Memory of Elijah Lewis inspires makeshift memorial in Abington

ABINGTON, Mass. — In Abington, even on a cold, rainy October Monday, people are leaving gifts for a little boy who will forever be 5 years old.

Over the weekend, after an intensive search, New Hampshire and Massachusetts State Police located the body of Elijah Lewis in a shallow grave. The spot is nearly 250 yards into the woods off Chestnut Street, not far from a little memorial next to a water tower.

In death, Elijah Lewis is receiving the love from strangers he may never have received from the people closest to him. When police found Elijah, his mother, Danielle Dauphinais, was sitting in a New Hampshire jail cell. Dauphinais, and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, are facing charges related to Elijah’s disappearance.

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N.H. prosecutors allege the pair told people to lie to N.H. authorities about where they last saw Elijah. Danielle and Joseph turned up New York City, in the Bronx, without Elijah. They were arrested and transported to New Hampshire last week.

New Hampshire authorities first thought Elijah had been missing for six months. They now believe he’d been gone for about 30 days. That length of time no longer matters; Elijah is now gone forever. And that leaves New Hampshire authorities with the task of finding justice for Elijah.

The first step was finding him. Now, through witness statements and forensic science – the Massachusetts Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy Sunday – prosecutors will rebuild Elijah’s final heartbreaking moments in an effort to find out who is responsible. That could take some time.

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Meanwhile, in Abington, by a large rock on the edge of a wood, strangers are leaving visible signs of love for a lost little boy who is now found.

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