Sadly nicknamed “the boy in the box”, the child of about 5 years old found dead in 1957 at the edge of a road in Philadelphia has been identified, announced the American police.
It’s a 65-year-old mystery that finds its solution. On Wednesday 30 November, US authorities announced that they had identified “the boy in the box”a boy of about five years old found dead in February 1957 on the side of a road in Philadelphia. “Philadelphia police sources confirm they have identified the 1957 murder victim known as the ‘boy in the box’said investigative journalist Joe Holden on Twitter. The department is expected to release more information next week..”
For now, the found identity of the little boy has not yet been revealed to the general public. According to the media CBS Newsit was discovered using DNA sequencing techniques. The body of the boy, who had been resting since 1998 at the Ivy Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, was exhumed in 2019 to allow investigators to compare new DNA samples to new genealogical databases.
“To see a name on this stone is what everyone has always wanted”
In Philadelphia, the news of the identification of the “boy in the box” caused a lot of emotion. Upon learning of it, some employees of the Ivy Hill Cemetery even let a few tears flow, reports CBS News. “To see a name on this stone is what everyone has always wanted, confides one of them, Linda Tamburri. I’m just happy to be here and know that I’ll see that little boy’s name on that rock.” “I think it’s wonderful, adds Dave Drysdale, secretary at the Philadelphia cemetery. I just wish the police officers and long-dead people involved were there to see it. It was their goal, some people said to me one day, ‘I hope to live long enough to see a name on it.'”
always according to CBS News, criminal proceedings could be initiated following the identification of the little boy.
©CBSNews
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The tombstone of the “boy in the box”.
The body of the boy, who had been resting since 1998 at the Ivy Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, was exhumed in 2019.
©CBSNews
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The tombstone of the “boy in the box”.
“To see a name on this stone is what everyone has always wanted,” said an employee of Ivy Hill Cemetery.
©Pixabay
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DNA played a vital role in identifying the boy.
The identity of the little boy was discovered thanks to DNA sequencing techniques.
© Philadelphia Police
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Reconstruction of the face of the “boy in the box”.
Philadelphia police say they have identified ‘the boy in the box’, a boy of about five years old found dead in February 1957