The Disappearance of Kristopher Bryan Lewis (Massachusetts)

It was the morning of February 4, 2014. 13-year old Kristopher Bryan 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-Rodgers eagerly awaited her oldest son’s return home. The whole family had plans to celebrate her new job, and Kris got to pick what they had for dinner.

But Kris never walked through the door 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 is on Dark Downeast to share Kristopher’s story. 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 Kristopher’s name again, that they’ll know Kristopher’s face, and her greatest hope is that one day she’ll know where he is.

About Kristopher

I first learned the name Kristopher Bryan 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-poles strategy provided in the past.

Kristopher’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, a physical description, and a tip line for the Boston Police department.

I was struck by Kristopher’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 Kristopher, and it had been years since any mainstream media picked up the story and shared Kristopher’s name and photo.

I wanted to change that, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t tell Kristopher Bryan Lewis’s story without contacting his mother, Nina Cancel-Rodgers, 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, she agreed to share Kristopher’s story – she’ll do anything that might help bring Kristopher home.