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

[csa29]

I imagine anyone who might know are 75+, probably running out time. Assuming there isn’t another family with a story about the boy and have yet to connect it.

 

[jinger]

Summing it up after that news article with JT. JT either tested on FTDNA or uploaded onto ged match. Researchers cannot use ancestry dna as it is against their TOS. Researchers had some potential fathers in mind ( brothers) and after seeing the BC and further testing they figured out which one. Mother is definitely not the zarelli. There wouldn’t be a father on the BC and Joseph carrying his mother’s maiden. Not happening especially back then. Mother and father were probably briefly married or at least had a longer term relationship before his 1959 marriage. I also don’t think he was adopted.

 

[cvaldez1975]

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.

maybe it was by state because my parents werent married in 1975 in california when i was born, and they sure did let my dad in and give me his last name. they got married 5 months later tho.

 

[Alleykins]

You know, the more I think about it, I don't think it was a misspelling. I think it was a shortening of the father's first name - what the mother knew him as.

I was thinking something similar, too, that it was the first name that wasn't exact, not the last name. The mother may have known him only by his calling name, not his formal given name. The whole Bob/Robert scenario someone mentioned a few pages back.

However, I can totally see someone misspelling the Z last name (assuming this is also the father's last name, we don't know for sure) if they try to spell it phonetically. I did before I saw it in print, I spelled it Zirelli, because that's what it sounded like to me, what the person was saying. I wasn't sure of the first vowel, so I guessed.

 

[Nell91]

My brain is tired today. Is it now seeming that the Zarelli line is the maternal side? Sorry, no time to read all new comments

 

[jessr927]

I was thinking something similar, too, that it was the first name that wasn't exact, not the last name. The mother may have known him only by his calling name, not his formal given name. The whole Bob/Robert scenario someone mentioned a few pages back.

However, I can totally see someone misspelling the Z last name (assuming this is also the father's last name, we don't know for sure) if they try to spell it phonetically. I did before I saw it in print, I spelled it Zirelli, because that's what it sounded like to me, what the person was saying. I wasn't sure of the first vowel, so I guessed.

Exactly like Bob/Robert, especially because A was listed as his G nickname on the death certificates for his sons he had with his wife C.

I've seen the same in my own family records - my great-grandfather listed as both Paolo and Paul on birth certificates and death certificates, my great-grandmother's maiden name listed as Stephenson and Stephens and Stevens (I still have no idea what her actual maiden name was lol)

 

[IDK]

According to this linked article, “It is recognized that pleural effusion originates either in exogenous water inhaled into the lungs during drowning or in the endogenous water of the pulmonary edema, as in the process of acute death by asphyxiation.”
The Role of Pleural Effusion in Drowning : The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology
So the pleural effusions actually align with M’s story where she claimed that after a beating, he was forced into a bath by her mother.

Very interesting and thanks for your comment! Great find with the resource you found. I dont know enough about the topic to form an opinion and will try to review the autopsy information again. Do you know if the autopsy specifically mentioned drowning?

My understanding is that pleural effusion is different than aspiration of liquids into the trachea and lungs. Is there a doctor in the house, LOL? I remember on another case reading posts by an anesthetist who was extremely knowledgeable. Can’t remember their name or if they are still on WS? Would love to get their opinion on this.

 

[jessr927]

My brain is tired today. Is it now seeming that the Zarelli line is the maternal side? Sorry, no time to read all new comments

Seems like the paternal side.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

If the family wants privacy, it is something that should be respected.

However, the very moment police released JAZ's identity and gave his full name, it should've been known what would follow. Frenzy! The police and the families should've been aware of that!

And people right away started digging for information, taking some wild guesses and hurting remaining family members, who most likely didn't have a clue about this precious child's existence. That way it was found that certain Zarelli was the father and his wife the mother. But then, it could be maybe his brother or a sister. Or maybe he was adopted out right away or sold. Or maybe he lived with his mother and her new husband.

I wanted to say that the police should've waited to know more, and then to disclosed his identity. Unless they wanted to generate more tips...

JMO

Looking at how they hyped this, they wanted new tips.

The protection is basically not wanting it to be public that your kindly grandmother/grandfather got wild during the Truman Administration.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

My brain is tired today. Is it now seeming that the Zarelli line is the maternal side? Sorry, no time to read all new comments

It could be. We do not know at this point.

 

[Nell91]

Thank you.
I'll admit, I was slightly thrown by the Italian connection, I always thought Joseph looked of Slavic heritage (goes to show how good I am at reading faces)

 

[Alleykins]

maybe it was by state because my parents werent married in 1975 in california when i was born, and they sure did let my dad in and give me his last name. they got married 5 months later tho.

I had the same experience. My parents didn't get married until I was 4, and by that age, they already had 3 kids together and another on the way. My father's name is on every birth certificate, even the out of state one, and we all had his last name. I think it varied by state. Plus, I don't think there really was a way to verify if they were married or not, so my parents could have simply said they were married when they filled out the birth certificate, lying about it. I will have to dig mine out and see if it states whether or not they were married. I can't remember.

 

[cvaldez1975]

What about the dye found in one eye from possible eye treament? Obviously he was medically treated somewhere in four years....was it some cover up to the point they had in house medical care?! Hard to wrap my head around the lack of medical records some kind of paper trail at least. Seems he had at least three medical conditions requiring treatment during his short life.

Had my youngest in 2020 and they asked if I wanted to write dad's name into the forms no verification or father being there necessary. I chose to leave it blank. In Vermont it can be added later if you choose.

i had my oldest in ca in 1994 at that time you could write a father in. when i had my 2nd in 1998, the father had to show ID and sign. again in 2013 when i had my 3rd, presence, and ID and signature required. i think it varies by state. i know in ca, if the mother is married the husband is not automatically the father either. if another father is present to show ID and sign, then he is.

 

[cvaldez1975]

Something that stuck out to me from the press conference is that they made a point of describing how they identified the biological father -- which suggests to me that the father was NOT married to the mother at the time of the birth, or still in her orbit, though he was listed on the birth certificate. They did not say something like "a couple" or something of that ilk. They also were careful to mention "a number of siblings on both sides" - which makes me think that this child was not born into a married couple who later raised children together, especially since they had genealogical interactions separately with the relatives whose DNA identified the parents. They did state the name on the birth certificate for the father was confirmed with DNA -- so I believe Zarelli is the accurate last name for the father.

I think it is likely that Joseph was born "out of wedlock" (dislike the phrase but it's descriptive) and adopted, likely at birth. We may never know the mother's identity unless the birth certificate/info is released by the police. It may also be why no one came forward to acknowledge him at age 4 (the birth mother may have been ashamed to even consider it could have been her child, who she may not have seen since the bed at birth, if it occurred to her; similarly for the birth father, if he even knew of his existence).

Something else worth mentioning, as someone who has lived in Philly -- It seems silly but especially in the 1950s, Fox Chase to West Philly is a pretty wide gap in terms of location, community, and geographic setting...West Philly at this point in time was definitely urban living and heavily immigrant (especially Italian heritage). Think row homes, working-class, Italian speaking, heavy Catholic influence. This part of Fox Chase was suburban/wooded, more "Wasp," and not particularly immigrant, though had some Irish heritage influence. Culturally it would have been a world away in some senses. The one connection would have been the presence of the Catholic church. This especially makes me lean towards adoption or some other reason for Joseph to be found in this area. Though anything is possible, I have a hard time thinking/believing someone from their West Philly neighborhood would have made it all the way across and north of the city to dump this child.

Something else about this location that keeps staying top of mind for me...the Sisters of Good Shepherd ran a Catholic convent and "Home for Wayward Girls" in Fox Chase where unmarried women and girls who were pregnant came to live and give birth. (Sidenote: often these homes forcibly coerced women into placing their children up for adoption; I do not know about this particular location, though I know this "Home" was part of a "Delinquency Project"). This home was operating during the time of Joseph's birth AND death. I can't help but wonder, given how close this location was to where his body was found, if there's some sort of tie. Though, that said, I have to hope the Sisters would have checked their adoption records for a child in the eligible age range...though, sadly, maybe they had too many records to consider? It would also explain why/if there were no records from a hospital birth, but there was a birth certificate, or why the police did not specify where Joseph was born-- these women/girls gave birth usually AT the home, I believe.

i wonder or speculate, if the bio mom was at the way ward girls home for the pregnancy and delivery and if adopted the baby out, and later when the adoptive parents murdered him, they discarded him near where they got him to distance themselves from him?

 

[KAYTOM]

I was reading this:

"A large cardboard carton, (15" x 19" x 35"), stamped "fragile". It had originally contained a baby's bassinet sold by the J.C. Penney Co. The bassinet, one of a dozen received on 11/27/56, and which retailed for $7.50, was sold between 12/03/56 and 02/16/57 by the J.C. Penney store at 100 S. 69th St., Upper Darby, PA, with the customer taking it away in its original carton. Since J.C. Penney had a "cash only" policy at that time, there were no store records indicating the identity of the purchaser. Never the less, all but one of the twelve bassinets, and the cartons they came in, were eventually accounted for. The cardboard carton that contained the boy's body was in good condition. It was dry inside, but damp on the outside, and appeared slightly weathered. The inside of the carton had traces of white coloring, indicating the bassinet was painted white. The carton was sent to the FBI lab for analysis, but no distinct fingerprints were found."

From this website:Case Summary

It makes you wonder if the missing 12th bassinet was photographed and sitting in someone's family album. It's a little strange that the other 11 were found. I'll have to read through that website more, but maybe the other 11 owners came forward. If this was bought 3 months before the boy was found, there might have been a baby recently born that lived in the same house he was living.

Evidence

 

[YaYa_521]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1601275137206390787

 

[amybman1]

I wonder who the family members denying paternity are—I’m assuming they would be siblings of the father, unless Joseph had biological siblings (half or full) older than him who could remember events from around Joseph’s birth. It’s also equally possible that no living family members were aware of Joseph’s existence and they are denying paternity because they never saw Joseph.

Could be because they had to use mitochondrial DNA extraction, which traces maternal lineage. (From what I understand??)

 

[Alleykins]

Exactly like Bob/Robert, especially because A was listed as his G nickname on the death certificates for his sons he had with his wife C.

I've seen the same in my own family records - my great-grandfather listed as both Paolo and Paul on birth certificates and death certificates, my great-grandmother's maiden name listed as Stephenson and Stephens and Stevens (I still have no idea what her actual maiden name was lol)

Same with my family. My father went by Pete, which is not even close to his given name or middle name. It's not even a nickname for either of them. But, I would know who any one meant if someone came forward and said we had the same father, and his name appeared as Pete on their birth certificate. I would have belly laughed and told them to take a number, LOL.

And my great grandmother spelled Guggenheim (her MIL's maiden name) wrong on my great grandfather's death certificate. She was illiterate and spelled it phonetically, and appears either as Guckenhine or Guchenhime, the penmanship is hard to read.

 

[Knitty]

ADMIN NOTE:

The following ADMIN NOTE was posted earlier today in this thread and for some reason some members are choosing to ignore it.

"Police said during a Thursday morning press conference that they will not be identifying the boy's parents at this time out of respect for Zarelli's siblings, some of whom are still alive."

What's not clear about the above?

Why are some members disregarding what LE has said and decide it's okay to flat-out name people and sleuth families with a view to identifying the parents, etc ?? This is disrespectful to LE, to the family, and to Websleuths to totally disregard LE's position in this matter.

You can do all the sleuthing you want behind the scenes and in private messaging, but until such time as LE has released more information, do NOT splash the names of innocent people and their families all across this forum.

Post respectfully and responsibly or you won't be allowed to post in this discussion, or you may experience a temporary or permanent loss of posting privileges.

Please review Sillybilly''s note for this case before you post further.

 

[Alleykins]

I was reading this:

"A large cardboard carton, (15" x 19" x 35"), stamped "fragile". It had originally contained a baby's bassinet sold by the J.C. Penney Co. The bassinet, one of a dozen received on 11/27/56, and which retailed for $7.50, was sold between 12/03/56 and 02/16/57 by the J.C. Penney store at 100 S. 69th St., Upper Darby, PA, with the customer taking it away in its original carton. Since J.C. Penney had a "cash only" policy at that time, there were no store records indicating the identity of the purchaser. Never the less, all but one of the twelve bassinets, and the cartons they came in, were eventually accounted for. The cardboard carton that contained the boy's body was in good condition. It was dry inside, but damp on the outside, and appeared slightly weathered. The inside of the carton had traces of white coloring, indicating the bassinet was painted white. The carton was sent to the FBI lab for analysis, but no distinct fingerprints were found."

From this website:Case Summary

It makes you wonder if the missing 12th bassinet was photographed and sitting in someone's family album. It's a little strange that the other 11 were found. I'll have to read through that website more, but maybe the other 11 owners came forward. If this was bought 3 months before the boy was found, there might have been a baby recently born that lived in the same house he was living.

Evidence

What I get from this is the bassinet most likely was purchased for a newborn who was due/born around the purchase dates, give or take a month or two. J would have been too big for a bassinet at that point, so it wasn't purchased for him.

I'm blown they could narrow down the purchase date and how many, and who bought 11 of them, etc, given it would have all been on paper, with cash, not electronic records.