Contact: Beth Stone 508-584-8120
BROCKTON – A body found in the woods of Abington this morning is believed to be that of a missing 5 year-old New Hampshire boy, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.
At approximately 9:40 a.m. this morning, a trooper assigned to the Massachusetts State Police Special Emergency Response Team, observed that the ground was disturbed in a wooded area approximately 250 yards off Chestnut Street in Abington. Members of the MSP Crime Scene Services Section located the body in the soil. Positive identification of the body is pending, but preliminarily, it is presumed to be that of Elijah “Eli” Lewis of Manchester, N.H.
Lewis’s unknown whereabouts were brought to the attention of authorities by New Hampshire’s Division for Children, Youth and Families on October 14, 2021.
As part of the investigation into Lewis’s whereabouts, on Thursday, corroborated information led Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office to search the wooded areas along Chestnut Street in Abington.
For approximately 12 hours over the past two days, members of Massachusetts State Police, including MSP’s Special Emergency Response Team, K-9s, and the State Police Air Wing searched the wooded terrain. They were joined by New Hampshire State Police, Abington Police, and Merrimack, N.H. Police.
After the remains were located this morning, Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services Section secured the area and processed the crime scene. The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner arrived on scene and will determine the cause and manner of death.
The investigation is active and ongoing.