65 Year Old Case Finally Found the Victim’s Name

Cody Luce, Writer

The boy in the box’s unsolved mystery was named.I couldn’t find any date but the name was found in Philadelphia.

First things first let’s see how this case came to be (BUT WARNING THIS CASE IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART)  “The Boy in the Box Case” is one of the most well known unsolved mysteries. In February 23, 1957 a boy was found dead in the woods. He was found inside a cardboard box in Philly by a hunter who was checking his muskrat traps. The odd thing about the hunter was when he saw the body he didn’t report it because he knew muskrat traps were illegal. Two days later a college student named Frederick Benosis found the body. He didn’t report it until a day later. When the authorities got involved they called this case  “America’s Unknown Child”. The boy was found naked and his hands and feet were wrinkled leading people to think he was submerged in water (like a tub) before he died. Detectives saw a dark substances possibly leading detectives to think he vomited before he passed. The way the boy was possibly killed was by blunt force trauma to the head. Even though the case got a bunch of media attention no one came forward to identify the boy. However in 2002 a psychiatrist contacted the authorities saying that she had information revolving the case. She said that a patient of hers named Mary confided that her parents had bought the boy and used him as a sex toy. According to Mary her mother had been bathing the boy when he suddenly threw up. The mother, angered by this, beat him to death. Mary’s mother then went to northeast Philadelphia woods where they wrapped the boy in a blanket placed him in a box and left him there. Investigators were convinced Mary was telling the truth.

In Philadelphia the boy name was found and it was thought to be Joseph Augustus Zarelli using DNA and genetic genealogy to find this information.

Police are trying to find the culprit, but the culprit has likely already passed.