Joseph Augustus Zarelli: Philadelphia's 'Boy in the Box' murdered 65 years ago is identified

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Zarelli was born in January 1953, four years before being killed by a mystery murderer. The boy's remains had been exhumed in 2019 to retrieve additional DNA samples. For years, the boy has had a headstone that reads "America's Unknown Child." The youngster still has maternal and paternal relatives, according to the detectives, despite the fact that both of his parents have passed away. Detectives "were able to find and establish contacts with possible relatives of the child's family on the paternal side," according to Homicide Unit Captain Jason Smith. Additionally, he stated that "never was a social security number issued in the name of the kid," the SUN reported.

CBS3 which has been closely following the case for years was first to break on Wednesday about cops having achieved the breakthrough in identifying the boy. The break in the case is due to major advances in technology -- the cross-checking of DNA profiles and matches in genealogy databases, the report said. However, whether this case should be taken up for investigation is up for discussion internally. Department sources told the station that while they will take questions on the investigation, there is still a lot they won't be able to share.

For detectives, it is an "uphill battle" to find out who murdered the boy. "If this technology had been available to us 20 years ago, it might've been a completely different story," Captain Smith said. "At this point and time, a lot of the family members who would've been old enough to have a memory of any incident that might've occurred are normally long gone." Smith explained that  Zarelli, "had abrasions, he had contusions, basically, he had blunt force trauma." He added, "From what I understand, he was also emaciated but I'm going to say that blunt force trauma was more than likely the cause of death," the report mentioned.

Smith said told reporters, "One of the things that I'm hoping comes out of this press conference is we receive an avalanche of tips from the public. We're going to filter through each and every one of those tips but, in that avalanche, there might be a diamond in the rough." He expressed optimism that the youngster would be remembered by someone who is in their 70s or 80s.