Identified! PA - Philadelphia - 'Boy in the Box' - 4UMPA - Feb'57 #3 - Joseph Augustus Zarelli

[doublestop]

This thread has gone so fast I haven't been able to keep up...was "M" part of the Zarelli (or the mother's) family? Was her story true or false?

 

[wary]

This thread has gone so fast I haven't been able to keep up...was "M" part of the Zarelli (or the mother's) family? Was her story true or false?

We don’t know anything new about M.

MOO

 

[xtine90]

Why is everyone speculating that the father was not a Zarelli? They said during the press conference that the father was listed on the birth certificate.

 

[SpongeBathHotPants]

I can tell you that when I was born, in Ohio, in 1977, my parents weren't married and they made my mother give me her last name. I don't know how common that was, or if it applied to PA as well. My parents married a year later and my last name was changed, I actually didn't know anything about it until I needed a birth certificate for some reason and I saw my original BC and SS card with my mom's maiden name.

I was born in New Hampshire in 1975 and my parents weren't married. They made me take my mother's last name and under Father it said unknown. He also was not allowed in the hospital when I was born.

 

[patty24]

This bothers me immensely and maybe I'm looking at the photo incorrectly but I don't think so. Wikepedia has a picture of 'crime scene where the body was found' and it appears to show his little body in the box please tell me I'm wrong ...

I remember that picture. Yes, you can see him inside.

 

[csa29]

This thread has gone so fast I haven't been able to keep up...was "M" part of the Zarelli (or the mother's) family? Was her story true or false?

M never claimed to be the boys direct sibling. That her mother “bought” him.

Mis not related to the boy even before identification. Personally, im leaning towards not being true but i also think we would need more info?

 

[PrimeSuspect]

This thread has gone so fast I haven't been able to keep up...was "M" part of the Zarelli (or the mother's) family? Was her story true or false?

Imo, it was false.

 

[bears10]

yes my dads birth certificate has who they thought was his father but dna has since proved it is not. Could be same issue here?

As far as M, if it runs out to be false, maybe it could be explained by false memories not intentionally malicious. Regardless, i hope she too found her own peace with whatever did or did not happen in her life.

No, that's not the issue here. At the press conference they stated that the father listed on the birth certificate was confirmed via DNA to be Joseph's biological father.

 

[Taffy550]

I've been searching and researching this case since probably around 2000. I can't believe they found his identity. If they got it using genetics from family DNA then they have to know who his parents and grandparents are. He has a family. This breaks my heart for all of them.

 

[steff13]

I was born in New Hampshire in 1975 and my parents weren't married. They made me take my mother's last name and under Father it said unknown. He also was not allowed in the hospital when I was born.

I just checked; my dad's name is on my original BC, but my last name is my mother's maiden name. The law now in Ohio is that if you're legally married the man that you're married to is listed on the birth certificate as the father of your child even if he's not biologically the father. Weird how things change.

 

[CCJD]

Does anyone have the exact location of where the body was found?

"There is a plaque on the 700 block of Susquehanna Road that marks the spot where the 'Boy in the Box' was found."

Community members hold memorial service to mark anniversary of 'Boy in the Box' cold case

A memorial service was held Saturday in Philadelphia's Fox Chase section to mark the anniversary of one of the city's oldest and most devastating unsolved murders.

6abc.com

 

[EndDomination]

Census dates:
1950
1960. (Not public until 2031)

Unfortunately, censuses are run every ten years. So, he was born after one census, 1953, and died before the next one, 1957.

MOO

Sorry, I should have clarified I was thinking of a combination of state and federal census(es), only to discover that state census was never done in Pennsylvania and wouldn't have made much of a difference considering the decade gap.

You're both right.

 

[iamshadow21]

Why is everyone speculating that the father was not a Zarelli? They said during the press conference that the father was listed on the birth certificate.

Because, as a lot of the anecdotal comments on here show, the surname of the father would not necessarily have been the surname given to Joseph on official documents. His mother's surname might have been Zarelli.

 

[megs1477]

Because, as a lot of the anecdotal comments on here show, the surname of the father would not necessarily have been the surname given to Joseph on official documents. His mother's surname might have been Zarelli.

Did they actually say the parents were not together? I know they kind of eluded to it, but I reread the press release, etc. and I didn't see anything that said for sure that they were not (or had not) been married. I am just trying to figure out what we know vs what is speculation. There is so much info in this post. Thanks all.

 

[wary]

Sorry, I should have clarified I was thinking of a combination of state and federal census(es), only to discover that state census was never done in Pennsylvania and wouldn't have made much of a difference considering the decade gap.

You're both right.

I was just lucky that I was right—I didn’t even know that state censuses existed in some states.

Reminder to both of us that 50 states in some ways are like 50 separate countries!

 

[Alleykins]

They said the father listed on the birth certificate is his father. They matched the dna. I'm just confused why it's being questioned when it seemed clear to me from the presser that the father on the BC was in fact his actual biological father.

Probably going to write this wrong, so I apologize. If the identified father had brothers, it's possible one of them could have been his biological father instead, no matter what the birth certificate says. I don't think they're disputing a familial relationship, only that their father is his father. That's how I interpreted it.

For example, in the Allenstown NH case, they narrowed down the possible father of Denise's daughter, Dawn, to a family of brothers. IIRC, all were married at the time she was conceived, and all the brothers deny it, but, based on DNA, one of them did.

Then there is a news reporter whose mother was given up for adoption. So, he went searching for his biological maternal grandmother (I think he found the grandfather). It came down to four daughters, all who had passed by then, and no one still alive knew which daughter had a baby and gave it up for adoption. He never found out who she was, only that she was one of four.

 

[txsleuth70]

The article that was included with the photo of Joseph in the box was made even more disturbing by the fact that it mentions 3-4 other found dead or murdered children in that same area! Like what are the odds.

 

[wary]

Did they actually say the parents were not together? I know they kind of eluded to it, but I reread the press release, etc. and I didn't see anything that said for sure that they were not (or had not) been married. I am just trying to figure out what we know vs what is speculation. There is so much info in this post. Thanks all.

Definitely speculation, but check the way that the press conference seems to divide the siblings on the mother’s side, and the siblings on the father’s side.

MOO

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Through a court order, detectives were then able to obtain from the state the birth, death and adoption records of all the children born to the mother between 1944 and 1956. The order yielded “responsive results:” the birth certificates of two children born to the mother and who were previously known to investigators, one of whom had provided a DNA sample, Smith said.

The third result was the birth certificate of a boy born to the mother in 1953. On that birth certificate was the name of the child’s father. Based on research from detectives and genealogists, the detectives contacted possible relatives of the child on his father’s side, Smith said.

After 65 Years, Philadelphia Police Identify 'The Boy in the Box'

More than six decades since a child was found dead and abandoned in Philadelphia, police have identified "the Boy in the Box."

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

 

[Zak]

My theory is that Joseph was born out of wedlock and put up for adoption. Hence LE's using bio parents and saying that he had siblings on both sides. The bio parents likely went on to have other families. I don't believe they, whoever, they were, were involved in Joseph's death. As far as not alerting LE at the time, if he was given up as an infant, it would be unlikely that they would have even recognized him as their child. The father may not have even known about him.

In PA our birth certificate’s list the mothers maiden name and the fathers name. So looking at one you would never know if parents are married or not.