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

[Ms Suzanne]

Hopefully someone new can check all these places for their records or court house records.I don't know if they were checked.I really don't think they were.



Here is another place St Vincents Tacony on Milnor street.It's about 7 miles or so from where he was found.


I think the cold case show might have been thinking of that place maybe.I wonder what they may have actually really found out doing that show.If some of it is fact.Like did the guy Frederick J. Benonis that called in the lead in the beginning really go ask LE many times about the case over the years and did he really see a nun visiting his grave many times over the years?I wonder how they found that out.Just curious.

 

[O'Really]

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?

According to the boy in the box site, Randolph Wise- the city welfare commissioner and his department conducted the foster home/institution search and eliminated the possibility of the boy having been in an institution.
According the the philly geo history land-use maps from 1942, the St Vincents Orphanage was not far: located at Cottman Ave and Milnor St, down by Delaware Ave. The Home for the Indigent, and the House of Corrections were a few blocks north on Delaware ave as well.

After following this case for years, I believe the investigators truly left no stone unturned. Realistically, I believe the only way this child will be identified is through his mtDNA profile.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

I agree he will probably be Identified through mtDNA.But I do feel very strongly there may possibly have been some kind of cover up in one of these institutions some where.Falsified records.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

According to the boy in the box site, Randolph Wise- the city welfare commissioner and his department conducted the foster home/institution search and eliminated the possibility of the boy having been in an institution.
According the the philly geo history land-use maps from 1942, the St Vincents Orphanage was not far: located at Cottman Ave and Milnor St, down by Delaware Ave. The Home for the Indigent, and the House of Corrections were a few blocks north on Delaware ave as well.

After following this case for years, I believe the investigators truly left no stone unturned. Realistically, I believe the only way this child will be identified is through his mtDNA profile.

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The Home for the Indigent, and the House of Corrections were a few blocks north on Delaware ave as well.


Do you or anyone have any more information on these?Especially the Home for the Indigent.

Old Blockley?This might be a very very good possibility.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

According to the boy in the box site, Randolph Wise- the city welfare commissioner and his department conducted the foster home/institution search and eliminated the possibility of the boy having been in an institution.
According the the philly geo history land-use maps from 1942, the St Vincents Orphanage was not far: located at Cottman Ave and Milnor St, down by Delaware Ave. The Home for the Indigent, and the House of Corrections were a few blocks north on Delaware ave as well.

After following this case for years, I believe the investigators truly left no stone unturned. Realistically, I believe the only way this child will be identified is through his mtDNA profile.

It took them only 2 days to rule institutions out.I feel there is no way they could have done a real good thorough job.Not checking records.

 

[O'Really]

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The Home for the Indigent, and the House of Corrections were a few blocks north on Delaware ave as well.


Do you or anyone have any more information on these?Especially the Home for the Indigent.

Old Blockley?This might be a very very good possibility.

The Blockley was in West Philly, an entirely different part of the city than Fox Chase where The Boy was found, or Holmesburg/Mayfair where the House of Corrections/Home for the Indigent/St Vincent Orphanage was. When the blockley alms switched over to General Hospital, I think they shipped the indigent up to the facility at the prison in the northeast. There was another poorhouse off Rowland Ave where Lincoln Highschool is currently, but I think that closed years before the Boy In The Box.
Also, while I understand the desire to investigate files in these types of institutions for some clue to his name, that isn't going to happen. If they couldn't find it then, we certainly won't find it now. The conditions in many of the poor houses were horrendous. If an institution worker beat a little boy to death and left him in a box in a field, I feel certain they would have destroyed any kind of paperwork attached to him.

 

[Claudette]

I agree he will probably be Identified through mtDNA.But I do feel very strongly there may possibly have been some kind of cover up in one of these institutions some where.Falsified records.

Generally I wouldn't agree with this but in this case I agree 100% - this makes so much sense and sadly is reflective of "how things were" then with institutions. Not just orphanages but mental institutions as well. Really sad places with no regard to human life.

 

[Ausgirl]

Here's a few thoughts, after reviewing the available information..

-- I agree with the idea that it could appear the boy was placed with some care, perhaps indicating guilt. But equally, the blanket might have simply handy as a means of keeping his body out of sight. I found the theory that an identifying mark of some kind was cut off the blanket very interesting too - the weave of the blanket reminded me of hospitals, and there could have been a laundry mark of some kind.

-- which brings me to his scars. I tend to think this child was once given good medical care, but somehow ended up in less caring hands. There's endless possible theories there.. Mother remarried an abusive man ... Mother suddenly unable to cope financially or emotionally and snaps...

I've even thought of Munchausen's by Proxy - a mother making her child appear sick with a variety of illnesses comes under suspicion or takes it too far, and has to dispose of the boy, perhaps even has a younger one to focus on... Anyway, all kinds of possibilities there. But the child --did-- have medical procedures, a list of them that can be identified, so he should have shown up in records, somewhere...

Unless he was indeed an immigrant's child. Or in an institution (with laundry marks on its blankets..?). A mystery indeed.

-- But one thing I am --very-- sure of (as much I can be) is that this poor kid was NOT 'cared for' before his death. He was brutalised. And he was murdered.

Look at that "haircut" - that's not a haircut, it's a mauling. The boy's hair was shorn off as an act of violence, IMO. Look at it... clumps taken out all over, half his hair missing on one side. It actually looks like someone went mad with electric clippers, but I dare say it was scissors. Look at the chunk of hair missing on his brow.. it's ugly, and speaks to violence, anger, punishment..


And the bruises. All those weird, odd, circular ones. And a few wide ones as well. Black eyes. Oh, and then there's the head trauma that killed him. And the malnutrition. NOBODY was caring for this kid right before he died, but somebody once took him to hospital for operations/treatment and I suppose that's something....

Poor wee boy.. I hope he's at peace, and knows he's cared about.

 

[amber1]

I also believe the investigators back then left no stone unturned. I hope that fresh eyes have been working on this case presently, because technology has come a long way. There has to be something that may have been undetectable back then, that people can see now.

I also agree Ms. Suzanne, records could have been easily falsified, there were lots of cover ups in institutions and orphanages. Cases of abuse and such were not as big of a deal in these places as they would have been outside of them. Of course, this is because there was nobody there to stand up for these people. And even those who were genuine and worked at these facilities couldn't handle proper care for everyone on their own.
Just out of curiosity, does anyone think his death may have been an accident and then a cover up, or or purposeful, with long term abuse?

 

[Ms Suzanne]

I also believe the investigators back then left no stone unturned. I hope that fresh eyes have been working on this case presently, because technology has come a long way. There has to be something that may have been undetectable back then, that people can see now.

I also agree Ms. Suzanne, records could have been easily falsified, there were lots of cover ups in institutions and orphanages. Cases of abuse and such were not as big of a deal in these places as they would have been outside of them. Of course, this is because there was nobody there to stand up for these people. And even those who were genuine and worked at these facilities couldn't handle proper care for everyone on their own.
Just out of curiosity, does anyone think his death may have been an accident and then a cover up, or or purposeful, with long term abuse?

I totally agree with you.I looked at many things about who this little one could be.There was abuse in orphanages,foster homes.Homes for retarded children ect...Here is an example.
John J Reilly.He had homes for retarded children in Pennsylvania.Deaths did happen in these places and cover ups.Where was this guy before 1958.


http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...9735&dq=john+j+reilly+home+for+retarded&hl=en

 

[Ms Suzanne]

There are many.Another example.

Lillian Bedford Philadelphia.Where was she is 1957?

http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/n...rothers-Death.html?page=1&comments=1&showAll=

 

[O'Really]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone think his death may have been an accident and then a cover up, or or purposeful, with long term abuse?

Remington Bristow believed that the case would have been solved quickly if it wasn't labeled as a homicide. That possibly the parents accidentally killed him. That they would fear coming forward with information since they'd be charged with murder. Bristow believed that the boy was laid out with care, wrapped in a blanket, placed in a box, etc. and a person who would intentionally murder a child would not treat their remains that way.

I'm not certain how I feel about the accident possibility, since he was underweight and thoroughly bruised up. Cause of death-multiple head injuries. Manner of death- undetermined. Leaves a lot of questions.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

I feel he possibly died as an accident or in a fit of rage getting his hair cut(I feel it wasn't finished).I said before I felt he changed caretakers the day he died or the day before.There was no other bruises in different stages of healing.I do not feel he was abused.Not physically anyway.Someone could not have fed him for punishment or neglect or something.I don't know.I do not feel he was abused.

I feel someone could not take care of him because they were very poor and possibly gave him or turned him over to someone they thought could and would be able to take care of him better or Child Welfare DHS removed him from their home.No matter what happened.I do very strongly feel there is a cover up somewhere.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Remington Bristow believed that the case would have been solved quickly if it wasn't labeled as a homicide. That possibly the parents accidentally killed him. That they would fear coming forward with information since they'd be charged with murder. Bristow believed that the boy was laid out with care, wrapped in a blanket, placed in a box, etc. and a person who would intentionally murder a child would not treat their remains that way.

I'm not certain how I feel about the accident possibility, since he was underweight and thoroughly bruised up. Cause of death-multiple head injuries. Manner of death- undetermined. Leaves a lot of questions.

I don't know why Remington Bristow thought that he was layed out for burial.I look at the picture of this little boy in the box and if that is indeed a crime scene photograph.I do not see his arms folded across his chest like he says they were.In Jim Hoffmann's book The boy in the box:Americas unknown child on page 19 Autopsy it says His arms were laying on each side of his torso with the palms apparently facing down.I personally do need feel he was prepared for burial.I feel he was tossed,thrown away.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

If I may please add in David Stouts The boy in the box The unsolved case of America's unknown child.There are other morgue autopsy photographs of this little boy.Two photographs of him are not public.They are very sad pictures.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Can someone please help me find out More on this? I found something actually by accident.I was not looking for this.I was looking for farms near Susquehanna rd near where this little boy was found and I noticed on pine rd there was a ury house-actually Medical Mission Sisters on pine rd.It's about 0.6 miles from where he was found.Was this a hospital or some thing where this little boy could have went to them or through them some how?They did say he was in ill health.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

This article was in 1991.Does someone know Did DHS use St Vincents Tacony to put children in 1957?Where did DHS Child welfare put little children in 1957?

http://articles.philly.com/1991-06-24/news/25787627_1_parents-jf-child-advocate

 

[Ms Suzanne]

This was written in 1990.

This is a lead I am very interested in if anyone knows about this please let me know.Maybe it should be looked into again.


http://articles.philly.com/1990-06-14/news/25913130_1_oldest-case-snyder-unsolved-murder/2


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Only a year ago, Snyder investigated a tip that the boy had been adopted by a Philadelphia family, but nothing came of that.

 

[LisaB]

If this case were givien more publicity I wonder if a kid from the home might come forward 50 years later.

If there was someone who knew him as a child, they may have been either too young to clearly remember him (ex. can you recall the faces of children you played with in kindergarten, and would you recognize their photo 55 years later?) or too old to remember clearly. And if the boy came from a foster home or orphanage, the other children may have been told he had been adopted... something that probably happened often... and never given it a second thought. Kids are gullible.

In 1957, there were still homes without TV sets, and young children were probably uninterested in anything but the "funny pages" in the newspaper. Not to mention the idea that a lot of INNOCENT parents may have concealed this from their children intentionally so as not to frighten them. The guilty ones almost CERTAINLY would have discarded a newspaper with his photo in it as soon as they saw it.

 

[LisaB]

Hey Suzanne, Good to see you back here!
I thought the bruises were a mix of old and new but the haircut bruises were new, I think thatts how they knew he had his hair cut recently.

Some hair trimmings were still on his body. They did not have roots, so they were presumably the cut ends from a haircut.