Boy in the Box: After 65 years, police ID victim in Philadelphia cold case (PHOTOS)
Editor’s note: This article contains graphic details and photos that may be disturbing to some readers.
After 65 years without a name, police have finally identified the Boy in the Box — the young victim of Philadelphia’s oldest unsolved homicide.
Investigators say that in 1957, the young boy was discovered in West Philadelphia. He was nude, wrapped in a blanket, and tucked inside a cardboard box by the side of the road. Police say he was malnourished and had been beaten to death.
Philadelphia Police Department
Since authorities could not identify the child at the time, and he was not reported missing by anyone, he was known as the “Boy in the Box” for nearly seven decades. He was buried at the Ivy Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, and his tombstone refers to him as “America’s Unknown Child.”
TheXuitts/Wikimedia Commons
Now, that unknown young boy has a real name: four-year-old Joseph Augustus Zarelli.
When Zarelli’s body was exhumed in 1998, police collected DNA. That DNA sample would help lead investigators to a major break.
According to forensic genealogist Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, who works with Identifiers International, Zarelli’s DNA matched a distant cousin.
Forensic facial reconstruction by Carl Koppelman
From there, investigators connected the boy to his mother and siblings and learned that he was born on January 13, 1953. The announcement of his identification followed this year on Thursday, December 8.
“In his very short life, it was apparent that this child experienced horrors that no one, no one should ever be subjected to,” said Philadelphia Police Department Commissioner Danielle Outlaw during a press conference.
Philadelphia Police Department
More than six decades after a boy was found dead in a box in Philadelphia, investigators have identified the child with the help of DNA, police announced Tuesday.https://t.co/9HCnGmQL9Q
— National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (@MissingKids) December 7, 2022
So far, the identities of Zarelli’s parents have not been revealed. There’s still work to be done as the Boy in the Box case is far from closed.
“We may not make an arrest — we may never make an identification,” said Philadelphia Police Department Captain Jason Smith. “But we’re going to do our darndest to try.”
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