[snk1200]

joseph augustus zarelli that boy that box

[Pyramid_Head]

I vote for a mod to update the name of the thread with his proper name. The child at least deserves to be known by his name and not as "the boy in the box".

[Patriotpride16t]

They finally found out who he was, and what his name is, earlier this month!

[RUTHIE7]

He has been identified as Joseph Augustus Zarelli. RIP little angel.

[ppepper]

RIP dear Joseph.

[derbilmcdillet]

The woman who came to police in 1989 just passed away in 2020. She said that her mother bought him from another family, and that he was forced to live in the basement. She said her mother repeatedly sexually abused him and her. She also implied that he may have had developmental delays. The woman was known only as “M”—although online sleuths have found her and her family. M said that Joseph had vomited up some of the baked beans they had for dinner and M’s mom brutally beat him, slamming his head against the floor. When she went to clean him up in the bath, he died. She said her mother made her help dump the body in a park. What made her story compelling was that the boy had wrinkled fingers and toes when they found the body, implying he had recently been in water before death—they also found beans in his stomach during the autopsy. Both were details not released to the public. M was encouraged to come forward with her story by her psychiatrist, but the police considered her unreliable due to her mental health issues.

[shadowplay]

Apparently "Cynthia" wasn't the mother of Joseph. It sounds like he was a child out of wedlock....
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/inve...relli/3508364/

[shadowplay]

I hit post too soon by accident. It's an interview regarding paternal family members & more about the mother.

"Loved Ones Reveal More About the Family of ‘Boy in the Box' Joseph Augustus Zarelli"

[shadowplay]

Originally Posted by sarahowen662 ↗

I'm pretty certain the parents are Augustus (Snr) Joseph Zarelli & Cynthia (nee Pashko) were responsible.

The children they had:
Peter (1952)
Joseph (1953-1957)
Augutus L (1959)
Baby Michael (1960-1960)
Baby (unnamed) (1961-1961)
Jeanette (1962)
Cynthia (1965)

All children can be traced via ancestral trees, public records etc, including the two dead babies, except for Jospeh who apart from the birth cert, has no other recorded entries anywhere. He simply vanished.

Augustus Snr also had a brother Michael (1928-2007) who also had children (all lived and can be traced).

There is the thought that he was born to an unwed mother at the local school for wayward girls. Thinking about this route, Augustus Snr had two sisters who were obviously born Zarellis as well, but this train of thought is quickly ruled out as Palma Zarelli (1919-1982) and Catherine Zarelli (1922-2011) were both married, settled and had kids of their own before little Josephs birth and the female children from these two were only a few years old themselves.

Full case summary is here
http://www.americasunknownchild.net/summary.htm

Ive tried to read the cause of death for un-named baby Zarelli but im at a loss

I believe cause of death is "prematurity". The previous baby Michael died in October 1960, merely 8 months prior to this one. I assume she got pregnant again immediately after that one but it was born early, by "born" I mean a live birth that would've resulted in a birth certificate.

Joseph's mother wasn't Cynthia but was Mary Elizabeth Abel Plunkett. She went by Betsy Abel at the time, & apparently had a baby around 1950 that she gave up for adoption. It appears they were not married when Joseph was born. According to Gus's obit in 2014 he'd been married for 55 years to Cynthia, which would put them married in 1959.

[Pyramid_Head]

Originally Posted by derbilmcdillet ↗

The woman who came to police in 1989 just passed away in 2020. She said that her mother bought him from another family, and that he was forced to live in the basement. She said her mother repeatedly sexually abused him and her. She also implied that he may have had developmental delays. The woman was known only as “M”—although online sleuths have found her and her family. M said that Joseph had vomited up some of the baked beans they had for dinner and M’s mom brutally beat him, slamming his head against the floor. When she went to clean him up in the bath, he died. She said her mother made her help dump the body in a park. What made her story compelling was that the boy had wrinkled fingers and toes when they found the body, implying he had recently been in water before death—they also found beans in his stomach during the autopsy. Both were details not released to the public. M was encouraged to come forward with her story by her psychiatrist, but the police considered her unreliable due to her mental health issues.

That's crazy and very unfortunate that it wasn't taken seriously. She knew details the public didn't, what the fuck does her mental issues have to do with it??