February 25, 1957 · Fox Chase, Philadelphia
The Boy in the Box: Joseph Zarelli
A boy found in a cardboard box in 1957, unnamed for sixty-five years. In 2022 he finally got his name back. No one has been charged. This is what Eli and Simone argued over.
ELIBefore we start, this one took 65 years to get a name. It still doesn't have a killer.
SIMONEAnd the body itself already told us who did it. We just didn't want to hear it.
ELIA body can't name a suspect.
SIMONEA body covered in old scars and new bruises absolutely can. It tells you it wasn't one bad night.
Two headstones
He was buried in 1957 under a donated stone for an unknown boy. A new one, with his name added, was dedicated in 2023.
- 1957Potter’s field near Dunks Ferry, Northeast Philadelphia
- PallbearersHomicide detectives
- The first stone“Heavenly Father, Bless This Unknown Boy”
- 2023Ivy Hill Cemetery: “America’s Unknown Child,” with his name added
ELIIn July of 1957, with no name and no family to claim him, Philadelphia detectives served as pallbearers at his funeral and buried him in a potter's field near Dunks Ferry in the far northeast of the city. The donated headstone read, Heavenly Father, bless this unknown boy
- 01 / 04 · THE FIRST TRY
A 1998 exhumation tried to pull mitochondrial DNA from a tooth. There wasn’t enough to identify him, and he was reburied, still unnamed.
- 02 / 04 · THE SECOND TRY
In 2019 a second exhumation recovered a fuller sample. Forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick described the DNA as “like confetti.”
- 03 / 04 · THE COUSINS
Genealogist Misty Gillis built a family tree from cousin matches on GEDmatch, “like a big Sudoku puzzle.”
- 04 / 04 · THE NAME
In December 2022 police announced he was Joseph Augustus Zarelli, born January 13, 1953.
ELIFitzpatrick described building the family tree from there like solving a giant Sudoku puzzle. You network the cousins together by figuring out where their branches married into each other, working inward from both directions until the branches only funnel to one person.
SIMONEAnd that's exactly what happened. Cousins on his mother's side and cousins on his father's side, independently, could only possibly connect through one individual. That's not a guess. That's two separate lines of evidence agreeing.
Two readings of a name
Same caseDNA broke it open.
Decades of tips and theories went nowhere because none of them was proof. One genetic-genealogy effort, built on cousins nobody knew about, did what those leads couldn’t. Proof, not a direction, is what a case needs.
The pattern was there all along.
Old scars, malnutrition and a haircut just before he died point to sustained, private abuse by someone who kept him hidden. A stranger doesn’t fit the physical record.
Police say they have suspicions. No suspect has been publicly named.
ELIMy case is that DNA is what actually broke this open, and DNA is what will finish it, if anything does. 65 years of psychics and confessions and foster home theories went nowhere, not because people weren't trying, but because none of it was proof. One genetic genealogy program, built on cousins nobody knew they had, did what six decades of leads couldn't.
SIMONEAnd my case is that the science gave him back his name. But the pattern was visible this whole time, sitting right there on his own body. Sustained, private, caregiver-level abuse by someone who kept him hidden from every system that should have known he existed.
Sixty-five years without a name
1953 to 2026- Joseph Augustus Zarelli is born. His identity will not be known for almost seventy years.
- Frederick Benonis reports finding a boy’s body in Fox Chase, in a cardboard box that once held a J.C. Penney bassinet.
- Homicide detectives serve as pallbearers at the funeral. He is buried in a potter’s field near Dunks Ferry.
- Remington Bristow, an investigator with the Medical Examiner’s office, follows a psychic tip to a foster home about 1.5 miles from the discovery site. He works the case until his death in 1993.
- Police re-interview the foster family and conclude they were not involved. A tooth yields too little DNA, and the boy is reburied at Ivy Hill Cemetery, still unnamed.
- A fuller DNA sample goes to forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick.
- Police confirm his identity. Capt. Jason Smith says they have suspicions about who is responsible.
- A new headstone is dedicated in 2023. Eight more unidentified remains are exhumed in 2024, and in 2026 the Vidocq Society launches a nationwide initiative for unidentified children.
Two readings
No winner“A body can’t name a suspect.”
- “That’s not evidence. That’s a hunch with a receipt attached.”
- “People refuse polygraphs for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with guilt.”
- “We need proof though. Not a direction. Proof.”
“A body covered in old scars and new bruises absolutely can.”
- “It tells you it wasn’t one bad night.”
- “I’m not arguing the Nicolettis did it.”
- “We got his name back. I’m not sure we get anything else.”
In their own words, from Episode 05.
No verdict.
ELIWe need proof though. Not a direction. Proof.
SIMONEWe do. We just might never get it. We got his name back. I'm not sure we get anything else.
- Who was responsible for Joseph, and why has no one ever been named?
- What did the foster home really tell investigators, and what was only coincidence?
- How many other unnamed children can the same method still reach?
Hear the whole debate
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