His name was Joseph
"America's Unknown Child" is finally identified.
One of America’s most haunting unsolved mysteries has been solved after 65 long years:
He was found severely beaten, naked, malnourished and stuffed inside a cardboard box on the side of a Philadelphia road. The brutality of his death shocked people’s consciousness – and the question of his identity for decades vexed both area residents and investigators alike.
Now the boy, whose headstone for years read only "America's Unknown Child,” is finally known. Citing advancements in DNA technology, law enforcement officers and genealogical experts on Thursday put a name to the “Boy in the Box:” Joseph Augustus Zarelli of West Philadelphia. Born on Jan. 13, 1953, Zarelli was only four years old when he was murdered and his body abandoned in a wooded area in 1957.
“Now our lad is no longer that ‘Boy in the Box.’ He has a name, and I was raised to believe that when you say the name out loud of a loved one, that person still lives in spirit amongst us,” said Bill Fleisher, of the Vidocq Society. “S…
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