Rockingham Times

The disappearance of a 5-year-old New Hampshire boy has garnered a lot of attention, but the situation turned tragic after authorities found his body.

The New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families reported that Elijah Lewis went missing on Oct. 14, and Massachusetts State Police recovered his body on Oct. 23 in Abington, Massachusetts.

“Death of 5-year-old Elijah Lewis ruled homicide, died of violence and fentanyl intoxication,” Twitter user Jorge Fonte tweeted on Nov. 23. “The incredible crimes in the white society because of drugs such as meth, oxy, fentanyl are illnesses, not because they are criminals, such as parents in this one.”

The New Hampshire Department of Justice’s Office of the Attorney General, John Formella, released detailed information on Lewis’s autopsy on Nov. 22.

The child's body was found buried in the woods in Massachusetts nine days after he disappeared last month. "The cause of Elijah’s death was determined to be violence and neglect, including facial and scalp injuries, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment and pressure ulcers," according the New Hampshire Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General.

The manner of death was ruled a homicide.

“I didn’t think it was this bad, no. I didn’t want it to be this bad,” Elijah's uncle Randy Stewart told NBC Boston, referring to the autopsy  results. “You just kind of hope it was peaceful and not so barbaric, but that’s just not the case.”

Elijah’s mother, Danielle Denise Dauphinais, 35, and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, 30, remain held without bail on charges of witness tampering and child endangerment, NBC News reported.