Mother of 5-year-old found dead in Massachusetts woods called son 'the next Ted Bundy': report
'I want him gone,' read a text message from Lewis' mother to a friend
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The mother of a missing New Hampshire 5-year-old boy who was found dead in the Massachusetts woods on Oct. 23 reportedly called him "the next Ted Bundy" in a message to her friend.
The New Hampshire Division for Youth, Children and Families (DYCF) notified authorities of 5-year-old Elijah Lewis' unknown whereabouts on Oct. 14, according to New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella's office. Lewis was last seen six months prior.
Four months before his disappearance, Lewis' mother – Danielle Denise Dauphinais, 35 – complained to a friend that the boy's behavior was becoming "worse and worse," according to text messages obtained by The Boston Globe.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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)
"I call him the next Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer," Dauphinais wrote to the friend. "It’s so sad but I have no connection with this child."
Lewis was the fourth of Dauphinais' six children.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Officers with the New York City Transit Authority (MTA) located and arrested Dauphinais and her partner, Joseph Stapf, 30, on witness tampering and child endangerment charges in New York City on Oct. 14, Formella's office said in a news release.
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’s Office )
"He’s been getting worse and worse," Dauphinais said in messages to her friend, according to the Globe.
"I want him gone," another text read.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NEW HAMPSHIRE BOY, 5, LAST SEEN 6 MONTHS AGO, NEVER REPORTED MISSING; MOTHER, MAN ARRESTED IN NYC
Dauphinais and Stapf 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.
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"Elijah was never reported missing to authorities prior to this time," Formella's office said.
Formella's office said in an Oct. 24 press release after the boy's remains were discovered that it will likely take months before a medical examiner will be able to determine his cause and manner of death.