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'Boy in the Box': Joseph Augustus Zarelli gets new headstone on what would have been his 70th birthday
On what would have been his 70th birthday, a headstone dedication was held for Joseph Augustus Zarelli. Zarelli was identified by police as the 'Boy in the Box' late last year as authorities continue to investigate the decades-old cold case.
PHILADELPHIA - A headstone dedication was held Friday morning in Philadelphia for a young boy who was known for decades simply as the ‘Boy in the Box.’
The dedication follows a major development in one of the Philadelphia’s most notorious cold cases as investigators uncovered the boy’s identity 65 years after his body was found beaten and wrapped in a blanket.
In December, authorities identified the child as Joseph Augustus Zarelli.
Zarelli was just 4-years-old when police discovered his badly bruised, malnourished, and naked body inside a bassinet box near Susquehanna Road in Philadelphia's Fox Chase neighborhood in February 1957.
Police have identified the child in the 1957 "Boy in the Box" case as Joseph Augustus Zarelli.
Friday’s headstone dedication was held Ivy Hill Cemetery in Mount Airy on what would have been Zarelli's 70th birthday.
"It hit me he may never have had balloons to celebrate his birthday, a birthday cake, and that just tears at me," said Eileen Law-Stewart who attended the dedication.
Prior to the latest developments, Zarelli’s identity had been a mystery as investigators followed scant leads in what would grow to be Philadelphia’s longest cold case.
Philadelphia police say genealogists were first able to identify relatives on Zarelli’s mother’s side before they were later able to identify his birth father.
Police have said they would not release the name of the child's parents at this time out of respect for the Zarelli’s living siblings.
"Some sense of joy, relief a little bit of sorrow mixed in there, because our father is not here to see this ," said Patricia Braxton, the daughter of Detective Thomas Augustine who died weeks before the body was identified.
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Authorities say they have suspicions about who is responsible for the Zarelli’s death, but they will not release the information as they continue to investigate.
His death remains an active homicide investigation.
As is the procedure for all Philadelphia homicide cases, the city is offering a $20,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest or conviction in the case.