 424-2424 or the New Hampshire State Police Communications at (603) 223-4381 or (603) 628-8477.

Fox News’ Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

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