Forensic genetic genealogy helped Philadelphia police break new ground in the decades-old "Boy in the Box" mystery on Thursday, identifying the unknown child as Joseph Augustus Zarelli.
For 65 years the nation has been waiting for investigators to determine the identity of the boy who became known as America’s Unknown Child or “The Boy in the Box.” Now, we know that child was Joseph Augustus Zarelli.
While news of the possession and mishandling of remains of two children of the MOVE family is considered abhorrent and shocking to many biological anthropologists, many of us â particularly Black and Indigenous biological anthropologists â were not surprised. This is not because we approve of the use of identified victimsâ remains in curation, display, or instruction. We do not. It is unremarkable because the structures that birthed and surround the practice of anthropology have their foundations in racist and colonialist ideologies. And until recently, academia and science have struggled to engage with these histories.
As biological anthropologists we recognize and are grateful for the contributions that research with the remains of past and willed individualsâ (those who have donated their body to science) has provided our understanding of human evolution, health, and history. We are also aware of the important insight forensic examinations can provide in asses