Dark Downeast - The Disappearance of Kristopher Bryan Lewis (Massachusetts)

Episode Date: June 19, 2023

BOSTON, 2014: On February 4, 2014, 13-year old Kristopher Bryan Lewis got off the school bus at his usual stop on the corner of West Selden and Morton Street in Boston, Massachusetts. He should've been home just a few minutes later around 5:30 p.m. but Kristopher never returned.Kristopher's mother Nina Cancel-Rodgers reported him missing that night. At first, police dismissed Nina’s concerns. The media turned her away. She and her family took matters into their own hands, making noise and bringing awareness to her young son’s disappearance. But nearly 10 years later, Nina is still waiting for her baby boy to come home.Nina gives a heart wrenching account of what it’s like to have a child go missing and the lasting impact it’s had on her life and the lives of her other children. She shares Kristopher's story hoping that people will start saying his name again, that they’ll know Kristopher’s face, and her greatest hope is that one day she’ll know where he is.If you have any information about the 2013 disappearance of Kristopher Bryan Lewis, please contact the Boston Police Department at 617-343-4687. View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com/kristopherbryanlewis Dark Downeast is an audiochuck and Kylie Media production hosted by Kylie Low.Follow @darkdowneast on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTokTo suggest a case visit darkdowneast.com/submit-case

It was February 4th, 2014. Thirteen-year-old Christopher Brian Lewis got up for school and walked to the bus stop with his mother like he did every morning. He got off the bus at Lee School in Boston, Massachusetts, attended all his classes, got back on the bus home that afternoon, and hopped off at the same bus stop just a quick walk down the street from his home like he did every single day. Nina Cancel Rogers eagerly awaited her oldest son's return home. The whole family had plans to celebrate her new job, and Chris got to pick what they had for

dinner. But Chris never walked through the door that night. He never returned home. At first, police dismissed Nina's concerns. The media turned her away. She and her family took matters into their own hands, making noise and bringing awareness to her young son's disappearance. But nearly 10 years later, Nina is still waiting for her baby boy to come home. She gives a heart-wrenching account of what it's like to have a child go missing,

and the lasting impact it's had on her life and the lives of her other children. She does it, hoping that people will start saying Christopher's name again, that they'll know Christopher's face, and her greatest hope is that one day, she'll know where he is. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is The Dis is the disappearance of Christopher Brian Lewis on Dark Down East. I first learned the name Christopher Brian Lewis on Facebook. Part of this line of work is staying informed of active and ongoing cases and keeping

an eye out for under-reported stories. Social media, as rotten as it can be for some things, has proven to be a valuable tool for sharing and finding information about disappearances far beyond what the flyers-on-telephone-polls strategy provided in the past. Christopher's name and photo were posted in a Facebook group dedicated to bringing awareness to missing people in Massachusetts. The post summarized the known details about his case at the time, date of disappearance, last known location, physical description, and a tip line for the Boston Police Department. I was struck by Christopher's age, just 13 years old.

I started digging deeper, hoping to learn that he returned home safe, or that police had a lead, or at the very least, I'd find that his disappearance received ample coverage throughout the years. But that's not what I found. Instead, there was just a handful of news articles about Christopher, and it had been years since any mainstream media picked up the story and shared Christopher's name and photo. I wanted to change that, but I couldn't and wouldn't tell Christopher Brian Lewis's story without contacting his mother, Nina Cancel Rogers, first. I found her on Facebook and sent her a message, knowing it would be filtered to her

message requests folder. A few months passed, but Nina eventually saw it and responded. After a phone call with her, she agreed to share Christopher's story. She'll do anything that might help bring Christopher home. Nina, tell me about your son, Christopher. Christopher was a A-B student. He was awesome at school. He was, I can't even think of the word. He was a trier. I like to say he was a trier. He tried each sport until he found the one that he wanted. So he did try baseball. And when he got hit with the ball, he said, no, that's not for me. And he walked off the field. Thought it was like the cutest thing ever. He was just like, yeah, no, that's not it. I was like, he only played one game and mommy spent all his money on a uniform. And he was like, no, that's just not it. That's no. He was just like, no.

Christopher did eventually find a sport he loved, much to Nina's dismay. He did play football. I didn't want him to play football. Chris was my first son, and I was being a little overprotective about the football thing because, you know, you get hit, and it's a wrap. He begged me for, I want to say, two years, he begged me to play. And I probably let him play, and he loved it. Chris played up until he was 13 when he went missing.

Nina told me that Christopher was always independent and wanted to handle things on his own. He kept to himself, but had a close group of friends, too. Chris never liked people, but he made, you know, like, he had friends friends and that's the thing that killed me. Like, how do you not like people when you've got friends? Everyone who came in contact with Chris or anyone who knows Chris loved Chris, you know, and everyone will tell you Chris is good. He's well-mannered. He like, he does everything for himself. He's helpful.

You know, he was awesome at school. Everything that he did, he excelled at it. Chris never really got into any trouble. But Nina remembered one day when some kids were picking on him at school, and Chris stood up for himself. Chris never got into trouble. I mean, there was like this one time where he got in trouble at school. And when I went up to the school, I was more mad than anything. Because it was, you know, some kids that were teasing him because he was passing his classes.

He ended up getting pushed or hit or something. And the teacher stood right there and didn't say anything but then because Christopher had said something back he wanted to discipline Christopher so that's the only time Chris has ever gotten in trouble in school that was major it's like when I went to the school the teacher was like yeah I did I seen them hit him but I didn't feel like I should jump in because boys will be boys and I'm like but you're disciplining him now for saying something out of character because he was hit on and you did nothing. So yeah, the teacher ended up getting in trouble for that, but I didn't get, you know, punished Chris for it or anything. I didn't take

anything from him because of that, because of the situation. What made Christopher unique? I would say his character and how he just carried himself. You know, he carried himself as the king that he is. Like, he always had his head up high, but he never down-talked anybody. You know, he was always there to help anybody who wanted help. Chris wanted to help his mom, too. He wanted to make it big as a pro football player someday,

so he could repay everything she'd given him. Well, he wanted to play football. That's what he wanted to do. But me being me, I'm like, oh no, you can be a scientist. Because he knew numbers like right off his head and it was safer than being a football player. But he really wanted to play football. And, you know, his big thing was he wanted to make the big dollars to take care of his mom. That was his thing. That's what he wanted to do.

And I just wanted him to do something safe, like a scientist. Nina is a wonderful mother, and her kids recognize that. Christopher wasn't the only one who wanted to grow up and take care of his mom. My youngest says it now. Like, he plays golf, so he's like, I'm going to be a golfer who wanted to grow up and take care of his mom. My youngest says it now. He plays golf, so he's like, I'm going to be a golfer so Mommy doesn't have to work so hard no more. And it makes me like, okay, so I'm doing something right, that they notice that I work hard for everything that I do

and everything that they have. So for them to know that I work really hard to make sure that they don't have to struggle, you know, it makes me feel like I'm happy inside because, you know, I did my part. I made sure that they're not struggling for anything. Nina always made sure Christopher and all of her children had everything they needed.

And she let them know that she was a safe space for them. No matter what, her kids could turn to her. I mean, like, usually, I usually let them feel out what it is that they're going through. And I always tell them, no matter what, you can always speak to me. You know, no matter what. I tell them that, you know, we have an open table policy. You want to go to the table, we can go to the table. You can say whatever you want and you won't get in trouble for it.

So that way, you know, you can speak to me for anything. And the boys do that. To this day, they still do it. Nina and Christopher were as close as a mother and firstborn son could be. He had his moments, what young teenager doesn't, but they had a special bond from the day Chris was born. Yeah, he was my baby. You know, everyone used to say that was my mini-me. He looked just like me. I didn't see it at all.

I've seen his dad in everything that he did. Yeah, he was just, he was my guy. He was my guy. And he still is my guy. It was February 4th, 2014. Nina and 13-year-old Christopher, her husband and her other sons, all lived on West Selden Street

in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston. Christopher was a student at Lee School, and that morning started out like any other weekday morning. Nina remembers it vividly. I remember everything about that day. He got up for school, walked to his bus stop. That was the day he was just like, Mom, you need to stop walking me to the bus stop. I'm too big for this. And I was just like, what? You know, it just threw me off. So we talked about that as we walked to the bus stop.

He got on the bus. He went to school. He went and he did his whole day in school. I didn't get any phone calls. No, I didn't get any phone calls from school that day. So he had a good day. Nina expected Christopher home by his usual 5 p.m. or soon after. When it's time for him to get off the school, I was already home. Because I had just started a new job.

And, you know, we were supposed to celebrate that day because it was the job that I really, really wanted. And we were supposed to celebrate that day because it was the job that I really, really wanted. And we were supposed to celebrate, so since Chris got home first before his brothers, Chris got to decide what we had for dinner. So we had made up that rule, like whoever gets home first gets to pick up dinner when we're doing something special. And, you know, since Chris was home first, so I'm like, okay, Chris will be home in a little bit.

Let me pull out the menus. Let me finish cleaning up this mess because I actually cleaned up the whole house. And when I looked at the clock and he wasn't home yet, I went outside, I stood outside on the main road. And, like, when you stand on the main road and you look down the street, you can see his bus stop from the street.

So I really didn't have to walk him or anything. And I didn't see him. When you stand on the main road and you look down the street, you can see his bus stop from the street. So I really didn't have to walk him or anything. And I didn't see him. So I'm like, OK, well, maybe he walked home with his little friend. It was 5.30 p.m. at that point. The walk home from the bus stop would have only taken him 10 minutes tops, five minutes if he hurried straight there. But Christopher's friend lived just a short walk down a side street, and it wouldn't have been unusual for him to go to his house after school.

So I was like, okay, so let me call. And they said, no, Chris wasn't with him. He said Chris had walked up the street already. And I'm like, okay, well, Chris isn't home. Nina hung up the phone and considered who to call next. She contacted the school bus company to confirm that Chris had actually gotten on and off the bus at his stop. Then I, you know, I called the transportation to make sure. And they were like, no, he got off the bus.

And the bus driver remembers Chris because Chris always talks to him. So then I called my husband and I told my husband that, you know, he wasn't home. And he was like, I'm on my way home. And we started looking for him. It was early February. The sun sets early that time of year in the Northeast. It was already dark and getting cold. Not wanting to lose a single second, Nina called the police.

But she didn't get the response she expected when she told them her 13-year-old child hadn't returned home from school yet. I know when I called the police, the police were really, really asinine. They were jerks and it was just crazy. The whole police situation was crazy. An officer responded to Nina's West Seldon Street home. It was just crazy. The whole police situation was crazy. An officer responded to Nina's West Seldon Street home. When they came, the cop didn't want to come into the house because we had a pit bull. And even though I put the dog up, he still refused to come in the house.

He handed me a paper and was like, fill this out. And I'm like, OK. So I filled out the paper, you know, giving a description of what Chris looked like, what he was wearing, where he was. And then he just took the paper and he left. He never spoke to me. He never physically took a report. He didn't do anything.

He just handed me a paper, told me to fill it out, and that was it. Nina didn't know if police planned to take immediate action to locate her son. But she and her family couldn't just sit still and wait out the night. You know, we had, all my family had came by the house. And they were like, well, we're going to go out and look for him. And we went out looking. We couldn't find him. The sun rose the next morning, and there was still no sign of Christopher. Nina remembers Boston police checking in with her the next day,

and she'll never forget how they talked about her son. that oh you sure that he said did you guys get an argument over anything and I'm like no I don't argue with my children I said that's that's what you guys messed up that they're children and I don't argue with children and then he was like okay well is he in a gang and I'm like no he's not in a gang and then they were like well that's the problem with some of these parents they don't know when their children are in gangs and um well they don't know well, that's the problem with some of these parents. They don't know when their children are in gangs. And, well, they don't know where they are half the time. He said, so he's probably just mad at you about something. He'll be back in a few days. I'm like, what?

Nina was stunned. The detective that was on his case, he was so rude and so disrespectful and i swear if i was dying his bedside manner was ridiculously poor like it was horrible it was like the worst experience i ever dealt with like i was like not only is my son missing but you're coming here disrespecting me in my house about my son, you know, calling him a drug dealer, saying that he's in gangs. And, you know, I was just like, he's 13. You know, like, what can he do at 13? Like, there's no way.

And sure enough, oh, you know, maybe you were just being too rough on him and didn't get him what he wanted. So he'll be back soon. And I was just like, oh, my God, this is crazy. Feeling dismissed by law enforcement, Nina decided to reach out to media outlets. She'd seen reports of missing persons on the news before, and she wanted Christopher's name and face to be broadcast far and wide, too. When he still wasn't home, we were trying to call the TV stations

and trying to get them to put Chris on the news so that people would know he's missing. And they told us that they don't put missing people on the news. Nina was incredulous. She knew that wasn't true. She saw reports of missing kids on the news all the time. In fact, the same day she was turned down by a local news station, she watched as the face of a missing white child flashed on the screen. If people didn't know Christopher was missing,

they wouldn't know to be on the lookout for him. So she started posting on social media, until finally, local media did take notice. So I posted on social media. I posted on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. And like I said, we were trying to get a hold of the news station. And then we finally did get a hold of the news station. So they finally did a story on him. We reached out to missing and exploited children. There was like a whole bunch of missing people sites that we also reached out to. So much of that early awareness and search effort

was on the shoulders of Nina and her family. This is often the reality for the loved ones of missing people. It was a lot of work trying to get it out there. On one hand, it was kind of hard. On the other hand, it wasn't. I mean, we made our own flyers. We put everything out ourselves. You know, social media, all that we did ourselves, which was pretty easy. But getting the police to get the report right, which they didn't get right, and to get the news to actually put it on so that it was out there was even harder.

And I don't think it should be that hard when someone's kid goes missing. It shouldn't take a village just to talk to one person. It should be that parent and that person and say, listen, this is what happened. We contacted the police. You can look up the police report and go from there. I don't feel that it should have taken like 10 different people to call the news station and be like, hey, listen, this kid is missing. What are you going to do about it? Christopher was a young black boy. It was evident to Nina from the earliest moments of his disappearance,

with the comments about Chris being in a gang or wrapped up in drug dealing, that he wasn't being seen for what he was, a missing child. The favoritism of the race is another thing that, you know, factors in as well. You know, and it doesn't factor in just with the news station, but it factors in with the police as well. Like, the first thing that you say is gang. And that's not what it should be. It should be a child, no matter what the race is. And it's not.

In the last nine years, the case has changed hands within the Boston Police Department multiple times. Boston PD Detective Kevin McElmoil now has the case. Despite her early negative interactions with the detectives on Christopher's case, Nina has renewed confidence in Detective McElmoil. I reached out to him to get deeper insight into the work that was done on Christopher's case and the work that's going into it now, but unfortunately, he wasn't able to speak with me because the case is still open and considered active. But Detective McElmoyle directed me to Boston Police Media Relations and Sergeant Detective Boyle. Relations of the Tavara.

Hi there, I'm looking for Sergeant Detective Boyle. Um, he just stepped out of the office. Can I take a message or do you want to call him back or an email? Um, a message would be fine. Okay, what is it detective macklemore told me to reach out to him for comment on the christopher brian lewis case it's a missing persons case from 2014 um the detective wasn't able to speak to me and he referred me to media relations okay so you haven't spoken to president boyle at all about this not yet nope i was referred to him by detective m Macklemore.

Okay. All right. So you want to send him an email then with that message so everything can be in writing. It's a request. So I did that and I didn't hear back. So I followed up and I still haven't heard back. I delayed the release of this episode several times in hopes of speaking with someone within the Boston Police Department, but it's the day before I intend to release this episode and I still haven't heard

back. I understand, they're busy, they have a lot on their plates, but I really wanted to be able to ask what's happening in Christopher Lewis's investigation now and whether there was any indication that Christopher was involved in gang activity or if he ran away, as the early detectives were quick to assume. I wanted to ask if there have been any recent developments, or if Boston Police had anything new to share. I know that because the case is open and still considered active, they probably wouldn't have given me much. They have to protect the entirety of the investigation, I get it.

But I still would have liked the opportunity to ask, had anyone called me much. They have to protect the entirety of the investigation, I get it. But I still would have liked the opportunity to ask, had anyone called me back. So without comment from Boston police, I'm left with the available public information about the case. And the circumstances known to the public at this point really don't narrow down what could have possibly happened to Christopher in such a small window of opportunity. If this was a random, isolated act, if Christopher was taken by an unknown perpetrator, for example, the distance between the bus stop and his home was so short and the route so heavily populated that it seems unlikely not a single person saw what happened. If witnesses have come forward in the previous nine years, that's not public information. Nina had never worried about Christopher when he got off the bus before. She felt safe in their

neighborhood, and he walked the same short route every single day without issue. The biggest threat to safety in the area at the time appears to have been the busy two-way street. A resident of the street told the Boston Globe in 2015, quote, there's no problem with the neighbors or crime. The problem is with speeding, end quote. That year, an eight-year-old girl and her 12-year-old cousin were hit by a car while riding their bikes together

at their grandmother's birthday party near the 100 block of West Selden Street. According to the Boston Globe's reporting, the driver attempted to flee the scene on foot before he was ultimately apprehended. The eight-year-old girl died from her injuries, and the driver was charged with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident and motor vehicle homicide. If Christopher was the victim of a hit-and-run on that busy street, surely there would have been evidence of such an accident. But there isn't anything in the publicly available

information that points to this being the case. Nina firmly dismisses the idea that her 13-year-old son was involved in gang activity or other criminal behavior and that that is what led to his disappearance. It has never been a working theory in Nina's mind, despite how detectives first tried to categorize his case. Another theory that has been floated is whether Christopher ran away. Some media reports mention that Christopher had previously run away and was found in the Fields Corner area of Dorchester Avenue. But this, too, Nina denies. Christopher never ran away or disappeared before, she says. Nina is constantly working to dispel these rumors that only further distract from the most important detail. Her son was just a kid when he disappeared. He is still missing, and she is still searching. Despite the years without answers, and still no sign of Christopher Lewis,

Nina is hopeful that Detective McElmoyle might actually be able to learn some new information. Still, Christopher's disappearance continues to impact Nina's every waking moment. Moving forward, I really haven't. I'm pretty f***ed up. I hate to say it, but I'm pretty f***ed up. You know, it's hard for me to move forward. It's hard for me to let the kids I have now go. My son, who's 19, Jason, he's in Boston right now. And that's hard for me, for him to be there and for me not to be there. So it's just like, is he okay? What is he doing?

You know, and Jaden has a field trip that's in Virginia next week. And I'm just like, no, he can't go. But it's just like, I'm trying not to shelter them because losing Chris was like the worst experience of my life. And it still hurts. Every day it hurts. Nina has endured all kinds of treatment and judgment by those who cannot possibly know what it's like to walk through any parent's worst nightmare.

And then people talk about what kind of mom I am. You moved out of state and you don't even have your son. You know, I had to move to get sanity for me and my other kids, but I still look for my son. I'm still in Boston. I go to Boston twice a year. I go the day he went missing, and I go for his birthday. Like I said, I stay in contact with the detective.

The detective that's on his case now, he's amazing. He's, like, the best. He calls me. He texts me he makes sure I'm okay so it's not easy it's hard and people think it's easy and be like oh she went all her life she just got married you know she just had a she got pregnant and it's not easy it's you know I'm sitting here with a new husband. We did get pregnant, but we didn't have the baby.

But it was hard. And I think because of me stressing out being pregnant all over again and not having Chris here was stressing me out a lot. We put off on the wedding for a while because I didn't want to get married without Chris being here. So it's a lot of stuff that goes on that people don't see. And all they see is the front part of me. They don't see what's happening behind the closed doors. After nearly 10 years, not knowing what happened to her firstborn son

still weighs just as heavy as the very first night without him. Nina and Christopher's entire family deserve answers. It's time for Christopher to come home. If you have any information about the disappearance of Christopher Brian Lewis, please contact the Boston Police Department at 617-343-4687. You can find pictures of Christopher Brian Lewis and missing posters at darkdowneast.com. Thank you for listening to Dark Down East. Sources cited and referenced for this episode are listed at darkdowneast.com. Please follow Dark Down East on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening right now.

And if you could, leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If you have a personal connection to a case and you want me to cover it on this podcast, please contact me at hello at darkdowneast.com. Thank you for supporting this show and allowing me to do what I do. I'm honored to use this platform for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones, and for those who are still searching for answers in cold missing persons and homicide cases. I'm not about to let those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe, those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is Dark Down East.