The "Boy in the Box" has long been one of Philadelphia's most notorious unsolved murders. His body was found in 1957, but all investigations came to nothing. Thanks to new technology, a team of investigators can now identify him and may soon find the murderer.
On a cold February day in 1957, a college student found the body of a boy in a box in a wooded area of northeast Philadelphia. A day later he reports to the police after speaking to a priest. For decades, all police investigations came to nothing, and it was not even possible to clarify the child's identity. Until now.
65 years after the body was found, state-of-the-art DNA tests bring the breakthrough. The "Boy in the Box" is Joseph Augustus Zarelli, the police said at a specially arranged press conference. The boy, who was buried as "America's Unknown Child," showed obvious signs of abuse and was wrapped in a blanket. The autopsy revealed that he had been literally beaten to death. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, he had been dead and malnourished for a few days when the body was found. His hair was roughly cut to the scalp.
The investigations in 1957 also showed that it was a four to six-year-old boy. However, no missing persons report was ever filed that police were able to link to the child. The investigation ended in a dead end.
Nevertheless, the case moved the people of Philadelphia for decades, and in 2008 a book entitled "Boy in the Box" was published. "For 65 years, the story of America's Unknown Child has haunted this community, the Philadelphia Police Department, our nation and the world," said Danielle Outlaw, Philadelphia Police Commissioner. Generations of police officers, some dead, had worked on the case. "Despite the fact that Joseph Augustus Zarelli was stripped of his entire identity and rightful claim to his own existence, he was never forgotten," Outlaw said.
As in other cold cases, the hope for new investigative results grew with the emergence of new forensic investigative possibilities. In April 2019, a court granted investigators permission to exhume the body and perform advanced DNA analysis.
The results of those tests were uploaded to DNA databases, Police Representative Jason Smith said. Relatives in the child's maternal family were eventually traced with the help of genealogists from Identifinders International, a forensic genetic genealogy company. This enabled investigators to identify the birth mother. Further investigation eventually led to the individual, who was later confirmed to be the child's father through additional testing. Both the father and the mother of Joseph Augustus Zarelli have already died, but there are still living siblings. However, the police did not give their names in order to protect their identities.
Smith said officers did not yet know who killed the boy or under what circumstances he died. However, the investigation would continue. "We have suspicions as to who may be responsible, but it would be irresponsible of me to share those suspicions as this remains an active and ongoing criminal investigation," Smith said.
