On February 25, 1957, a boy, wrapped in a plaid blanket, was discovered in the woods off Susquehanna Road in the Fox Chase neighborhood of Philadelphia. The body was found by a young man checking his rabbit traps, but he didn't report it for fear of losing his traps. Several days later, a college student stopped a rabbit near the area and, aware of the traps, investigated further, finding the body. Reluctant to involve the police, he reported the discovery the next day after learning of Mary Jane Barker's disappearance.
The naked body was inside a cardboard box from a J.C.Penney bassinet. The boy's hair had been recently cut, possibly after death, with clumps of hair clinging to the body. Signs of severe malnourishment, surgical scars on the ankle and groin, and an L-shaped scar under the chin were also observed.
Police opened an investigation on February 26, 1957, taking the boy's fingerprints, but no one came forward with useful information to identify him. The case garnered significant media attention, with 400,000 flyers distributed, including with gas bills in Philadelphia, and a post-mortem photograph of the boy in hopes of generating leads.
In 1998, DNA was extracted from a tooth after exhuming the body. In 2016, a forensic facial reconstruction was released by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The body was exhumed again in 2019 for additional DNA samples.
Identification
For decades, the child remained an unidentified murder victim. However, on November 30, 2022, the Philadelphia Police Department announced a breakthrough. Through genetic testing and investigative genetic genealogy, they identified the child and planned to provide a case update the following week. Sources revealed he belonged to a prominent family in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Authorities intended to leverage this new information to pursue suspects.
On December 8, 2022, the child was publicly identified as 4-year-old Joseph Augustus Zarelli, born on January 13, 1953. Genealogists had actually uncovered his name over a year earlier, in October 2021. Subsequently, on January 19, 2023, Zarelli's parents' names were reported.
The breakthrough came when a cousin uploaded DNA to a public database. Investigators then persuaded the cousin's mother (a first cousin of Zarelli) to submit a genetic profile to GEDmatch, which she did. This allowed investigators to identify Zarelli's parents. A court order for the child's birth certificate was obtained, confirming the child's name and his parents' names through DNA verification.
Theories Before Identification
The Foster Home
One theory centered on a foster home approximately 1.5 miles (2.5 km) from where the body was found.
In 1960, Remington Bristow, a worker at the medical examiner's office who pursued the case until his death in 1993, consulted a psychic from New Jersey. The psychic guided him to a house resembling the foster home. Upon visiting an estate sale at the foster home, Bristow found a bassinet similar to the one from J.C. Penney and blankets on the clothesline resembling the one in which the boy was wrapped. He speculated that the boy was the stepdaughter's child, and they disposed of him to hide her unwed status. However, police confirmed all foster children were present, and the family likely wasn't involved.
In 1998, Philadelphia police lieutenant Tom Augustine and members of the Vidocq Society interviewed the foster father and stepdaughter, closing the investigation into the foster home.
Martha or "M"
Another theory came from a woman known as Martha or "M" in February 2002. She accused her mother of acquiring and killing the child, claiming her parents bought a boy named Jonathan (later identified as Joseph Augustus Zarelli) from his birth parents in 1954. Police found her story plausible but were concerned due to her history of mental illness. They couldn't verify her claims, and neighbors denied the presence of a boy in Martha's home.
Other Theories
Forensic artist Frank Bender suggested the victim might have been raised as a girl, based on the child's unprofessional haircut and styled eyebrows. In 2008, Bender released a sketch depicting the child with long hair.
In 2016, writers Jim Hoffmann and Louis Romano believed they found a potential identity from Memphis, Tennessee, and requested DNA comparison with the family. The lead, discovered by a Philadelphia man and presented to authorities in 2013, didn't yield a match when DNA from the Memphis man was compared to the Fox Chase boy in 2017.
Burial
Initially laid to rest in a potter's field, Joseph Augustus Zarelli was reburied at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia's Cedarbrook section in 1998, with a generous plot donated by the cemetery. The coffin, headstone, and funeral service were provided by the son of the man who buried Joseph in 1957. His reburial drew significant public attendance and media coverage. City residents continue to decorate his grave with flowers and toys.
The original large headstone bore the inscription "America's Unknown Child," with a plaque beneath reading, "Heavenly Father, Bless This Unknown Boy." On January 13, 2023, which would have been Joseph's 70th birthday, a new memorial featuring his full name and image was unveiled, along with his name added to the existing headstone.
Homicide Investigation
During a December 2022 press conference, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Outlaw announced that Joseph's death remains an active homicide investigation, emphasizing the need for the public's assistance. Authorities disclosed that both of Joseph's biological parents are deceased, but he has living half-siblings.
At the same conference, Philadelphia law enforcement revealed that Joseph had lived in the area of 61st and Market streets. Captain Jason Smith of the Philadelphia police homicide unit remarked, "I don't know what the neighbors knew or didn't know... The child did live past the age of four years old, so there would have been somebody out there that would have seen this child, perhaps another family member that hasn't stepped forward, possibly a neighbor that remembers seeing that child, and remembers whatever was occurring at that particular household."
In January 2023, NBC10 Philadelphia reported that Joseph "was born to a couple that lived at 64th and Callowhill," though it was uncertain if he lived there long enough for people to notice him.
The Philadelphia Inquirer also reported in January 2023 that Joseph's biological parents were Augustus John Zarelli, known as "Gus," and Mary Elizabeth (née Abel) Plunkett, known as "Betsy."
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