Police have finally revealed the identity of the mysterious "Boy in the Box" to be Joseph Augustus Zarelli after 65 years. The infamous child also known as 'America's Unknown Child' was abandoned inside a box in 1957 in the Fox Chase neighbourhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Little Joseph was found naked inside a blanketed JCPenney bassinet box and had been visibly beaten as well as showing signs of malnutrition, the Mirror reports. Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw finally confirmed the identity of the youngster after six and a half decades and thanked everyone who had worked on the case over the years.
She stated: "Today, after 65 years, America's Unknown Child's name was finally restored. I want to thank all who have worked tirelessly since 1957 to give Joseph Augustus Zarelli his voice back. However, the search for justice continues."
At the time of the crime, police were unable to identify the child's killer and Joseph was buried in an unnamed grave that read "heavenly father bless this unknown boy".
Officers have confirmed that they have a suspect but are refusing to name them as it would be "irresponsible" at this time. Zarelli was born on January 13, 1953, and his true identity finally came to light after genealogists helped to identify his father.
Police said they also will not be naming the child's parents out of respect for Joseph's siblings. The long identification process began in 1998 when the body was exhumed to gain additional material for DNA testing.
The case was then uploaded into a FBI database in 2014 and the body was exhumed again in 2019 to gain additional samples. After a long two and a half years, the DNA was finally at a point where it could be properly studied for a match.
The naming of the victim of Philadelphia's longest unsolved homicide case is hoped to come as a relief to the family, as well as police officers who tirelessly worked on the investigation. Officer Bill Kelly who took the fingerprints of the boy on the day he was found passed away before the victim was named.
His granddaughter, Jessica Greene, has revealed that he ''never forgot the image of what he found". She said: "Those fingerprints were ingrained in his mind his whole life, and when he closed his eyes in his mind that's what he saw."
Bill's daughter added that her father would be "so happy" to know that Joseph had finally been named. The family of Detective Tom Augustine's who was a pallbearer when the body was reburied, said that the victim finally being identified brought them "closure".
Augustine's grandson said: "We grew up with those posters plastered in his office, in his house. We grew up knowing at a very young age who this was. It was a big part of not only his life, but our life."
Outlaw credited Augustine and his colleagues for showing "unending dedication" to the case. Joseph's grave will now be updated to mark their updated discovery.
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