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

[Abigail]

I believe her story is that her mother purchased the little boy specifically to abuse him. The story was investigated at the time and nothing came of it. I just recently reread it and I tend to think that it's not *the* story. For instance she said that her mother kept him in the basement and he was never allowed outside and no one outside the home was allowed to see him, but he clearly had had some sort of medical intervention, so someone outside the household must have seen him.

Weren't both of them doctors?

 

[csa29]

please

Weren't both of them doctors?

No, teacher and librarian?

 

[iamshadow21]

I am an RN in Ohio and a mandated reporter who does not work with children. My professional and legal obligation is to report alleged crimes, abuse or neglect of a child or vulnerable adult whether I witnessed the crime, abuse or neglect or whether the report of same was given to me. If my adult patient told me that a child died in their family's care when they were a child, I would 100% be required to report to the police to report an alleged death. I make reports to Children's/Adult Protective Services regularly in the course of my job if the allegation is about a live child or adult in an urgent situation, and CPS/APS decides whether the police need to escort them to the child/vulnerable person immediately. A psychiatrist's obligation is to the child being reported on, even if the person reporting is an adult and her client.

It is entirely possible that Martha's memories emerged over time, over years. It's entirely possible she didn't have more than a feeling something might have happened to another child to begin with, back in 1989. Not enough for either her or her therapist to report. When her memories became more solid, clearer, with enough detail to be firm about, then would be the time to approach authorities.

People have a lot of ideas about the way memory works, a lot of it oversimplified, or just plain wrong. The fact is, people can and often do forget child abuse. They go on to have productive, healthy lives, and then, something happens. A parent dies, they give birth to a child, they get divorced, they visit their hometown for the first time in years, and the first chink appears in the wall. It can feel like the end of the world, and sometimes it takes a very long time to make any kind of sense of it all.

That doesn't mean Martha was or wasn't truthful, that her memories were artificial or fantasy, or that her therapist failed in his reporting duty somehow. It just means that memory is complicated, especially where childhood trauma is concerned. I think that Martha and her therapist were trying to help. Whether it turns out she was connected to this case or not remains to be seen, but I think the interval between the first time it came up in therapy and when it was reported is less likely to be any kind of negligence on the part of either Martha or her therapist and more likely to be related to how her memories emerged and when they came into focus.

My opinion only.

 

[GameChanger42]

Corneal vital staining with gentian violet - PubMed

We have used 0.5% gentian violet solution as a corneal vital stain in 112 patients with variable degrees of corneal involvements and in 40 normal eyes as control. Gentian violet stained the epithelial defects and degenerated epithelial cells of cornea. The stain persisted 3-5 minutes and...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Corneal vital staining with gentian violet​

A Islam 1, A Khan, Z A Rahman
Affiliations expand

• PMID: 1710886

Abstract​

We have used 0.5% gentian violet solution as a corneal vital stain in 112 patients with variable degrees of corneal involvements and in 40 normal eyes as control. Gentian violet stained the epithelial defects and degenerated epithelial cells of cornea. The stain persisted 3-5 minutes and disappeared by 8-10 minutes. There was no cross infection from dye use. The dye did not hamper usual process of repair of corneal lesions

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<modsnip - off topic>

Just because a label says, "Don't do this", doesn't mean that people won't do this or that.

<modsnip - off topic>

If the blue dye was commonly used for other ailments What if his abuser to put the dye in his eye to cover up trauma after he passed? I believe it was only found in one eye.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

I noticed that folks deeply involved in the case, presumably with a great deal more information than the general public/media have, seem to have ideas about who murdered JAZ.

Specifically, in the press conference, the LE representative said:

“The second question is obviously going to be, 'Do we know who was responsible for Joseph’s death?' The answer at this time is, unfortunately, no. We have our suspicions as to who may be responsible, but it would be irresponsible of me to share these suspicions as this remains an active and ongoing criminal investigation.”

This was followed up by the following exchange:

“Reporter - Is there any evidence or a theory (inaudible)?

Captain - I mean, the theory would be common sense, was far away from their house, at that point in time, that area of Fox Chase was pretty rural.”

And on Gray Hughes’ show, Misty Gillis, the DNA scientist who identified JAZ said:

“Then when I found out the press conference was coming up I cried for another three days straight because… It’s like, he’s been my secret for so long. I’ve known who he was and I’ve like come to terms with his death, and I came to terms the the story that I believe happened to him.”

So, MOO, the people who know the most have persons of interest. It would be easy for them to say, “Given the passage of many decades, we just have no idea who might be responsible, so please send tips.” But instead, they have stated they have theories. Because of the enormous amount of time passed, destruction of records and evidence, and death of witnesses, these persons of interest would have to be on record somehow as being associated with the case, the birth parents/family, or JAZ himself. At this point, it seems strangers, local sex offenders, etc. would be lost to time and there would have been a missing report from someone. Brainstorming, I can think of:

1. They suspect M’s story is true.
2. Caregivers on some record we don’t know about: adoptive parents (including possibly extended family members), nuns/clergy associated with the “wayward girls” home, mom’s boyfriend/husband.

Curious if you all agree that it sounds like someone is on investigators’ radar, and who I might be missing as potential persons of interest.

I’m not convinced a blood relative or partner wasn’t involved in little Joseph’s demise but I’m leaning more towards a non related caregiver or institution.
Maybe, LE will announce a name only if there’s proof without a doubt who was responsible, could this be possible after all this time?

I’m thinking about the way JAZ was disposed of, he wasn’t buried. The despicable person/s didn’t want him buried on their property? Didn’t have time or access to a vehicle to search for a suitable spot? They wanted him to be found?
I’m sure this has been gone over since this thread began but I’m going over it in my head and thinking of similar cases.

JMO

 

[MarSzych]

I’m just wondering about the extensive bruising with the absence of any broken bones…

Is it possible he could have had beta-thalassemia which is more common in those of Italian descent?

It would account for hemorrhagic tendency, slow growth, fatigue, poor appetite, and frequent infections.

The treatment would be blood transfusion, which would match up with some of the scars.

If a parent was a carrier of the gene, it’s possible other siblings who inherited the most severe form of the disease would be stillborn or die in infancy…

Also some distinctive facial features from rarediseases.org: When facial bones are affected it can result in distinctive facial features including an abnormally prominent forehead (frontal bossing), full cheek bones (prominent malar eminence), a depressed bridge of the nose, and overgrowth (hypertrophy) of the upper jaw (maxillae), exposing the upper teeth.

Just a thought…

 

[Mama-dukes]

I found this but can’t read it anyone who can please copy it and post it thanks if it’s got anything 2 do this Joseph

How an at-home DNA kit helped identify the ‘Boy in the Box’

A Christmas break up and a DNA kit helped identify one of Philadelphia's most notorious unidentified victims.

www.inquirer.com

 

[alexina]

There are some questions regarding Martha's story to which I am not sure I found answers.

Namely, is it possible that a child who was in their household would never cry or make sounds that neighbors would hear? If he was there around, I guess 3 years, somebody must have heard something or seen something.

Second, if she claimed that a boy was sexually abused, wouldn't a pathologist would be able to notice that?

 

[HarmonyE.]

Law enforcement provided the child's entire name, without specifying it was only known to be his birth name. They know who his biological parents were. I think it was a mistake on their part a) not to just say we know his first name was Joseph, but right now we cannot say more either because we don't know more or because we cannot reveal more without providing fodder for amateur goose chases, wild or otherwise; b) to make it clear they're pretty sure it's only known to be his birth name.

They also went on to say his family was prominent in the area and so anyone knowing the name with a newspapers.com account can easily find said family.

I would argue LE has indeed identified half of his family and they have an obligation to clear this up now. Speculation isn't allowed here, but it's going on all over the internet.

 

[steff13]

There are some questions regarding Martha's story to which I am not sure I found answers.

Namely, is it possible that a child who was in their household would never cry or make sounds that neighbors would hear? If he was there around, I guess 3 years, somebody must have heard something or seen something.

Second, if she claimed that a boy was sexually abused, wouldn't a pathologist would be able to notice that?

I think it probably depends on how close together the residences were and how they were constructed whether something could be heard or not.

As far as the sexual abuse maybe there was no evidence of it. Or maybe there was evidence of it and it wasn't included in whatever reports for privacy purposes or something like that. Or maybe it's not as evident necessarily in boys as it might be in little girls. .

 

[txsleuth70]

Who is the Boy in the Box? - Philadelphia Magazine

 

[HarmonyE.]

As far as the sexual abuse maybe there was no evidence of it. Or maybe there was evidence of it and it wasn't included in whatever reports for privacy purposes or something like that. Or maybe it's not as evident necessarily in boys as it might be in little girls. .

According to the book "The Boy in the Box" by David Stout the body was carefully examined by the ME and there were no signs of sexual assault.

 

[Friday Fan]

According to the book "The Boy in the Box" by David Stout the body was carefully examined by the ME and there were no signs of sexual assault.

That's good to know.
M said something very, very different

 

[steff13]

According to the book "The Boy in the Box" by David Stout the body was carefully examined by the ME and there were no signs of sexual assault.

Ah, I have not read that book. Maybe I'll check it out.

 

[pukasonqo2]

There are some questions regarding Martha's story to which I am not sure I found answers.

Namely, is it possible that a child who was in their household would never cry or make sounds that neighbors would hear? If he was there around, I guess 3 years, somebody must have heard something or seen something.

Second, if she claimed that a boy was sexually abused, wouldn't a pathologist would be able to notice that?

My ex’s stepdad has a friend who was born in a concentration camp, a guard told the mother and her fellow prisoners that they’ll let the baby live…if he didn’t make any noise
No idea how these women managed but he survived, he was (or is) a very quiet man, very softly spoken
So yes, children can be forced/trained to be extremely quiet
I am glad JA has his name back, the photo of his headstone with the Xmas bauble w his full name on it broke my heart
Go in peace Joseph Augustus, time to rest

 

[Sierras]

Sweet little Joseph. Precious little Joseph. I'm so glad you finally have your name back after all of these years. Rest in peace little guy.

 

[steff13]

My ex’s stepdad has a friend who was born in a concentration camp, a guard told the mother and her fellow prisoners that they’ll let the baby live…if he didn’t make any noise
No idea how these women managed but he survived, he was (or is) a very quiet man, very softly spoken
So yes, children can be forced/trained to be extremely quiet
I am glad JA has his name back, the photo of his headstone with the Xmas bauble w his full name on it broke my heart
Go in peace Joseph Augustus, time to rest

That story is almost enough to give me a panic attack. Can you imagine?

I suppose Joseph could have been trained at a pretty early age to keep quiet.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Who is the Boy in the Box? - Philadelphia Magazine

Thank you, it’s a 20 yr old article but covered a good deal and has the details of M’s claims. Incredible how Bill Kelly offered $1000. reward for information from his own pocket! What a lovely man!
Imo, LE know whether M’s story is true. It was public knowledge about the Good Samaritan asking if the strangers needed help and she did live less than 30 minutes away from where he was found. What surprises me is M’s age at the time, I thought she was little like JAZ, but she was 12 years old!

 

[spacedcurls]

I’ve started reading David Stout’s book The Boy in the Box: The Unsolved Case of America’s Unknown Child, and wanted to circle back to the dye in the eye — David Stout states that the eye shone yellow under the UV light, rather than the blue that had been reported elsewhere. I wonder which is true, but if it’s yellow then it certainly could have been fluorescein. I don’t think the staining from fluorescein usually lasts that long, so did Joseph visit an eye doctor very shortly before his death?

 

[fred&edna]

I suppose M's mother could have had help from her "friends" but she must have been one busy woman... abusing a sickly toddler, raising (and also abusing) a pre-teen daughter, and working outside the home (and, not to mention how homes and housework were "suppose to look" in the 1950's) ... and no one was the wiser to this volatile woman??

It really makes me wonder. jmo