Police to identify ‘Boy in the Box’

This image shows a facial reconstruction of the boy found in February 1957.

Authorities are expected to identify the name of the “Boy in the Box” on Thursday, more than 65 years after the child’s body was discovered in Fox Chase.

The infamous case, which led to a lengthy investigation and intense press coverage, is Philadelphia’s oldest unsolved homicide.

“Through detective work and DNA analysis, police are finally able to identify the child,” the Philadelphia Police Department said Tuesday evening in a statement.

PPD leaders, including Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, will announce the break in the case Thursday morning, alongside representatives from Identifinders, a forensic genealogy firm, and the Vidocq Society, a Philadelphia-based group of volunteer experts that aids detectives in solving cold cases.

The Boy in the Box, also referred to as America’s Unknown Child, was found in February 1957 inside a cardboard carton made to hold a bassinet near the corner of Susquehanna and Verree roads.

He was believed to be 3 to 6 years old, and his body was discovered nude and wrapped in a flannel blanket. No one has ever been charged in connection with his death.

Jack Tomczuk

Jack Tomczuk is a Philadelphia native who started as a news reporter for Metro in March 2020 (just a couple days before COVID hit). Previously, he wrote for the Northeast Times, The Sun newspapers in Burlington and Camden counties and the Press of Atlantic City.