Identified! PA - Philadelphia, 'Boy in the Box', WhtMale 4-6, 4UMPA, Feb'57 #2 - Joseph Augustus Zarelli

[christine2448]

I am new here and did a search for this case and couldn't find anything...forgive me if there is a reference here and I couldn't find it.

Anyone familiar with this case?

The website (listed below) has soooooo much information, it took me a couple of days to read it all!

Here is a link to the website http://americasunknownchild.net



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Thread #1

 

[Richard]

John Doe 1957

• • Date Found
  • Feb 25, 1957
• • Location Found
  • Philadelphia, PA
• • Estimated Age
  • 4-6
• • Sex
  • Male
• • Race
  • White
• • Hair Color
  • Brown
• • Eye Color
  • Unknown
• • Estimated Height
  • 3'3"
• • Estimated Weight
• • 30 lbs

A young unidentified boy was found in Philadelphia, PA on February 25, 1957. He was found inside a cardboard box with a blanket around him located in a wooded area of Northeast Philadelphia’s Fox Chase neighborhood, near the intersection of Verree and Susquehanna Road near Pennypack Park. The child had only been deceased a few days. He was estimated to be 4-6 years old, stood about 3’3” tall and weighed around 3o pounds. He appeared to be malnourished. He had short brown hair that was crudely chopped and buzzed. He had several small scars over his body. He had a small well healed scar under his chin and two small scars on his
groin and left ankle that might have been from a prior medical procedure. The image above is a facial reconstruction created by a NCMEC forensic artist and depicts what this child may have looked like in life.

• Philadelphia Police Department (Pennsylvania) 1-215-686-3334 and Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office (Pennsylvania) 1-215-685-7445

LINK:

Have you seen this child? JOHN DOE1957

 

[Ms Suzanne]

May I please bump this up again.Still haven't heard anything about the boy in the box? I pray there is an update about this soon.Golden State Killer: The woman instrumental in his capture

Can anyone find out what's going on with this DNA and Barbara Rae Venter? This is so sad.

 

[Alleykins]

Can anyone find out what's going on with this DNA and Barbara Rae Venter? This is so sad.

Unfortunately, there's probably not going to be many updates until something of note happens.

 

[T rex]

Welcome.
If you're referring to the "M" in this wiki, the claims were not able to be verified. Just curious, why the cryptic post if this is who it is about? Thanks.

After reading this wiki I'm not sure how credible I find this woman's story either but I do find it astonishing that she would know some of these things about this case. What are the chances of just guessing them? So I was just wondering, is it possible that this woman does have some knowledge of what happened to this boy but in her mental state is just conflicting the facts and incorporating herself into the story? People with mental illness have been known to do this. In fact some don't have to be mentally ill, they just like to lie.

Another thing I'm not sure about is the part about the rabbit. Who stops their car and gets out because they see a wild rabbit running wild? Which one of us does this not happen to? It happens to me multiple times a day. I can't pull out of my drive way without it happening. Even the founder of PETA would not pull over and start rambling in the woods along the roadside just because a rabbit crossed in front of them. I guess you see my point, in my opinion this is not a plausible explanation. I think this person had to have had some suspicion of what was there. Maybe the trapper told them or they were trapping or doing some other illegal activity or found out by some other source but I don believe the rabbit story. Just my opinion.

 

[outlawcountry911]

Wonder if they will try using the DNA testing they just use in the bear brooks murders. Where they can get dna from hair without any roots

 

[Alleykins]

Wonder if they will try using the DNA testing they just use in the bear brooks murders. Where they can get dna from hair without any roots

I think that's what Barbara Rae Ventner is trying to do as we speak.

 

[jinkz1979]

The bear brook murders and this case are the 2 that I wanted to have a resolution to in my lifetime and before 2 years ago I had little hope. This DNA genealogy has given me all the hope in the world. 1 more to be identified in Bear brook (then finding the mother). I know this is the year for the boy in the box to finally have a name and maybe some sort of justice if only just in our hearts.

 

[AGettler]

A member of the Vidocq Society believes the boy in the box case is solved. A woman came forward years ago and told a story of a boy that was kept in her home and ...
I can't remember the rest, but she feels this boy is the boy in the box and a Vidocq member also believes her. The Vidocq guy wrote a book, having trouble finding it on line.

 

[dotr]

The Boy in the Box
The Boy in the Box: America's Unknown Child
By Jim Hoffmann


(Loved this book, below )..
The Murder Room
The Murder Room: The Heirs of Sherlock Holmes Gather to Solve the World's ...
By Michael Capuzzo


Boy in the Box
Boy in the Box: The Unsolved Case of America's Unknown Child
By David Stout



Unsolved Crimes
Unsolved Crimes
By Michael Newton, John L. French

 

[AGettler]

The Murder Room - I had never heard of the Vidocq Society before I found this book a few years ago. I went to Philly and had my pic taken next to the plaque on the front of the building.

Boy in the Box: The Unsolved Case of America's Unknown Child - I loved this book and I was extremely upset to read how some poor people just left their kids' bodies somewhere because the kid died of (fill in the blank).

 

[outlawcountry911]

I think that's what Barbara Rae Ventner is trying to do as we speak.

I think that's what Barbara Rae Ventner is trying to do as we speak.

I know it was a lot trail and error to get a working DNA with the new technology

 

[larsonslair]

After reading this wiki I'm not sure how credible I find this woman's story either but I do find it astonishing that she would know some of these things about this case. What are the chances of just guessing them? So I was just wondering, is it possible that this woman does have some knowledge of what happened to this boy but in her mental state is just conflicting the facts and incorporating herself into the story? People with mental illness have been known to do this. In fact some don't have to be mentally ill, they just like to lie.

Another thing I'm not sure about is the part about the rabbit. Who stops their car and gets out because they see a wild rabbit running wild? Which one of us does this not happen to? It happens to me multiple times a day. I can't pull out of my drive way without it happening. Even the founder of PETA would not pull over and start rambling in the woods along the roadside just because a rabbit crossed in front of them. I guess you see my point, in my opinion this is not a plausible explanation. I think this person had to have had some suspicion of what was there. Maybe the trapper told them or they were trapping or doing some other illegal activity or found out by some other source but I don believe the rabbit story. Just my opinion.

<modsnip - demeaning other members>

Trust me--you're on the right track with the M angle.

 

[cherrymeg]

<modsnip>

Trust me--you're on the right track with the M angle.

From what I read about M her father was a teacher and her mother worked in a school library. It sounded like they had access to children and would have been trusted figures. Are there other victims out there? Like ex students? That is a scary thought. Was buying children something that went on frequently? I don't mean for adoption.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Does anyone know what is going on with this and The boy in the box and any DNA matches?.It been awhile now.Has anyone tried to contact her or the Vidocq Society to see what happening .I hope and pray we get an update soon. Golden State Killer: The woman instrumental in his capture

 

[larsonslair]

From what I read about M her father was a teacher and her mother worked in a school library. It sounded like they had access to children and would have been trusted figures. Are there other victims out there? Like ex students? That is a scary thought. Was buying children something that went on frequently? I don't mean for adoption.

What you read is correct. They were not only trusted, but were also respected and relatively well-connected individuals. They were part of a group of people who...enjoyed this sort of thing. You'll encounter all manner of insistence to the contrary regarding M's account of what happened, but her story is consistent, detailed, and contains enough verifiable information to warrant recognition that, at the very least, we know who killed this child.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

I hope and pray we hear an update on this soon.I feel very sad for him.He has been unidentified for a very long time now. Golden State Killer: The woman instrumental in his capture

 

[cherrymeg]

What you read is correct. They were not only trusted, but were also respected and relatively well-connected individuals. They were part of a group of people who...enjoyed this sort of thing. You'll encounter all manner of insistence to the contrary regarding M's account of what happened, but her story is consistent, detailed, and contains enough verifiable information to warrant recognition that, at the very least, we know who killed this child.

It would nice if the police questioned students of her father's or anyone still alive that worked or taught at the school. Look at how many priests got away with molesting kids. Students might have had concerns or been creeped out by him but not mentioned it to anyone. Kids will sometimes avoid those adults but not realize why or that something said or done was inappropriate until they are older.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

I was reading something the other day that made me think of Boy in the Box. His scars stick out to me. I was reading about unethical human experimentation like medical research. An entry was about experiments done on orphaned or disabled children. I am on a work break right now but will find the link later.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

Okay so I found some info on orphan experimentation in the US during the 20th century.

Kids used as lab rats

This article is a great source for such unethical studies.

Waltham, Mass., 1950's- 'the science club' children were bribed with Mickey Mouse watches
There was the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Youth that experimented on orphan boys in the late 40's/early 50's by giving them radioactive oatmeal. They endured six blood tests a day and four urine samples. This experiment wasn't known to the public until 1993 so there is no telling what others could still be secret.

Philadelphia, PA., early 1900's- tuberculosis studies on 3-4 year olds
Via the article it shows they did experiments in a Philadelphia orphanage.

"In the early 20th century, researchers seeking a cure for tuberculosis dropped a solution with tuberculin into the eyes of 3- and 4-year-old children at the Catholic St. Vincent’s Home for Orphans in Philadelphia. The result was nauseatingly predictable, as the children would “lie in their beds moaning all night from the pain in their eyes.” In a similar study, some of the children had their hands bound for the first 12 hours, so they wouldn’t rub their eyes."

30 years later were these same orphanages stilling doing experiments on orphans?


Quebec, Canada, 1940's-1950's- 'Duplessis Orphans' wrongfully commited to psychiatric institutions and used as guinea pigs to test out new drugs
The Worst of Times - How Psychiatry Used Quebec’s Orphans as Guinea Pigs | Freedom Magazine in Canada
According to the article when they would falsify records.

"When children died, he explained, as yet unidentified persons within the psychiatric system simply came up with phony new identities, fabricating records to replace those deceased so funding could continue. “Some of these kids died and were reborn 10 times,” said Lebel, now a freelance journalist."

Could neglected orphans who died in other orphanages also have falsified records?

.here is another article on child experimentation from doctors who are from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Looking back at medical experiments on kids