THE BOY IN THE BOX: AMERICA'S UNKNOWN CHILD

INTRODUCTION

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20th Century America was riddled with a large number of unidentified serial killers, kidnappings, and disappearances. In fact, a large portion of future articles will most likely have taken place during that time period. The Boy in the Box is no exception. Known as America’s Unknown Child, the identity of the boy and his murderers remain unknown today.

OCCURRENCE

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The boy’s body was found inside a box in February, 1957 in Philadelphia. His body had been found wrapped in a blanket; the box itself used to contain a child’s cradle and was purchased from the American department store J.C. Penney. Another man had initially discovered the boy’s body prior to the police being on scene. However, because that man set up animal traps around the area, he feared the police would remove the traps, and thus proceeded to not contact them.

Police assumed that, since the boy was young, a parent or parents may have been able to come forward and identify the body. Even after taking the fingerprints of the child, no match was found, and no one came forward with a positive identification. Police suspected this is mainly because of the boy’s appearance. Instead of appearing as a normal child, the boy appeared as if he had been abandoned for some time. He showed signs of malnourishment and his hair was in clumps and matted. The boy is estimated to have been between the ages of 3 and 7 at the time of his death. He was covered in surgical scars across his body, especially around the groin area. A few clues were found around the crime scene, but none of them produced a successful lead. Children’s clothing as well as a handkerchief were found at the scene. His death was eventually ruled as homicide by blunt-force trauma.

In an effort to identify the boy, over 400,000 flyers were distributed throughout the city and surrounding areas. The flyers were even included in every gas bill handed out by the city of Philadelphia. A post-death photo of the boy in clothing was also distributed. In 2016, an organization even did forensic facial reconstruction in hopes of being able to identify the boy. Despite the immense effort taken by authorities, the boy’s identity remains a mystery.

THEORIES

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There are two theories that may explain who the boy was.

The first theory states that the boy may have been the son of a foster home owner. An employee who helped investigate the case went to a psychic to seek help for the case. The psychic led the employee to a foster home near the crime scene. Once they were attending a sale of the foster home, the employee noticed several important clues. Firstly, the foster home contained cradles similar to ones sold at J.C. Penney. The blankets were also very similar to the blanket the boy was wrapped in. The employee suspected that the owner of the foster home accidentally killed the boy and got rid of his body, but this theory has been scrutinized for a lack of direct evidence.

The second theory is much more popular among theorists. In 2002, a woman only identified as “Martha” and “M” came forward to authorities. M claimed that her abusive mother bought the boy and that his name was Jonathan. M went further to describe that her mother severely tortured the boy for years, both physically and sexually. She then hauntingly states to authorities that, one night, the boy threw up baked beans. As punishment, his mom smashed his head on the floor, and the boy later died while taking a bath. Afterwards, M’s mother made M help dispose of the body. M was instructed to block the license plate of their car. A man did pass by and asked if they needed help, but he was shooed away by them. They left the scene once they were done.

The reason this testimony is very scary is because the medical office did find remnants of baked beans in the boy's stomach; they also stated that his fingers were water-wrinkled. Those details were never released to the public, so this account alarmed officials. However, when police interviewed neighbors, they stated they have never seen a boy at M's house. M had a history of mental health issues as well, so police were unable to verify her story.

America’s Unknown Child has gained a ton of attention from investigators, but his identity may never be disclosed, and his murderers may never be found.

SOURCES

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The Boy In The Box - Inside The Creepy Unsolved Mystery (https://allthatsinteresting.com/boy-in-the-box)

Boy in the Box (Philadelphia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_in_the_Box_(Philadelphia))