On Jan. 13, Joseph Augustus Zarelli, known as Philadelphia’s “Boy in the Box,” would have turned 73.
Instead, the 4-year-old was found dead in a cardboard box in 1957 in a Fox Chase neighborhood. He went unidentified for 65 years, writes Hayden Mitman for NBC 10 Philadelphia.
In 2022, with help from the Vidocq Society, the “Boy in the Box” was identified through DNA testing as Joseph Zarelli.
The Vidocq Society is an expert volunteer group that helps law enforcement resolve cold cases.
Now the Vidocq Society has launched a nationwide initiative to ID all unidentified child murder victims in America.
The group will combine DNA testing, genetic genealogy, and other methods to make that possible.
The initiative was announced in a ceremony at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, where Zarelli has been laid to rest in a grave with a newer marker that now bears his name, next to a marker labeled “America’s Unknown Child.” His murder remains unresolved.
“He’s a symbol of all the children that haven’t been identified yet, and the idea that they can be identified if the right resources and efforts are put forth in investigating these America’s unknown children,” said Bill Fleisher of the Vidocq Society.
Read more details about Joseph Zarelli and the Vidocq Society’s initiative at NBC 10 Philadelphia.
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