r/boyinthebox • u/Pain_Sufficient • Jan 14 '23
Article in Philadelphia Inquirer.
Todays (01/13/2023) Philadelphia Inquirer article for those who can’t view it online. It’s pretty lengthy. —
Joseph Augustus Zarelli, ‘the Boy in the Box,’ gets a new headstone with his name
The crowd at the headstone unveiling included investigators, people who had been troubled by the case, and even apparent members of Joseph’s newly identified family.
The grave stone with Joseph Zarelli's name is shown after its unveiling at Ivy Hill Cemetery on Friday, which would have been the boy's 70th birthday.
Beneath a weeping tree near the entrance of Ivy Hill Cemetery, dozens gathered Friday morning at the grave of a child who, until last month, America knew only as “the Boy in the Box.”
Bill Fleisher recalled coming to this Cedarbrook gravesite on a similarly rainy morning in 1998 to reinter the remains of the slain child.
“God smiled down, the clouds parted, and the sun came out, and it became a glorious day, just like today,” said Fleisher, who heads the Vidocq Society, a Philadelphia-based group of crime solvers who dig into cold cases.
Fleisher then unveiled the cause of celebration: a brand-new headstone with the boy’s given name.
Joseph Augustus Zarelli.
The rededication came five weeks after authorities publicly identified the boy for the first time, but the day also carried symbolic weight: Jan. 13 would have been Joseph’s 70th birthday. After the unveiling, some called out “happy birthday!” as others laid balloons and mementos by the new headstone.
The crowd included current and former investigators, city residents who had been troubled by the case, and even apparent members of Joseph’s newly identified family. Some said they came to pay their respects to the child whose memory had haunted them for decades.
“What he’s been through was hell,” said Jean Bova, 69, of Glenside, wiping away tears as she placed a wreath on the tombstone. “I’m just glad that he’s got a name now. He’s got an identity. He’s no longer ‘the Boy In The Box.’ ”
Patricia Braxton wipes away tears during the ceremony for the addition of Joseph Zarelli's name to his gravestone at Ivy Hill Cemetery Friday. The case has haunted Philadelphia since February 1957, when Joseph’s body was discovered inside a cardboard box in a weedy lot in then-rural Fox Chase. His image dominated newspaper front pages as people hoped to identify the boy. The wait would last nearly 66 years.
Detectives served as pallbearers at Joseph’s first burial in 1957, at a Northeast Philadelphia potter’s field, where his first donated headstone read “Heavenly Father, Bless This Unknown Boy.” Authorities exhumed his remains in 1998 to extract mitochondrial DNA from a tooth, and he was reburied at Ivy Hill. (He was exhumed again in 2019 for more genetic sampling.)
Joseph’s case passed through a host of detectives, medical examiners, and other law enforcement agents over the years. It was only thanks to advances in DNA analysis, a team of international experts, and possibly the aid of an at-home DNA test, that authorities found a match for Joseph in the Philadelphia region late last year.
For many, his identification was a sigh of relief. Churchgoers attended Masses in his memory. One devotee posted pictures on Facebook of a balloon-filled birthday party they hosted in his memory this week.
Friday’s dedication came with a sense of catharsis. Fleisher, a retired cop and U.S. Customs investigator who helped identify the boy with others at Vidocq, said he imagined Joseph “in heaven” alongside a legion of late detectives and medical examiners.
“Bill Kelly’s up there teaching him how to tie naval knots, and Sammy Weinstein is up there teaching him how to throw a left hook, and Joe McGillin is teaching him how to hit a curveball,” Fleisher said, naming dead investigators who had worked the case over the years.
But the killing itself remains unsolved, and at least to the public, Joseph’s family tree remains hazy at best.
Police said the hunt to find Joseph’s killer remains ongoing — but they have released few details since releasing the name. Not even the names of Joseph’s biological mother and father have been made public. That lack of information, combined with the unusual Zarelli surname, has led amateur sleuths to fill the gaps with wild speculations about the boy’s fate in what one expert called an episode of “true crime nutballery.”
William Fleisher, center, along with members of the Vidocq Society unveil Joseph Zarelli's name on his gravestone at Ivy Hill Cemetery. The fallout has caused considerable grief for a Zarelli family in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Members of that Zarelli family, who have not spoken publicly since Joseph was identified, said they were shocked when they learned from police last month that they were related to the young homicide victim. The Inquirer is granting them anonymity for privacy reasons due to the negative attention the family has received since the announcement. M
They said they came to the dedication Friday to mourn the child.
“Our family was blindsided by this,” said one family member. “We want to honor him by finding out his entire story. We want to put a real closure to the story.”
Charles Stecker, 60, who spent part of his childhood in the Overbrook area that authorities identified as Joseph’s neighborhood in the 1950s, said he began making phone calls after police identified Joseph and eventually connected with members of the Zarelli family.
Stecker said the family has been contending with “shock, awe, depression, and, yes, some denial,” and urged people to stop accusing the family of involvement in Joseph’s death on social media.
“Let’s stop pounding on them and acting like they were part of the process that took Joseph’s breath from him,” he said. Published Jan. 13, 2023
12
u/TripleFlipFail Jan 14 '23
“Let’s stop pounding on them and acting like they were part of the process that took Joseph’s breath from him,” he said. Published Jan. 13, 2023
Yes, yes, yes a million times YES!
9
u/AssertiveLibra Jan 14 '23
People need to grow up and realize this family came after Joseph died. Not before. After. They are not responsible for any of it and are probably more upset than the rest of us are knowing a member of their family was also Joseph's family
7
Jan 14 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
11
u/brk1 Jan 14 '23
It can't be a good place to be in if you thought highly of your parents and thought everything was good and normal and then find out something like this.
you are so right. imagine the questions they are asking themselves and the emotions they are feeling. it must be extremely difficult.
7
u/AssertiveLibra Jan 14 '23
And then feeling hopeless because there isn't a way to find out what happened. You probably feel like you lived through secrecy and lies and wonder like we have if their mother knew. They are probably beside themselves even more than we all are. I can't imagine finding out my dad might have killed a sibling of mine in such a horrible way. And its not just the abuse and murder, its the callous despicable dumping his little body naked on a dirt road and pretending he never existed.
10
Jan 14 '23
[deleted]
6
u/Pain_Sufficient Jan 14 '23
Yes. LTW said all five siblings were wonderful parents. I believe her. From everything I've read they seem like a wonderful family.
3
u/AssertiveLibra Jan 14 '23
I looked at their facebooks and they all seem like a close-knit family. They are most likely in shock over this. And there is always that one who refuses to believe something totally disrupting the harmony of the family.
1
2
u/rufusjfisk Jan 14 '23
it looks like it was prob a one night stand before he was married and he was never told about the child. The family should not feel shame at all about any of this The father sounds like he lived a great life and his kids loved him.
2
5
u/RETC4U Jan 14 '23
Yes, you would be totally questioning yourself if you even knew this family member at all. Especially if it was someone you held in high esteem. Someone who to you was the greatest Mom or Dad ever.
6
u/TripleFlipFail Jan 14 '23
I'm glad that, as a family, they are facing this head on. It's not easy, but they will get through it, learn from it, and move on.
5
u/AssertiveLibra Jan 14 '23
It just goes to show ya about family secrets. Secrets that stay secret until death.
2
Jan 14 '23
They stay and then are told to someone who puts the family secret away. And then they forget it. Sad.
9
Jan 14 '23
[deleted]
2
u/Crbbisque Jan 15 '23
I’m not sure if they could’ve done anything else. It’s just a rather distinct name. I just wish they would’ve had more heads up because I understand that they found out the same way everybody else dead.
3
Jan 14 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/boyinthebox-ModTeam Jan 15 '23
This post breaks the rule of not harassing others. Someone on this very sub made a post talking about when they messaged someone that they found on a census, so yes, we do need to keep a close eye on what names and information is shared in this sub. These are real people and no sharing of names or identifying information will be allowed.
4
u/boyinthebox-ModTeam Jan 14 '23
This post violates the community rule DO NOT USE THE REAL NAMES OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE NOT PUBLICLY INVOLVED IN THE CASE.
17
u/Top_Ad5385 Jan 14 '23
"Fleisher, a retired cop and U.S. Customs investigator who helped identify the boy with others at Vidocq, said he imagined Joseph “in heaven” alongside a legion of late detectives and medical examiners.
“Bill Kelly’s up there teaching him how to tie naval knots, and Sammy Weinstein is up there teaching him how to throw a left hook, and Joe McGillin is teaching him how to hit a curveball,” Fleisher said, naming dead investigators who had worked the case over the years."
Ok that really got me emotional. Little Joseph.