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Body of missing New Hampshire boy found buried in state park

By Jake Thomas
Local authorities found the body of a missing 5-year-old boy in Ames Nowell State Park near Abington Mass. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Local authorities found the body of a missing 5-year-old boy in Ames Nowell State Park near Abington Mass. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Authorities say they've located the body of a missing 5-year-old New Hampshire boy.

Elijah "Eli" Lewis was last seen at his home in Merrimack, N.H. in the past 30 days, reports The Boston Globe. His mother, Danielle D. Dauphinais, 35, and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, 30, have been arrested. They face child endangerment and witness tampering. They've pleaded not guilty.

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Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said on Saturday that at about 9:40 a.m. a state trooper noticed a disturbance in the ground in a wooded area in Abington, a town in Massachusetts. Police have been searching the area for the past two days. Lewis was reported missing the New Hampshire's child welfare agency on Oct. 14

While positive identification of the body is pending, authorities presume it is Lewis.

"Obviously, a little boy is gone, and no one deserves to die this way," Cruz told local ABC affiliate WCVB-TV. "We will do everything in our power to make sure we get justice for this little boy."

Susan G. Morrell, a senior assistant attorney general for New Hampshire, said at a press conference that an autopsy will be conducted Sunday and further charges will be brought based on its results, according to the Globe.

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