Philadelphia police will reveal the identity of the “Boy in the Box” next week and sources say the most recent DNA evidence links him to a prominent family in Delaware County, according to a staff report from NBC10.

A boy between the ages of three and seven was found dead on February 25, 1957. He was naked and severely beaten and left in a cardboard box in Philadelphia’s Fox Chase neighborhood.

For decades, the child was only known as “the Boy in the Box.”

“The longest continuously investigated homicide in the history of the Philadelphia Police Department,” said Bill Fleisher, of the Vidocq Society, a volunteer organization made up of retired law enforcement and forensic professionals who focus on cold cases.

Through DNA evidence, the police were finally able to identify the boy and find his birth certificate. His name will be announced at next week’s news conference.

There were several tips and theories over the years to the boy’s identity but most have been debunked.

Now that the boy’s identity is known, the search for his killer will continue.

“The investigation will start all over again and then we’ll start searching for a suspect,” said Philadelphia Police Captain Jason Smith.

Read more about the case at NBC10.

Here is the news story from NBC10.