Identified! PA - Philadelphia, 'Boy in the Box', WhtMale 4-6, 4UMPA, Feb'57

[Force Ten]

Has any one heard any updates on this little one.Well,It looks like no one is doing anything to find out who this little boy is.That's so sad.The answers are out there.We just need to not forget about him and please help keep bumping him up here and looking for who he is.May I please ask someone to re investigate his case again.This little one does deserve his name on his grave

I believe it was solved? The link provided is now defunct though. I guess I will have to read a little further to see if it was followed up on.

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - PA PA - Philadelphia - "Boy in the Box" / America's Unknown Child, 1957


I always felt that the killer was a parent type figure as there was never a missing boy reported.

 

[Beamie]

I doubt that the boy in the box was reported missing. So it's unlikely we'll find him on any missing pages

 

[Ms Suzanne]

If I may please say it's not solved.They do not know who this little boy is or his real name.There was lead in 2002 that some lady from Ohio said her parents killed him in her Lower Marion Pennsylvania house.She told this to her psychiatrist.This lead never panned out.LE could find no evidence this little boy was ever there.Neighbors that had lived around them at the time said they had access to all areas of the house(even the basement)said they never saw this little boy.I personally do not believe her.It really did not pan out.They do not know who this little boy is and it does look like they are not doing anything to find out.That's sad.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

I believe it was solved? The link provided is now defunct though. I guess I will have to read a little further to see if it was followed up on.

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - PA PA - Philadelphia - "Boy in the Box" / America's Unknown Child, 1957


I always felt that the killer was a parent type figure as there was never a missing boy reported.

May I please ask was this the Ohio lady's lead?The newspaper link is not coming up for me.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

This is from the doe network.It looks like he is still unidentified.


http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/4umpa.html

 

[Ms Suzanne]

May I please ask if anyone found out or can please find out where this place was in February 1957 or anything about it?

http://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/orphansocietyfindingaid.pdf

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Happy Thanksgiving to this little one.I pray they find out his real name soon.I hope someone new will really re investigate his case again.Has any one heard of any new updates on him?

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Has anyone heard of any updates on this little one? Are they re investigating his case again.I hope and pray some one can.It looks like no one is doing anything at all any more.That's very sad.Please help keep him bumped up and maybe some one will recognize who he is.Please let me know of any new updates ok?I care very much for him and to give him his real name.

 

[amber1]

I was watching Ghost Adventures they other day. It was about a mental institution complex in Haverstraw, NY. A lot of the patients there were young children. They were abused and neglected, many died a day-and no one seemed to cared. A nurse would give 80 different kids medicine out of the same spoon.
After watching this episode, I though of the boy in the box. I do not think he was ever reported missing. Is it a possibility he could have been from a mental institution complex? (I'm not saying he had any physical disabilities or MR, but maybe an MI (mental illness) that back than was seen as ill behavior, like ADHD or schizophrenia, which schizophrenia even just now is being diagnosed in kids under 18, even though this MI would be present all along). If so, that may explain why no one came forward, as people back then felt ashamed if their child was different at all. And in institutions like that back than, people did not care- these kids and persons were beat and neglected, their bodies barely properly disposed of, if at all. It would be interesting to see records of mental institutions from back then and patients in them.
Even an orphanage is an option. I am almost positive this boy had to have come from one or the other. We have an orphanage in town (now shut down for years), where kids were abused by the matrons, even killed by them. And for years these kids were buried in the yard outside the orphanage, with only numbers on a piece of wood to mark their grave. If a child went missing from either place, no one would know, family would not come forward. I think this is a logical explanation for why, over 50 years later, his name is a mystery. I wish the best for this child, that his name will come out and who did this will be brought to justice.

 

[hmg]

Early nineties there was a case called the baby in the cooler. I dont think that cases was solved either. It was on Americas most wanted. Two people were seen carrying the cooler but they were never identified. This was in NYC. AMW should dedicate a show to unidentified children.

I think you're talking about "Baby Hope" from Manhattan in 1991: http://doenetwork.org/cases/50ufny.html

It has not been solved either and I think it's likely because the two people seen were her caregivers/parents and I believe the same is probably true in the boy in the box case.

 

[Spurser]

I read this book about the case. It left me feeling very hopeless that this case will ever be solved. They had some interesting theories and leads, but nothing lead to his identity.

http://books.google.com/books?id=JU...&hl=en#v=onepage&q=the boy in the box&f=false

 

[Leprikawn]

When you see stories in the news like the reform school in Florida, where many boys said the guards were abusing and killing kids.......then 30 years later they find bodies in un marked graves....Amber's theory about institutions may be right!

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Yes I agree.I'm totally convinced he was getting into or being adopted out of one of these orphanages or institutions and he died in one of these places getting a hair cut and groomed and getting initiated into a place like this.I'm totally convinced.I just don't know how to check all these places and their records.The place he could have been in might even possibly been outside of Philadelphia county.I'm hoping someone that knows what they are doing can really check all the records again for this sweet little boy.He deserves better than this.

 

[amber1]

Sadly, that is the hard part-finding legit documentation. And I was also thinking about how he seemed he was groomed when he was found. I know in the orphanage we have in town (closed for many years), they would give kids similar hair styles and groom them the same. In one of the grooming sessions, they used gasoline to rid of hair lice. A couple boys drowned during this, because they would not hold still. Of course, I'm sure this was ruled "accidental".
But in so many orphanages and institutions like this decades ago, this is how it was. If something went wrong with the kids in any of these facilities, they would put them in unmarked graves, graves with a number (leaving their names unknown), or just dump them, which is like the boy in the box. My concern is, if they disposed them like trash, then what are the chances they kept up any records of these kids being there?
And not all places were like this, just to clarify, because I know there were some places where people were genuine in caring for kids or those with MI/MR. But evil also existed in places too.
It'd be interesting to see any Mental institutions or orphanages or any other facilities similar to these, and see if there were any in the area or close to where the boy in the box was found. I think that would be the best place to start.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Yes,I asked before if any one knew of orphanages,childrens homes and foster homes in the Philadelphia and surrounding counties.Especially ones that accepted newborns(I thought this because of the bassinet box that he was found in)I personally do think it was directly connected to him.I feel his killer brought it with him or her when he dropped or dumped him off.I could be wrong though.I did find a few places.But not many that accepted newborns and older children.

I did find one place I feel he could have went into that apparently accepted children o to - older children.Does anyone know any more on this place?pictures anything.

Luthern orphanage and home for the aged Germantown Ave



It also says this too in this article.The article is on the right hand side.So I'm assuming they did have babies there too.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...heran+orphanage+and+home+germantown+ave&hl=en

 

[amber1]

I wonder about that bassinet-was it new/in good shape? If so, I wonder if there's any way to track the brand or make of it, and areas that distributed it.

I also was curious as sot different state hospitals/institutions/orphanages in there area. (If boy in the box is even from PA).

1. Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry:
Running since 1910. In 1960, there were over 7,000 patients there. Condtions were poor, raw sewage lined the hallways, patients slept in the halls, staff mistreated and exploited patients. In 1990, it was closed due to how mistreated patients were. Investigators said the place was "atrocious". Also important to note, two released patients were found dead in the Delaware River in 1987. It was demolished in '06.
Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2. "Brothers of the Holy Infancy: Orphanages for Boys in PA:
Source: Brothers of the Holy Infancy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"n 1909, under the general title of Our Lady of Victory Home, the following buildings were grouped: St. Joseph's Protectory, with 700 boys; St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum, with 250 boys; Working Boys' Home, with 75 boys; Our Lady of Victory Infant Asylum, caring for about 150. The brothers give special attention to the trade school of the protectory; printing, press-feeding, book-binding, baking, shoe-making, tailoring, plumbing, gas-fitting, and other trades are taught with excellent results. The brothers numbered twenty-three."-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_of_the_Holy_Infancy

**I must specifically add St. John's Orphan Asylum is one that took young boys, much younger than 16, and I think others did as well. I could not find much on the institution itself, but I came across a blog that was written by boys who used to go there. They claimed they were beaten until they bled, and constantly physically and emotionally abused. I had difficulty coming across info about the other places. All i know is they were all orphanages in PA.
St. John's Orphan Asylum for Boys: http://stjohnsorphanage.blogspot.com/

I know there are so many more places similar to all of these in PA, especially mental institutions, and when I come across more, i will post it.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Thank you very much for helping me talk about him and trying to find out who he is.Yes,There was Penthurst mental hospital too.He very well could have been put in there or Byberry.I said before I think St Johns orphan asylum is a very good possibility he went in there.In that blog in the picture where the little boys praying near their beds their hair cuts do look very much like what this little boy in the box had.Also in that blog someone wanted to know about a nun Sister Helen Constance.She apparently was transfered from St Johns to another place for girls because she almost beat a boy to death.The lady wanted to know if anyone else had heard about it.I am very interested in this if anyone knows more about that..It shows me there was abuse in there.

If the bassinet box is not connected I do feel he was put in St Johns.I don't know the age they accepted children.4 to 6 years old?I do feel he was younger than 6 years old.He still had all his baby teeth.But you never know.He could have been 6 years old.He may have appeared younger because he was malnourished.The JC Penney bassinet and box this little boy was found in was bought in Upper Darby.The bassinet, one of a dozen received on 11/27/56, and which retailed for $7.50, was sold between 12/03/56 and 02/16/57 .The JC Penneys is not far from St Johns Orphanage.The bassinet was bought in Delaware County.Not Philadelpiha County.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

That was Pennhurst.I'm sorry I misspelled that.


Pennhurst State School and Hospital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Because he was malnourished and in ill health I am still thinking possibly the Child Welfare DHS was involved.Does anyone know or can find out what and where the recieving home for children would have been for the Department of public welfare in Philadelphia and surrounding counties in 1957.Possibly maybe a municipal facility they would have been placed in.

 

[amber1]

I think we have some very interesting possible places where he could have been. Not saying the someone at these asylums or institutions killed him, but he may have been there, and maybe they could shed light on where he is from.
I wonder if these facilities have been investigated by LE? Records?