True Crime Collection

The Boy In The Box

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 was 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 underbush. 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 what he had found the following day.

The police received the report and opened an investigation on 26th February, 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 printed 400,000 flyers depicting the boy's likeness, which was sent out and posted across 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 man's blue corduroy cap, a child's scarf, and a man's white handkerchief with the letter "G" in the corner; all clues that led to nowhere. The police also distributed a post mortem photograph of the boy fully dressed and in a seated position, as he may have looked in life, in the hope it might 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.

On 21st March, 2016, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children released a forensic facial reconstruction of the victim and added him into their database.

In August 2018 Barbara Rae-Venter, the genetic genealogist who helped to identify the Golden State Killer using a DNA profiling technique, said that she was using the same method to try to identify the Boy in the Box. Amateur groups that use online databases, such as the Doe Network and Websleuths, have also tried to solve his identity.

Many tips and theories have been advanced in the case. Although most of these have been dismissed, two theories have generated considerable interest among the police and media. They have each been extensively investigated.

One theory concerns a foster home that was located approximately 1.5 miles from the site of the body.
In 1960, Remington Bristow, an employee of the medical examiner's office who doggedly pursued the case until his death in 1993, contacted the New Jersey psychic, who told him to look for a house that matched the foster home. When the psychic was brought to the Philadelphia discovery site, she led Remington directly to the foster home.

Upon attending an estate sale at the foster home, Remington discovered a bassinet similar to the one sold at J.C. Penney. He also discovered blankets hanging on the clothes line that were similar to the one in which the boy's body had been wrapped. Remington believed that the boy belonged to the stepdaughter of the man who ran the foster home, and that they disposed of his body so the stepdaughter would not be exposed as an unwed mother. He theorised that the boy's death had been an accident.

Despite this circumstantial evidence, the police were not able to find many definite links between the Boy in the Box and the foster family.

In 1998, Philadelphia police lieutenant Tom Augustine, who is in charge of the investigation, and several members of the Vidocq Society, interviewed the foster father and the stepdaughter. The foster home investigation was closed.

Another theory was brought forward in February 2002 by a woman identified only as "Martha." Police considered "Martha"'s story to be plausible bit were troubled by her testimony, as she had a history of mental illness. "Martha" claimed that her abusive mother had "purchased" the unknown boy from his birth parents in the summer of 1954. Subsequently, the boy was subjected to extreme physical and sexual abuse for 2 and a half years. One evening at dinner, the boy vomited up his meal of baked beans and was given a severe beating, with his head slammed against the floor until he was semiconscious. He was given a bath, during which he died. These details matched the information known only to the police, as the coroner had found that the boy's stomach contained the remains of baked beans and that his fingers were water wrinkled.

"Martha"'s mother cut the boy's distinctive long hair in an effort to conceal his identity. "Martha"'s mother forced "Martha" to assist her in dumping the boy's body in the Fox Chase area. "Martha" said as they were preparing to remove the boy's body from the trunk of a car, a passing male motorist pulled alongside to inquire whether they needed help. "Martha" was ordered to stand in front of the car's licence plate to shield it from view while the mother convinced the would be Good Samaritan that there was no problem. The man eventually drove off. This story corroborated confidential testimony given by a male witness in 1957, who said that the body had been placed in a box previously discarded at the scene.

In spite of the outward plausibility of "Martha"'s confession, police were unable to verify her story. Neighbours who had access to "Martha"'s house during the stated time period denied that there had been a young boy living there and dismissed "Martha"'s claims as "ridiculous."

Forensic artist Frank Bender developed a theory that the victim may have been raised as a girl. The child's unprofessional haircut, which appeared to have been performed in haste, was the basis for the scenario, as well as the appearance of the eyebrows having been styled. In 2008 Frank released a sketch of the unidentified child with long hair, reflecting the strands found on the body.

In 2016, 2 writers, one from Los Angeles, California and the other from New Jersey, explained that they believed they had discovered a potential identity from Memphis, Tennessee and requested that DNA be compared between the family members and the child. The lead was originally discovered by a Philadelphia man and was presented, with the help of Jim Hoffmann, to the Philadelphia Police Department and the Vidocq Society in early 2013. In December 2013, Louis Romano became aware of the lead and agreed to help the man from Philadelphia and Jim to obtain the DNA from this particular family member in January 2014 - which was sent quickly to the Philadelphia Police Department. Local authorities confirmed that they would investigate the lead, but said they would need to do more research on the circumstances surrounding the link to Memphis before comparing DNA. In December 2017 Homicide Sgt. Bob Kulmeier confirmed that DNA taken from the Memphis man was compared to the Fox Chase boy, and there was no connection.

The Boy in the Box was originally buried in a potter's field. In 1998, his body was exhumed for the purpose of extracting DNA, which was obtained from enamel on a tooth. He was reburied at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Cedarbrook, Philadelphia, which donated a large plot. The coffin, headstone, and funeral service were donated by the son of the man who had buried the boy in 1957. There was significant public attendance and media coverage at the reburial. The grave has a large headstone bearing the words "America's Unknown Child." City residents keep the grave decorated with flowers and stuffed animals.