Murder of Joseph Augustus Zarelli

Despite the publicity and sporadic interest throughout the years, the boy's identity remained unknown for decades. On November 30, 2022, the Philadelphia Police Department announced that detectives had determined the boy's identity using DNA and genealogical databases. On December 8, 2022, more than 65 years after his body was found, the boy was publicly identified as Joseph Augustus Zarelli during a press conference held by Philadelphia Police Department.

The child was an unidentified murder victim for decades. However, on November 30, 2022, the Philadelphia Police Department announced that they had identified the child through the use of genetic testing and investigative genetic genealogy, and that they would provide a case update in the following week. Sources stated that he was the child of a prominent family in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Authorities said that the investigation will use this new information to continue to search for suspects. On December 8, 2022, the child was publicly identified as 4-year-old Joseph Augustus Zarelli, born on January 13, 1953. Though genealogists had uncovered his name more than a year earlier, in October 2021.

In 1998, his body was exhumed for the purpose of extracting DNA, which was obtained from a tooth. On March 21, 2016, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children released a forensic facial reconstruction of the victim and added him into their database. The body was then exhumed yet again in 2019 to retrieve additional DNA samples.

In 2016, two writers, one from Los Angeles, California (Jim Hoffmann) and the other from New Jersey (Louis Romano), believed they had discovered a potential identity from Memphis, Tennessee, and requested that DNA be compared between the family members and the child. The lead was originally discovered by a Philadelphia man (who introduced Romano and Hoffmann to each other) and was developed and presented, with the help of Hoffmann, to the Philadelphia Police Department and the Vidocq Society in early 2013. In December 2013, Romano became aware of the lead and agreed to help the man from Philadelphia and Hoffmann to obtain the DNA from this particular family member in January 2014 – which was sent quickly to the Philadelphia Police Department. Local authorities confirmed that they would investigate the lead, but said they would need to do more research on the circumstances surrounding the link to Memphis before comparing DNA. In December 2017 Homicide Sgt. Bob Kuhlmeier confirmed that DNA taken from the Memphis man was compared to the Fox Chase boy, and there was no connection.

Forensic artist Frank Bender developed a theory that the victim may have been raised as a girl. The child's unprofessional haircut, which appeared to have been performed in haste, was the basis for the scenario, as well as the appearance of the eyebrows having been styled. In 2008 Bender released a sketch of the unidentified child with long hair, reflecting the strands found on the body.

Many theories have been advanced in the case. Although most have been dismissed, two theories generated considerable interest among the police and media and were extensively investigated. The first was that the child was from a foster home. The other theory was that he was related to a woman named "Martha" who came forward in 2002. Both theories were ultimately determined to be unconfirmed.

Another theory was brought forward in February 2002 by a woman identified only as Martha, or "M", accusing her mother of acquiring and killing the child. Police considered her story to be plausible but were troubled by her testimony, as she had a history of mental illness. Her story being that her mother and father purchased Joseph from his birth parents in the summer of 1954, after which he was beaten to death and his body left abandoned inside a box outside of town. Police were unable to verify her story. Neighbors who had access to Martha's house during the stated time period denied that there had been a young boy living there and dismissed Martha's claims as "ridiculous."

In 1998, Philadelphia police lieutenant Tom Augustine, who was in charge of the investigation, and several members of the Vidocq Society (a group of retired policemen and profilers), interviewed the foster father and the stepdaughter (whom he had married). The foster home investigation was closed.

In 1960, Remington Bristow, an employee of the medical examiner's office who doggedly pursued the case until his death in 1993, contacted a New Jersey psychic, who told him to look for a house that matched the foster home. When the psychic was brought to the Philadelphia discovery site, she led Bristow directly to the foster home.

On February 25, 1957, Zarelli's body, wrapped in a plaid blanket, was found in the woods off Susquehanna Road in Fox Chase, Philadelphia. The body was discovered by a young man who was checking his muskrat traps. Fearing that the police would confiscate his traps, he did not report what he had found. A few days later, a college student spotted a rabbit running into the underbrush. Knowing that there were animal traps in the area, he stopped his car to investigate and discovered the body. He was also reluctant to have any contact with the police, but he did report what he had found the following day, after hearing of the disappearance of Mary Jane Barker.

The police received the report and opened an investigation on February 26, 1957. The dead boy's fingerprints were taken, and police at first were optimistic that he would soon be identified. However, no one ever came forward with any useful information.

Joseph Augustus Zarelli was originally buried in a potter's field. He was reburied at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Cedarbrook, Philadelphia, which donated a large plot. The coffin, headstone, and funeral service were donated by the son of the man who had buried the boy in 1957. There was significant public attendance and media coverage at the reburial. The grave has a large headstone bearing the words "America's Unknown Child". City residents keep the grave decorated with flowers and toys.

Joseph Augustus Zarelli (January 13, 1953 – February 1957), previously known as the "Boy in the Box" and "America's Unknown Child", was a boy whose naked, extensively beaten body was found on the side of Susquehanna Road, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 25, 1957. He appeared to have been cleaned and freshly groomed, with a recent haircut and trimmed fingernails, although he had suffered extensive physical abuse before he died, with multiple bruises on his body. He was also found to be malnourished. The body was covered with scars, some of which were surgical (most notably on his ankle, groin, and chin). The police believe that the cause of death was homicide by blunt force trauma.