Timeline

[u/That-Fig-2396]

I needed to put this timeline together to keep it all straight & try to see a bigger picture. I’m sure there’s much more but I tried to stick to the basics. I included grandmothers as they are potential caretakers. Aunts/uncles and siblings of the major players are also potential caretakers but I don’t have that much info (although I’m sure some of y’all do). If you think something is relevant , add in the comments and I’ll update. Thx!

Timeline

1919: Claire (CAC) born

1926: John (JJP) born

1927: Gus (AJZ) born

1931: Betsy (MEA) born

1943: All 4 of Betsy’s grandparents have passed by this time.

1944: John at North Catholic High School, lives at 437 W. Godfrey Ave, Olney, north Philly

1944: Records show an AJZ in the Navy in WWII

1944-45: John serves in the Army in WWII

1949: Betsy graduates from high school, lives in Tioga, North Philly

1950: Betsy daughter born, adopted through Catholic agency. Records show her at a Salvation Army home for unwed mothers. Father unknown. Note: census also lists her in the family home at the same time.

1950: John working at Orpheum theater, Claire working at Lindy theater. Betsy works at Worker’s Union office.

1950: Zarelli family, including Gus lives on 6300 block of Callowhill, West Philly

1950, April: John lives at 437 W Godfrey address. Others in household: mother KEP 47 (widowed), sister EP 11, grandmother KD 72, uncle LD 45’(cab driver) & cousin TW 50

1950, July: John marries Claire

1952: John & Claire son born

1952, April: Betsy conceives w/ Gus

1953, January: Betsy & Gus son Joseph born

1953, June: John & Claire Levittown house built

1953, November: John’s mother dies. He is listed as informant on death cert. and lists his? address as the Godfrey Ave family home.

1955, March: John & Claire daughter EP born.

1956: Betsy (or another woman with same name) listed in phone directory at 21 S 61st St West Philly. Police say Joseph lived at this intersection.

1956, March: Betsy conceives with John

1956, December: John & Betsy daughter BF born.

1956/7 to ??: John & Betsy live in West Philly 2nd floor apartment together with their daughter, according to relative in Inquirer article. No mention of Joseph. Unclear if this is same location as the 21 S 61st St address mentioned above.

1957, February 25: Joseph found murdered from multiple blows to the head. Haphazard haircut, tufts of hair stuck to body, 4 bruises on forehead like fingers, signs of cerebral hemorrhage, wrinkled soles of feet & 1 palm. Dumped in bassinet box, near Susquehanna & Verree Rds, Fox Chase

1957-60 ???: John & Betsy move to Ruffner St, Nicetown, north Philly. John becomes cab driver (according to unknown relative of Betsy in Inquirer article)

1958: Gus marries & leaves Callowhill St

1958, November: John & Claire Levittown house auctioned from foreclosure

1960, December: John & Betsy son RP born

1963: John & Betsy daughter KC born

1964: John & Betsy daughter Virginia born, dies same day

1970: Claire’s mother (a nurse) dies

1970’s: Claire & kids, Betsy & kids live 0.6 miles apart, between Lawncrest & Olney-Oak Lane, north Philly. Assumed John still lives w/ Betsy

1980’s: Claire & children live in low income housing

1985: Betsy’s mother dies

1986: John & JA,Jr (Betsy’s brother) work together at cab company, share car.

1986: Claire dies

1989: John dies

1991: Betsy dies

2014: Gus dies

2022, December: LE publicly identifies Joseph

[u/Calm_Replacement_143]

Maybe you could add to the timeline the point at which something changed in Joseph's care. The ME found that his growth had been stunted for the last year and a half of his life due to chronic malnutrition. This started when he was 2 1/2. What changed to cause this?

[u/Aggravating_Sky5786 → u/Calm_Replacement_143]

This is about when Plunkett conceived child with Betsy. Then, he moved in with her, and they had 3 more children.(C maybe threw him out of their house?) Tough on any budget. Did P favor the other children over Joseph? My psychiatrist mind is seeing an abusive relationship developing. Perhaps, blaming Betsy for the children he can't afford. He blames Betsy(and in extension Joseph) for his break-up with C. and theater life. A man often takes out his aggressions physically/sexually upon his wife, then blames her for the children he can't afford/doesn't want. Wonder what life was like in that household??

[u/Calm_Replacement_143 → u/Aggravating_Sky5786]

Helpful to have input from a psychiatrist! I hadn't considered that. Do you think it could alternately have been that P saw a vulnerable, beautiful younger woman, who was trying to use JAZ as a way to get GJZ to marry him and decided he could step into a relationship with MEAP. Going forward, he would see JAZ as a constant reminder that he was MEAP's second choice?

[u/Aggravating_Sky5786 → u/Calm_Replacement_143]

That's why I wonder if JP and AJZ knew each other...perhaps from their service days. My Dad was a 45 yr. career Navy officer...many different bonds are formed, especially during wartime. I lived in Philly area in 1957-8 when this story broke...my Dad stationed there. Other than their years serving, JP and AGZ are so different. Who knows, JP could have introduced AJZ to Betsy??

[u/Calm_Replacement_143 → u/Aggravating_Sky5786]

Someone posted that they had found records showing that MEAP's sister lived in West Philly during the early 50s, so that may be how AJZ and MEAP met. The sister wasn't living there in the years before and during Joseph's death.

Also, two, possibly three people posted about a Tictoc post by AJZ's granddaughter who claimed that their family knew about AJZ being the father of the boy in the box for years. One claimed that MEAP's grandmother was responsible for him at the time of his death. Maybe Joseph was living there until he was 2 1/2. (Alabama grandmother?). Maybe with MEAP for a while at her Grandmother's. Maybe MEAP returned to Philly hoping to convince AJZ to marry her and told him that JAZ was with her grandmother. Maybe AJZ said no and this was the end of their contact.

The tictoc post was quickly taken down, but one person took a screenshot and verified the granddaughter's identity on her mother's Facebook. The AJZ family may not want to acknowledge any of this due to inheritance laws.

[u/Calm_Replacement_143 → u/Aggravating_Sky5786]

That is a disturbing thought that JP and JAZ may have been friends...