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

[amybman1]

It will likely have been a direct autosomal DNA match to a paternal half sibling or paternal cousin. Pretty sure they used autosomal genetic genealogy to identify Joseph's mother, not mitochondrial DNA.

Did they not say that during the press conference (or maybe an article)? Maybe I misunderstood. I thought they said the DNA sample was badly degraded and they were fortunate to even get the mitochondrial DNA.

 

[txsleuth70]

Did they not say that during the press conference (or maybe an article)? Maybe I misunderstood. I thought they said the DNA sample was badly degraded and they were fortunate to even get the mitochondrial DNA.

Said during the press conference and can be found in the transcript of it.

 

[Stunned]

I was born in PA in 1956. I pulled out my old faded, microfiche birth certificate.

There is a small checkmark in the bottom from the attending physician, whether I was legitimate (yes or no)

My parents paid $1.00 for the certificate on March 15, 1957. This is a true copy of the original record which was is on file in the Pennsylvania Department of Health - in accordance with Act 304, approved by the General Assembly, June 29, 1953


Usual Residence of the Mother - My parents' address
This Child My name, sex, DOB
Father of Child -Father's full name, age, race, birthplace, usual occupation, kind of business of industry
Mother of Child - Full maiden name, race, race, birthplace, information, # of children, informant (it says mother)

The rest of the form is info from the attending physician
Legitimate (yes or no)



My parents were married.

Lol! They didn’t ask your mothers workplace!

 

[Friday Fan]

It is very common to see name changes and different spelling variations in the censuses - even amongst same sibling groups!

I know an immigrant family that arrived as "Risbon" and within 20 years one brother had changed the spelling to "Risbin" and another to "Rispen". Each of their offspring continued with the changed names. Makes it very tricky to trace trees. Not even to mention incorrect names and misspellings on documents.

Trust me, the census uses oral reports.
My dad was called, "Johnny" by my grandmother. The census taker wrote, "Jenny and female" in the report. My grandmother did not speak or write any English or anything resembling Latin. We get a laugh over this.

 

[archenemy toenail]

I did want to post this. It is the obituary of Dective Augustine, who spent a career on this case. Thomas J. Augustine Obituary

Wild that the boy’s name turned out to be similar to his name, Thomas Joseph Augustine.

 

[Daphne1972]

So this is his original name? And the adoption parents are not named?

 

[jinger]

So this is his original name? And the adoption parents are not named?

No one said he was adopted and I don’t believe he was either. I do believe he was not raised by his biological father however

 

[Friday Fan]

A big piece of this puzzle is that researching these family members doesn't tell us who abused and murdered this boy. Now, if LE ever gets enough information to get a case to trial, then we will have the right to know who is involved.... in that.

It still doesn't give LE the right to give out information on the boy's genetic relatives if he had been adopted and that abuse and murder came after the adoption. The right to "know" on the part of the public is only related to a criminal charge.

I believe if he was "adopted", it was not a legal adoption. Hence the paper trail likely only goes to the birth parents.

 

[amybman1]

Trust me, the census uses oral reports.
My dad was called, "Johnny" by my grandmother. The census taker wrote, "Jenny and female" in the report. My grandmother did not speak or write any English or anything resembling Latin. We get a laugh over this.

Yup! Almost every time I find a family document on Ancestry etc I fill out the little thing to request an edit. Particularly on the census records. Just a mess.

 

[Friday Fan]

A big piece of this puzzle is that researching these family members doesn't tell us who abused and murdered this boy. Now, if LE ever gets enough information to get a case to trial, then we will have the right to know who is involved.... in that.

It still doesn't give LE the right to give out information on the boy's genetic relatives if he had been adopted and that abuse and murder came after the adoption. The right to "know" on the part of the public is only related to a criminal charge.

I believe if he was "adopted", it was not a legal adoption. Hence the paper trail likely only goes to the birth parents.

I don't believe there were any adoption records available.

They searched, but a result was not obtained.

 

[amybman1]

Trust me, the census uses oral reports.
My dad was called, "Johnny" by my grandmother. The census taker wrote, "Jenny and female" in the report. My grandmother did not speak or write any English or anything resembling Latin. We get a laugh over this.

Yup! Almost every time I find a family document on Ancestry etc I fill out the little thing to request an edit. Particularly on the census records. Just a mess.

 

[ToothySleuthy78]

<modsnip: No MSM to support info stated as fact> They said he had siblings on his mother and father’s side so they probably both got married and had a family. Wonder if he was given his father or mother’s name.

 

[iamshadow21]

O/T Just piping up to say thank you, very much, to the mods who do such a difficult, gruelling job when a case is hot and the thread is hopping. I was so happy to wake up an hour ago and see this open for business again. I know I speak for the majority when I say we are grateful for your hard work and your dedicated service to keep this a respectful place to discuss little Joseph, and all the other cases on this site. Truly, truly grateful.

Now, back to this dear child.

 

[Friday Fan]

<modsnip: No MSM to support info stated as fact> They said he had siblings on his mother and father’s side so they probably both got married and had a family. Wonder if he was given his father or mother’s name.

We don't know if they were married in January, 1953.
PA does not have birth, marriage and divorce records in their public database.

 

[MarziPanda]

Did they not say that during the press conference (or maybe an article)? Maybe I misunderstood. I thought they said the DNA sample was badly degraded and they were fortunate to even get the mitochondrial DNA.

I don't think it's possible to use only mitochondrial DNA for genetic genealogy, though? It's shared with all of your maternal relatives. And by that I mean going back through one's mother's side thousands of years, and all the maternal offspring from all of these. You can't really use it for genetic genealogy because it just traces your maternal line back through history and essentially that tells you nothing because thousands of people will descend from the same maternal lines. From my understanding of genetics/DNA they must have gotten at least some autosomal DNA info.

 

[wary]

Did they not say that during the press conference (or maybe an article)? Maybe I misunderstood. I thought they said the DNA sample was badly degraded and they were fortunate to even get the mitochondrial DNA.

Could they have been referring to an earlier attempt at collecting DNA, before the new techniques made it possible to work miracles with degraded DNA?

 

[musicaljoke]

DNA

Well, yes. The biological father is discovered through DNA. We know the name of the child, but it doesn't follow that the father always has the same name.

 

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[CCJD]

I believe it was stated that the DNA was badly degraded, requiring them to use mitochondrial DNA, which produces matches for the mother's lineage. Potentially, they found a maternal match through his tooth DNA and were able to test his maternal side and then when that was confirmed, pulled the birth certificates that she was listed as the mother to find the father. That's how I'm understanding it anyway, and that's the only way I see that they are able to deny paternity.

They used Genetic Genealogy - not mtDNA.

In 2019, Zarelli was once again exhumed. A forensic anthropologist examined the remains and obtained enough DNA to “apply modern forensic techniques,” Smith said. Experts were eventually able to identify Zarelli using the emerging technique of genetic genealogy, which uses DNA test results and traditional genealogical methods to create family history profiles and determine biological relationships between individuals.

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

 

[10ofRods]

They used Genetic Genealogy - not mtDNA.

In 2019, Zarelli was once again exhumed. A forensic anthropologist examined the remains and obtained enough DNA to “apply modern forensic techniques,” Smith said. Experts were eventually able to identify Zarelli using the emerging technique of genetic genealogy, which uses DNA test results and traditional genealogical methods to create family history profiles and determine biological relationships between individuals.

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

Genetic Genealogy uses different kinds of DNA, including mtDNA. The part you bolded (and the quote) doesn't tell us which type of DNA was used. Indeed, mtDNA genealogical analysis is quite a well known and well studied system.