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

[BlackCloud]

I don't think my dad can write with his left. His handwriting is pretty bad. It's weird but the nun's at my aunts convent are some of the nicest people. They are also liberal and and fun. They might be a different generation of nuns. My aunt is 5 years older than my dad. When did they realize the left hand wasn't evil?

I don't think this has anything to do with different generations.
In the Catholic Church you can find many souls: liberals, traditionalists, right and left wings.
One faith but different people and different behaviours.

 

[dotr]

I was one of those evil left handed kids my middle knuckle is still fatter than the right hand and I still shake when having to measure with a yardstick !!!! But bonus I can write with both , but always write left hand out of spite

fwiw..
O/t My father (not Catholic) as a child was a stammerer and also a lefty forced at school to write with his right hand.
Interestingly, when the rules changed and he was allowed to write with his left hand, his stammer disappeared.

 

[janewall]

fwiw..
O/t My father (not Catholic) as a child was a stammerer and also a lefty forced at school to write with his right hand.
Interestingly, when the rules changed and he was allowed to write with his left hand, his stammer disappeared.

Mine was as well, interestingly enough in Philadelphia public schools, in the late 1930s-1940s. His handwriting with his right hand was absolutely horrendous throughout his life, but he'd been conditioned strongly enough that he couldn't do much with his left either. It was a terribly misguided educational policy, but a fairly widespread one for a time in our history. Our family also believes he was an undiagnosed dyslexic, and that learning difficulty may well have tied into the suppression of his natural handedness.

Even when I began kindergarten as a lefty in 1967, the teacher asked my mom if she wanted the (public) school to work with me to try to change my handedness. Mom's reply was a resounding No! based on her knowledge of my dad's history. But even giving parents the option indicates how strongly the right-handed preference was inculcated in society, and the education system in particular.

By contrast, my adult son was functionally ambidextrous as a toddler and preschooler, using both hands with equal ease for writing and drawing. He gradually came to "choose" the right for a majority of tasks, probably because so many objects are right-oriented as the default, and his kindergarten teacher indicated that as all other factors seemed equal for him, penmanship, crafts, and other activities would be marginally easier for him as a righty, so I allowed her to positively reinforce his 'dexter' abilities without actively discouraging sinistral tendencies. I don't know if he still can write or draw with his left hand, or what he does with hand tools, but when he holds musical instruments or handed sports equipment it's as a lefty.

 

[sloane7777]

fwiw..
O/t My father (not Catholic) as a child was a stammerer and also a lefty forced at school to write with his right hand.
Interestingly, when the rules changed and he was allowed to write with his left hand, his stammer disappeared.

WOW ! I fully believe you don't monkey with what nature intended.

 

[YESorNO]

Boy in the Box: Memphis clue could solve 62-year-old murder mystery across the country

Sep 23, 2019

"MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A crime unsolved for more than 62 years, but could an answer live right here in Memphis?

Veterans in law enforcement know about the case of Philadelphia's ‘Boy in the Box.'

A murdered child placed in a box in 1957.

One author of murder mysteries believes he may have found a relative of the nameless victim right here in the bluff city.

His theory involves the DNA of the murdered child and a Memphis man who could be a relative.

Philadelphia police know about this potential lead, but will not say if they have taken it ..."

Boy in the Box: Memphis clue could solve 62-year-old murder mystery across the country

 

[margarita25]

Dear @Gardener1850 ,

Thank you for the alert in the breaking news thread, marking spot.

(O/T, I was unable to pm this to you due to your profile settings, and couldn’t respond in the NO DISCUSSION thread so I guess I can tell you here: When I saw your alert in the breaking news thread, my heart dropped and you know what my first thought was? “Oh no, there’s been another mass shooting..”
Anyway just wanted to say “how sad is that”...)

It sounds like it could be good news, this is amazing and I can’t wait to read. Yay, I wonder if is this another DNA Revolution case? @dotr @Niner

 

[BlackCloud]

Boy in the Box: Memphis clue could solve 62-year-old murder mystery across the country

Sep 23, 2019

"MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A crime unsolved for more than 62 years, but could an answer live right here in Memphis?

Veterans in law enforcement know about the case of Philadelphia's ‘Boy in the Box.'

A murdered child placed in a box in 1957.

One author of murder mysteries believes he may have found a relative of the nameless victim right here in the bluff city.

His theory involves the DNA of the murdered child and a Memphis man who could be a relative.

Philadelphia police know about this potential lead, but will not say if they have taken it ..."

Boy in the Box: Memphis clue could solve 62-year-old murder mystery across the country

Wow....
This is a very good news!
Hope it's not a fake one...
This little boy really deserves justice

 

[ColyH]

The women's story about how her mother abused them and accidentally killed the boy is interesting but people who were their neighbors said no small boy ever lived with this women's family.

 

[T rex]

Boy in the Box: Memphis clue could solve 62-year-old murder mystery across the country

Sep 23, 2019

"MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A crime unsolved for more than 62 years, but could an answer live right here in Memphis?

Veterans in law enforcement know about the case of Philadelphia's ‘Boy in the Box.'

A murdered child placed in a box in 1957.

One author of murder mysteries believes he may have found a relative of the nameless victim right here in the bluff city.

His theory involves the DNA of the murdered child and a Memphis man who could be a relative.

Philadelphia police know about this potential lead, but will not say if they have taken it ..."

Boy in the Box: Memphis clue could solve 62-year-old murder mystery across the country

It's an interesting story and probably should be checked into but I'm not getting too awful excited about it.
Much of this author's theory relies on statements made by a landlord from that time and many of this landlord's statements just aren't that big of a deal in my opinion.
First of all the fact that these people left without notifying their landlord is not unheard of. People do this all the time.
My next question would be, what is leaving in the middle of the night? People that are going on a long trip oftentimes get started in the early morning hours.
Another thing is was this a poor family or a family of moderate income? Because if so it wouldn't be surprising that when moving far away they may leave some mundane furniture and other items.
I believe that whoever placed this boy in the box had to know that he would be discovered. So if this was going to be a problem why not just leave right then or better yet why not just take the body a distance to dispose of it instead of moving your entire family several states away? Why wait for some news to come out that you fully expected to come out and then freak out and leave in the middle of the night?
However I do believe it would be worth looking into because you never know. I'm glad their are people like this author investigating this case although I don't know anything about him or his motivations. According to his own words the worst case scenario is that he's wrong and he finds another theory so he's basically saying he has nothing to lose. I don't know, I would love for him to be right and find this boys identity but like I said, I'm not getting too awful excited about it. JMO.
Having said all of that the most significant thing I take from this article is that it states LE has been led to believe this boy was adopted although it does not directly quote them as having said that. Now we're all aware that adoption is always a possibility in an unidentified case especially when it involves a child. I don't know if its been discussed here or not, maybe it has, or if it could be a new revelation. So does anyone know? What led LE to believe this boy was adopted?

 

[sleuther0192837465]

Boy in the Box: Memphis clue could solve 62-year-old murder mystery across the country

Sep 23, 2019

"MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A crime unsolved for more than 62 years, but could an answer live right here in Memphis?

Veterans in law enforcement know about the case of Philadelphia's ‘Boy in the Box.'

A murdered child placed in a box in 1957.

One author of murder mysteries believes he may have found a relative of the nameless victim right here in the bluff city.

His theory involves the DNA of the murdered child and a Memphis man who could be a relative.

Philadelphia police know about this potential lead, but will not say if they have taken it ..."

Boy in the Box: Memphis clue could solve 62-year-old murder mystery across the country

It’s been 6 wks....I wonder what happened with this?

 

[rosesfromangels]

The women's story about how her mother abused them and accidentally killed the boy is interesting but people who were their neighbors said no small boy ever lived with this women's family.

They could have easily kept him hidden in the basement, etc.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[sleuther0192837465]

They could have easily kept him hidden in the basement, etc.

Amateur opinion and speculation

ITA
Also, one theory was he was raised as a girl. If that’s true, then of course, the neighbors would not have seen this lil boy.
MOO...

 

[PaulR]

ITA
Also, one theory was he was raised as a girl. If that’s true, then of course, the neighbors would not have seen this lil boy.
MOO...

I think that was something Frank Bender proposed.

 

[sleuther0192837465]

I think that was something Frank Bender proposed.

Yes it was. Although his theory has a very slim chance of being true, I’m not discounting it. Not until we find out what happened to this lil boy.
He deserved a loving home & a happy life & it’s so upsetting that whoever did this to him, not only robbed him of that, but took his name, too.
Praying we hear something soon.
MOO....

 

[sleuther0192837465]

Who are you, lil buddy?? Who did this to you???? Sweet lil dude

 

[themissingandthelost]

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.

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but I heard on a Youtube channel that covered this case (can't remember which one, sorry) that the boy chasing the bunny rabbit was actually spying on a girl from his school which is the real reason he was in the woods and didn't report it.

 

[themissingandthelost]

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.

I'm covering this case at the moment, can I ask where you read this? I'd like to include more information on the background of the family.

 

[themissingandthelost]

The women's story about how her mother abused them and accidentally killed the boy is interesting but people who were their neighbors said no small boy ever lived with this women's family.

There was a theory the little boy was raised as a little girl. "M" had mentioned he had beautiful, long hair. Even then the mother could not only have passed him off as a little girl but said he was, in fact, her daughter's friend so if he did go missing or she had him locked up in the basement (which is another reason they wouldn't have seen him) then they wouldn't question the child's whereabouts.

 

[Gypsysoul25]

This case is like one of those ghost campfire stories

He looks inbred.if not then he may have come from a family amd/or community that had a history of marrying someone nearby.In other words limited gene pool

A century ago 80% of people married within their ethnicity.in medieval Europe the average peasant couple was 4th cousin

Finding the mother might also link to finding the father

 

[Eman317]

Love to see the DNA Doe Project pick this case up but it mostly likely isn't gonna happen. Especially if the boys parents were the ones responsible for his demise.