Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS A state Fish and Game officer assists a diver with his suit and gear Monday morning as he prepares to resume the search of Naticook Lake for clues in the case of the missing 5-year-old boy. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

NASHUA — Danielle Dauphinais and Joseph Stapf, the Merrimack couple tracked down in New York City and arrested over the weekend on charges connected to the case of the missing 5-year-old boy, waived formal arraignment Wednesday and agreed to remain incarcerated pending their next court appearance.

Neither Dauphinais, who is the mother of the missing boy, Elijah “Eli” Lewis, nor Stapf spoke during the brief proceedings, except when Superior Court Judge Charles Temple asked them if they understood the charges and what transpired at their hearings.

“I do,” Dauphinais answered. “Yes, your honor,” Stapf replied.

They appeared before Temple via video conference from Valley Street jail in Manchester, where they are held on preventive detention. Attorney Amanda Armillay represented Stapf, while Attorney Jaye Rancourt represented Dauphinais. Both attorneys appeared via WebEx.

Danielle Denise Dauphinais, 35, last known address Merrimack

Temple noted in their bail orders that Stapf and Dauphinais reserve the right to have a bail hearing if they desire.

Later Wednesday, the court scheduled their dispositional conferences for 9 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 16, in Temple’s courtroom at Hillsborough County Superior Court South.

As for the charges, Dauphinais faces three counts of witness tampering, Class B felonies, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, Class A misdemeanors.

Stapf is charged with one count each of witness tampering and endangering the welfare of a child.

Dauphinais’s charges accuse her of trying to “induce, or otherwise cause,” three people — Tracy Lyn Dauphinais, who is believed to be her sister; Joanne Stapf, Joseph Stapf’s mother; and a man named Bruce Scherzer — to “testify or inform falsely” or to withhold testimony or information about Elijah from a child protective services worker.

Joseph "JoJo" Stapf, 30, last known address, Merrimack

The endangering the welfare of a child charges accuse her of allegedly preventing child protective services workers from locating Elijah by asking Tracy Lynn Dauphinais and Scherzer to tell the workers that Elijah was with them, when he was not.

The allegations against Stapf are similar; he’s accused of instructing his mother, Joanne Stapf, to not talk to a child protective services worker about Elijah.

Perhaps due to the nature of the ongoing investigation into Elijah’s whereabouts, Temple granted a request by the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Susan Morell, to seal the police affidavits submitted in the case.

While investigators initially said Elijah hadn’t been seen in six months, they just revised that estimate to 30 days.

Present in the courtroom for Wednesday’s hearings were two men who identified themselves as Danielle Dauphinais’s brothers, John Dauphinais and Randy Stewart.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS A Merrimack cruiser and at least one police officer have been stationed outside 7 Sunset Drive in Merrimack around the clock since Friday, when the investigation into the disappearance of a 5-year-old boy began ramping up. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

Speaking with media representatives outside the courthouse following the hearing, John Dauphinais said his sister had a total of six children, but they hadn’t been staying with her because, he said, of “her relationships with her ex’s.”

Dauphinais, a Milford resident, said he and Danielle aren’t in touch for the most part, and he’s never met Elijah.

He said he met Joseph Stapf and his mother, Joanne, at a July 4 party, but it’s not clear if it was this past July or a previous year.

Joanne Stapf, he said, “seemed like a nice woman, a professional woman,” and that he and Joseph got along quite well.

Stewart, who said he lives in Effingham, a small Carroll County town on the New Hampshire-Maine border, said that while some members of the family are estranged and some of his siblings “were in and out of foster homes,” he “never expected something like this to happen.

Courtesy photo A photo of Elijah "Eli" Lewis, the 5-year-old Merrimack boy who was last seen about a month ago at or near 7 Sunset Drive in Merrimack. (Courtesy photo)

“This really shocked me,” Stewart said of when he learned last week that Elijah had been missing and authorities were looking for Dauphinais and Stapf.

John Dauphinais agreed, saying he “can’t think of any reason” for Elijah’s apparent disappearance. “I’ve never seen Danielle hurt anyone,” he added.

Dauphinais and Stewart alluded to plans by their sister to move to California in the near future, where she intended to get help for Elijah, who, according to what they had heard from other family members, “had temper tantrums.”

A woman said to be related to Danielle through one of Danielle’s older children told news outlets this week that Danielle just recently had another baby, and the state Division of Children, Youth and Families got involved because, the woman said, the baby had been dropped off at a hospital.

When DCYF went to Danielle’s residence to check on Elijah and another child, Elijah was not there. That development appears to have prompted the investigation that began last week.

Meanwhile, when asked if he and Stewart think Danielle knows where Elijah is, John Dauphinais said he “hopes she does … and I hope she says something” about his whereabouts.

“My message to her is please, please talk to us, talk to the detectives, let us know where Elijah is.

“He’s 5 years old. He doesn’t deserve this.”

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.