FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 8, 2022 / Identifinders International, in conjunction with the Philadelphia Police Department, is pleased to announced the identification of the Boy in the Box as four year-old Joseph Augustus Zarelli, a native of Philadelphia. The identification was announced by Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw this morning at a press conference at Philadelphia Police Headquarters.
Nicknamed "American's Unknown Child", the boy's body was found in a cardboard box on the shoulder of Susquehanna Road in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 25, 1957. He had been malnourished and had suffered extensive physical abuse. Extraordinary efforts were made at the time to identify him, including the distribution of 400,000 flyers bearing his likeness, but without results.
The boy was originally buried in Philadelphia's Potter's Field, but 1998 his remains were removed to a grave in Ivy Hill cemetery in Cedarbrook, Philadelphia. In 2016, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) created a facial reconstruction of the child and entered him into its database. He was exhumed again in 2019 in the hope of obtaining biological material that would yield higher quality DNA.
Although many theories have been advanced through the years, his identity has remained a mystery until now.
"This case presented unique challenges because of the age of the remains and the very poor condition of the DNA," said Colleen Fitzpatrick, President of Identifinders. "Just the DNA analysis involved a collaboration of international experts over a period of two and a half years. We are honored that we are able to finally restore the boy's name to him".
"When law enforcement cannot prevent a crime from occurring, our mission is to make sure that we investigate all leads and gather evidence that will give victims a voice," said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw. " The science and technology that was instrumental in the identification of this child - one of our oldest unsolved homicides - gives me hope that we can continue to identify unknown victims of crime, and that no one will ever again have to wait this long for their name and the story of their life to be told."
"I'm forever grateful to have been given the opportunity to work on this case. This little boy will forever have a place in my heart. I'm thankful to all the investigators over the years that never forgot about him, and the importance of restoring his name," stated Misty Gillis, the forensic genetic genealogist on the case.
Although the boy has been identified the case is still considered an open homicide investigation.
Identifinders wishes to thank the many individuals and organizations that have supported our work on this case, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Vidocq Society, the International Commission on Missing Persons, and Audiochuck.
Identifinders International is a fee-based forensic service that works with law enforcement agencies and medical examiners to apply forensic genetic genealogy to solving violent crime cold cases and identifying unidentified remains. For more information, please visit www.identifinders.com.
For Media Relations contact media@identifinders.com
SOURCE: Identifinders International LLC
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