Boy in the Box/America's Unknown Child

[christine2448]

I am new here and did a search for this case and couldn't find anything...forgive me if there is a reference here and I couldn't find it.

Anyone familiar with this case?

The website (listed below) has soooooo much information, it took me a couple of days to read it all!

Here is a link to the website http://americasunknownchild.net (http://americasunknownchild.net/)



Edit:
I admit I hadn't fully read the forum rules, I apologize, and I had posted the whole front page of the webpage here at first...I came back and took it off and just put the link...I have gone and read through all of the rules and will follow :)

[2sisters]

I have been curious about this case for a while, I'm glad someone posted about it, hopefully someone will have some info on it. It seems like there will never be an answer. It is a sad story.

[blueclouds]

God. This case should be possible to resolve. I STILL think it has something to do with the foster home nearby where his body was found. If he has / had siblings, they'd only be late 50's or early 60's. Little man. No little baby deserves to be left in a box, beaten and all. How can people live with themselves? :( :(

[Sherlock]

This is so sad! I'm reading it but had to stop for a while once I saw the photos of that poor boy!

I could cry.

They couldn't tell from the boy's body/autopsy if he was beaten to death?

[christine2448]

God. This case should be possible to resolve. I STILL think it has something to do with the foster home nearby where his body was found. If he has / had siblings, they'd only be late 50's or early 60's. Little man. No little baby deserves to be left in a box, beaten and all. How can people live with themselves? :( :(Good points IMO, I posted this with hopes someone would know something. It's amazing the people that read these, you just never know. This case has haunted me for sometime. I think someone out there has info. I just pray they happen to come across this site or the actual site of The Boy in the Box.

I think one of the biggest clues is the box he was found in, if I remember correctly it was a bassett.

[smile22]

dont foster homes have reccords of all the children that were in the homes. dont they have records from back then on file somewhere that they can compare to the boy in the box?

[gatetrekker44]

about this case-a retired detective who is part of a group of retired LE personnel who "work" cold cases believes he may have ID'd this child(it was in the Nov 2003 issue). What this gentleman discovered was that the child had been given to a mentally unstable woman who supposedly was responsible for his death. He had located this woman's biological daughter, who even though has her own mental health issues, recounted the story of how her mother came to have the boy and how in a fit of rage, killed him.
Here is a link to the most recent info I could find(I'm originally from Philly, so this case has always had a special place in my heart!!)



http://www.northeasttimes.com/2003/1120/boyinbox.html

[blueclouds]

about this case-a retired detective who is part of a group of retired LE personnel who "work" cold cases believes he may have ID'd this child(it was in the Nov 2003 issue). What this gentleman discovered was that the child had been given to a mentally unstable woman who supposedly was responsible for his death. He had located this woman's biological daughter, who even though has her own mental health issues, recounted the story of how her mother came to have the boy and how in a fit of rage, killed him.
Here is a link to the most recent info I could find(I'm originally from Philly, so this case has always had a special place in my heart!!)



http://www.northeasttimes.com/2003/1120/boyinbox.html

I recall that too. However, and I don't have the info handy - this was possibly debunked. There were several reasons her story never quite fit. About a year ago, I was in contact with one of the investigators of this little boy in the box - and they don't quite believe it was this child for many reasons. HOWEVER... THEY'RE still trying to verify her story. That's why, on the site - they first question whether anyone KNEW a child named Jonathan.

I wish there was an ending. Little man. I'm glad he became so loved in his death though. Hopefully he can feel that love from Heaven.


Here's an update from the site regarding this woman:
September 2004: During the past year, Vidocq Society investigators located and interviewed additional people who used to live in the Lower Merion neighborhorhood where, according to the unsubstantiated testimony of an Ohio woman, the unknown boy was secretly confined in a basement and subjected to physical and sexual abuse for two years prior to his death. Two of the former neighbors had been frequent visitors to the home, and they had access to all areas, including the basement. They flatly denied that a young boy lived there. A female neighbor who had been a close friend of the family and attended the same church, said that she was astonished to learn of the false accusations being made against them. She stated that the Ohio woman's allegations are "preposterous." The Vidocq Society investigators believe they have now exhausted all investigative options relative to the Ohio lead. Sadly, what had initially appeared to be the most significant breakthrough in the long history of this investigation, has ultimately turned out to be just another frustrating dead end."


"

[Paradise]

The thing I don't understand is where the man with the specially made hat comes in. Could it have been his father? A worker at the foster home? The hatmaker remembered the man who came in to buy the hat but couldn't give very many details on him. Anyone have any thoughts?

[Richard]

dont foster homes have reccords of all the children that were in the homes. dont they have records from back then on file somewhere that they can compare to the boy in the box?
Although each state has its own laws governing the foster care system, in all cases it is regulated (usually on the county government level) by a Child Protective/Welfare department. Foster homes are licensed through them and foster parents are required to be screened by social workers. Each child who enters a foster home is assigned there by the state or county, and it is the state or county which holds all the records on the child. There are also requirements for social workers to visit or meet with the child - and with the foster parents - on a regular basis.

Foster homes are required to submit reports and maintain records while the child resides with them, and while they are licensed, and during the time that they are active, they might be requested to provide certain records. Those records, however, usually relate to expenses, medical visits, school grades etc, and copies would normally be submitted to the County officials. While an individual foster parent might keep his or her own records for many years after having the child, I doubt that any such requirement exists anywhere.

Generally speaking, although there certainly are abuses and laxness in the system, Foster children are better regulated and accounted for than individual children not in foster care. The little boy found in the box was a victim of long time abuse, prior to his death. If there had been any kind of Foster Care assignment or records on him, I would think that those would have come to light early on in the investigation.

[2sisters]

I was reading on the America's unknown child website and they are looking for doctors from the Philadelphia area who may remember giving medical treatment to this boy in the early 1950's. Would it be possible to send a letter out to all doctor's who practiced in that area in the time frame asking about it? There could be someone who did remember but has no knowledge of the case. The chances of a doctor remembering this many years later are slim but you never know.

[PonderingThings]

If there was a doctor, who was practicing in the 1950s he/she would have had to be at least, at a minimum, what... 25?

Which means they would be, at a minimum, 71-80 yrs old today (or thereabouts). Most likely retired...

Perhaps an article(s) in various medical association newsletters would be more applicable? Nurses associations too?

[Richard]

I was reading on the America's unknown child website and they are looking for doctors from the Philadelphia area who may remember giving medical treatment to this boy in the early 1950's. Would it be possible to send a letter out to all doctor's who practiced in that area in the time frame asking about it? There could be someone who did remember but has no knowledge of the case. The chances of a doctor remembering this many years later are slim but you never know.
The American Medical Association used to print directories of Doctors, and older copies of their publications might still exist in some libraries. Advertisment of medical skills was usually not done back in the 1950's, but phone directories and AMA directories might yield a list of potential MD's and pediatricians of that place and time.

[gardenmom]

If there was a doctor, who was practicing in the 1950s he/she would have had to be at least, at a minimum, what... 25?

Which means they would be, at a minimum, 71-80 yrs old today (or thereabouts). Most likely retired...

Perhaps an article(s) in various medical association newsletters would be more applicable? Nurses associations too?
Retired or deceased. Unfortunately, this happens the older a case gets.

[Paradise]

This is so sad! I'm reading it but had to stop for a while once I saw the photos of that poor boy!

I could cry.

They couldn't tell from the boy's body/autopsy if he was beaten to death?I know this is off-topic but your sig makes me laugh my butt off everytime I see it.

[christine2448]

Thought I'd bump this, maybe some fresh eyes could see :)

[anthrobones]

bumping up post

[2sisters]

Just bumping this little guy up. I have looked at his autopsy photos and can't belive that someone could do that to their child. His life must have been awful.

[2sisters]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/06/48hours/main627825.shtml

[mel36]

What surprises me and I hope to raise the thoughts of others on this subject is the fact that when the police and investigators went around and questioned the Orphanages and the Foster Homes, the question was "are their any missing children from this (orphanage or home)? well if some body killed the little boy from one of those places I don't believe that they would be so forth comming with and missing children information, their was a St Josephs Catholic Orphanage I believe that was in that area I wonder if through the years and with other investigators if they have never executed a search warrent for batismal records medical records or some kind of roll count from during that year as to how many children were their and if they could all be accounted for, it seems to me that the investigators previouse and new have put so much time and effort into this case it would be a shame to leave even one stone unturned, just my thoughts. :twocents:

[Pandora]

What surprises me and I hope to raise the thoughts of others on this subject is the fact that when the police and investigators went around and questioned the Orphanages and the Foster Homes, the question was "are their any missing children from this (orphanage or home)? well if some body killed the little boy from one of those places I don't believe that they would be so forth comming with and missing children information, their was a St Josephs Catholic Orphanage I believe that was in that area I wonder if through the years and with other investigators if they have never executed a search warrent for batismal records medical records or some kind of roll count from during that year as to how many children were their and if they could all be accounted for, it seems to me that the investigators previouse and new have put so much time and effort into this case it would be a shame to leave even one stone unturned, just my thoughts. :twocents:
EXACTLY RIGHT mel36!!!
When we sent our inspection teams to foreign prisons/encampments to search for MIAS/POWS from VietNam all they did was look at the rolls!!! WTH didn't they walk up and down the tiers hollering, "Is anyone here American?" SERIOUSLY! The powers that be always seem willing to take the word of those who would be investigated and prosecuted if the child/person were found. What gives?!?!

[docwho3]

EXACTLY RIGHT mel36!!!
When we sent our inspection teams to foreign prisons/encampments to search for MIAS/POWS from VietNam all they did was look at the rolls!!! WTH didn't they walk up and down the tiers hollering, "Is anyone here American?" SERIOUSLY! The powers that be always seem willing to take the word of those who would be investigated and prosecuted if the child/person were found. What gives?!?! My response is not exactly important to the case.
I just wanted to mention that when I saw this case title, which has to do with a box and then saw that the most recent post was from a user named pandora I just had to smile.

[2sisters]

My response is not exactly important to the case.
I just wanted to mention that when I saw this case title, which has to do with a box and then saw that the most recent post was from a user named pandora I just had to smile.Lol!
As ugguestion about the orphanage. They investigators went through the records I am sure, but who to say some records werent destroyed by the orphanage first. Sorry, but orphanages aren't know for being rainbows and baskets of puppies. Shouldn't the county have records of all kids living there? to me he jus thas to be from the children's home. i wonder did the investigators talk to kids at the home? weould they have been any help or too scared to talk?

[Richard]

Here is what the Doe Network has in its files on the little boy...

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Unidentified White Male
Body found in a cardboard box off Susquehanna Road in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 25, 1957
The child was severly beaten and bruised.

Vital Statistics

Estimated age: 4-6 years old
Approximate Height and Weight: 40 1/2 inches; 30 pounds

Distinguishing Characteristics: He had blue eyes and pale skin. His hair was medium to light brown, or blond in color, and was trimmed in an odd, bowl-shaped haircut. There were seven scars on the body, three of which could have resulted from surgical procedures. Two of these "surgical" scars were on the chest and groin. They had healed quite well, leaving only a hair-line trace. There was also a scar on the boy's left ankle, which looked like a "cut-down" incision. Such an incision is made to expose a vein so that a needle may be inserted to give an infusion or transfusion. There was a 1 1/2 - inch scar on the left side of the chest, and a round, irregular scar on the left elbow. On the chin was an L-shaped scar - a quarter of an inch long in each direction. There was no vaccination scar. The boy had been circumcised. He had several small moles on his body, including three on the left side of his face; one below his right ear; three on his chest; and one on his right arm, two inches above his wrist.

Dentals: The boy had a full set of baby teeth, and was also slightly buck-toothed.

Clothing: A tan child's scarf and a boy's yellow flannel shirt were also recovered at the scene. Investigators determined that the size four shirt matched the child's size at the time of his homicide. A child's pair of black shoes were also located; however, they did not fit the unidentified boy. An Ivy League style cap made of blue corduroy was also found near the box; the hat had a leather strap and buckle across the back. It was determined that the cap was made in a south Philadelphia shop; the store owner recalled that a man between the ages of 26 - 30 made the purchase. He did not speak with an accent. The purchaser was never identified.
Case History

This case has baffled the public for more than 42 years. The boy, now referred to as "America's Unknown Child" or "The Boy In The Box," has never been identified -- many leads have been followed, but proved futile.

The child's unclothed body was placed inside a cardboard box and deposited at a garbage-filled locale on Susquehanna Road in Philadelphia in February 1957. His body was beaten, although coroners' investigations were unable to pinpoint any previous broken bones or inflicted trauma. The child's nails were recently trimmed. The palm of his right hand and the soles of his feet were rough and wrinkled, indicating that the limbs had been submerged in water prior or shortly after his death. Strands of the child's own hair were present on his body, leading authorities to believe that his hair had been cut shortly before or following his homicide.

The boy was wrapped in a large piece of an inexpensive, well-worn blanket with a faded design of diamonds and blocks in green, rust-colored red, brown and white. An additional piece of the blanket was found inside the box, which was smeared with automotive grease. The third piece of the blanket remains missing.

The box which contained the child's body was from JC Penney's in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania and had been used for a white bassinette. Records were unable to pinpoint the purchaser of the item.

Below link contains a photos of the box that the victim was found in and Artist Reconstructions of the little boy.

This case has been re-opened and closed many times in over 40 years. The boy's remains were exhumed in the late 90's for DNA testing; he was then reinterred into a tomb marked "America's Unknown Child" in Philadelphia. Recently, The Vidocq Society, an assembly of esteemed detectives and forensic examiners, has taken up the case.

A long strand of brown hair -- identified as being from someone else, not the child -- was removed from the scene. In addition, a man's handkerchief with the initial "G" was located near the box. Short stands of hair were present on the material and were tested to determine if the hair came from the unidentified boy; the results of the tests are unknown.

A forensic artist created an image which may possibly reflect what the boy's father may have looked like, as seen in below link. (Courtesy of America's Most Wanted)

Update: Fall of 2000 -- An independent laboratory was able to obtain a a mitochondrial DNA profile from the boy's teeth. His remains were badly deteriorated and it was a last chance effort after failing to lift any other type of DNA.

Update: May of 2002 -- Investigators received a phone call from a psychiatrist who said that a patient of her's, named Martha, knew who the little boy was. Martha said that in 1955, when she was 11, her librarian mother drove her to a home, where she picked the boy up in exchange for an envelope which she assumed contained money. The child, called Jonathan, then came to live with them in their Philadelphia home. There, he was raised in squalor in the basement, with a drain for a bathroom and a makeshift bed amid coal bins and discarded cardboard cartons. Martha claimed that her mother regularly sexually abused her and had purchased the child to do the same to him.

The boy's death, Martha claimed, eventually came when her mother, in a fit of rage, slammed him down on the floor after he vomited in the tub. That day, her mother drove her into Philadelphia to dump the child.

Investigator Tom Augustine was amazed, but skeptical. "This is the best lead we've ever had on this case," he explained. "But until we have proof that [the boy] is who she says he is, she can talk all day long — we're not closing it."

Investigators
If you have any information as to the identity of this boy or the circumstances of his death, please contact:

Philadelphia Police Department
Homicide Division
215-686-3334

You may remain anonymous if you wish.

Source Information:
America's Unknown Child: The Boy In The Box Mystery
America's Most Wanted
Court TV
The Doe Network: Case File 4UMPA

LINK:
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/4umpa.html

[2sisters]

If this case were givien more publicity I wonder if a kid from the home might come forward 50 years later.

[reb]

you know this kid might have never seen the light of day, or the few people who saw him might not remember or be dead by now, and the parents might not have had any other kids... there might have even just been one parent as the father maybe never even knew... so if the parent/s are long gone by now then there might be no one left alive who even knew about him. i honestly think as far as this case goes, that at this point we'll never know.
forgive me if this has been discussed, but it's possible this kid was the result of a nun & priest 'having communion' together.. i used to know a mother & daughter who had an antique store that was once a convent, and they said when they renovated the basement the workers found baby skeletons (or was it fetus skeletons??) down there. is that creepy (and sad) or what????? so.. i know these kinds of things went on... maybe this kid was kept hidden somewhere and he could have died from anything- some kind of disease or epidemic, malnutrition, & his parents were destitute and couldn't afford a funeral.. another possibility- there could have been a home for the disabled, retarded or blind, or an insane asylum-- and i know there were lots of unwanted pregnanices in places like these. what happened to all these children (that were born)? how he made it to the age he was was unusual though. also maybe he was retarded, autistic or disabled himself.. he may have also been a child of rape. maybe his mother was infirmed or never wanted to have him in the first place (esp if she had been raped).

[2sisters]

Is there any thing from an autospy that could point to mental retardation. Some kind of bone formation, head shape, etc?

[reb]

he also could have been the only (or the first) child to a couple, or a mother (if the father was not in the picture)-- and the couple or mother could have told others later on, that she had a child years ago but it died... and no one thought anything of it. the question of how the child lived to be that old w/o anyone noticing or remembering him points to 2 things- (as said before)- he never saw the light of day or was hidden (this to me points to: 1-poverty, 2-shame of 'illicit' pregnancy due to status, religion or rape; or 3-retardation) or whoever had him moved around a lot.

[Boyz_Mum]

Below are two links to stories about the "boy in the box". This case has intrigued me for years.

http://boyinthebox.bravehost.com/updates.htm
http://americasunknownchild.net/default.htm

[mel36]

I believe this story has been on the show Unsolved Mysteries and it was also featured on an crime show I think the show was CSI or simular to that, I also believe that AMW featured this story but I could be mistaken I also believe that more attention needs to be focused on the care takers at the childrens homes as well just because of the hat that was found at the scene the people who made it said that it was only one in 12 made like that and that particular hat she remembers because the man asked if she could put a strap on it, like I said someone has to remember something and kids pay attention to details "like hats" its a small piece of info but I am wondering if the person that wore that hat was just nasty enough to be remembered by a kid. Details like colors, smells and objects I think are remembered when they are associated with a possible bad memory, because anybody that would dump the body of a little boy or even help to dump the body could not have had that great of a personality. These people may be all but gone that did this but the fact remains in my mind that this little guy still deserves justice as would anybody.

[blaize]

This is such a sad story. I remember coming across it on the web and looking at the sketchs that were released of the little lad and thinking that tme was slipping away as many of the people in that area and possibly the perpatrator/s could be dead by now.

Did anyone see the episode of Cold Case based on this story?

[suzannec4444]

Hi
I feel they will find thier answers with the Horsham suspects.

http://www.americasunknownchild.net/Archives5Text.html#fourq

http://www.americasunknownchild.net/Archives7Text.html#momq


http://americasunknownchild.net/Archives1Text.html#CSIBM

In the article mother of 9 quizzed,she was questioned bacause she looked like the lady near the car that was seen near the area of where the boy in the box was found.If you look closely she resembles the Horsham suspect lady.There is a boy in the Horsham suspect picture the may resemble the couple found near (lady and boy)the car near the area where the boy in the box was found.

I feel the boy died getting his hair cut in the bath.He was fighting because he did not want his hair cut.I believe the autopsy said no old bruises?Did he change care takers or was he visiting someone.



suzanne

[2sisters]

Hey Suzanne, Good to see you back here!
I thought the bruises were a mix of old and new but the haircut bruises were new, I think thatts how they knew he had his hair cut recently.

[suzannec4444]

Hi
Hey.How are you?I'm not sure about the bruises.I was kind of confused about that.I thought they said the bruises were all inflicted at the same time.I don't know.I'll have to go try and find it.I really felt sorry for this little boy.I hope and pray they find out who he is through DNA somewhere.God is holding him now and taking care of him now.

suzanne

[christine2448]

Hi
Hey.How are you?I'm not sure about the bruises.I was kind of confused about that.I thought they said the bruises were all inflicted at the same time.I don't know.I'll have to go try and find it.I really felt sorry for this little boy.I hope and pray they find out who he is through DNA somewhere.God is holding him now and taking care of him now.

suzanne
Hiya, this is all I could find doing a quick look over at the case summary:

There were many bruises all over the child's body; particularly on the head and face. All of the bruises appeared to have been inflicted at the same time.

http://americasunknownchild.net/summary.htm

[christine2448]

Was reading the timeline, and I'm confused, I had always thought/assumed, the bassinett box was discarded w/the little boys body, this states otherwise, did anyone else catch this and/or assume as I did??

To summarize, the sequence of events may have been as follows:

1. Monday, February 11, 1957 - Fred Benonis' initial visit to the Susquehanna Road site. He did not see the J.C. Penney bassinet carton or the boy's body at that time.

2. Late February 1957 (specific date unknown, but probably not more than a few days prior to February 23rd) - The empty J.C. Penney bassinet carton was discarded at the site by person(s) unknown. The blue cap was probably left at the site at about the same time.

3. Saturday, February 23, 1957 (a.m.) - Alleged death of the unknown boy in Lower Merion, PA.

4. Saturday, February 23, 1957 (5 - 5:30 p.m.) - The body of the unknown boy was allegedly disposed of at the Susquehanna Road site by "M" and her mother. A male motorist reportedly witnessed them at the scene as they were preparing to remove the boy's body from the trunk of their car.

5. Sunday, February 24, 1957 (1:30 p.m.) - John Powroznik discovered the boy's body while returning home from a basketball game. He did not mention this incident to anyone.

6. Monday, February 25, 1957 (3:15 p.m.) - Fred Benonis returned to the Susquehanna Road site and discovered the body.

7. Tuesday, February 26, 1957 (10:10 a.m.) - Fred Benonis reported his discovery to the Philadelphia police department. Police officers arrived at the scene by 10:40 a.m.

[suzannec4444]

Hi
If the bruises were inflicted at the same time.That tells me there were not other bruises mentioned in different stages of healing.I don't think they mentioned older bruises.I feel he was beat on the legs as discipline to try and give him a haircut and he fought getting one.There could have been two people trying to give him this hair cut.the bruises inflicted at the same time I feel tells me he was not beat before at least not on a regular basis.I feel he may have changed caretakers or was visiting someone.

suzanne

[christine2448]

Hi
If the bruises were inflicted at the same time.That tells me there were not other bruises mentioned in different stages of healing.I don't think they mentioned older bruises.I feel he was beat on the legs as discipline to try and give him a haircut and he fought getting one.There could have been two people trying to give him this hair cut.the bruises inflicted at the same time I feel tells me he was not beat before at least not on a regular basis.I feel he may have changed caretakers or was visiting someone.

suzanneI think someone else may have also mentioned this, but, one o f my 1st theories was he did as a lot of kids do and gave himself a haircut and this lead to the beating that resulted in his death, but, after rereading, it appeared he was nude when his hair was cut, so that doesn't line up with me that he was the one who cut his hair. What you are saying makes more sense to me.

[mel36]

I was doing some research and found an article that is strange in 1952 there was a church (St Annes) that was associated with the Catholic Charities Adoptions, in the article it mentions that a woman gave birth to a baby that was given up and the church assigned the woman an alias. I am not saying that this baby was the unknown boy but it makes a person wonder if one persons adoption was handled this way then how many (and I am sure several) were handled this way, in which case were back to square zero because if this boy was adopted out and he was sickly the "adoptive parents" could have brought him back which was not unheard of back then

[Richard]

...
5. Sunday, February 24, 1957 (1:30 p.m.) - John Powroznik discovered the boy's body while returning home from a basketball game. He did not mention this incident to anyone...
...But didn't think it was important enough to mention...

What an Idiot.

[2sisters]

...But didn't think it was important enough to mention...

What an Idiot.Was he the one who found the body while "peeping" on the girls at the homes? I recall reading somewhere that someone found him while being a peeping tom but was afraid to come forward.

[bykerladi]

A memorial service will be held for this poor boy on February 26 at 10am in Ivy Hill Cemetary.


http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/16670732.htm

[Rle7]

He was only a little boy. Somewhere between 4 and 6 years old, with blue eyes, fair complexion and medium to light brown hair, crudely cut. His nude, severely malnourished body was wrapped in a cheap cotton flannel blanket, placed inside a cardboard box that originally housed a white bassinet. Deep bruises covered much of the boy's frame and face, a telltale indication of prolonged abuse. Tossed aside like trash off an isolated rural road, lying there for days, perhaps weeks, before anyone found him.



Fifty years later, an old man leans by the boy's gravestone, sidestepping the plush toys and flowers that have been left on the ground nearby. He smiles, thinking about the many hundreds of similar artifacts placed by well-wishers and sympathetic visitors in the nearly 10 years that the boy has lain here. It's a brisk January day and he almost didn't make it to the cemetery. It's hard enough for him to drive and snow falling hard just a few minutes before made him understandably nervous. But the snow has stopped, replaced by brilliant sunshine breaking over the sky. He moves even closer and utters a prayer, inaudible to anyone around him but full of heartfelt sentiment that echoes loud and clear:

That he will live long enough for the one piece of news that has eluded him for decades, even as he grows increasingly resigned that this may never come.

He is the Boy in the Box, America's Unknown Child and more recently, Jonathan. Names used interchangeably, but always with a sense of incompleteness, because none is his for-sure true one. Years of voluminous leads, promising theories and fluctuating spotlights, and the answers are still frustratingly out of reach. With the 50th anniversary of the boy's death approaching, the probability of a definitive outcome grows ever slimmer as his strongest advocates grow older, more infirm and die off. The case's most active homicide investigator retired recently from the Philadelphia Police Department, with no replacement in sight. Even a dedicated Web site (at www.americasunknownchild.net (http://www.americasunknownchild.net/)) by an interested layman lies fallow after his unexpected death two months ago. When they are gone, who will be left to speak for the boy?

http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2007/02/15/boy-missing

This is a very sad story. It's highly unlikely someone will come forward with info after all this time. It's sad to think this case will no longer get followed up on. This boy needs his real name gracing his headstone.

[Rle7]

A special ceremony was held this morning to mark the 50th anniversary of Philadelphia's most infamous, unsolved murder.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=5069920

[sneezy]

this is from philly.com

Posted on Tue, Feb. 27, 2007
(http://www.reprintbuyer.com/mags/knightridder/reprints.html)

The 'Boy in the Box' mystery, 50 years on

By Joseph A. Gambardello

Inquirer Staff Writer

http://www.philly.com/images/philly/inquirer/16793/282019071671.jpg



Deanna Gannon came to a snow-covered Ivy Hill Cemetery in the gray morning chill yesterday with a single white rose for a boy more loved in death than he was in life.

He has no name, but Gannon - like many of her generation who grew up in Philadelphia in the 1950s - remembers his face.

And so she joined with a dwindling band of retired investigators in marking the 50th anniversary of what has become known as the Boy in the Box case.

There was Elmer Palmer, the police officer who found the boy's bruised and undernourished body in a bassinet box on a field Feb. 26, 1957, in a then-rural part of Fox Chase.

There was Bill Kelly, a onetime police photographer who searched hundreds of medical and immigration records trying to put a name to the face that touched a city. And there was Joe McGillen, a former medical examiner's office investigator, who with Kelly and other members of the Vidocq Society - a group of professional and amateur sleuths - is still trying to solve the crime.

Joining them for the first time was Detective Regina Byarm, the latest Police Department homicide investigator assigned to oversee case H-57-22.

Gannon, too, was making her first visit to the boy's grave site, which had been in Potter's Field until his remains were moved to Ivy Hill in 1998.

Gannon was 12 when the case broke. Since then, she has become the mother of five and the grandmother of 10.

"I remember the poster [of the boy's face] going to the store in our neighborhood," said Gannon, of Gwynedd Valley. "It's such a tragedy. Who would be so cruel?"

The boy was 4 to 6 years old and had been beaten. His light brown hair had been crudely chopped. His nude body was wrapped in a cheap blanket.

McGillen recalled that investigators felt they would break the case in days, if not hours.

"Now, 50 years later, we're still in the same position... It's still a mystery," he said.

He noted that others who had taken the case to heart have since died, including Remington Bristow, a former medical examiner's investigator; and George Knowles, who created the America's Unknown Child Web site dedicated to the case.

At yesterday's graveside ceremony, Kelly offered prayers. A bagpiper played "Amazing Grace" and other hymns.

It was Kelly who observed that the boy "had more love in death than he encountered in life."

And William Fleisher, a former police officer and FBI agent who is commissioner of the Vidocq Society in Philadelphia, said that as long as the boy is remembered, there is chance that one day his name could be chiseled into his tombstone, no longer unknown.

Contact staff writer Joseph Gambardello at 215-854-2153 or jgambardello@phillynews.com (jgambardello@phillynews.com).

[2sisters]

Bumping him up. Can a mod move this sweet little guy to the unknown section maybe? He is the first Doe I ever came across and who led me to missing kids and Does and then here. I never gave stuff like this much thought until him.

[2sisters]

Bumping him up. Can a mod move this sweet little guy to the unknown section maybe? He is the first Doe I ever came across and who led me to missing kids and Does and then here. I never gave stuff like this much thought until him.

[2sisters]

I had before brought up if there was any way to know if he was menatlly retarded or had some sort of disability. I was curious b/c I thought maybe he was dropped off at an institution as an infant or toddler once a disability or retardation became apparent, as many parents did with diasbled kids back then. Is it possible he was accidentaly killed at a mental institution? I know some were not the friendliest of places.
This case breaks my heart so much and I doubt he will ever have a name.

[2sisters]

I had before brought up if there was any way to know if he was menatlly retarded or had some sort of disability. I was curious b/c I thought maybe he was dropped off at an institution as an infant or toddler once a disability or retardation became apparent, as many parents did with diasbled kids back then. Is it possible he was accidentaly killed at a mental institution? I know some were not the friendliest of places.
This case breaks my heart so much and I doubt he will ever have a name.

[Gina_M]

I thought the bruises were a mix of old and new but the haircut bruises were new, I think thatts how they knew he had his hair cut recently.

On the Doe Network it says "His body was beaten, although coroners' investigations were unable to pinpoint any previous broken bones or inflicted trauma." and "Strands of the child's own hair were present on his body, leading authorities to believe that his hair had been cut shortly before or following his homicide."


Here's the updated Doe Network link:
http://doenetwork.org/cases/4umpa.html

[Gina_M]

I thought the bruises were a mix of old and new but the haircut bruises were new, I think thatts how they knew he had his hair cut recently.

On the Doe Network it says "His body was beaten, although coroners' investigations were unable to pinpoint any previous broken bones or inflicted trauma." and "Strands of the child's own hair were present on his body, leading authorities to believe that his hair had been cut shortly before or following his homicide."


Here's the updated Doe Network link:
http://doenetwork.org/cases/4umpa.html

[2sisters]

I just can't quit thinking about this boy tonight. Do hospitals keep medical records from that far back? maybe an older Phila hospital has records from his surgery? Is it even possible for someone to comb through records from, say, 1950-1956 to look for anything? Then again he may not even be local. He could be anyone from anywhere.
I guess that is impossible, what with hopitals changing hands, merging, closing and it being 50 years later.
I still just think he was disabled or mentally challenged in some way.

[2sisters]

I just can't quit thinking about this boy tonight. Do hospitals keep medical records from that far back? maybe an older Phila hospital has records from his surgery? Is it even possible for someone to comb through records from, say, 1950-1956 to look for anything? Then again he may not even be local. He could be anyone from anywhere.
I guess that is impossible, what with hopitals changing hands, merging, closing and it being 50 years later.
I still just think he was disabled or mentally challenged in some way.

[Gina_M]

Philadelphia is also very close to other states, such as Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland. I wonder if LE ever checked out the possibility of him coming from one of these nearby states.

[absinthe]

I think i remember reading a theory that the boy had been disguised as a girl? That was an explanation for both the fresh haircut and the fact that no one recognized him.

[AmandaBrown23]

Is it possible they cut his hair to try to throw off what he looked like? I was just wondering.

[believe09]

I would think that there must be a way to do DNA even this old and see if he had any abnormal markers which would indicate if h might have been mentally retarded? Or as Gina M mentioned to me earlier, he might be an ideal candidate for the new oxygen technology that can determine where someone previously lived based on the oxygen molecules in their bones or teeth...

[christine2448]

Is it possible they cut his hair to try to throw off what he looked like? I was just wondering.

I think that is a good theory. IIRC, his nails were also cut and he was recently bathed? Been a long time since i read up on this one.

What is sad, with this and so many other cold cases, time is running out.

[bakerprune64]

You know I can only hope that justice will come for this precious child, just as it did for Baby Grace. There has to be somebody somewhere who knows something about this child, and sooner or later (preferably sooner) somebody will come forward. That is my wish for the new year.

[2sisters]

I think that is a good theory. IIRC, his nails were also cut and he was recently bathed? Been a long time since i read up on this one.

What is sad, with this and so many other cold cases, time is running out.
IMO, this one will never be solved. His parents could very well be dead, but then again, maybe one will come forward with a death bed confession. His parents could age anywhere from early 70's to late 80's maybe a little older.

[2sisters]

You know I can only hope that justice will come for this precious child, just as it did for Baby Grace. There has to be somebody somewhere who knows something about this child, and sooner or later (preferably sooner) somebody will come forward. That is my wish for the new year.
Same here. This child should be about the same age as my dead. He had the same thin build my dad had as a child and the light short hair and just reminded me of my own father as a child from the pictures I saw. Anyways, my dad and his siblings were horribly abused, severly beaten and threatened by their parents daily the beatings they recived were awful, and my dad bore the brunt being the oldest and this little boy always makes me think, wow that could have been my dad or one of his brothers just as easily. So that is why this case breaks my heart aside from the other obvious reasons, and it was the first Doe I came across.

[2sisters]

merging would be agood idea. I already bothered a mod about one merger tonight, does anyone want to volunteer to ask to get this merged?

[2sisters]

Thx for merging the 2 Chico and thanks for bringing it up Gina.

[Gina_M]

Okay, now that we are all "on the same page"...literally :D

This trace element geochemistry is fascinating. It's been posted in a few other UID threads, and I thought I'd bring it over here as well. The bones and teeth collect oxygen isotopes that act as geographic markers throughout a person's life. This was done with the DuPage County Doe:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=85576
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-babydoe_webnov29,0,6995280.story?coll=chi_tab01_la yout

The guy who is working on these studies:
http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/geo/faculty/emeriti/schwarcz/index.html
http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/geo/faculty/emeriti/schwarcz/research/index.html

With the DuPage County Doe, they could tell where he lived during his short life (general region) as well as where his mom lived while pregnant (different region). I wonder if this could be done for our Boy in the Box?

[Mr. E]

What ever happened with that woman who claimed that her mother bought the boy, I think she called him "Jonathan," for sexual purposes? The woman claimed the boy lived in their basement, and after his death she and her mother disposed of him (I think she insinuated she and her mother were spotted by a passerby).

I kept waiting to hear if this story was fabricated or authenticated, but I never heard anything.

[imthemom]

What ever happened with that woman who claimed that her mother bought the boy, I think she called him "Jonathan," for sexual purposes? The woman claimed the boy lived in their basement, and after his death she and her mother disposed of him (I think she insinuated she and her mother were spotted by a passerby).

I kept waiting to hear if this story was fabricated or authenticated, but I never heard anything.

On the website set up by investigators it said this story was dismissed because they thought she was not a reliable source. In otherwords they thought she was loony:eek: . I thought her story was very plausible though. I still think it should not be totally dismissed.

[heidi k]

wow, i saw something similar to this on tv, i think it was on cold case or something like that. in the movie the scenario was that he ended up being a foster child who was born into the foster system by the nun who apparently had sinned, but the part where they found the boy in the cardboard box and the picture of this boy were the same. I wonder if they did it based on him but i wasn't aware that it was a real case. that is so sad. someone has to know who this child is. about the lady they claim is a looney, they should at least take it into consideration. hopefully they are still investigating

[2sisters]

I think there was a show that did that, maybe CSI?

[Elphaba]

Cold Case (the show is depicted to be in Philadelphia)... I was just thinking the same thing, while reading this... I think their episode was based on this case.

[Elphaba]

Here it is, the Cold Case episode:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_in_the_Box_%28Cold_Case_episode%29

[thefragile7393]

On the website set up by investigators it said this story was dismissed because they thought she was not a reliable source. In otherwords they thought she was loony:eek: . I thought her story was very plausible though. I still think it should not be totally dismissed.
Especially since it corroborates another witness's testimony about coming across a woman and someone else getting something out of a car, he asked them if they needed help, they turned their backs and didn't respond.

IMHO, very very humble opinion, I do think these 2 are right on the money. Just because one is mentally ill does not mean that they make up stories, though sadly that is the case a number of times.

[suzannec4444]

Hi
I found this.I go by the saying "YOU NEVER FAIL UNTILL YOU QUIT TRYING"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LImoCjRjpfQ&mode=related&search=



suzanne

[believe09]

So mito/DNA is now available and at some point he had a chest tube and a catheter (perhaps) as well as IV fluid or a transfusion through his legs because he was either too dehydrated to present with a good vein or he was damaged like in an accident. Were there ever XRAYS done to see if he had broken bones? Arms and hands spring to mind...

[suzannec4444]

Hi
Can some one please help me find this.I think it was in an old newspaper article that says some one in N.J.? saw a man and a boy that fit the boy in the boxes discription in a resturaunt? and the boy called home?something like that.

suzanne

[RKnowley]

It seems there were X-Rays taken according to an article dated August 9, 1957:

<snip>
Roberts decided to have the body X-rayed, to determine if there was an old fracture of the left arm, like the Damman boy. Footprints also were taken for comparison.

Spelman, meanwhile, came up with a more detailed report on the body. "The cool weather makes it difficult to tell how long the boy was dead," he said, "but it was at least two or three days, and possibly as long as two or three weeks. I don't think the body was in the field that long, though."

According to laboratory tests the boy had not been sexually assaulted.
"As closely as we can tell, he is four to five years old, 40 1/2 inches tall, weighing 30 pounds. He has a full set of baby teeth, still has his tonsils, and has no deformities. No past bone breaks, and no vaccination scar. It would seem he was well cared for, because his fingernails and toenails are carefully clipped."

"His haircut seems crude," Spelman continued. "Trimmed high around the sides. Could have been given at home by an inexpert barber, or perhaps in an institution."

By then, the failure of parents or acquaintances to claim the body, after pictures and descriptions had appeared in the press, led police to believe the boy had either lived in an institution or been brought from some distance.

City Welfare Commissioner Randolph E. Wise offered to check on the whereabouts of all children in foster homes under his jurisdiction, while police canvassed orphanages and children's homes. A thorough check was made of all missing persons reports. But within several days all these efforts proved fruitless.

Police department technicians reported the blanket wrapping the boy was of cheap cotton flannel, patterned in a sort of "Indian print" of green, rust and white blocks, with faded colors. It apparently had been recently washed, then mended with poor-grade cotton thread on a sewing machine.

The blanket had been torn into halves. Its overall size would have been 64 by 76 inches. However, a section 31 by 26 inches had been torn from one half, leading police to think it might have borne some identifying mark.

Although the blanket was untraceable, investigators had better luck with the box. Marked "Furniture", it carried no firm name, but through serial numbers detectives learned the carton had once contained a baby's bassinet, shipped to a West Philadelphia department store in November, 1956.

The store reported the bassinet had probably been sold between December 3, 1956, and February 16, 1957. Roberts issued a public plea for the purchasers of all such bassinets during that period - there were believed to be about a dozen - to come forward and tell where they disposed of the cartons.

There were several other clues.

One was a blue corduroy "Ivy League" cap, size 7 1/8, found 30 feet from the body. The wearer had stuffed tissue paper in the sweatband. It had been manufactured in Philadelphia, but the trail ended there.

Two hundred feet from the body, along Verree Road, police searchers found a cache of clothing for a woman and child - but the smaller clothing was not the dead boy's size.

A story told by an informant who later contacted police seemed to cast some light on this clothing, but created a new mystery.

Two days before the body was found, said the man to Lieutenant William Lovejoy of the northeast detective division, he had been driving along Verree Road when he saw a middle-aged woman and a boy, 12 to 14, unloading something from the trunk of a car.

"I thought the car might have a flat tire, so I stopped and asked if I could help. They didn't say a word, and seemed to be standing so as to block my view of the license plate."

The scene which he described was almost exactly where the clothing had been found. The informant described the car and the woman and boy, but they were never found.

Meanwhile, the possibility that the dead boy was Steven Damman had been eliminated. Two Nassau County detectives came to Philadelphia to view the body and confer with local investigators. Footprints failed to compare; the body showed no left arm fracture. The visitors left convinced it was not Steven's.
</snip>

Complete article: http://americasunknownchild.net/FrontPage.htm
So mito/DNA is now available and at some point he had a chest tube and a catheter (perhaps) as well as IV fluid or a transfusion through his legs because he was either too dehydrated to present with a good vein or he was damaged like in an accident. Were there ever XRAYS done to see if he had broken bones? Arms and hands spring to mind...

[believe09]

thank you-I thought perhaps he might have had some kind of crushing injury at some point that made his arms unable to be used for transfusions.

The chest scar sounds superficially like a chest tube, and the incision in the groin area could be from a inguinal hernia or undescended testes?

I have read some articles dated between 1908 and 1951 that indicate "exchange transfusions' were routinely done through the ankle. For example, one of the articles told a story of a woman who had routinely suffered from "pulmonary hemorrages" and was on the verge of death. Her husband had a tube placed into his wrist (artery) and then she had the other end placed into her ankle. his blood flowed from him into her and saved her life...this was in 1908. There are also some articles indicating that it was routinely done on pediatric patients who needed transfusions...up until the 1970's.

I wonder if he was a hemophiliac?

[believe09]

I noticed that St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, which currently pioneers hemophiliac care, opened in 1875....just thinking out loud.

[believe09]

I can't seem to find a COD-or why the police were sure he was beaten around his whole body.

[suzannec4444]

Hi
It looks like his poor legs got most of the beating.

suzanne

[vadersbabe]

I will never ever forget the very first time I saw this poor boy's face on the doe network.

It is incomprehensible to me how someone could have hurt him and thrown him away as if he were nothing.

I can't seem to get out of my head, "M"'s story as to how her mother purchased this boy, regularly abused him and how he met his death. While I know that the investigators have looked into her story and concluded that there was not enough evidence to corroborate her story, she does mention some things that make me scratch my head. First, she told investigators that she helped her mother dispose of the boy. They were on the side of the road when another car came by and stopped, thinking they needed assistance. "M" said that she and her mother turned away and hid the license plate marker. It was brought to light years ago that a man came forward and told police about a car on the side of the road a few days before the boy was discovered. This man said he stopped to help a car on the side of the road and when he approached them, he said the woman and boy moved to cover the license plate and trunk area of the car. I am not sure if this was a fact known by many as far as the investigation goes. It just makes me scratch my head.

[Eire]

I can't seem to get out of my head, "M"'s story as to how her mother purchased this boy, regularly abused him and how he met his death. While I know that the investigators have looked into her story and concluded that there was not enough evidence to corroborate her story, she does mention some things that make me scratch my head. First, she told investigators that she helped her mother dispose of the boy. They were on the side of the road when another car came by and stopped, thinking they needed assistance. "M" said that she and her mother turned away and hid the license plate marker. It was brought to light years ago that a man came forward and told police about a car on the side of the road a few days before the boy was discovered. This man said he stopped to help a car on the side of the road and when he approached them, he said the woman and boy moved to cover the license plate and trunk area of the car. I am not sure if this was a fact known by many as far as the investigation goes. It just makes me scratch my head.

It could be that "M" read that in the newspaper. That part was public knowledge, so maybe she read it and remembered it. She could be telling the truth and she's being ignored because she has mental health issues, I don't honestly know. It's a difficult call to make. Not all mentally ill people make up stories, but some do.

[mum33004]

I read on the website that the box the little boy was found in was from JC Penneys & that it held a bassinett. Is it possible the person who killed this little boy worked at Penneys and brought the box home?

[vadersbabe]

Good point, Eire. It is possible that she could be telling the truth. We'll just never know. :confused:

[kygal]

This is a very sad story, and like several others is what drew me into this.

I wonder if he could have had either heart or stomach/intestinal problems. My reasoning is that he also had several healed scars in that area, and the autopsy reports no visible "old" bruising or injury. He was also VERY underweight -- but not enough that starvation would have been a real likely problem. The reason I say that is that I have a 4 YO that wieghs only about 38 to 40 pounds now. Having some sort of cardiovascular or intestinal disease or injury would have kept him from playing much (perhaps why others had not seen him much) and would have kept him thin and frail.

I am of the opinion (and that is all it is) that this boy came from somewhere further away than the Fox Chase area -- but I'd say that whoever put him there had at least lived there at some point. His family probably had money/income at one time because medical treatment have always been expensive -- and the state hasn't always been so generous with giving money to help with them. Perhaps something happened in the family where they were no longer able to pay for his treatment -- and in all the frustration (no money, his illness) things got out of control and he was beaten to death. Some of the bruisings could have been caused by his falling (noting legs here) as his condition could have worsened and he would have gotten weaker.

I am still thinking that there were more than likely siblings and parents and that they are still alive -- perhaps the siblings were too little to remember or are afraid to say anything.

[2sisters]

I read on the website that the box the little boy was found in was from JC Penneys & that it held a bassinett. Is it possible the person who killed this little boy worked at Penneys and brought the box home?
good point, I wonder if there is anyway to look into that.

[SeriouslySearching]

thank you-I thought perhaps he might have had some kind of crushing injury at some point that made his arms unable to be used for transfusions.

The chest scar sounds superficially like a chest tube, and the incision in the groin area could be from a inguinal hernia or undescended testes?

I have read some articles dated between 1908 and 1951 that indicate "exchange transfusions' were routinely done through the ankle. For example, one of the articles told a story of a woman who had routinely suffered from "pulmonary hemorrages" and was on the verge of death. Her husband had a tube placed into his wrist (artery) and then she had the other end placed into her ankle. his blood flowed from him into her and saved her life...this was in 1908. There are also some articles indicating that it was routinely done on pediatric patients who needed transfusions...up until the 1970's.

I wonder if he was a hemophiliac?That was one of my first thoughts, too. Extensive bruising on the legs could certainly be a sign of that.

[believe09]

That was one of my first thoughts, too. Extensive bruising on the legs could certainly be a sign of that.

I actually emailed the VIDOQ Society with that question, and some of the information from the local hospitals that handled hemophiliacs during that time frame. I will post any responses I receive....

[SeriouslySearching]

I actually emailed the VIDOQ Society with that question, and some of the information from the local hospitals that handled hemophiliacs during that time frame. I will post any responses I receive....Great! Thanks for checking that out! With the scars and such...it does sound like this child could have been a patient with a medical condition to me. They should have records unless the Doctor kept them and he is no longer alive. (To you young sleuths...50 years is NOT that long ago. LOL)

[2sisters]

I actually emailed the VIDOQ Society with that question, and some of the information from the local hospitals that handled hemophiliacs during that time frame. I will post any responses I receive....
keep us posted. I wish he could have a name, but after this long I just don't feel it is possible.

[Rle7]

It's about as cold as a cold case can be: the case of the boy in the box.

The case has haunted Philadelphia for 51 years, the longest and most-investigated murder mystery in the city's history. Now a member of the Vidocq Society, a group of retired law enforcement detectives and other sleuths who specialize in unsolved crimes, has a new theory. It all began on this lonely dirt road 51 years ago. A young boy said to be 4 to 6 years old found nude in a cardboard box at an illegal dumping ground off Susquehanna near Verree Road in Philadelphia's Fox Chase section. Photos of the boy were widely distributed over the years throughout the country and he would ultimately be dubbed "America's unknown child". But despite it all, the case has never been solved. Now, world-renowned forensic artist Frank Bender thinks he knows why.

"I'm almost certain that they've been missing the boat because they've been showing a boy and he is a boy, but the boy, I believe, was dressed as a girl."

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6158232

[BeavisMom62]

Great find, RLE7. I'm so glad that they are still working on this. It would be a miracle if this case could be solved.

[believe09]

I assumed that this was a working theory already-I assumed that this was the reason his hair was cut off. And I also assume that is why they discounted the story of the woman who claimed her mother bought him...because he had been dressed/raised/disguised as a girl. I must have heard this all theorized sometime before...

[believe09]

Sorry for the back to back posts-but maybe we can help out and have one of our talented photoshop folks take a stab at doing a photo with him with a girl's hairstyle, from that era??

[Zanko]

Girl theory: Why not just trim the child's hair? Why butcher it so that it was obvious that his hair had been cut?
Another question: Why not bury the child?
IMO: Who ever left this child, was either not strong enough to bury the child or was in a desperate hurry to get rid of the body. I also think they were confident that they would not be linked to the child or they would have taken more care to hide the body. Maybe the murder, the haircut, the disposal was all done in a panic, but I am not convinced about the "raised as a girl" theory.
I may be grasping at straws, but were there any religious sects around that kept boys hair longer than the "norm" for the day and age? Also do any of the articles suggest how long of hair they found on the boy? Are we talking 6 inches? 3 inches? 1?

[believe09]

Girl theory: Why not just trim the child's hair? Why butcher it so that it was obvious that his hair had been cut?
Another question: Why not bury the child?
IMO: Who ever left this child, was either not strong enough to bury the child or was in a desperate hurry to get rid of the body. I also think they were confident that they would not be linked to the child or they would have taken more care to hide the body. Maybe the murder, the haircut, the disposal was all done in a panic, but I am not convinced about the "raised as a girl" theory.
I may be grasping at straws, but were there any religious sects around that kept boys hair longer than the "norm" for the day and age? Also do any of the articles suggest how long of hair they found on the boy? Are we talking 6 inches? 3 inches? 1?

Good thoughts-his hair must have id'd him somehow which is why it was butchered. I have always been unable to decide if he was brutalized, or killed/died with someone who cared about him simply because he was washed before his head was shaved and he was dumped right?

Maybe if we take a look at the ethnic/cultural make up of the area at that time we can come upon a religion that cleans their dead before they bury. And yet dumping him would not have caused any issues in the afterlife...I know that it was speculated that his COD was a head injury, and that they knew he had no broken bones to his body prior to death right??

[Zanko]

I know this question will be controversial, I don't mean any disrespect: The Amish are in Pennsylvania and my understanding is that they keep boys hair longer than what would have been "standard" for the time. Would an Amish community allow medical treatment on a child? I know Amish communities are peaceful. I also know they separate themselves from society in a lot of ways. In the 50's would the Amish community have gotten the news reports about this child? Is it possible that one of their own could have left the community after "accidentally" killing their child? And go undetected because of the isolation of their community?

[believe09]

I know this question will be controversial, I don't mean any disrespect: The Amish are in Pennsylvania and my understanding is that they keep boys hair longer than what would have been "standard" for the time. Would an Amish community allow medical treatment on a child? I know Amish communities are peaceful. I also know they separate themselves from society in a lot of ways. In the 50's would the Amish community have gotten the news reports about this child? Is it possible that one of their own could have left the community after "accidentally" killing their child? And go undetected because of the isolation of their community?

You are not being disrespectful, I do not believe-i think it is wise to investigate. I just did some research on burial rituals for a certain sect of Judaism that settled in PA around the revolutionary war and still had a strong presence at the time the boy was found. check this out:
To wash the body with water brought from the fountain in a new container and dress it in white clothes.
To clip the deceased's nails (or at least a couple of them) as well as a few hairs and wrap everything in a piece of paper or cloth
To burn clipped hair and nails after death

I am just trying to get a sense of how culturally diverse the surrounding might have been and how possible it might have been to dump such a sweet child and walk away without being found out...i did not choose Judaism to start with-I was more looking at possible illnesses that would meet some of the cut-down scars he had and it brought me to some genetic illnesses that led me to the above...shrouding or wrapping his body could mean anything and if the boy was face down when found, then I don't think we are dealing with devout Judaism...i mean could this have been a families best attempt at disposing of their loved one or is it for sure murder?

[believe09]

Regarding Amish burial customs, there is washing and dressing of the corpse, no mention of hair and nail cutting and children can be buried in unmarked graves...this of course means nothing in the face of a crime when the victim is dumped, it is just that there is something that is grabbing me about the fact that the boy was washed and hair/nails cut in the days prior to the type of forensics we are used to now.

[VASHLEY88]

First time poster in this thread. This is such a sad story! Bless his little heart.

I think it's a possibility he may have been institutionalized. If you look at the markings on his forehead and the side of his head, they almost make a perfect "band". Like a head restraint. I'd imagine it's not too difficult to bruise a young child's head with a harsh leather/metal strap, especially if he were resisting. Just a thought..

[VASHLEY88]

I wonder if they ever checked him for Tuberculosis traces. In the 1950's, several sanitariums admitted children with the disease..

[anthrobones]

Are they going to do a clay reconstruction or anything?

[BeavisMom62]

That would be interesting. the only photo of him, however heartbreaking, would be hard to identify IMO. Some new techniques could be what this case is needing.

[anthrobones]

"M"'s story
The second major theory is one brought forward in February, 2002 by a woman identified only as "M." She claimed that her abusive mother purchased the unknown boy, named "Jonathan," from his birth parents in the summer of 1954. Subsequently, the youngster was subjected to extreme physical and sexual abuse for two and a half years, then killed in a fit of rage by slamming him to the floor after he vomited in the bathtub. From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_in_the_Box_%28Philadelphia%29 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_in_the_Box_%28Philadelphia%29)

Anyone know if there were injuries consistent with being slammed against the floor?

[believe09]

I think Vashley's theory of a head restraint is interesting-I know the oval bruises are theorized to be fingerprints from him having his head shaved...maybe he was seizing? Maybe it is me, but he actually does not look skeletal or horrifically malnourished to me. I think the bruising on his legs is horrendous and the clearest sign that all was not right with him for sure. But with no history of prior abuse like burns or broken bones-what the heck? he had lacerations on his neck-from the clippers? I am clearly a novice at this but if he had trauma to the head, it is hard to really see it.

He had bruising on his arms above his elbows, oval bruises on his forehead and horrific bruising on his legs. What if he died during ECT-how would a child be restrained during it?

[anthrobones]

What is an ECT? Epilepsy?

I am wondering about the scars that were supposedly from medical treatments, especially the ones around the ankles.

[Zanko]

What is an ECT? Epilepsy?

I am wondering about the scars that were supposedly from medical treatments, especially the ones around the ankles.

Electroconvulsive therapy also known as Shock Therapy.

[believe09]

Thank you Zanko- back in the 40's and 50's Electric Shock Therapy was at it's peak. Interestingly enough during these time frames, it was done without muscle relaxant or anesthesia's of any kind, so recipients frequently dislocated or broke their long bones during the convulsions. Now, just speculation, but I wonder if someone had dislocated their legs at the knee and the dislocation were reduced (put back into place) if it would look like the swelling we saw on the boy? There were also few physicians at the time who could recognize a brain that had been shocked upon autopsy. It would have displayed abnormal bleeding, atrophys, scarring etc...could have looked like an internal head injury?

http://www.antipsychiatry.org/ect.htm

[VASHLEY88]

Thank you Zanko- back in the 40's and 50's Electric Shock Therapy was at it's peak. Interestingly enough during these time frames, it was done without muscle relaxant or anesthesia's of any kind, so recipients frequently dislocated or broke their long bones during the convulsions. Now, just speculation, but I wonder if someone had dislocated their legs at the knee and the dislocation were reduced (put back into place) if it would look like the swelling we saw on the boy? There were also few physicians at the time who could recognize a brain that had been shocked upon autopsy. It would have displayed abnormal bleeding, atrophys, scarring etc...could have looked like an internal head injury?

http://www.antipsychiatry.org/ect.htm

Thank you, believe09.

Well, the first time I saw his photos, although I was horrified, I noticed the size of the markings on his head. All pretty much the same diameter. If you look at your finger tips, they aren't consistent in size. I'd imagine you'd have to be one strong person with mammoth hands to put that much pressure on his head to cause contusions that deep. Yes, ECT was most definitely at it's peak around the time he died.

During treatment, when a patient is resisting or seizing (from ECT, for example), restraints are often used around the head, arms, wrists, legs, chest and ankles. Sometimes they are restrained in such a way that a strap goes over the forearms/lower chest area and around the legs and forehead. Patients also seize and vomit (the brown substance they found in his esophagus), and I read that he had "pruney" hands and feet. Perhaps while being inoculated with electricity he was submerged in water somehow and died by electrocution?

Also, the haircut. They shave the sides of their heads during ECT treatment, too so there isn't any hair in the way..

[VASHLEY88]

Gah, I hope he wasn't a guinea pig for some quaky doctor who tried something new that went wrong so he tried to cover his mistake..




A rendering of what he may have looked like in color attempt..

I can't do clay models.



http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/popular_minoritry/JohnDoe1copy.jpg

[Filly]

You are not being disrespectful, I do not believe-i think it is wise to investigate. I just did some research on burial rituals for a certain sect of Judaism that settled in PA around the revolutionary war and still had a strong presence at the time the boy was found. check this out:
To wash the body with water brought from the fountain in a new container and dress it in white clothes.
To clip the deceased's nails (or at least a couple of them) as well as a few hairs and wrap everything in a piece of paper or cloth
To burn clipped hair and nails after death


I am just trying to get a sense of how culturally diverse the surrounding might have been and how possible it might have been to dump such a sweet child and walk away without being found out...i did not choose Judaism to start with-I was more looking at possible illnesses that would meet some of the cut-down scars he had and it brought me to some genetic illnesses that led me to the above...shrouding or wrapping his body could mean anything and if the boy was face down when found, then I don't think we are dealing with devout Judaism...i mean could this have been a families best attempt at disposing of their loved one or is it for sure murder?




Believe, I might be able to answer some of your questions. I live here. As far as cultural diversity in Fox Chase back then we had no Amish here. Living in the immediate area I mean. There was a fair amount of German's in Fox Chase. Then again probably made up of a significant Irish, Italian, German, Jewish community. It's changing now though.

As far as any burial rites for devout Jews I think the one Detective on the case would have thought of that as he was Jewish. My father worked with him for almost his entire career. He was a nice, nice, nice man and this case was always with him.

My dad didn't bring work home with him and he wasn't on that case, but I aksed my mom about this recently and she said my dad said they were really interested in that home that was nearby. An institution type home. I'll ask her more about it. Of course anything is possible. I mean as far as Amish or wheoever. Just the Amish live further up in Pennsylvania. This area was somewhat more "rural" then inner city Philly, but in the city all the same.

[believe09]

Gah, I hope he wasn't a guinea pig for some quaky doctor who tried something new that went wrong so he tried to cover his mistake..




A rendering of what he may have looked like in color attempt..

I can't do clay models.



http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/popular_minoritry/JohnDoe1copy.jpg

Thank you Vashley-you have brought some life to him that is for sure.

[believe09]

Believe, I might be able to answer some of your questions. I live here. As far as cultural diversity in Fox Chase back then we had no Amish here. Living in the immediate area I mean. There was a fair amount of German's in Fox Chase. Then again probably made up of a significant Irish, Italian, German, Jewish community. It's changing now though.

As far as any burial rites for devout Jews I think the one Detective on the case would have thought of that as he was Jewish. My father worked with him for almost his entire career. He was a nice, nice, nice man and this case was always with him.

My dad didn't bring work home with him and he wasn't on that case, but I aksed my mom about this recently and she said my dad said they were really interested in that home that was nearby. An institution type home. I'll ask her more about it. Of course anything is possible. I mean as far as Amish or wheoever. Just the Amish live further up in Pennsylvania. This area was somewhat more "rural" then inner city Philly, but in the city all the same.

Thank you Filly!!! I am going to X out my pursuit of whether or not it was a death in the immigrant community-I agree that the detective on the case would have recognized signs of a ritual burial. Something about how the boy was laid in the box looks tender to me rather than a "dump." The first photos look like he was sleeping-heartbreaking.

Here are a few of my questions, if someday I could have them answered;
1.) What made the detectives think that the bassinet box and the boy were together? The area immediately surrounding where he was found had a ton of debris-why wouldn't the bassinet box have been there first and just been used as a good hiding place for the boy?

2.) Are there surviving photos of his brain that might give a better idea of whether or not he had been shocked, either in the past or as the COD?

3.) I agree with Vashley that the bruising on his head is pretty uniform for finger prints-not to mention I tried to place my hand in a similar configuration and couldn't see how it made sense in terms of holding down the child to shave his head.

4.) Could the bruising above his elbows and on his legs have been from restraints??

5.) The palms of his hands and the soles of his feet had been submerged for a period of time-could this have been and attempt to revive him/

[believe09]

Does anyone know if the state psyche hospital was fully vetted? The pro for me is the obvious; the patients were absolutely warehoused and abused, there were lobotomies and est, and there were children who lived there as far as I could see. The con for me is that they would have no need to do a body dump, since they did their own autopsies to determine why the patient had died.

http://theduke81.tripod.com/index.html

[believe09]

Pinkie swear, I have never really read it up to now. It seems that the boy did have hernia surgery, and the last year of his life he was ill-they actually had a anthropological bone specialist look at him and his xrays. It was determined that his leg bones had slowed growth...they really pulled out all of the stops with this case! Cool.

he had all of his teeth and he was buck-toothed with light brown hair and blue eyes. He had received treatment for an eye infection, he did not drown even though he was submerged in water and he had a brown liquid in his esophagus....I have to believe it was some kind of medication that he did not swallow before he died. His hair and nails were cut before or just after death. He had not eaten for a few hours prior to his death, and because Philly was so cold, he could have been dead for 2-3 days to 3 weeks. he was probably closer to 5-6yrs than 3-4 if he had all of his teeth. He is probably western European or Scandinavian. (My vote is German since that is what seems to make sense given the population around there.)
http://books.google.com/books?id=ktDtk9hwo8QC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=the+boy+in+the+box+autopsy+report&source=web&ots=PH9ABoF3Rj&sig=txNDauTeVNFNKmY8KqqgjDvIt0w&hl=en

I also read that the woman investigators believed actually gave birth to him had another child die in 1957 of being electrocuted by a ride on toy outside of a department store. They verified her story through morgue records. I wonder if anyone collected a DNA sample from her anyway?

http://www.courttv.com/news/hiddentraces/boyinthebox/boyinthebox_page3.html

[believe09]

Gotta get back to packing, but I started doing some research on common meds and antibiotics during that time frame to see if any of them were in a brownish liquid suspension form. Interestingly enough, there were 5400 different forms of sulfa drugs used at that time, as well as:
streptomycin, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline.

(http://library.thinkquest.org/25462/history.html)

Streptomycin was delivered via intra-muscular injection only.
Chloramphenicol could be used to treat eye infections in an eye drop form as well as used for a myriad of bacterial infections orally. It was commonly used for Cholera and could cause bone marrow supression as well as a number of ugly side effects with toxicity.

There are many versions of Tetracycline which were also used at the time, however it tended to cause renal issues if not taken with sufficient fluids and photosensitivity.

There has to be someone with a medical or pharmacological background here at WS who might be able to weigh in on this???

HUGS and PEACE

[VASHLEY88]

Gotta get back to packing, but I started doing some research on common meds and antibiotics during that time frame to see if any of them were in a brownish liquid suspension form. Interestingly enough, there were 5400 different forms of sulfa drugs used at that time, as well as:
streptomycin, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline.

(http://library.thinkquest.org/25462/history.html)

Streptomycin was delivered via intra-muscular injection only.
Chloramphenicol could be used to treat eye infections in an eye drop form as well as used for a myriad of bacterial infections orally. It was commonly used for Cholera and could cause bone marrow supression as well as a number of ugly side effects with toxicity.

There are many versions of Tetracycline which were also used at the time, however it tended to cause renal issues if not taken with sufficient fluids and photosensitivity.

There has to be someone with a medical or pharmacological background here at WS who might be able to weigh in on this???

HUGS and PEACE



Tetracycline or Chlora was probably what they used. The reason I wanted to know if they had checked him for traces of TB (tuberculosis) is because many children were admitted to sanitariums for this disease around the era in which he died. Perhaps Gastrointestinal TB, or pelvic TB which can cause hernias (abdominal hernias are most common and are usually present at birth).

Another disease that crossed my mind was hyperspleenism, which basically means the spleen is overactive, causing it to destroy more blood cells than it needs to (hemolytic anemia). Some symptoms I know of that come with hyperspleenism are easy bruising, that it is common to develop after TB infection, and makes it very easy to contract other bacterial infections, conjunctivitis, for example. With severe Hemolytic anemia, blood transfusions are often needed.

The thing is, I read on about this case and apparently they sent a flier to every doctor in the area, including Delaware and Jersey. I don't know if that includes asylums/mental hospitals/sanitariums, whatever you want to call them.

Interestingly enough, this unidentified child has the most information out of any other unidentified persons case I have ever worked on, but has gone the longest without ever being solved...

[believe09]

Tetracycline or Chlora was probably what they used. The reason I wanted to know if they had checked him for traces of TB (tuberculosis) is because many children were admitted to sanitariums for this disease around the era in which he died. Perhaps Gastrointestinal TB, or pelvic TB which can cause hernias (abdominal hernias are most common and are usually present at birth).

Another disease that crossed my mind was hyperspleenism, which basically means the spleen is overactive, causing it to destroy more blood cells than it needs to (hemolytic anemia). Some symptoms I know of that come with hyperspleenism are easy bruising, that it is common to develop after TB infection, and makes it very easy to contract other bacterial infections, conjunctivitis, for example. With severe Hemolytic anemia, blood transfusions are often needed.

The thing is, I read on about this case and apparently they sent a flier to every doctor in the area, including Delaware and Jersey. I don't know if that includes asylums/mental hospitals/sanitariums, whatever you want to call them.

Interestingly enough, this unidentified child has the most information out of any other unidentified persons case I have ever worked on, but has gone the longest without ever being solved...

Which makes you think that someone truly has decided to go to their deaths without id'ng him...and I completely agree with the TB theory 'cept I thought for sure they would test for it or id it when they saw his lungs....

[VASHLEY88]

Which makes you think that someone truly has decided to go to their deaths without id'ng him...and I completely agree with the TB theory 'cept I thought for sure they would test for it or id it when they saw his lungs....

I'm not sure what they checked for back then for post-mortem cases like these, and I am unsure if they would have had to test for it right when his body was recovered, because it would seem more likely he was beaten and/or abused. I'm not even sure if it's likely that they exhumed his body to find traces of it.. I'm no pathology expert. I just thought there was a good chance he may have been a victim of the disease because the "raves of children", as it was described, were ID'd by number, not name since there were so many of them.. but why would a doctor ID a person if he is responsible for the dumping of the body? He wouldn't.

But that still doesn't explain the odd things, like the fresh haircut, for example. Perhaps the hair was cut to make it more difficult to ID him? What a difficult and very upsetting case.




A version I did with longer hair..


http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/popular_minoritry/johnnydoe2.jpg

[kaylenbabysims]

wow you did such a good job!!!! :clap:
thanks so much helping out with these cases!! (thanks to everyone!) there's just so many cases its sad!

[Filly]

Does anyone know if the state psyche hospital was fully vetted? The pro for me is the obvious; the patients were absolutely warehoused and abused, there were lobotomies and est, and there were children who lived there as far as I could see. The con for me is that they would have no need to do a body dump, since they did their own autopsies to determine why the patient had died.

http://theduke81.tripod.com/index.html

Whatever we read about Byberry that's not even the half of it, B.

Absolutely agree they wouldn't dump a body. They didn't have to. They did have a "cabin" for about 100 children. That meant they probably had 400 kids in there and I am not exaggerating. Anyone from people/kids with epilipsy to hearing problems. I get sick when I think of that place. Definately don't think the boy was there.

B, I'll ask my mom if she knows any answers to any of your questions. They are all good ones. I think well I think they knew the box and the poor baby were together because the boy from Poland I believe actually saw the box and body together before that LaSalle College guy. That original kid was the one who went back in the woods alot to catch rabbits.

I always thought the weirdest was that guy who went to LaSalle College said he stopped the car there either going to school or coming home to catch a rabbit. O.K. Ummmmmm, he lived on Lansing Street which is completely the other way. That don't jive. I know he supposedly was peeping, but why lie to the extent you tripped up so bad you told cops you were on your way to school or coming home? Nope. Wrong way. Wrong route. Completely out of his way.

[believe09]

You are fabulous Filly and thanks!!! I don't suppose the peeping Tom guy was ever considered suspicious? Although I have to think that maybe he knew the body had been there longer than the two days he said he noticed it if he was stalking the girls in the home regularly...

Whatever we read about Byberry that's not even the half of it, B.

Absolutely agree they wouldn't dump a body. They didn't have to. They did have a "cabin" for about 100 children. That meant they probably had 400 kids in there and I am not exaggerating. Anyone from people/kids with epilipsy to hearing problems. I get sick when I think of that place. Definately don't think the boy was there.

B, I'll ask my mom if she knows any answers to any of your questions. They are all good ones. I think well I think they knew the box and the poor baby were together because the boy from Poland I believe actually saw the box and body together before that LaSalle College guy. That original kid was the one who went back in the woods alot to catch rabbits.

I always thought the weirdest was that guy who went to LaSalle College said he stopped the car there either going to school or coming home to catch a rabbit. O.K. Ummmmmm, he lived on Lansing Street which is completely the other way. That don't jive. I know he supposedly was peeping, but why lie to the extent you tripped up so bad you told cops you were on your way to school or coming home? Nope. Wrong way. Wrong route. Completely out of his way.

[phenolred]

What I dont understand is why it appeared his eyebrows had been plucked???( per the new story about the girl theory) on a 4 yr old Boy how thick could they have been originally? Doesnt this seem really ODD ???

[Zanko]

What I dont understand is why it appeared his eyebrows had been plucked???( per the new story about the girl theory) on a 4 yr old Boy how thick could they have been originally? Doesnt this seem really ODD ???
I agree, you wouldn't have to pluck a little boy's eyebrows to make him look like a girl. I think he was a victim of a sadistic serial killer. I wonder if there are any other cases around the same time with plucked eyebrows, cut hair and groomed fingernails?

[thefragile7393]

I know the mentally ill woman who came forward has been discredited.....but she really seems to have hit on a story that is plausible. Too often the mentally ill are seen as unreliable due to their illnesses....this isn't true necessarily. Now with possible ties to mental health treatment...I wonder if this woman was un-necessarily discredited.

[suzannec4444]

Hi
They do not know how long how long his hair was when it was cut.I have found it is usually one of the first leads that was reported is what happened.I wonder what ever became of the lead of the barber shop man giving the boy a hair cut.The little boy had a few siblings and lived in the strawberry masion area?They should probably check the Horsham suspects again.

suzanne

[Zanko]

Every time I see a photo of this child I feel sad. He looks so little to me. I think he looks 4 years old. There are so many children missing and never recovered, is there any information on who this child was compared with and deemed "not a match"? Sometimes I see a child, missing around the same time this child was found, and I think, "Surely they ruled him out as a possible match!" But what if they haven't? Anyone know if there is a list of "rule outs"?

[michelle]

This poor little boy, I wish we knew his name.

[anthrobones]

Zanko,

I know they ruled out Steven Damman (http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/damman_steven.html) (http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/damman_steven.html).

I'm not sure if there were any other kids.

[s_finch]

I've always wondered if the "mother" of this child wasn't mentally handicapped/mentally ill and that her illness resulted in the abuse and subsequent death of the Boy. My son is mentally handicapped and therefore attends a special ed class and it truly astounds me when I see some of his classmates that have mentally handicapped parents and how they "care" for their children. Some of the parents do try but many do not and often they just don't "get it"--they don't understand at all about raising children and the kids end up abused/neglected and often taken away by DSS.

The bruises seem consistant with being restrained and assaulted (duh!). I can see a mentally challenged/ill "mother" restraining the Boy for whatever reasons provoked her and then assaulting him when he cried or wet himself, etc...

The haircut and clipping of fingernails on the Boy suggests to me a "motherly" touch, placing him in a box WITH A BLANKET (whether the box was already at the dump or not) also seems "motherly". Lack of clothing doesn't seem motherly but then we don't know that he actually had clothes. Hard as it is to say, he might not have had clothes to wear.

As sad as this all is, I believe the Boy is in heaven with the angels and that is in many ways so much better than living a lifetime of remembering pain and torture. I'm thankful that his miserable days didn't last longer than they did. God bless him.

[vadersbabe]

As sad as this all is, I believe the Boy is in heaven with the angels and that is in many ways so much better than living a lifetime of remembering pain and torture. I'm thankful that his miserable days didn't last longer than they did. God bless him.

Beautifully said, sfinch and I couldn't agree more. Those are comforting words for people like myself who this case has haunted for so long now.

[Zanko]

I've always wondered if the "mother" of this child wasn't mentally handicapped/mentally ill and that her illness resulted in the abuse and subsequent death of the Boy.

It's possible. But it would seem to me rather difficult for someone this disabled to hide their identity so well and for so long.

[anthrobones]

Someone else posted a thread about this in the Books Forum (I think), but I thought I'd post it here as well. The book comes out in September. I wonder if there will be any new information in it that we did not know of previously.

http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Box-Unsolved-Americas-Child/dp/1599212692/ref=sr_1_65?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208135733&sr=1-65

[suzannec4444]

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=393302787&MyToken=62244311-c524-47e3-aac7-e052cd489ffb

[vadersbabe]

Bless your heart, Suzanne! Thank you so much! I was just on my way here to post this.

:blowkiss:

[Zanko]

Awesome job Suzanne4444!

[Zanko]

I will never understand people who can keep secrets. Someone knows something. I imagine it would eat someone up not to tell someone, anyone. On the other hand, I guess I can't imagine anyone killing a child, either.

[Ciara]

I have followed this story.....its so heartbreaking that this poor child is still only known as The Boy in the Box and we dont know his true name. I hope whoever put him in that box has had a miserable life since.

[Motomom649]

I reserved my first post on WS for the boy in the box. I was originally drawn to this story because when I saw his picture, he reminded me of my brother, and what my brother looked like as a young child. I'm only 33 though, my brother 23. After looking and reading the description of him, something always drew me to him. Mainly because my gram lost a baby boy at birth, back in the late 40's. I'm not sure of the exact yr. She went on to have 3 girls. My aunts and mom have tried to locate his grave and have had no such luck. My gram passed in 87 and my pop passed 3 yrs ago now. He didn't know 'where" he was at in the cemetary. So my first thought when I saw the boy was, did they steal babies back then? I actually questioned my aunt on if she was sure that gram's baby died, or maybe she thought he died and someone took him. I know it was a far fetched thought, but there is something so familiar about him. We are in NJ and my grams family had come from the philly area (from what I know). Looking more into the case, the yrs wouldn't match up though for that. But that is what originally drew me to this case yrs ago.

I would like to go visit his grave, maybe one day I will. I know that they had said he wasn't from the one orphanage as his haircut didn't match. Now I thought the haircut did match and IMO that was the most likely scenario. If not, wouldn't a mother, father or grandparents have missed this beautiful boy? That has never made sense to me, unless of course they did kill him themselves. I've only ever seen the photos on that one website, and I visited the youtube video as well. Were there other photos released of him?
I know they did a clay recreation of what his father possibly looked like, did they ever do one of the mother? Also, the person who had supposedly seen someone in that area, a woman and boy or man..can't remember.. i guess they never gave a description?

How sad that such a beautiful boy was left out and thrown away like trash. Breaks my heart. I think I'll always follow this case, until it is solved or I'm gone. Also, some hospital must have records of surgeries back then too, I don't understand why nothing was ever found in regards to that.

[vadersbabe]

Motomom, I was drawn to him the first time I saw him on the Doe Network because he strongly resembles my first born son.

I still to this day have a hard time looking at him. It breaks my heart.

Have you checked out www.americasunknownchild.net (http://www.americasunknownchild.net)? There are other photos of him, but they are the coroner's photos and even though they're in black and white, they're still difficult to look at, at least for me.

They suspect the boy was somewhere between the ages of 4 and 6, so that would have put his year of birth between 1951 and 1953.

[Motomom649]

Motomom, I was drawn to him the first time I saw him on the Doe Network because he strongly resembles my first born son.

I still to this day have a hard time looking at him. It breaks my heart.

Have you checked out www.americasunknownchild.net (http://www.americasunknownchild.net)? There are other photos of him, but they are the coroner's photos and even though they're in black and white, they're still difficult to look at, at least for me.

They suspect the boy was somewhere between the ages of 4 and 6, so that would have put his year of birth between 1951 and 1953.


Yes, I was at that site. Has anyone read the book about this case? I was thinking of getting it for vacation.

[vadersbabe]

Motomom,

I am currently reading The Boy in the Box, America's Unknown Child by Jim Hoffman. The book was published in 2007 and I bought it I believe in November of 2007. (it takes me forever to finish a book).

Is there another book out there now?

[MaryBeth]

Motomom,

I am currently reading The Boy in the Box, America's Unknown Child by Jim Hoffman. The book was published in 2007 and I bought it I believe in November of 2007. (it takes me forever to finish a book).

Is there another book out there now?

Anthrobones posted above in post #132 that there will be a new book about the Boy in the Box released in September. I am looking forward to the new book..but don't know if there will be any new info.

[suzannec4444]

Hi
May I please ask does anyone know any more about this book coming out?

suzanne

[vadersbabe]

Oh wow! I didn't realize there was another one coming out. I actually finished the book this afternoon. The story of "M" really intrigues me. Apparently, Joe McGillen, William Kelly and Tom Augustine really believed her story but the book indicates that their superiors didn't buy it b/c she had mental issues and b/c of the passage of time between her "confession" and the crime.

I would hope that the new book has more info. I thought I knew all there was to know! lol

[mere]

I just watched the story on AMW. I have been following the story on WS for years though. I am so happy that this case got some media attention, but it bothers me that there are so many old cases that get no attention because there is not a book coming out.

[MaryBeth]

Hi
May I please ask does anyone know any more about this book coming out?

suzanne

Suzanne, so far all I can find is the link anthrobones provided above about the book on amazon.com. Here's the link again. The book is supposed to be released September 2nd. You can preorder the book so it will ship immediately upon it's release.

http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Box-Unsolved-Americas-Child/dp/1599212692/ref=sr_1_65?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208135733&sr=1-65

[suzannec4444]

Hi
Ok,Thankyou.I will.

suzanne

[thefragile7393]

Oh wow! I didn't realize there was another one coming out. I actually finished the book this afternoon. The story of "M" really intrigues me. Apparently, Joe McGillen, William Kelly and Tom Augustine really believed her story but the book indicates that their superiors didn't buy it b/c she had mental issues and b/c of the passage of time between her "confession" and the crime.

I would hope that the new book has more info. I thought I k