In 1957, the body of an abused boy aged 4-6 was found in a cardboard box on a Philadelphia roadside. He remained unidentified for over 65 years until DNA analysis revealed his name in 2022.
February 25, 1957. The Fox Chase neighborhood of northeast Philadelphia. A large cardboard box — branded as a J.C. Penney baby bassinet — sat abandoned on the shoulder of Susquehanna Road.
A college student hunting rabbits was the first to spot it. He looked inside. Then he walked away, afraid that reporting it would expose his illegal hunting. Days later, another passerby alerted police.
Inside the box lay the body of a boy, estimated to be between four and six years old.
He had blue eyes and blond hair — though the hair had been crudely cut shortly before death. His small body bore dozens of scars and bruises, evidence of prolonged, severe abuse. Yet someone had carefully bathed him and neatly trimmed his fingernails, as if performing one final act of care.
He was malnourished. And he had nothing on him — no clothing, no identification, nothing — that could tell the world who he was.
Philadelphia police launched a massive identification effort. The boy's photograph was distributed nationwide. Over 400,000 flyers were handed out. Officers went door to door across the city.
No one came forward.
The boy became known as "America's Unknown Child." Those words were carved into his gravestone. For decades, no one knew his real name.
Over the years, several promising tips emerged.
In 1998, a woman — identified only as "Martha" — came forward anonymously. She claimed the boy had been a foster child in her household, and that her abusive mother had killed him during a bath and dumped the body. Her account was detailed and specific, but investigators could not find physical evidence to confirm it.
A nearby foster care institution, the Good Shepherd School, also drew suspicion. Records showed the institution had purchased a J.C. Penney bassinet matching the box. But administrators insisted all children in their care were accounted for.
In 2019, Philadelphia police and the FBI exhumed the boy's remains and subjected them to cutting-edge DNA analysis. Using genetic genealogy — the same technique that identified the Golden State Killer — investigators began building a family tree from the DNA.
In December 2022, the announcement came.
The boy's name was Joseph Augustus Zarelli. He was born around 1953 in Philadelphia. His mother was identified, but full details about the family have been withheld for legal reasons.
After 65 years as "America's Unknown Child," the boy finally had his name back.
But his killer has never been identified. No one has been charged. The question of who beat a small child to death and left him in a cardboard box on a cold Philadelphia roadside remains unanswered.
Joseph rests now at Ivy Hill Cemetery. He is no longer unnamed. But justice has not yet found its way to him.
