Gypsysoul25
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I forgot to add that it mentioned that the 2 does might be father and daughter
Identified! PA - Philadelphia, 'Boy in the Box', WhtMale 4-6, 4UMPA, Feb'57 #2 - Joseph Augustus Zarelli
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They called him "America’s Unknown Child," the unidentified boy in the box whose body was found in a cardboard container in the woods off the Susquehanna Road in the Fox Chase neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 25, 1957...
LINK:
The Boy in the Box: Philadelphia’s Decades-Long Child Murder Mystery
Ms Suzanne
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I promise I will never forget you sweet little boy.I promise.
The Vidocq Society
Unlike most Vidocq Society activities, these memorial events are open to the public. We will meet this Sunday, March 1.
The Vidocq Society meets twice a year to memorialize the boy, each Veteran's Day at his gravesite, and again each year on or about February 25 at the site where he was found.
Unlike most Vidocq Society activities, these memorial events are open to the public. We will meet this Sunday, March 1.
The Vidocq Society
Unlike most Vidocq Society activities, these memorial events are open to the public. We will meet this Sunday, March 1.
The Vidocq Society meets twice a year to memorialize the boy, each Veteran's Day at his gravesite, and again each year on or about February 25 at the site where he was found.
Unlike most Vidocq Society activities, these memorial events are open to the public. We will meet this Sunday, March 1.
Gypsysoul25
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63 years
The perpetrators must be very lucky in not getting caught after all these years.such a wonderful series of events for them
the boy 's dna is to degraded to.degraded for ddp to use and the closest relatives he would have probably might not live in the states but somewhere abroad so I guess that DNA comparison might lead to a dead end
he looks like he might be some sort of Eastern European.Philadelphia has been home to a thriving Eastern European community for decades
The perpetrators must be very lucky in not getting caught after all these years.such a wonderful series of events for them
the boy 's dna is to degraded to.degraded for ddp to use and the closest relatives he would have probably might not live in the states but somewhere abroad so I guess that DNA comparison might lead to a dead end
he looks like he might be some sort of Eastern European.Philadelphia has been home to a thriving Eastern European community for decades
Gypsysoul25
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I know in South Albania I have encountered many people in the city of Fier who have at least one relative who lives in Philadelphia
He specifically looks moreso Central European influenced in phenotype ie Czech,Slovak Hungarian etc
He specifically looks moreso Central European influenced in phenotype ie Czech,Slovak Hungarian etc
Gypsysoul25
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In that 90s font website dedicated to him I vaguely remember it had a list of possible suspects that were never investigated further due to some time constraints and some technical problems with communication (im not sure 100% I'm just making a educated guess)
the site owner passed away a few years back and as far as I know he never left any updates or info behind the case,contacts or the site.it probably might be removed in the future since I don't think anyone is paying the server bill.
it was last updated a decade and a half.for all we know at this point he could have reincarnated
the site owner passed away a few years back and as far as I know he never left any updates or info behind the case,contacts or the site.it probably might be removed in the future since I don't think anyone is paying the server bill.
it was last updated a decade and a half.for all we know at this point he could have reincarnated
Melt71
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I thought Barbara Rae Venter was working on his case, not DDP?
Mrs. Badcrumble
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She is. The DDP do not work on children's cases.
What about the theory that the boy may have recently immigrated to the United States from Europe? As far as I'm aware, no isotope testing has ever been done on him. I'd be nice if we can narrow down the possible places where he may have lived most of his life.
Ms Suzanne
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I will never forget this little boy.Community Gathers In Northeast Philadelphia To Honor 'America's Unknown Child'
Gypsysoul25
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Why not compare his DNA to the Rusyns also known as Carpatho-Rusyns who live in the U.S.
I just recently been aware of the fact that Pennsylvania has a thriving Rusyn
community.from a outdated website circa 1996 it mention that the U.S has the largest Rusyn community outside of the European continent.specifically 600,000.they started coming en mass in the 19th century to escape Magyarization.
The President of the Rusyn American community has even mentioned that every Rusyn he encounters has a relative that lives or lived in Pittsburgh.he even mentioned the fact that many Rusyn Americans his the fact that they were of Rusyn heritage during the cold war due to self-Esteem European sentiment and Rusyn Americans often lost contact with their relatives back home.
Many Rusyns in Pennsylvania have intermarriage with the Slovak community.many Rusyn Greek Catholic priests and/or archbishops in NJ have origins in eastern Slovakia.
I'm just throwing anything to see if it sticks at this.that might explain his Central European phenotype.but what throws me off is his phenotype looks like it might have been a bit more German influenced while Rusyns are Eastern Slavic(ie Russian,Belarussian.Ukrainian) in origin despite living in Central Europe .
I just recently been aware of the fact that Pennsylvania has a thriving Rusyn
community.from a outdated website circa 1996 it mention that the U.S has the largest Rusyn community outside of the European continent.specifically 600,000.they started coming en mass in the 19th century to escape Magyarization.
The President of the Rusyn American community has even mentioned that every Rusyn he encounters has a relative that lives or lived in Pittsburgh.he even mentioned the fact that many Rusyn Americans his the fact that they were of Rusyn heritage during the cold war due to self-Esteem European sentiment and Rusyn Americans often lost contact with their relatives back home.
Many Rusyns in Pennsylvania have intermarriage with the Slovak community.many Rusyn Greek Catholic priests and/or archbishops in NJ have origins in eastern Slovakia.
I'm just throwing anything to see if it sticks at this.that might explain his Central European phenotype.but what throws me off is his phenotype looks like it might have been a bit more German influenced while Rusyns are Eastern Slavic(ie Russian,Belarussian.Ukrainian) in origin despite living in Central Europe .
KayyySmalls23
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Interesting story that I ran across on Facebook and decided to look up. I was able to find this information on The New York Daily News.
Mysterious 1957 slaying of boy found in cardboard box still baffles nation
The patient's name was Martha and she was able to give details that only a person present would have known, such as the fact that the boy ate baked beans or that she was on the highway with her mother when a man stopped, thinking the two had broken down.
Has anyone ever heard about the "Boy in the Box"? It will be 62 years that this poor boy has gone on unidentified...
Mysterious 1957 slaying of boy found in cardboard box still baffles nation
The patient's name was Martha and she was able to give details that only a person present would have known, such as the fact that the boy ate baked beans or that she was on the highway with her mother when a man stopped, thinking the two had broken down.
Has anyone ever heard about the "Boy in the Box"? It will be 62 years that this poor boy has gone on unidentified...
KayyySmalls23
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I remember watching an episode of the CBS crime drama "Cold Case" when I was a teenager back in the early 2000's that had a case eerily similar to this and today, it popped up on my Facebook newsfeed.
I knew I had heard about the case but I couldn't remember so I did some researching and came across this article in the New York Daily Post.
Mysterious 1957 slaying of boy found in cardboard box still baffles nation
While no names were mentioned in the article link provided above, I read on a Why So Serial? Facebook group that a woman named Martha claimed that her abusive mother had bought the boy and it was under their roof that he was subjected to both physical and sexual abuse. Police were initially interested in Martha's story as she had details that were never released to the public such as the fact that the boy was beaten to death and the fact that he had ate baked beans before he died (which were corroborated by the autopsy and the mention of a brown substance in his throat).
Martha, according to WSS!, claims that the boy was bathed before his death and that also matched the coroner's finding of water-pruned fingers but it was her history of mental illness that made her an unreliable witness.
Could Martha be the same woman that is mentioned in the article published by the NY Daily Post? And if she was, why was more credibility not provided to her. Although she suffered from mental illness; this was a time back when hysteria was thought to be a disorder and it could be cured in women by having them climax during an orgasm. Why were the statements this "Martha" woman made not given more weight within the police department and investigated properly? I wonder if her parents were important people in Philadelphia or if they knew important people like politicians, police commissioners, mafia members, etc. Could the family's status had prevented the death from being properly investigated...I mean after all; there were some very wealthy neighborhoods in Philadelphia in what is now known as the Chestnut Hills area?
Also, who were Martha's parents!?! Why was this mother and father never looked at? I have so many questions and I do apologize if I repeat information that was already posted; I am fairly new and doing my best to read all the interesting tidbits as fast as I can. Looking forward to reading any information and/or answers that can be provided to my questions.
I knew I had heard about the case but I couldn't remember so I did some researching and came across this article in the New York Daily Post.
Mysterious 1957 slaying of boy found in cardboard box still baffles nation
While no names were mentioned in the article link provided above, I read on a Why So Serial? Facebook group that a woman named Martha claimed that her abusive mother had bought the boy and it was under their roof that he was subjected to both physical and sexual abuse. Police were initially interested in Martha's story as she had details that were never released to the public such as the fact that the boy was beaten to death and the fact that he had ate baked beans before he died (which were corroborated by the autopsy and the mention of a brown substance in his throat).
Martha, according to WSS!, claims that the boy was bathed before his death and that also matched the coroner's finding of water-pruned fingers but it was her history of mental illness that made her an unreliable witness.
Could Martha be the same woman that is mentioned in the article published by the NY Daily Post? And if she was, why was more credibility not provided to her. Although she suffered from mental illness; this was a time back when hysteria was thought to be a disorder and it could be cured in women by having them climax during an orgasm. Why were the statements this "Martha" woman made not given more weight within the police department and investigated properly? I wonder if her parents were important people in Philadelphia or if they knew important people like politicians, police commissioners, mafia members, etc. Could the family's status had prevented the death from being properly investigated...I mean after all; there were some very wealthy neighborhoods in Philadelphia in what is now known as the Chestnut Hills area?
Also, who were Martha's parents!?! Why was this mother and father never looked at? I have so many questions and I do apologize if I repeat information that was already posted; I am fairly new and doing my best to read all the interesting tidbits as fast as I can. Looking forward to reading any information and/or answers that can be provided to my questions.
KayyySmalls23
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Even more interesting is that Chestnut Hills is located in Northwestern Philadelphia and the area where the body was found off of Susquehanna Road in the Fox Chase neighborhood of Northeastern Philadelphia.
How easy (in those times) would it have been for an affluent family in Chestnut Hills to drive over to Fox Chase to dispose of, or dump a body? LEO and Politicians would have most definitely turned the other way, especially if the family had the resources to own a portion of the town.
It was only a fifteen minute, or 6.2 mile drive from Susquehanna Road to Chestnut so maybe a 1/2 hour round trip to dispose of the boy and get back home. I think it would be worth looking/tracking down the residents of Chestnut Hill during this decade to see if any are still living and/or if they are, if they remember a young boy like this running amongst them. Sadly, even people that were in the same age range as the "boy in the box" should be in their 60's by now; the people who would truly remember or are capable of remembering are most likely dead and gone.
I even spoke with my mother, who is will be turning 67 this year, and she remembers hearing about this case. However she remembers hearing about it later on in life, as she was only 4 years old when his body was discovered. She agrees with me; affluent families in the area should be researched and looked at because this was an era where not everyone had the financial ability to "purchase" children or people at that. Only people of money would have been able to do such a thing...
How easy (in those times) would it have been for an affluent family in Chestnut Hills to drive over to Fox Chase to dispose of, or dump a body? LEO and Politicians would have most definitely turned the other way, especially if the family had the resources to own a portion of the town.
It was only a fifteen minute, or 6.2 mile drive from Susquehanna Road to Chestnut so maybe a 1/2 hour round trip to dispose of the boy and get back home. I think it would be worth looking/tracking down the residents of Chestnut Hill during this decade to see if any are still living and/or if they are, if they remember a young boy like this running amongst them. Sadly, even people that were in the same age range as the "boy in the box" should be in their 60's by now; the people who would truly remember or are capable of remembering are most likely dead and gone.
I even spoke with my mother, who is will be turning 67 this year, and she remembers hearing about this case. However she remembers hearing about it later on in life, as she was only 4 years old when his body was discovered. She agrees with me; affluent families in the area should be researched and looked at because this was an era where not everyone had the financial ability to "purchase" children or people at that. Only people of money would have been able to do such a thing...
KayyySmalls23
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I agree! Sadly, at this point in time anybody that was of age to remember or notice any strange happenings would probably be well into their 70s by now. I'm afraid they would run into much the same issues as "M" has...people might say they are too old to remember that far back.
It would definitely be interesting to see what people remember and have to say about the family that is at the center of this whole ordeal.
themissingandthelost
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I'm not even kidding, but I found M's 2nd cousin on Ancestry. It was a complete fluke as I am researching the family whose name I won't mention here thanks to a tip from another sleuther who knew I had covered America's Unknown Child on my site. They had no idea M even existed, but it's possible they weren't close. I'm still looking into the family and trying to find neighbours from around that time.
themissingandthelost
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Unfortunately, it's likely they got away with murder and are already dead. What hurts my heart is the child's parents, they must have seen him in newspapers, they must have seen their child unless they weren't alive to do so. I can't fathom why if they did see him, that they didn't come forward and say, "That's my son, I sold him because I needed the money, but I sold him to..... His name is X." Just so he had a name and was given a proper headstone. He's been known as the Boy in the Box and it breaks my heart. It just seems so impersonal. I am appalled at what people will do to save their own skin, especially when it comes to innocent children.
Gypsysoul25
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I once read that 2 distant relatives of the boy were found and they were completely unaware of who he was
It is from a Reddit post so I will take it with a grain of salt.I will pm you the post if youd like
@themissingandthelost
It is from a Reddit post so I will take it with a grain of salt.I will pm you the post if youd like
@themissingandthelost
Gypsysoul25
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Pennsylvania is home to the largest Croatian community in continental U.S
which could possibly tie in to his suspected foreign origin
there was some mixing between Croats and Hungarians during the middle ages.communist Yugoslavia encouraged a forced assimilation policy on the Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians.the Istro Romanian community in Croatia was divided in being assimilated to the Croatian community or the Italian community(there was once a thriving Venetian community in Croatia.Venetian was even used by the already existing Romance speaking community of Croatia.it even replaced the native Romance language/dialect they already spoke)
which could possibly tie in to his suspected foreign origin
there was some mixing between Croats and Hungarians during the middle ages.communist Yugoslavia encouraged a forced assimilation policy on the Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians.the Istro Romanian community in Croatia was divided in being assimilated to the Croatian community or the Italian community(there was once a thriving Venetian community in Croatia.Venetian was even used by the already existing Romance speaking community of Croatia.it even replaced the native Romance language/dialect they already spoke)
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