The Unsolved Killing of the Boy in the Box

On February 25, 1957, the naked body of a young boy was found in a cardboard box in Fox Chase. Despite decades of investigation, the child's identity remained unknown for 65 years — he was known only as "America's Unknown Child." In 2022, genetic genealogy finally identified him as Joseph Augustus Zarelli. He is buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery, in a grave long marked "America's Unknown Child," and his killer has never been found. The case remains Philadelphia's most haunting cold case.