# "Boy in the Box" (1950s deceased child mystery) possibly identified
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 3, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983 "2022-12-03T20:28:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/1 "2022-12-03T20:28:25Z")
His DNA has been traced to a family in Delaware via genetic genealogy, and a possible birth certificate has been found. If this is true, a 65-year mystery will be partially solved.
> **[Philly Police Reveal ID of 'Boy in the Box'](https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/investigators/philadelphia-police-to-reveal-identity-of-boy-in-the-box-next-week-sources-say/3438944/)**
>
> More than six decades since an unidentified boy was found dead and abandoned in Philadelphia, police identified the child and revealed his name on Thursday.
Next, they will need to find out how he got there, why, and by whom.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/2 "2022-12-03T20:58:12Z")
It’s very likely the perp is dead (if he was 25 when he did it he would be 90 now–which means it isn’t likely he is still alive…)
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/3 "2022-12-03T22:36:46Z")
Or she, a direction in which I personally lean. But knowing who he is, is definitely a start, and a measure to restore his dignity that he did not have in life.
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### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/4 "2022-12-04T01:44:39Z")
Wow.
I’ve been following this case since I learned about it maybe 15 years ago, when my own son was a toddler, and I was first working with preschoolers.
I’ve watched at least 3 TV series run episodes based on the case, and a movie that led to another movie, which come to mind right now, with wildly divergent endings.
So little has surfaced since I started reading about the case, and now this.
Just, wow.
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### Author:  [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2022, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/5 "2022-12-04T02:08:20Z")
“A prominent Delaware, PA family…”
I’m betting an illegitimate child from one of the prominent family’s daughters.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2022, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/6 "2022-12-04T06:18:07Z")
Or a son, who may never even have known about the pregnancy, especially if the child was placed for adoption after birth.
We’re extensively discussing this on another website, one that specializes in true crime, and some people from the area say that they have a pretty good idea who this family is (and that the name is not a household word outside the region) and we largely agree that the delay is because authorities have to notify certain people before the information can be released.
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### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2022, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/7 "2022-12-04T20:17:46Z")
> [@ExTank](#):
>
> I’m betting an illegitimate child from one of the prominent family’s daughters.
At the age of six?
If it were a newborn smothered or poisoned, I’d agree, but how do you hide a child for six years, especially one with a birth certificate? and at any rate, back in those days, a smothering death, and a claim that he had a fever, with a death certificate and a burial in a far-away cemetery might serve better.
I’m more inclined to think a child with developmental disabilities, either one diagnosed, who couldn’t be sent to school, who the family didn’t wish to send to the state institutional school, nor to a genuine institution, but was very difficult to care for at home 24/7; or else, an undiagnosed one constantly in trouble in school, at six, maybe already dismissed from a private one, and consigned to a public school.
IIRC, the boy’s body showed evidence of earlier beatings that were healing.
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### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2022, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/8 "2022-12-04T20:20:32Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#):
>
> Or a son, who may never even have known about the pregnancy, especially if the child was placed for adoption after birth.
That’s more likely-- particularly if the adoption was private, and the specially chosen family killed the child.
On the other hand, if a prominent family had a mentally ill adult-- say, bipolar, who could have had any of a host of diagnoses back then, or none at all-- who had beaten a legitimate child to death-- that would be a pretty big thing, something they might want to cover up.
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### Author:  [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2022, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/9 "2022-12-05T00:19:28Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#):
>
> At the age of six?
>
> If it were a newborn smothered or poisoned, I’d agree, but how do you hide a child for six years, especially one with a birth certificate? and at any rate, back in those days, a smothering death, and a claim that he had a fever, with a death certificate and a burial in a far-away cemetery might serve better.
> [@RivkahChaya](#):
>
> I’m more inclined to think a child with developmental disabilities, either one diagnosed, who couldn’t be sent to school, who the family didn’t wish to send to the state institutional school, nor to a genuine institution, but was very difficult to care for at home 24/7; or else, an undiagnosed one constantly in trouble in school, at six, maybe already dismissed from a private one, and consigned to a public school.
>
> IIRC, the boy’s body showed evidence of earlier beatings that were healing.
> [@RivkahChaya](#):
>
> That’s more likely-- particularly if the adoption was private, and the specially chosen family killed the child.
>
> On the other hand, if a prominent family had a mentally ill adult-- say, bipolar, who could have had any of a host of diagnoses back then, or none at all-- who had beaten a legitimate child to death-- that would be a pretty big thing, something they might want to cover up.
I’m probably letting too much Shakespeare and/or TV police procedurals cloud my thinking. You should write for them; I like your theories better than mine.
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### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2022, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/10 "2022-12-05T00:31:53Z")
> [@ExTank](#):
>
> I’m probably letting too much Shakespeare and/or TV police procedurals cloud my thinking. You should write for them; I like your theories better than mine.
😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
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### Author:  [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2022, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/11 "2022-12-05T00:36:17Z")
The boy showed clear signs of neglect and abuse. But his hair and nails were freshly cut. It’s possible that this was remorse for having killed him. But, I always suspected that somebody involved was a doctor or scientist and knew that evidence had been left under the nails and in the boy’s hair.
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### Author:  [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2022, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/12 "2022-12-05T01:04:37Z")
> [@DocCathode](#):
>
> But, I always suspected that somebody involved was a doctor or scientist and knew that evidence had been left under the nails and in the boy’s hair.
I don’t think such evidence held much weight then, decades away from DNA forensics.
StG
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### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2022, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/13 "2022-12-05T10:47:06Z")
> [@StGermain](#):
>
> I don’t think such evidence held much weight then, decades away from DNA forensics.
His fingernails may have been a coincidence, but his hair was an unprofessional hack job. It could have been to remove something that might have been evidence, it could have been to make him less identifiable, or it could be that if he were a difficult child, he cut his own hair.
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### Author:  [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/14 "2022-12-05T23:03:44Z")
There was an article just a couple days ago about how genetic genealogy had been used to identify remains found in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1993. While there are enormous ethical considerations that we as a society need to work through regarding the acceptable use of an individual’s DNA, I do hope that the rapid growth of genetic genealogy to solve decades-old crimes is causing some killers who thought they were in the clear to lose a lot of sleep.
> **[Woman found slain in 1993 is identified through genetic genealogy](https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2022/12/02/body-identified-sharon-lane/)**
>
> Her skeletal remains were found in Centreville, and she'd been stabbed. Fairfax County police could not identify her until a genetic genealogy lab stepped in.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2022, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/15 "2022-12-06T05:01:52Z")
I thought it was up to the family to decide whether a given-back name should be made public, and that may explain some of the delay here.
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### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2022, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/16 "2022-12-07T10:35:41Z")
News reports say that tomorrow (Thursday, 12-8), at 11am, presumedly eastern time, the Philadelphia police will hold a press conference, and will release “additional information,” although they have not promised a name.
I don’t think it is entirely up to the family whether the name is released-- news is news-- but the family can make it easy or difficult.
It is a courtesy generally extended by the police and press not to release a name until close family is notified. Which makes you wonder what family has been located deemed to be necessary of informing before the press could be. Siblings come to mind, but I guess nieces and nephews as well.
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### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/17 "2022-12-08T19:24:21Z")
Joseph Augustus Zarelli
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/18 "2022-12-08T19:33:48Z")
Never reported missing.
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### Author:  [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/19 "2022-12-08T20:12:36Z")
I’m not sure if it qualifies as an aptonym that the Philadelphia Police Commissioner who made the announcement is named Danielle Outlaw.
I hope this information will eventually lead to identification of the boy’s killer.
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### Author:  [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2022, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-the-box-1950s-deceased-child-mystery-possibly-identified/975983/20 "2022-12-08T20:41:58Z")
i’m glad he has a name now. this case has haunted the officers that worked it.
the commissioner’s name is a source of amusement.
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