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

[fred&edna]

I have my theories but I don’t think case will be solved.

Since you did quite the research on this case, I'm curious about your theories. However, I understand you likely don't want to share this publicly. I will always wonder about this child's sad and brief life.

 

[lilacstorm]

Since you did quite the research on this case, I'm curious about your theories. However, I understand you likely don't want to share this publicly. I will always wonder about this child's sad and brief life.

I would be interested in hearing from you as well.

I am hoping there will be updates on the anniversary of when JAZ's remains were found, which would be February 25th.

 

[Narkj]

I would be interested in hearing from you as well.

I am hoping there will be updates on the anniversary of when JAZ's remains were found, which would be February 25th.

Good reminder. I’m doubting there will be much of an update. The Zarelli family still isn’t interested in talking.

 

[Susikatze]

I believe that nobody who is alive today has any more knowledge than what we know. So no wonder nobody from either side is really talking. The Arnold side was a little more open but also had no actual knowledge of JAZ. Not a surprise.

All we know is that the whole circumstances were difficult back then. Summing up:
MA left school, got pregnant by a guy we do not know. Noone knows what happened to that child, it is suspected to have been given away. Within 2 years, she was pregnant out of wedlock again, this time by AZ. When this baby, JAZ, was 2 or 3, MA worked in a cinema as cashier. Got pregnant again by the manager who was married to another woman. MA lived in some sort of low income skid row type building, JAZ died around the time his half sister was born.

I wonder if there are census records showing where he lived at this time.

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

I have my theories but I don’t think case will be solved.

I wonder if he wound up at Catholic orphanage ala Tuam.

 

[Friday Fan]

I believe that nobody who is alive today has any more knowledge than what we know. So no wonder nobody from either side is really talking. The Arnold side was a little more open but also had no actual knowledge of JAZ. Not a surprise.

All we know is that the whole circumstances were difficult back then. Summing up:
MA left school, got pregnant by a guy we do not know. Noone knows what happened to that child, it is suspected to have been given away. Within 2 years, she was pregnant out of wedlock again, this time by AZ. When this baby, JAZ, was 2 or 3, MA worked in a cinema as cashier. Got pregnant again by the manager who was married to another woman. MA lived in some sort of low income skid row type building, JAZ died around the time his half sister was born.

I wonder if there are census records showing where he lived at this time.

They didn't live in low income housing. It's low income now, but not back then. The apartments were built as luxury apartments in the early 20th Century because they they were next to the train. As cars became widely used, the apartments gradually declined. They had about average rent in 1950.

There are no census records available. The only thing would possibly be rent records, but in most cases those have long been destroyed. There would be his sister's birth certificate, which I think would be the most revealing. Law enforcement has this.

 

[digiskunk]

Probably because everyone involved is deceased by now. Took way too long to id him.

There are tons of old cases that investigators seek to solve despite the age of the crime, but I understand what you mean: I'd imagine that catching the Texarkana Phantom isn't high on Texas/Arkansas' authorities' priority list right now, and understandably so. Still, I can't help but feel as if there's a lot more to this case—and perhaps we can get a better understanding of it as a collective group willing to do research in an attempt to put some puzzle pieces together. And hopefully, that can assist in efforts to figure out what exactly happened and why. But of course, that'd require a lot of work—not to mention resources that the Philadelphia Police cannot spare right now. I just hope that one day, some investigators can bring us closer to having a concrete answer.

I understand we have all the basic facts; now it's just a matter of figuring out the circumstances. Even though he has his identity back, that doesn't mean the case is necessarily solved, even though the culprits have passed away. Of course, I'm very likely to be wrong—it's not like every investigation is the same.

 

[digiskunk]

I have my theories but I don’t think case will be solved.

I want to hear!!

 

[coco]

I want to hear!!

Me too!

 

[J. J. in Phila]

They didn't live in low income housing. It's low income now, but not back then. The apartments were built as luxury apartments in the early 20th Century because they they were next to the train. As cars became widely used, the apartments gradually declined. They had about average rent in 1950.

There are no census records available. The only thing would possibly be rent records, but in most cases those have long been destroyed. There would be his sister's birth certificate, which I think would be the most revealing. Law enforcement has this.

It is not even "low income" now.

To give an example from the 1950's, MA would have been a few steps up from the Cramdens on "The Honeymooners." IIRC, MA was in the phone book.

 

[Friday Fan]

It is not even "low income" now.

To give an example from the 1950's, MA would have been a few steps up from the Cramdens on "The Honeymooners." IIRC, MA was in the phone book.

I thought it was turned to govt subsidized housing (based on newspaper articles from the 80's...if I can recall)
But I know that sometimes govt housing is turned back to private etc.

I did compare the rental prices from the building as MA's address from the 40's and 50's based on available (sporadic) Philadelphia Inquirer ads from that time and compared it with other rental properties in ads. If I recall, it was about an average price for an average type apartment. (Subdivided "brownstone", pre-gentrification comes to mine). So yeah a step up from the Cramdens.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I thought it was turned to govt subsidized housing (based on newspaper articles from the 80's...if I can recall)
But I know that sometimes govt housing is turned back to private etc.

I did compare the rental prices from that address from the 40's and 50's based on available (sporadic) Philadelphia Inquirer ads from that time and compared it with other rental properties in ads. If I recall, it was about an average price for an average type apartment. (Subdivided "brownstone", pre-gentrification comes to mine).

The renter may be subsidized today, but the building is not. What they had were basically housing projects in the 1950's .

 

[RyGuy611]

When I visit Philadelphia this summer I intend on visiting his grave. Feel like paying respect to the person who got me into unidentified persons.

 

[Miranda]

Why are there no census records available?

 

[AliceInPain]

Why are there no census records available?

For who? When?
There are no census records after 1950 available to the public. The next one (1960s census) will be released in 2032.
Who are you looking for?