Joseph Augustus Zarelli
For 65 years, a four-year-old homicide victim was known only as “the Boy in the Box.” In December 2022, Philadelphia police identified him as Joseph Augustus Zarelli through forensic genetic genealogy. Giving him his name resolved one mystery; authorities have not determined who killed him.
- Period
- 1957
- Location
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Case status
- Victim identified · homicide unsolved
A child without a name
On February 25, 1957, a college student discovered a cardboard bassinet box in a wooded area of Philadelphia’s Fox Chase neighbourhood. Inside was the body of a young boy. Investigators estimated that he was between four and six years old and determined that his death was a homicide.
No missing-child report produced a match. With no name to begin from, detectives circulated descriptions of the child, his clothing, a blanket and the box. A police poster was displayed across the region, and photographs were distributed on an extraordinary scale for the period.
Decades of investigation
Detectives checked schools, hospitals, foster homes and missing-person reports. They followed tips across the United States and overseas. Many theories became attached to the case, but none gave police evidence sufficient to identify the child or charge a killer.
The child was buried under a marker reading “Heavenly Father, Bless This Unknown Boy.” In 1998, his remains were exhumed so investigators could obtain material for DNA testing. He was reburied at Ivy Hill Cemetery, where the marker called him “America’s Unknown Child.”
Genetic genealogy changes the search
DNA technology improved, but building a usable profile from remains more than six decades old required repeated work. Investigators exhumed the child again in 2019. Specialists developed a genetic profile and compared it with profiles voluntarily uploaded to genealogy databases.
Genealogists did not find a label naming the victim. They identified distant relatives, constructed family trees and narrowed the possibilities through birth records and further DNA comparison. Traditional detective work was then used to test the genealogical conclusion.
His name was Joseph Augustus Zarelli
On December 8, 2022, Philadelphia police announced that the child was Joseph Augustus Zarelli, born January 13, 1953. The identification restored a name and a family connection after sixty-five years. Police said both of Joseph’s parents were dead and did not publicly name them at the announcement.
Officials stressed that identifying Joseph did not solve his murder. Detectives said they had suspicions but would not identify anyone without evidence that could support an accusation. The department announced a reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
The remaining question
The scientific achievement closed the oldest part of the mystery: who the child was. It also changed the investigation by giving detectives a family, an address history and a defined circle of people to examine.
The passage of time remains a severe obstacle. Potential witnesses have died, memories have faded and many records no longer exist. Joseph’s case is therefore both a landmark identification and an active warning that a name, however important, is not the same as proof of who committed a homicide.
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