Autopsy: 5-year-old boy whose mum allegedly wanted him 'gone' died of 'violence and neglect'

An autopsy concluded that violence revealed by facial and scalp injuries also helped cause the death of Elijah Lewis, whose body was discovered October 23 buried in the woods. Photo / US Police

A 5-year-old US boy who went missing after his mother had previously said she wanted him "gone", and was eventually found dead, died of "violence and neglect", according to autopsy results.

Elijah Lewis disappeared in the woods after he was reported missing on October 14 by child youth services.

By October 17 Elijah's mother, Danielle Dauphinais and her boyfriend, Joseph Staph, were arrested and charged with witness tampering and child endangerment.

Just six days later, the boy's remains were found in the woods in New Hampshire.

His death is now a homicide investigation.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Massachusetts determined Elijah suffered "facial and scalp injuries, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment and pressure ulcers."

Chilling details have now emerged of conversations his mother had with others about Elijah.

Dauphinais allegedly described her son to a friend as "the next Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer" (both serial killers) and said she wanted him "gone".

Elijah's mother Danielle Dauphinais allegedly described him last month to a friend as "the next Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer" and said she wanted him "gone."

"I call him the next Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer," Dauphinais allegedly wrote to her friend Erika Wolfe on Snapchat in June, the Boston Globe reports.

"It's so sad but I have no connection with this child. His father took him at the age of one and never returned him until last May 2020. He's been getting worse and worse. I want him gone. I can't handle it anymore."

Dauphinais allegedly described to Wolfe how her son played with his own faeces and urinated on his own bed and clothing.

"I have to keep him in his room," Dauphinais wrote. "I can't trust him at all."

Dauphinais also allegedly revealed on Snapchat that the state's child welfare agency was involved but could do nothing without the consent of Elijah's father, calling the situation "a [expletive] nightmare that I can't wake up from."

"In my mind, I'm thinking [New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families] is probably checking in," Wolfe told the Globe. "I thought, 'Oh, you're having a rough time, and probably not the best comment choices, and we all have our days.'"

After the exchange, Wolfe forgot about the messages until she heard the news of Elijiah's disappearance.

"I remembered those messages," she recalled. "And I was like, 'Oh, no.'"

However, Dauphinais's attorney, Jaye Rancourt, told PEOPLE last week "I've been provided no information to verify the veracity of these [Snapchat] messages or where they came from.

"They very well could have been created by [Wolfe] for all I know. So until there's documentation that demonstrates that my client actually sent the messages, it's very hard for me to respond."

Dauphinais and Staph are both remain jailed and are scheduled to appear in court in December.