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#Post#: 134--------------------------------------------------
Re: THE BOY IN THE BOX: WM, 4-6, found in Philadelphia, PA, Feb
1957
By: Akoya Date: November 25, 2018, 11:36 am
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I didn't know the neighborhood. My mother drove for quite a
while, but we were still in Philadelphia. I'm pretty sure. The
houses were close together, and close to the street. Close
enough so I could hear after my mother parked the car in front
of this one house.
My mother went up and rang the bell. The door opened, and I saw
a woman standing there. She was holding a baby in diapers. She
and my mother talked, just for a second.
Then there was a man's voice, from inside. "Did you get the
money?" the man said.
I thought he was talking to the woman standing in the doorway.
But right then my mother took an envelope from her purse and
handed it to the woman. Oh, I thought. The man was talking to my
mother.
And very quickly the woman handed the baby to my mother and
almost slammed the door in her face, as though she never wanted
to see her or the baby again. My mother carried him down to the
car. I didn't know it was a boy then. It was a warm August
night-hot, even-so there was no need for a blanket.
"Here," my mother said, handing the baby to me. Because she had
to drive. But I didn't know anything thing about holding a baby.
And his diaper was wet. It smelled like pee, I remember that.
But I didn't mind holding him, I really didn't. I felt sorry for
him, because I remembered how the woman had slammed the door. As
though she was throwing the baby out.
David Stout. The Boy in the Box: The Unsolved Case of America's
Unknown Child (Kindle Locations 1914-1915). Kindle Edition.
#Post#: 135--------------------------------------------------
Re: THE BOY IN THE BOX: WM, 4-6, found in Philadelphia, PA, Feb
1957
By: Akoya Date: November 25, 2018, 11:37 am
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By the end of the autopsy, Dr. Spellman should have known
exactly what the little boy had surgery for. That information
has never been released. The Philadelphia Police Dept. contacted
hospitals throughout the United States, but not a single
hospital had records of a surgery or the baby. There were no
footprints from hospitals that matched prints from the autopsy.
The little boy was also being treated for an eye infection when
he died.
HTML http://i.imgur.com/aXpbkz3.jpg
#Post#: 136--------------------------------------------------
Re: THE BOY IN THE BOX: WM, 4-6, found in Philadelphia, PA, Feb
1957
By: Akoya Date: November 25, 2018, 11:38 am
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HTML http://www.missingkids.com/poster/NCMU/1231830/1
HTML http://i.imgur.com/1RqZDBC.jpg
Date Found Feb 25, 1957
Location Found Philadelphia, PA
Estimated Age4-6
SexMale
RaceWhite
Hair ColorBrown
Eye Color Unknown
Estimated Height 3'3"
Estimated Weight 30 lbs
A young unidentified boy was found in Philadelphia, PA on
February 25, 1957. He was found inside a cardboard box with a
blanket around him located in a wooded area of Northeast
Philadelphia’s Fox Chase neighborhood, near the intersection of
Verree and Susquehanna Road near Pennypack Park. The child had
only been deceased a few days. He was estimated to be 4-6 years
old, stood about 3’3” tall and weighed around 3o pounds. He
appeared to be malnourished. He had short brown hair that was
crudely chopped and buzzed. He had several small scars over his
body. He had a small well healed scar under his chin and two
small scars on his groin and left ankle that might have been
from a prior medical procedure. The image above is a facial
reconstruction created by a NCMEC forensic artist and depicts
what this child may have looked like in life.
#Post#: 137--------------------------------------------------
Re: THE BOY IN THE BOX: WM, 4-6, found in Philadelphia, PA, Feb
1957
By: Akoya Date: November 25, 2018, 11:40 am
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I didn't know the neighborhood. My mother drove for quite a
while, but we were still in Philadelphia. I'm pretty sure. The
houses were close together, and close to the street. Close
enough so I could hear after my mother parked the car in front
of this one house.
As a girl, she wouldn't have known the various sections of
Philadelphia by name. Houses very close to the street are
typical in many of the old working class neighborhoods of the
city. There are so many places where this house could have been
located.
HTML https://i.imgur.com/CpXapen.jpg
#Post#: 138--------------------------------------------------
Re: THE BOY IN THE BOX: WM, 4-6, found in Philadelphia, PA, Feb
1957
By: Akoya Date: November 25, 2018, 11:41 am
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The Philadelphia Police went to big efforts to locate possible
medical records for the boy. They had a project comparing prints
from hospital nurseries, but they found nothing. They checked
immigration records to see if he came from another country. They
even checked groups of adoptees who came to this country after
WW II. I can only imagine that maybe he was delivered by a
midwife and the surgical procedures were performed illegally, on
the side. I even wondered if a botched surgical procedure had
caused anoxia and severe cerebral palsy or neurological damage.
I'm sure the Medical Examiner has more information about what he
found, but it hasn't been released. The little guy had been
circumcised, but there weren't any records of footprints or
surgery for him.
#Post#: 139--------------------------------------------------
Re: THE BOY IN THE BOX: WM, 4-6, found in Philadelphia, PA, Feb
1957
By: Akoya Date: November 25, 2018, 11:42 am
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A lack of oxygen could have occurred during a midwife birth or a
surgical procedure outside of a hospital. CP is at the top of my
list. I also think about the size and shape of his head. It's
larger than usual and this could also indicate a developmental
disability. Maybe it was a combination of CP and a developmental
problem.
#Post#: 140--------------------------------------------------
Re: THE BOY IN THE BOX: WM, 4-6, found in Philadelphia, PA, Feb
1957
By: Akoya Date: November 25, 2018, 11:44 am
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When the boy was found, he was wrapped in a blanket and stuffed
into a box. The blanket was actually a section, cut from a
larger blanket. The blanket has been lost. The nearby home for
women had no connection to the blanket. Philadelphia Textile
Institute is now Philadelphia University. The origin of the
blanket has never been identified and now it is lost forever.
HTML http://i.imgur.com/EnbqQg7.jpg
The blanket found with the boy appeared to have been washed
recently. It had been cut in two, one section measuring ing
seventy-six by thirty-three inches, the other fifty-one by
thirty-one. A swatch was missing from the smaller section. Had
the swatch been cut away because it bore the label of an
orphanage or other child-care institution? There was no way to
tell, but it seemed a possibility.
Bristow, whose mind was imaginative as well as methodical,
suggested that the blanket be sent to the Philadelphia Textile
Institute. There, tests found that the blanket had been mended
with poor-quality cotton thread, probably on a home sewing
machine. The institute narrowed the possible manufacturers to a
mill in Swannanoa, North Carolina, and one in Granby, Quebec.
Hundreds of thousands of such blankets had been turned out by
the mills and shipped to dozens of wholesalers throughout the
United States. Finding the buyer seemed impossible. So the
detectives on the Fox Chase case suffered an early
disappointment.
David Stout. The Boy in the Box: The Unsolved Case of America's
Unknown Child (Kindle Locations 340-342). Kindle Edition.
#Post#: 141--------------------------------------------------
Re: THE BOY IN THE BOX: WM, 4-6, found in Philadelphia, PA, Feb
1957
By: Akoya Date: November 25, 2018, 11:46 am
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Susquehanna Rd, Philadelphia - 2017
HTML http://i.imgur.com/ROaPOiy.jpg
HTML http://i.imgur.com/Vu4s5QQ.jpg
#Post#: 142--------------------------------------------------
Re: THE BOY IN THE BOX: WM, 4-6, found in Philadelphia, PA, Feb
1957
By: Akoya Date: November 25, 2018, 11:47 am
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This is how the boy was found. It's a crime scene photograph.
HTML http://americasunknownchild.net/Box_Site.jpg
#Post#: 143--------------------------------------------------
Re: THE BOY IN THE BOX: WM, 4-6, found in Philadelphia, PA, Feb
1957
By: Akoya Date: November 25, 2018, 11:49 am
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The boy's remains were exhumed to secure DNA samples and the
remains were buried again in Ivy Hill Cemetery. His remains are
very much degraded, although a tooth was found and has been used
to obtain mitochondrial DNA. Nuclear DNA could not be obtained
from the deteriorated remains.
Those in the room who understand the young science of DNA
testing see that these remains may present a special challenge.
Judging from the state of the remains, there may be a decent
chance of extracting mitochondrial DNA, but much less chance of
finding nuclear DNA.
David Stout. The Boy in the Box: The Unsolved Case of America's
Unknown Child (Kindle Locations 1787-1788). Kindle Edition.
Put most simply, nuclear DNA is inherited from both parents;
mitochondrial DNA is passed down only from mother to offspring.
And, crucially for the Boy in the Box case, mitochondrial DNA is
generally easier to extract from hair, bones, or even teeth if
the overall remains are badly degraded.
David Stout. The Boy in the Box: The Unsolved Case of America's
Unknown Child (Kindle Locations 1789-1790). Kindle Edition.
After several failed attempts, mitochondrial DNA has been
obtained from the boy's tooth. If a female ancestor can be
found, maybe the boy can be given his name at long last. And how
will she be found? Perhaps by a computer check, or a
long-suppressed memory, or a confession. Or dumb luck. But, of
course, if a female ancestor had been found, investigators
wouldn't need DNA evidence. And it's been forty-one years. (60
years, now)
David Stout. The Boy in the Box: The Unsolved Case of America's
Unknown Child (Kindle Location 1809). Kindle Edition.
Alas, the uncle was on Mary's father's side of the family, so
the unknown child's mitochondrial DNA would be useless in trying
to establish a relationship-if the uncle could be tracked down,
that is.
David Stout. The Boy in the Box: The Unsolved Case of America's
Unknown Child (Kindle Locations 2208-2209). Kindle Edition.
"No further progress has been made during the past year," the
society says. "However, the investigators have begun a new
initiative. They are trying to determine if the DNA profile of
America's Unknown Child matches any of the DNA profiles in a
national mitochondrial DNA database."
David Stout. The Boy in the Box: The Unsolved Case of America's
Unknown Child (Kindle Locations 2249-2250). Kindle Edition.
"The DNA test results are in," the detective says. "Anna Marie
was not the mother of the unknown boy." (Anna Marie Nagle)
David Stout. The Boy in the Box: The Unsolved Case of America's
Unknown Child (Kindle Locations 2335-2336). Kindle Edition.
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