‘The Boy in the Box’ is reburied as ‘America’s Unknown Child’
At least 100 attended to pay their respects to the unidentified boy, who was killed 41 years ago.
This story was originally published in November 1998.
The first time they buried him, 41 years ago, it was in the potter’s field in the Far Northeast, a graveyard for executed prisoners, unidentified bodies, and body parts. The only people at the funeral were about a dozen police detectives and staff from the Medical Examiner’s Office who had taken up a collection to help pay the expenses. His tombstone read, “Heavenly Father, Bless This Unknown Boy.’”
His grave, the only one with a marker in that Northeast Philadelphia burial ground, was lovingly tended by strangers who lived nearby.
Last week, four decades later, the tiny murder victim’s body was exhumed so investigators could gather valuable DNA evidence.
Yesterday morning, just after the rain cleared, the child known only as the Boy in the Box was interred once again. This time, at least 100 people attended a graveside service as his tiny white casket stood against a backdrop of yellow leaves and blue sky near the elegant stone gates of the Ivy Hill Cemetery in Mount Airy.
At the head of the boy’s grave stood a new, black granite marker, carved with a lamb and a new name, “America’s Unknown Child.”
“Today, we are re-interring him and calling him America’s Unknown Child as a symbol of our nation’s abused children, missing children, and murdered children,’” said William Fleisher, head of the Vidocq Society, an organization of forensic professionals who work on unsolved cases. “We are validating this little boy’s life. Our mission is to go forward from this day and put a name on that tombstone.”
People who long ago were touched by the story of the boy whose mangled body was found inside a cardboard box attended the burial as well. Some brought flowers.
Rita O’Vary, a school-bus driver and pony-ride operator from Boyertown, clutched a bouquet of blue carnations that she said was from the children who ride her bus.
“I was 10 when it happened,” said O’Vary, 51. “My job revolves around children, and I never forgot him. The poor little guy. Somebody has to know who he is.”
Nancy Whelan, also 51, came from Havertown to pay her respects. “Keep in mind that when we were kids, this kind of thing never happened,” she said. “I’ve prayed for him my whole life and I just felt compelled to let him know we didn’t forget.”
The Boy in the Box is a murder mystery that riveted the city when he was found on Feb. 25, 1957, and continues to confound investigators today.
A college student stumbled across the boy in a brown cardboard box left on top of a trash pile in a wooded area off of Susquehanna Road in Fox Chase. There were few clues to his identity. He was clean, and his fine, blond hair had been crudely cut. Authorities believe he was 3 to 5 years old. Bruises covered his body, and the Medical Examiner ruled that he had died of blunt-force trauma.
The investigation was reopened recently by Homicide Detective Tom Augustine, retired Philadelphia Police Detective Sam Weinstein, and Fleisher of the Vidocq Society. Last month, a story on the boy aired on America’s Most Wanted, generating hundreds of new leads that the investigators are following.
As part of the renewed effort, authorities dug up the boy’s remains so they could take DNA samples in the hope that new genetic technology could lend a clue to his identity. Investigators said the DNA evidence would allow them to positively link somebody or rule somebody out. However, they have no leads.
Yesterday, an African Methodist Episcopal minister, a priest, and a rabbi gave prayers for the boy, and a bagpiper played a mournful tune.
Weinstein recited kaddish, his voice breaking at times. When he was finished, he walked to his seat next to Augustine’s, and the two men embraced.
The cemetery donated the gravesite. The Mann Funeral Home, which provided services the first time the boy was buried, did so again and donated the casket.
Weinstein, who was the second patrol officer on the scene when the boy’s body was found, recalled looking at the child’s face as he lay in the box.
“I saw all his pain and his suffering and his anguish,” Weinstein said. “It was as though he was speaking to me: ‘What happened?’ ‘Why?’ And that was an answer I couldn’t give.”
Anyone with information can contact the Homicide Division at 215-686-3068.
This story was originally published in November 1998.