Identified! PA - Philadelphia, 'Boy in the Box', WhtMale 4-6, 4UMPA, Feb'57

[AddysMom7610]

I think its safe to assume that the boy was sick for most of his life. If he was 4-6 years old, then it takes a good year if not longer for surgical scars to heal then he started having surgeries at what....two to four years old? And the ME said he was chronically ill for the last year of his life? So there HAS to be some hospital record for him. I feel like there is a better chance of finding him in those records than orphanages.
My reasons why are these.
1. It is WAY easier to falsify and destroy orphanage records than it is hospital records.
2. Hospital records are kept a lot longer than orphanage records and they tend to take better care of them.

However, some downsides to this is. If you are not next of kin or police, HIPPA says you cannot look at these hospital files. I want to know if anyone knows which hospitals were looked at back in '57 to present time? I found two hospitals so far that maybe wouldnt have been looked at. They were in the 1940 census so there is a good chance they were there in the early 50's as well.

1. Jefferson Medical Dept for Disease of the Chest

2. Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children

3.National Stomach Hospital

4. Childrens Homeopathic Hosp

5. Children's Heart Hospital

 

[cvillemegan]

Do you remember if they ever tested the basement of Mary's house for DNA?


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No, at least not according to the David Stout book about the case. The basement floor had a newer layer of concrete when investigators visited it in 2003, and even if they had torn it up, after almost 50 years there would be no trace of remains.

 

[AddysMom7610]

Wonder who put the new layer of concrete? Mary or the homeowners in 2003?

And can you imagine getting a knock at your door saying 50 years ago allegedly there was a child sexually abused and beaten to death in your basement?? I don't want to be those homeowners.


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[alliemay]

http://americasunknownchild.net/PhillyMag.html

In reading this article a few thing's got my attention. Bill Kelly's passion was still strong in 2003, "Mary's" story came out in 2002, I would think that even though Remington had passed away, Bill Kelly would have followed up on "Mary's" story if there were any basis to it. I guess that is why I don't feel "Mary's" story does not pan out.

From the article:

"He'd seen dead children before, in Korea, but tried not to think about that. He tried not to think of his own four-year-old son, who was towheaded like this boy, or his three-year-old daughter, or of his wife Ruth, five months pregnant with their third."

I have never seen the term "towheaded" before, it is a German word meaning white/blond hair the color of fiber or flax hemp or jute. Towhead's are a minority. I wonder what families in the area had the same type of hair since this type would not be the norm. It makes me wonder if this boy was of German decent, and what areas in Pennsylvania had a large German population.

"All babies' footprints are recorded at birth; if the boy had been born anywhere in this area, Kelly reasoned, his footprints would be on file somewhere. The police department couldn't pay the overtime for such a needle-in-a-haystack search, but that was okay."

With the new fingerprint technology we have today, why can't they go back and check these records again. Do they still not have the man power to do this?

"Two hundred and 70 police academy recruits combed the crime scene, finding a handkerchief, a child's scarf, and a dead cat wrapped in a man's sweater - trash, or clues?"

That's a good question, back then they did not have the technology, but today, I think if these items were found, the handkerchief, scarf and the man's sweater would be checked for DNA match. Was the handkerchief used or new I wonder? I also wonder if they even still have these items.

 

[AddysMom7610]

Yes I agree. All of these need to be tested. They can then get some DNA and determine if it was just trash or if it was connected to the boy. Whoever wrapped the boy HAD to have touched the blanket. You cannot wrap a child in a blanket and not get any fibers on you/the blanket. Unless the person was naked but I doubt that.


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[toscaxyz]

I have never seen the term "towheaded" before, it is a German word meaning white/blond hair the color of fiber or flax hemp or jute. Towhead's are a minority. I wonder what families in the area had the same type of hair since this type would not be the norm. It makes me wonder if this boy was of German decent, and what areas in Pennsylvania had a large German population.

The area of Philadelphia were the boy was found had a large German population up through the 1970s or 80s. There are still places there where older people meet to speak German.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Dr. Wilton M. Krogman, professor of physical anthropology at the Graduate School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania - was called in by the Medical Examiner's office to study the dead boy's physical characteristics.-. He described the boy as having "a long narrow head, a high narrow face, and a high narrow nose." That, to him, was enough to speculate on Northwest European ancestry - Scandinavia, West Germany, or England or Scotland.


I am curious were there any immigrants from these areas to Pennsylvania?



Manayunk Pennsylvania was populated by a mix of German, Irish and Polish immigrants as well as numerous African Americans.

What were the Irish from? Scotch-Irish?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manayunk,_Philadelphia

 

[Ms Suzanne]

I am very interested in seeing where isotope testing would say he was from.Are they going to do that testing for him? There really is no reason for them not to do this this testing for this poor boy.This is starting to get me mad.

 

[AddysMom7610]

Have you emailed him lately Suzanne? Keep emailing him and calling! I will email too. If enough people contact him, he may do it. But idk who makes the call on what cases they take?


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[alliemay]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...hIwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=I08DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4956,4527414

This couple from Florida was charged in 1952 sent to prison for 20 years so they are not suspect in our boys case, but I found the article interesting in how crazy some parents thoughts are. It made me wonder if our boy was not being punished by his caretakers as some sort of discipline. This lady was also pregnant at the time which made me sad for this child and also made me wonder who her child had been given to afterwards since she was in prison.

 

[cvillemegan]

http://americasunknownchild.net/PhillyMag.html

In reading this article a few thing's got my attention. Bill Kelly's passion was still strong in 2003, "Mary's" story came out in 2002, I would think that even though Remington had passed away, Bill Kelly would have followed up on "Mary's" story if there were any basis to it. I guess that is why I don't feel "Mary's" story does not pan out.

Kelly was one of the investigators who interviewed Mary, along with Tom Augustine (the investigator in charge of the case at the time) and Joe McGillen. Kelly followed up on it and also was one of the investigators who went to the house all those years later to look at the basement.

And can you imagine getting a knock at your door saying 50 years ago allegedly there was a child sexually abused and beaten to death in your basement?? I don't want to be those homeowners.

Yep, the house was owned by a single mom in 2003. She initially wouldn't allow the investigators to come because she thought her daughter would be scared if she knew it might have been a murder scene. She eventually agreed to let them come in unmarked cars while her daughter was at school.

I really recommend you guys read the book "The Boy in the Box" by David Stout. I'm not convinced it's 100 percent accurate (he says he dramatized and created dialogue to make it more of a story, but it was all based on interviews and facts), but any article has the potential for errors. It's available through Amazon.

 

[AddysMom7610]

I am about half way through David Stouts book. I am finishing it as fast as my 3 year old daughter will let me! Lol


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[Ms Suzanne]

It's around the anniversary of when this little one was found.This makes me very sad he does not have his name on his grave stone yet.I am not going to give up finding out who he is.Will some one please call LE and find out what they are doing to find out who he is.I promised him at his grave I would do everything I can to find out who he is and I will.But people need to please rei investigate his case again.Please.It's been way too long for him.

 

[AddysMom7610]

Rip sweet boy. We will do our best to find out who you were.

Suzanne,
I've emailed probably a dozen people from orphanages around that area and also found a group of reunited orphans who were in a baptist home about 15 miles away from where the boy was found and I've asked the admin of that page to post the website to get his name and face out there if they weren't familiar before. So I'm trying!


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[Ms Suzanne]

Thank You.You are doing great. :hug:

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Has any one heard from any one yet or talked to LE to find out if anything is going on to find out who he is?

 

[alliemay]

Has any one heard from any one yet or talked to LE to find out if anything is going on to find out who he is?

I think unless you are someone of importance LE is not going to talk the you. Have you tried calling? They make you feel very small, which is sad because you are thinking of someone other then your self when you try to make a difference.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

I think unless you are someone of importance LE is not going to talk the you. Have you tried calling? They make you feel very small, which is sad because you are thinking of someone other then your self when you try to make a difference.

I've tried many times calling with leads and emailing.I have never heard back from any one ever in the years I have called or emailed.I agree with you skeet it is very sad.This is a little boy who did not deserve to die like this.He deserves his real name.I feel they need to re investigate his case again or hand his case over to some one who will and look at ALL the leads again.Especially the early leads.Please go back to the drawing board.


I am very interested in knowing who the Manayunk Pennsylvania boy put in that orphanage was and also who the the boy in the picture was found with the Horsham suspects was.

These are the two leads I feel strongly about.Some one please help me and tell me who they were.I just want to see for myself who they were and if I think it was them or not.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

I feel the 3rd strong lead would be to check DNA with the lady that came to the grave site I mentioned before with a pictures of a boy that looked like our boy.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Another 4th I feel very good lead came from the America's most wanted show.What ever happened with this.I'm very curious.

This lead
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lead - A man showed up at Philadelphia Homicide and reported that his half-brother, 14 months older than himself, had mysteriously disappeared around the time that the unknown boy's body was discovered. He said it was a secret among the family for years. He also said that forensic sculptor Frank Bender's hypothetical bust of the unknown boy's father looked exactly like his own deceased father. Detective Augustine tried to track down other relatives who might have been able to add to the man's story. Eventual result: another dead end.


That's 4 leads I feel should be checked.All 4 leads were from people around or near Philadelphia.So people in and around Philadelphia did come up.I don't think any of these people were ever checked with DNA for a relation to our boy.I do hope and pray they can start checking DNA with these and others for a possible match.