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

[Dylgem22]

I don’t contribute a lot on this case, mostly read … could the person who put JOSEPH where he was found not been the person who “killed him” or contributed to his demise, but someone who was assigned to get rid of him?? He was in a box (protected from the elements) and was with a blanket … but sadly that person may not be around or of viable mind to remember or was possibly threatened to the point of being too scared at the time to say anything????

 

[fred&edna]

Weren't there apartments (rented to families) above the businesses in the 61st and Market St area during the time period?

I've looked at lots of old city maps... but I thought the 6100-6200 Market St address might be applicable. It seems it was a home in the 40's, and in the 50's a furniture business (several ads for a route salesman ran in the Phil Inquirer). However, it's possible I'm making the 61st and Market area too "exact" with 6100 Market St address.

 

[Friday Fan]

Weren't there apartments (rented to families) above the businesses in the 61st and Market St area during the time period?

I've looked at lots of old city maps... but I thought the 6100-6200 Market St address might be applicable. It seems it was a home in the 40's, and in the 50's a furniture business (several ads for a route salesman ran in the Phil Inquirer). However, it's possible I'm making the 61st and Market area too "exact" with 6100 Market St address.

I'm thinking they're giving a neighborhood area. 61st and Market is businesses and transit and apartments on top of businesses. Areas a block to the north are strictly residential (Rowhouses)

 

[Sneaker33]

I don’t contribute a lot on this case, mostly read … could the person who put JOSEPH where he was found not been the person who “killed him” or contributed to his demise, but someone who was assigned to get rid of him?? He was in a box (protected from the elements) and was with a blanket … but sadly that person may not be around or of viable mind to remember or was possibly threatened to the point of being too scared at the time to say anything????

Possibly. It seems there was a time when Joseph was appropriately cared for and received medical attention. His death was a homicide but I am not sure if some of the fractures could have been medical in nature. I wonder if he was a ward of the state or being transferred in care at the time his life ended. It still does not explain the silence as someone should have recognized him. Did someone snap while caring for him at a home/facility and then erase records of him? Sometimes those hired to care for others are not suitable for the work. How anyone could just dump his body is beyond my comprehension. The malnutrition also is a sign of abuse or failure to thrive if there was a medical condition.

 

[iamshadow21]

Possibly. It seems there was a time when Joseph was appropriately cared for and received medical attention. His death was a homicide but I am not sure if some of the fractures could have been medical in nature. I wonder if he was a ward of the state or being transferred in care at the time his life ended. It still does not explain the silence as someone should have recognized him. Did someone snap while caring for him at a home/facility and then erase records of him? Sometimes those hired to care for others are not suitable for the work. How anyone could just dump his body is beyond my comprehension. The malnutrition also is a sign of abuse or failure to thrive if there was a medical condition.

Autopsy showed no evidence of current or prior broken bones or fractures. They took extensive x-rays and used them to rule him out as being another missing child, who had a prior broken bone.

 

[SerendipitySF]

The Sanborn maps available through the Library of Congress give us a pretty solid clue as to what the buildings in that area were in the 1950s - though the maps were originally drawn in the 1910s, very little changed between then and the 1950s. Unfortunately the map for this exact intersection is not available from the LOC online, I was able to get one from a mile east on Market street - they were pretty much all storefronts on the ground floor with dwelling units above and possibly behind. Garages would have been built with new construction only, this area was all rowhouses likely built before WWI. Businesses that were of high fire risk and/or occupying the ground floor with dwelling units above are notated - bakery, movie theater, hardware & paint store, etc.

It would have been extremely risky, suspicious, and physically difficult to transport a dead child to the other side of the city on mass transit, so I agree that they must have had a car, even though the "elevated railway" was just down the street. I think not having a garage to obscure neighbors' view makes it even more likely that Joseph was carried from the home to the car in the box - "Oh we're just taking this old bassinet to my sister's house, nothing to see here"


View attachment 389030

That is, if you believe they brought him IN the box as opposed to finding the box there.

 

[RaspberryMama]

I'm thinking they're giving a neighborhood area. 61st and Market is businesses and transit and apartments on top of businesses. Areas a block to the north are strictly residential (Rowhouses)

61st and Market is at the exact center of 4 enumeration districts. Iow, it is the corner where all 4 meet. I wonder what all those district distinctions are used for (census data, I know). I suspect they were pointing to all 4 as the "area" since they chose the exact center to give as a general address.

 

[ECHH]

My great-grandmother was sent to a similar place many years ago when she was 12 or 13. Her mother kicked her and her brother out of the house after she married a man who didn’t want to raise another man’s children. My GG ended up in an Institution for incorrigible girls run by nuns in Boston, where she was ostensibly taught “life skills” like laundry and housekeeping. In the census during the years she was there, she was referred to as an inmate

I was looking at family census records and those in orphanages were listed as inmates as well.

 

[txsleuth70]

It's really sad if he hasn't been identified all this time due to "special treatment" toward one side of his family. And if it's being allowed to continue. JMOO.

 

[Laughing]

I was looking at family census records and those in orphanages were listed as inmates as well.

In the 1850 & 1860 censuses, the term Pauper is sometimes used. I remember an entry, household headed by a minister, wife, 3 children with their surname, 8 other children 13 and younger with several different surnames. All the kids but one (too young) were At School, the wife's occupation was Keeping Paupers.

Both are record-keeping words, convenient labels.

 

[Friday Fan]

I was looking at family census records and those in orphanages were listed as inmates as well.

Article refers to 1920 Census..seminarians/dorm residents are inmates. Meant they had "free lodging"

My great aunt was in a state ( insane aslyum as my dad referred to it) institution from 1932-1971. The 1940 census says patient along with everyone on the sheet. She was a ward of the state.
My husband's uncle was also committed. (Developmental delays) 1950 census says patient. However, I've seen "inmate" referred to innocuous types of situations in older census records.

How did "inmate" evolve to only apply to prisons and asylums?

If you look at census records from the 1920s and before, dorm residents in schools, seminaries, and institutions are referred to as "inmates." The term, then, was not limited just to prisons as to...

english.stackexchange.com

 

[MapsGeek]

That is, if you believe they brought him IN the box as opposed to finding the box there.

Right, but it would have been much harder to move the body both physically and without being detected if it were not inside a mostly-rigid container such as a cardboard box.

(I used to work in a veterinary hospital and have experience moving deceased pets of all sizes)

 

[RaspberryMama]

Right, but it would have been much harder to move the body both physically and without being detected if it were not inside a mostly-rigid container such as a cardboard box.

(I used to work in a veterinary hospital and have experience moving deceased pets of all sizes)

3rd possibility is they brought him in one thing to hide him, then saw the box at the dump site and switched him into that.

 

[RaspberryMama]

Does anyone remember anything about the cat that was found nearby? I'm reading Jim Hoffman's book about this case and he mentions that a piece of blanket was found wrapped up with a dead cat in an old gray sweater. The piece of blanket was similar to the blanket found with Joseph, but not an exact match.

The foster home that had the estate sale had several similar blankets. I just wonder if that dead cat had anything to with Joseph. It struck me for some reason in a different way when reading about it in the book. I wonder if the cat was his and was also killed with him. Wish they would've kept the blanket and sweater.

 

[CCJD]

Does anyone remember anything about the cat that was found nearby? I'm reading Jim Hoffman's book about this case and he mentions that a piece of blanket was found wrapped up with a dead cat in an old gray sweater. The piece of blanket was similar to the blanket found with Joseph, but not an exact match.

The foster home that had the estate sale had several similar blankets. I just wonder if that dead cat had anything to with Joseph. It struck me for some reason in a different way when reading about it in the book. I wonder if the cat was his and was also killed with him. Wish they would've kept the blanket and sweater.

A torn, stained piece of blanket and a dead cat wrapped in a man's gray sweater were found lying together in a depression in the ground about a quarter mile from where the boy's nude body was found. Lying on top of the cat and blanket was a piece of crumpled, sodden brown wrapping paper. The blanket fragment was similar in type and quality to the blanket that was found with the boy's body. However, subsequent analysis at the police laboratory revealed that it was not part of the same blanket. Chemical analysis of the other items also had negative results.

Case Summary

scroll down to Possible Evidence (found in the Fox Chase area):

 

[MapsGeek]

This Sanborn map is from 1925. General area. Residential block in upper left. It has one garage with a capacity for 9 cars. (LOL) Street name must have changed. I notice that a garage exists a block to the south and east with a capacity for 50 cars (LOL) The garage is now a gas station and laundromat. So even back in 1925, there were automobile accommodations. The accommodations were just "different" than many homes built at the same time in other cities like Chicago. CONTENTdm
View attachment 389101

Looking at this map again, zoomed in a lot, I believe the "garages" of 9 and 50 car capacity are actually more like mechanics shops or car dealerships (note the "showroom" on the large one).

 

[RaspberryMama]

ADMIN NOTE:

The following ADMIN NOTE was posted earlier today in this thread and for some reason some members are choosing to ignore it.

"Police said during a Thursday morning press conference that they will not be identifying the boy's parents at this time out of respect for Zarelli's siblings, some of whom are still alive."

What's not clear about the above?

Why are some members disregarding what LE has said and decide it's okay to flat-out name people and sleuth families with a view to identifying the parents, etc ?? This is disrespectful to LE, to the family, and to Websleuths to totally disregard LE's position in this matter.

You can do all the sleuthing you want behind the scenes and in private messaging, but until such time as LE has released more information, do NOT splash the names of innocent people and their families all across this forum.

Post respectfully and responsibly or you won't be allowed to post in this discussion, or you may experience a temporary or permanent loss of posting privileges.

 

[Daphne1972]

I found an article in the Catholic news archives. Not exactly a mission statement but does describe the purpose.

The Catholic Standard and Times 1 May 1959 — The Catholic News Archive

The Catholic News Archive

thecatholicnewsarchive.org

Some schools accepted pregnant girls, like in Hawaii. But I see no mentioning of Philadelphia.

 

[Daphne1972]

There are a lot of homes there. The land where CORA (formerly the Good Shepherd School) is, is still pretty undeveloped, but just about everything else, including the spot that Joseph was found, is now houses.

Ugh

 

[Daphne1972]

Very well said.

Yes to me it makes a difference if it was an abused murdered child that was discarded. This kid didn't stand a chance.