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

[RaspberryMama]

We don't know for sure where that address came from, but my guess is that unless LE has info they have not shared, it had to have come from the birth certificate. Who knows where he was living four years later, especially if his mother was unwed and gave him up.

Right. Maybe somewhere a bit more spacious? Who knows. I'm merely thinking out loud here.

 

[RaspberryMama]

Currently there are "garages" a block away, but we don't know if those are converted storefronts and what they were in the 1950s. When I saw the documentary about St Donato's, I had a hard time imagining those 1950's Italian working class families not owning vehicles.

Did you try finding an older date in Google maps? I've had luck with that area and older pictures. Obviously Google wasn't around but sometimes there are pictures. Can you tell me the address of the garage area?

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Can Census records be searched by address or do you need a name?

You can get the address from the name for the 1940 census.

 

[Blackpumpkin]

Is it pretty much an agreed upon fact that he arrived at fox chase in a car? So can we assume the perpetrator either owned a car or had easy access to one?

And, piggybacking off of that... The homes in the area of 61st and Market don't have much room for cars. Did people have garages somehow accessible in the backs? Or did they park on the street all year long? How many homes actually had cars in the 50's?

Yes, in Philly we would park on the street all year round. I grew up in a rowhouse in a different section of the city. My parents and my neighbors all parked on the street. And when you dig your car out in a snow storm, no one better pull into that freshly dug out spot. It's weird to me how many places, people do not park on the street. Of course not everyone had cars in the 1950's, but you didn't need a garage to have one in the city. I am a parallel parking queen.

 

[RaspberryMama]

Yes, in Philly we would park on the street all year round. I grew up in a rowhouse in a different section of the city. My parents and my neighbors all parked on the street. And when you dig your car out in a snow storm, no one better pull into that freshly dug out spot. It's weird to me how many places, people do not park on the street. Of course not everyone had cars in the 1950's, but you didn't need a garage to have one in the city. I am a parallel parking queen.

Thank you!!

 

[Blackpumpkin]

I do think the bassinet box was brought with poor Joseph inside it already. My dad grew up close to the area where they are reporting Joseph lived, while my mom and myself grew up close to Fox Chase. My dad and his family would go to Upper Darby/69th street to shop, but we had other places to shop in the northeast, and nearby suburbs.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

My impression of the homes in the 61st and Market area are "NYC style rowhouses", not much room for vehicles. No garages, no alleys either. Homes are about 100 years old. St Donato's Church was founded in 1910.

Currently there are "garages" a block away, but we don't know if those are converted storefronts and what they were in the 1950s. When I saw the documentary about St Donato's, I had a hard time imagining those 1950's Italian working class families not owning vehicles.



However, wikipedia does give reference to garages in this area, although I don't really see them. There is street parking though and people and I assume many people who live there now own vehicles.

Snipped only for emphasis.

That is basically correct for much of the neighborhood. About 37'-40' feet long, 16'-18' wide, two story. Yards in the back with a footpath between the properties. A stone marker on one of the larger houses on 63rd street says 1902. I'd say 1900-1920.

The garages were purposed built.

 

[Red Pill]

The shaved head sticks out to me, it looks like something a sibling or young person would do out of anger or frustration. Could this be a young mother losing her temper with a child not sitting still for a haircut? A burst of frustrated anger ends in death and cover up. Could a young unwed mother be hidden at home out of shame? Moo

Shaved head maybe due to lice? Being a 4 year old he would not yet be in school to get it from other children. Presuming this JAZ was a firstborn, no older children would have brought lice home from school suggests he would have gotten it being around a group of children in some sort of group home.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Shaved head maybe due to lice? Being a 4 year old he would not yet be in school to get it from other children. Presuming this JAZ was a firstborn, no older children would have brought lice home from school suggests he would have gotten it being around a group of children in some sort of group home.

Or an effort to "clean him up." Nails were recently trimmed. Hands and feet were "pruny" from water.

 

[Friday Fan]

Did you try finding an older date in Google maps? I've had luck with that area and older pictures. Obviously Google wasn't around but sometimes there are pictures. Can you tell me the address of the garage area?

Just look around the area in street view. There are homes and then there are a block of garages here and there. They were garages going back to 2007.
However, what is now a block of garages now, could have easily been store fronts in the 1950's. They don't appear to be residential garages, that were constructed for local residents, but hap hazard types of garages that might have arisen out of need for storage. Some of those garages appear to be storage units also. One place is an auto repair type garage. One garage front place is a church.

 

[steff13]

Or an effort to "clean him up." Nails were recently trimmed. Hands and feet were "pruny" from water.

If the bruises on his forehead were finger marks as posited by the ME, then maybe his resistance to having his hair cut was the inciting incident that caused his death. That might explain why it was so patchy, too.

I hate trying to put myself in this "person's" shoes, but I would think if I were trying to cut a dead person's hair to make him less recognizable, I would just shave it all down evenly.

 

[CCJD]

We don't know for sure where that address came from, but my guess is that unless LE has info they have not shared, it had to have come from the birth certificate. Who knows where he was living four years later, especially if his mother was unwed and gave him up.

For reference: the end of the press conference when a reporter asks Capt Smith about what neighborhood. Capt Smith answers "I can narrow it down for you. 61st & Market area (slight pause) 61st & Market Street.
43:36 time stamp on video

"The Boy in the Box" identified by Philadelphia police

A decades-old question was finally answered Thursday morning: Who is "The Boy in the Box?"

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Sneaker33]

I have read Joseph the theory of Joseph possibly having long hair. I know some parents of boys of Jewish faith today do not cut the hair of their son until age four. I do not know if this was common in 1957. I know Joseph was not likely born with Jewish ethnicity. I am just adding this as an alternate theory theory for long hair.

 

[RaspberryMama]

If the bruises on his forehead were finger marks as posited by the ME, then maybe his resistance to having his hair cut was the inciting incident that caused his death. That might explain why it was so patchy, too.

I hate trying to put myself in this "person's" shoes, but I would think if I were trying to cut a dead person's hair to make him less recognizable, I would just shave it all down evenly.

I tend to agree with you. I posted in a previous thread that I have gotten fed up with my own child's antics during a hair cut and had to put myself in timeout. And this is a boy I wouldn't hesitate to die for. Imagine an abuser in that situation and... Yeah, I can see that happening.

 

[KAYTOM]

The shaved head sticks out to me, it looks like something a sibling or young person would do out of anger or frustration. Could this be a young mother losing her temper with a child not sitting still for a haircut? A burst of frustrated anger ends in death and cover up. Could a young unwed mother be hidden at home out of shame? Moo

I too suspect the hair cut was out of anger and possibly tied to the vomiting they think happened. Maybe it was cut like that out of anger to get vomit out of his hair instead of cleaning him? or maybe the vomiting happened from crying during the hair cut?

My son has sensory issues and hates getting his haircut. When he was younger it was really tough to cut his hair cut. There was a few times he'd start crying after the frustration from me and him reached a point.

I think the step-dad, boyfriend, "foster mom" or single mom are all potential suspects if they apply. I'm leaning that way based on what was said about the DNA and how the biological dad is named on the BC but didn't come forward. That suggests the potential that biological dad was separated from JAZ shortly after birth and didn't know what he looked like or possibly that he even existed? Not sure if he has to be present by law when he's listed on the BC, could there have been an angle to that from a conniving mom that might try for child support? Child support?

I was listening to a radio show a while back and they said that a high percentage of divorces or separations happen within a year after the child is born due to the added pressure and probably lack of sleep and anger generated by it. I could see a situation where they parted ways early on in JAZ's life and she didn't allow the father to see the child at all.

 

[steff13]

Just look around the area in street view. There are homes and then there are a block of garages here and there. They were garages going back to 2007.
However, what is now a block of garages now, could have easily been store fronts in the 1950's. They don't appear to be residential garages, that were constructed for local residents, but hap hazard types of garages that might have arisen out of need for storage. Some of those garages appear to be storage units also. One place is an auto repair type garage. One garage front place is a church.

I'm working and I have hearings today so I'm dipping in and out, so I'm not clear what we're looking for here. However, the Philadelphia property tax records are online, and if you plug in an address (I chose 6051 Market St at random), it tells you the year it was built (1920) if it has a garage (no), etc.

 

[steff13]

I tend to agree with you. I posted in a previous thread that I have gotten fed up with my own child's antics during a hair cut and had to put myself in timeout. And this is a boy I wouldn't hesitate to die for. Imagine an abuser in that situation and... Yeah, I can see that happening.

I once gave my middle son a haircut reminiscent of Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby because he wouldn't stop moving when I was trimming the front. I get the frustration for sure.

 

[Daphne1972]

For reference: the end of the press conference when a reporter asks Capt Smith about what neighborhood. Capt Smith answers "I can narrow it down for you. 61st & Market area (slight pause) 61st & Market Street.
43:36 time stamp on video

"The Boy in the Box" identified by Philadelphia police

A decades-old question was finally answered Thursday morning: Who is "The Boy in the Box?"

www.cbsnews.com

That's ward or tract see attachments.

 

[Friday Fan]

MOO: I think Joseph's hair was long because he wasn't well taken care of. He was malnourished and if your child is malnourished, I really don't think haircuts are a high priority. Also he may have had sensory issues compounding all of this.

We also don't know how long his hair actually was? Several inches? As to why his hair was cut when he died? I have no idea. Maybe the people were ashamed that it was long. MOO

 

[KAYTOM]

Or an effort to "clean him up." Nails were recently trimmed. Hands and feet were "pruny" from water.

The one issue with the water is that they said he had a lot of clumps of hair on him when they found him. With that said, they could have put him in the tub after the poor haircut to clean him up. If it was done in anger, I could see the caretaker putting him in the tub and telling the kid to clean himself, hence the wrinkled skin and hair not being washed off.