Boy in the Box (Philadelphia)
| "The Boy in the Box" | |
|---|---|
1957 poster
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| Born | approx. 1950 - 1953 |
| Status | Unidentified for 60 years, 2 months and 1 day |
| Died | February 1957 (aged 3-7) |
| Cause of death | Homicide by blunt force trauma |
| Body discovered | February 25, 1957 Fox Chase, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Resting place | Ivy Hill Cemetery, Cedarbrook, Philadelphia |
| Other names | "America's Unknown Child" |
| Known for | Unidentified victim of homicide |
| Height | 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) |
| Weight | 30 lb (14 kg) |
The "Boy in the Box" is the name given to an unidentified murder victim, 3 to 7 years old, whose naked, battered body was found in a cardboard box in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 25, 1957. He is also commonly called "America's Unknown Child." His identity has never been discovered and the case remains open.
In February 1957, the boy's body, wrapped in a plaid blanket, was found in the woods off Susquehanna Road in Fox Chase, Philadelphia. The naked body was inside a cardboard box which had once contained a bassinet of the kind sold by J. C. Penney. The boy's hair had been recently cropped, possibly after death, as clumps of hair clung to the body. There were signs of severe malnourishment, as well as surgical scars on the ankle and groin, and an L-shaped scar under the chin.
The body was first 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 too was reluctant to have any contact with the police, but he did report his find the following day.
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.
The case attracted massive media attention in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The Philadelphia Inquirer pressed 400,000 flyers depicting the boy's likeness, which flooded the area, and were included with every gas bill in Philadelphia. The crime scene was combed over and over again by 270 police academy recruits, who discovered a child's blue corduroy cap, a child's scarf, and handkerchief; all clues that lead nowhere. The police even went so far as to distribute a postmortem photograph of the boy fully dressed and in a seated position, as he may have looked in life, in the hopes it may lead to a clue. Despite the publicity and sporadic interest throughout the years, the boy's identity is still unknown. The case remains unsolved to this day.
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Wikipedia