For 65 years, the identity of Philadelphia s Boy in the Box remained a mystery - until a breakthrough in October 2021 revealed his name: Joseph Augustus Zarelli.
Philadelphia police will identify the "Boy in the Box," a child whose body was found in 1957 in a cardboard box in the Fox Chase section of Northeast Philly, on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. The case of the boy's death has gone unsolved for decades, earning the child the nickname "America's Unknown Boy," but authorities now say DNA analysis has confirmed his identity. The "Criminology" podcast detailed the case in the 2020 episode.