Identified! PA - Philadelphia, 'Boy in the Box', WhtMale 4-6, 4UMPA, Feb'57 #2 - Joseph Augustus Zarelli

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I first read about this young boy several years ago and have never forgotten him. It is now 2021 and I wondered if there has been any progress on identifying him. I did see a report that the Vidocq group felt they were close to solving the case last fall - any progress?
 
I'm looking into this WS case that mentioned Harold C. Sanders came forward back in the 50s but couldn't identify the Boy in the Box as being his missing son. I wonder what became of him & if there has been any dna taken from him at any point in time for comparison.

DE DE - The Sanders Family (Jean, 32, Bonnie, 9, Carol, 7, and John, 4) , Dover, 1950s'
 

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I'm looking into this WS case that mentioned Harold C. Sanders came forward back in the 50s but couldn't identify the Boy in the Box as being his missing son. I wonder what became of him & if there has been any dna taken from him at any point in time for comparison.

DE DE - The Sanders Family (Jean, 32, Bonnie, 9, Carol, 7, and John, 4) , Dover, 1950s'

"Harold Sanders, of Dover, DE - reported that his wife and three children were missing. He said that he had a son, John, who was fair, thin, and about the age of the child found battered to death in Fox Chase. Mr. Sanders' wife and children were subsequently located - alive and well. The investigators learned that Mrs. Sanders had not really been "missing" after all, but had simply left her husband and taken the children with her."
BBM

Case Summary
 
"Harold Sanders, of Dover, DE - reported that his wife and three children were missing. He said that he had a son, John, who was fair, thin, and about the age of the child found battered to death in Fox Chase. Mr. Sanders' wife and children were subsequently located - alive and well. The investigators learned that Mrs. Sanders had not really been "missing" after all, but had simply left her husband and taken the children with her."
BBM

Case Summary

Was that Sanders' update in the case summary as I was looking for it and couldn't find it? I've been looking into the case of Jean and her children and couldn't find whether they were found alive or not.
 
Was that Sanders' update in the case summary as I was looking for it and couldn't find it? I've been looking into the case of Jean and her children and couldn't find whether they were found alive or not.
It’s nine paragraphs down after the picture and paragraph about Mrs. Margaret Martinez of Thornton, Colorado towards the end of the linked page.
 
I came across this but I have not found any more information. I don’t know if this has been posted before but I thought I would post. I can’t find anywhere he was found.

Missing boy , March 17 1956. John Richard Sandoval -- 3 years ;Mr and... News Photo - Getty Images


Missing boy (John Sandoval), 1956

Missing boy (John Sandoval), March 17 1956. John Richard Sandoval -- 3 years (copy);Mr and Mrs Walter Sandoval (mother and father);Deborah Sandoval -- 2 months, sister.;Caption slip reads: 'Photographer: Wesselmann. Date: 1956-03-17. Reporter: Parks. Assignment: Missing boy. 5: Copy photo of 3-year-old missing boy, John Richard Sandoval;11: Deputy sheriffs from Norwalk Station map out plan to look for boy all night. 12: Waiting at home for word from searchers are Mr and Mrs Walter Sandoval (mother is Nellie), parents of missing boy. With them is another child, Deborah, 2-moth-old sister of missing John Richard'.. (Photo by Los Angeles Examiner/USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images)
 

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I came across this but I have not found any more information. I don’t know if this has been posted before but I thought I would post. I can’t find anywhere he was found.

Missing boy , March 17 1956. John Richard Sandoval -- 3 years ;Mr and... News Photo - Getty Images


Missing boy (John Sandoval), 1956

Missing boy (John Sandoval), March 17 1956. John Richard Sandoval -- 3 years (copy);Mr and Mrs Walter Sandoval (mother and father);Deborah Sandoval -- 2 months, sister.;Caption slip reads: 'Photographer: Wesselmann. Date: 1956-03-17. Reporter: Parks. Assignment: Missing boy. 5: Copy photo of 3-year-old missing boy, John Richard Sandoval;11: Deputy sheriffs from Norwalk Station map out plan to look for boy all night. 12: Waiting at home for word from searchers are Mr and Mrs Walter Sandoval (mother is Nellie), parents of missing boy. With them is another child, Deborah, 2-moth-old sister of missing John Richard'.. (Photo by Los Angeles Examiner/USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images)

He was found deceased.
31 Dec 1969, - at Newspapers.com
Actual date of clipping is March 17, 1956
 

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Philadelphia homicide detectives two years ago got an order to exhume the remains of the Boy in the Box. What they were able to retrieve this time for DNA purposes was sent to a lab in Europe that now has given them their biggest break yet.

“This is the closest, this is the closest we have gotten,” Smith said of being able to find out the boy’s name.

Police now have a DNA profile they hope leads them to family members of the little boy. Investigators say this gives them a new direction.

“Might there still be witnesses around? There could be,” Smith said. “Absolutely. Might there still be a perpetrator around that’s still alive? Possibly. Could be.”

These detectives are on the doorstep of what can only be hoped to be the break that’s kept them up at night wondering what the name of The Boy in the Box is.
EXCLUSIVE: Philadelphia Police Hope Break In 1957 Unsolved Murder Leads To The Boy In The Box's Identity
 
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