(Collage created by author of this blog. Information posters are credited to Philadelphia Police Department. Picture of Joseph's original grave stone: Credit: witf)
*Please be aware that I will be discussing child a*use and murder in this post. I always aim to be as sensitive as I can be in these posts without taking away from the facts of the case*
It was an unsolved murder case that haunted Philadelphia (USA) for decades, the heartbreaking case of the little unknown boy who's crumpled, nude body was found in a cardboard box covered by a faded blanket. Nobody knew his name, nobody knew what happened to him but for 65 years Philadelphia and anyone who came across this case never forgot about this child. Thanks to tireless efforts, constant investigation and modern forensics, we now have a name for this little boy who for decades was called ''Boy in the box'' and ''America's Unknown Child''.
On a cold evening in February 1957, a young male college student had been out for a drive and decided to park his car at a regular spot where he would try and catch the attention (or spy on - depending on what story you believe) of some local girls that had been staying at a boarding house. On that particular night the girls where nowhere to be seen so he wandered around for a little while and saw what he thought was a cardboard box with a doll inside. On closer inspection he realised that the 'doll' looked to be very human like and very much like a little boy. In a panic and unsure of what to do he didn't contact the police straight away because he claimed that he didn't want to be painted as a suspect or dragged into the case. After an alleged talk with a priest and viewing a news report on the TV about a missing girl, he finally contacted authorities.
The young man had nothing whatsoever to do with the young deceased child in the box, the police did a thorough investigation into him and his background and found that he was just a young guy who panicked. As I mentioned before, the weather was very cold at that time of year in Philadelphia so when investigators examined the body it was unclear at first what the exact cause of death was or when it happened.
No stone was left unturned in this case which in 1957 was quite remarkable considering the limited resources they had. They didn't have the technology or the breakthroughs in DNA and forensic science that we have today. Nobody could fault the investigators at the start of this case because they contacted anybody and everybody trying to find out the boy's identity as well as trying to track down any piece of material they could find in the box. The cardboard box was traced and so was the blanket to their original locations (ie stores, factories) which ended up producing no results because these items had been purchased by numerous people which would have been impossible to have tracked down each and every person especially as they paid in cash for the items.
(Information poster. Picture credit: Philadelphia Police Department)An autopsy was performed on the child and his body was so malnourished that it was quite the task also of trying to determine his exact age but the medical examiner estimated that the boy was possibly aged between four and six years old. Various factors such as severe bruising to the left side of the boy's body and various scars both fresh and old determined that this child had been severely mistreated and beaten. Head trauma was also noted as well as signs that the boy had been placed in water for a period of time.
As mentioned before, the police did everything they could in their aims to identify this young boy, even cleaning the boy's body up and dressing him in clothing so that they could take pictures of him to share with the public in hopes that somebody may recognise him. The police together with local businesses sent out thousands of information flyers, posters were all over the Philadelphia city but still nobody could identify the boy.
Eventually the child's body was placed in a grave with a headstone reading 'Heavenly Father Bless This Unknown Boy. February 25, 1957'. The police and general public of Philadelphia had taken this unknown boy to their hearts and they never gave up hope that one day he would be identified and that whoever was responsible for his death would face justice. Decades went by and nothing but theories remained. There was various stories that the police were aware of but none of these stories could be proven. Even today the police have various avenues of possibility and ideas of who could be responsible for his death but due to lack of evidence, witnesses and proper information there's nothing they can do but they are adamant that this case remain open and that they finally get to the bottom of it.
Some positive news came around in 2021 (but was not revealed to the public until 2022) when investigators finally identified the boy after 65 years. It was an amazing breakthrough in the case. The child's name was 'Joseph Augustus Zarelli' and as I post this article, the investigation is still on-going into everyone possibly connected to Joseph.
Joseph's grave which was once a sad, heartbreaking headstone without a name has since been replaced with a beautiful memorial stone featuring a picture of him. Members of the public visit the grave often and leave little toys, flowers and balloons for Joseph. Just because his name is now known doesn't mean that it's the end of this very sad story, the continued search for justice remains.
(Joseph's beautiful new grave. Picture credit: ktvl)
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