Identified! PA - Philadelphia - 'Boy in the Box' - 4UMPA - Feb'57 #3 - Joseph Augustus Zarelli

[fred&edna]

Not saying it has to be super secret or well organized conspiracy or anything. There were some institutions with shady history in the area

I remember reading about those shady types of institutions, etc when researching this UID.

PA - PA - Philadelphia, WhtFem 40-60, UP17721, upper denture w/D Spizzirri, frontal lobotomy, May'72

Name: Daurtha M Spizzirri Birth Date: 22 Mar 1929 Birth Place: Windsor, New York, USA NY state birth index 'Could "Daurtha" be correct or a variation of "Dorothy"? Dorothy Spizzirri (age 1) St Mary's Orphans Home (per 1930 census report) Binghamton, Broome Co NY and Dorothy Spizzirri (age...

www.websleuths.com

 

[CCJD]

ADMIN NOTE:

This UID thread was established many years ago with a goal of identifying this sweet child who we now know as Joseph.

LE has not officially named a POI/suspect responsible for Joseph's death and has indicated they do not wish the identities of the family to be known ... therefore no public sleuthing of Joseph's family or any other 'innocent' person is allowed. Members doing so are in violation of one of our most basic Terms of Service on which Websleuths was founded.

Websleuths long-standing Terms of Service stipulate that the only individuals who can be publicly sleuthed are a victim and an officially named POI/suspect. There are no officially named POIs or officially named suspects. This is not difficult to understand.

When members violate TOS and simply thumb their noses at Mods, Admins, and Websleuths owner Tricia, we are left with few options.

We truly don't like taking drastic measures, but going forward:

Members who continue sleuthing to try to determine who Joseph's family members are, and posting their names, initials, or other findings in this public thread, will be permanently banned from the discussion. If it continues to be a moderation nightmare as it has been, we will close all general discussion and go with a Media only *NO DISCUSSION* thread.

Members can sleuth privately with others as much as they wish. In "Conversations" you can add up to 20 other members to your private message thread. Just don't bring your findings to the public discussion.

If for some reason the above is not clear, do not derail the thread with questions. Contact a Mod or Admin and we will try to clarify.

Bringing this forward for anyone who didn't see/read it.

 

[bears10]

That's not how the Inquirer article read to me. JT said his mother would have been a first cousin to Joseph. That his mother's mother is a sister to Joseph's parent.

Yes, the article literally said first cousin IIRC

 

[hafom8840]

It sucks knowing that the perp is unlikely to face justice. They could either be deceased due to the prolonged amount of time that has passed.

Or they're alive and geriatric. Which isn't fulfilling neither because they've lived too much of their life on the lam. And if they have advanced dementia, they're probably barely aware of the fact that they're paying for their crimes, if at all.

 

[RaspberryMama]

You can see the body.he is laying on his back with his head facing the opening of the box. :-(

This picture always breaks my heart.

 

[Jawds78]

Just throwing this out there…… couldn’t the Zarelli name potentially be on both maternal and paternal sides!

I mentioned this in another thread. Won't state specifics, but it's definitely possible. I can think of a few scenarios that make sense. IMO.

 

[txsleuth70]

I mentioned this in another thread. Won't state specifics, but it's definitely possible. I can think of a few scenarios that make sense. IMO.

If so, you would think that is something LE would have mentioned or pointed out. I'm thinking it is not the case because LE very specifically stated his name of the BC was a misspelled variation of his birth father's last name.

 

[IDK]

If so, you would think that is something LE would have mentioned or pointed out. I'm thinking it is not the case because LE very specifically stated his name of the BC was a misspelled variation of his birth father's last name.

So not to be picky here— but LE said a spelling variation in his name— not last name specifically. So could also be a Bob/Robert type variation. IMO.


The transcript posted earlier:
“Captain - Okay, so it is going to be the person that's on the birth certificate. The name on the birth certificate is not exact. It's not exact, alright?”


.

 

[amybman1]

I'm very curious about the years they chose for the birth certificate search that resulted in JAZ and 2 other half (we believe) siblings. Why those years? Was mom not of child-bearing years on the early side of that? Was she institutionalized/imprisoned/passed away on the later side? Was she known to be involved with JAZ's father during those years? PA birth certificates used to have a box to write what number of births this was for the mother and how many of them lived. (I just know this from seeing the book copy of my GF's birth certificate. Unfortunately, he was birth 5 and only 3 had lived. Heartbreaking). Anyway, I don't know if that was still a thing by that time, but would be interesting to know how many JAZ's mom had birthed before/after him and why they chose to start the search window almost 10 years before JAZ's birth, but end it just a few years after.

Now that I think about this, perhaps they were looking to cover M's birth year as well in case there was more to the story than that they lived in the same household (as in a bio connection)?

 

[MimosaMornings]

I’m trying to grasp the ability to remain silent. He was murdered!
His picture was all over the place, the neighborhood had to be buzzing with gossip and knowledge of people. Someone or something had a firm grip to keep more than one person silent. JMO
Multiple pleas for YEARS for someone to acknowledge him.
Did anyone even wonder “what if….”?

It’s heart breaking.

 

[amybman1]

I’m trying to grasp the ability to remain silent. He was murdered!
His picture was all over the place, the neighborhood had to be buzzing with gossip and knowledge of people. Someone or something had a firm grip to keep more than one person silent. JMO
Multiple pleas for YEARS for someone to acknowledge him.
Did anyone even wonder “what if….”?

It’s heart breaking.

I would guess a lot of factors there, but so much less accountability in general. Explanations like "he had to go to an institution" or "he passed away from polio (or whatever)" etc. The mortality rates were so high-- my grandfather's brother died as a child and they now believe it was undiagnosed diabetes. We know much more medically now, and we're in a whole different place socially as well-- it's hard to imagine sudden absences, but I don't think then it would have necessarily taken much of an explanation, or a firm grip.

 

[Daphne1972]

I’m trying to grasp the ability to remain silent. He was murdered!
His picture was all over the place, the neighborhood had to be buzzing with gossip and knowledge of people. Someone or something had a firm grip to keep more than one person silent. JMO
Multiple pleas for YEARS for someone to acknowledge him.
Did anyone even wonder “what if….”?

It’s heart breaking.

It's infuriating!

 

[txsleuth70]

So not to be picky here— but LE said a spelling variation in his name— not last name specifically. So could also be a Bob/Robert type variation. IMO.


The transcript posted earlier:
“Captain - Okay, so it is going to be the person that's on the birth certificate. The name on the birth certificate is not exact. It's not exact, alright?”


.

Based on other documents, I think the spelling variation is -ella vs. -illa vs. ilia MOO

 

[bears10]

It's infuriating!

It really is. My dad is from Philly, born in 45. I could absolutely see how no one has said anything. If god forbid it was my family, for instance say my dads cousin, my dad would have probably known better than to ask why his cousin doesn't come to family parties anymore. So he would probably just not think about it and certainly wouldn't ask questions, even later in life. It would be something he'd never bring up, and would come as a complete shock to hear that my dads cousin disappeared and no one ever heard from him again. I know they put Joseph's pic in all of the electric bills to try to raise awareness and get leads, but the adults back then probably lived by the "'mind your own business and worry about yourself" mindset. Which is wild to me, but knowing the way my own dad is, I can believe that family members may have known and not came forward. Some families just didn't question things back then, even if they talked about it or speculated behind closed doors. You "knew your place" and wouldn't even think about going to authorities.

That being said, my moms side of the family was completely different. Maybe Joseph's family was similar to my dads family. Jmo

 

[citizen_sleuth]

The first semeblance of mandatory reporting laws were not until 1967 IIRC.

Yes. Pennsylvania didn't pass a mandatory reporting law until 1964.

 

[Jen Walters]

I do not think JAZ was adopted or "sold", because if he were, I think LE would have stated that to stop the speculation about the bio family. I am all but certain LE would have put the adoption front and center in the presser to stop the amateur sleuthing and people reaching out to reported the boy missing. If a formal adoption was done there would have been papers. If he was sold under the table thats a crime and no papers. LE has no evidence to show who committed this crime yet.

Or they have no evidence proving he was sold or adopted out if it had no paper trail.

If he was adopted legally there would be a paper trail. This leads me to think they sold him.

 

[Daphne1972]

There's no birth certificate for Joseph on Archives.com.

 

[Friday Fan]

There's no birth certificate for Joseph on Archives.com.

PA does not release their birth certificates for 100 years!

We are relying on law enforcement for info about JAZ regarding his vital stats, birthdate, birth certificate etc.

I have my BC from 1956 (I was born PA) that tells what was required (and possibly not required?) on the form.

 

[GameChanger42]

Really feel like the focus should be on the goings on in Martha's neighborhood at the time. If LEO wanted us to discuss the names of the biological parent they would of told us.

 

[Friday Fan]

It really is. My dad is from Philly, born in 45. I could absolutely see how no one has said anything. If god forbid it was my family, for instance say my dads cousin, my dad would have probably known better than to ask why his cousin doesn't come to family parties anymore. So he would probably just not think about it and certainly wouldn't ask questions, even later in life. It would be something he'd never bring up, and would come as a complete shock to hear that my dads cousin disappeared and no one ever heard from him again. I know they put Joseph's pic in all of the electric bills to try to raise awareness and get leads, but the adults back then probably lived by the "'mind your own business and worry about yourself" mindset. Which is wild to me, but knowing the way my own dad is, I can believe that family members may have known and not came forward. Some families just didn't question things back then, even if they talked about it or speculated behind closed doors. You "knew your place" and wouldn't even think about going to authorities.

That being said, my moms side of the family was completely different. Maybe Joseph's family was similar to my dads family. Jmo

MOO: And little Joseph was malnourished and probably looked different than he did in real life.

So, if someone knew a boy who had "gone away " or whatever, people may not have put two and two together because he likely looked quite different in real life. Post-mortems are hard to look at and I really feel if we ever see a real image of JAZ, he will look quite different than his post-mortem. MOO