Case History
The boy, referred to as "America's Unknown Child" or "The Boy In The Box," has never been identified.
The child's unclothed body was placed inside a cardboard box and deposited at a garbage-filled locale on Susquehanna Road in Philadelphia in February 1957. His body was beaten, although coroners' investigations were unable to pinpoint any previous broken bones or inflicted trauma. The child's nails were recently trimmed. The palm of his right hand and the soles of his feet were rough and wrinkled, indicating that the limbs had been submerged in water prior or shortly after his death. Strands of the child's own hair were present on his body, leading authorities to believe that his hair had been cut shortly before or following his homicide.
The boy was wrapped in a large piece of an inexpensive, well-worn blanket with a faded design of diamonds and blocks in green, rust-colored red, brown and white. An additional piece of the blanket was found inside the box, which was smeared with automotive grease. The third piece of the blanket remains missing.
The box which contained the child's body was from JC Penney's in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania and had been used for a white bassinette. Records were unable to pinpoint the purchaser of the item.


The box that the victim was found in.

This case has been re-opened and closed many times in over 40 years. The boy's remains were exhumed in the late 90's for DNA testing; he was then reinterred into a tomb marked "America's Unknown Child" in Philadelphia.
A long strand of brown hair -- identified as being from someone else, not the child -- was removed from the scene. In addition, a man's handkerchief with the initial "G" was located near the box. Short stands of hair were present on the material and were tested to determine if the hair came from the unidentified boy; the results of the tests are unknown.
A forensic artist created an image which may possibly reflect what the boy's father may have looked like, as seen below: