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E096: The Boy in the Box
1.5k Plays4 years ago
In 1957 a beaten, malnourished, and nude boy was found in a cardboard bassinet box. Police were confident they’d find his parents; after all, someone must be desperately trying to find their missing baby. All these years later and the boy in the box still has not been claimed.
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Transcript
Starting a Podcast: Buzzsprout Recommendation
00:00:00
Speaker
Sleuthounds, have you ever considered creating your own podcast? Have you been inspired by listening to some of your favorites and thought, I'd love to try this out on my own? Whether it's a true crime podcast like ours, a motivational podcast, or maybe one filled with tips and strategies for those interested in the same activities you are,
00:00:19
Speaker
When Maggie and I first decided to start our podcast, we knew absolutely nothing about what podcasting would entail. But when we found that the platform Buzzsprout was one for which we didn't need any special equipment, just a computer microphone, some quiet space, and each other, we knew that this was the way to go. It is intuitive to use, fun to play around with, and so helpful in getting analytical data about our number of downloads to track trends and from where our listeners hail.
00:00:47
Speaker
Best yet, Buzzsprout is affordable, even by our teacher salary standards. Buzzsprout will get your podcasts listed on every major podcasting platform.
00:00:57
Speaker
So, what are you waiting for? Fulfill that dream of yours and start today. If you use our Coffee and Cases referral code, 709-643, linked on Facebook and in our show notes, not only will you help support our show, but you will receive a $20 Amazon gift card after your second month on a paid plan. It's that easy. Podcasting isn't hard when you have the right partners. Join over 100,000 podcasters already using Buzzsprout to get their message out to the world.
00:01:26
Speaker
Now it's time for the world to hear what you have to say.
Introduction to 'Unforbidden Truth' Podcast
00:01:31
Speaker
Maggie and I have become friends with some other true crime podcasters and sometimes there's one so unique that we feel it's worth sharing. Enter Andrew Dodge and his podcast Unforbidden Truth.
00:01:45
Speaker
Andrew visits and interviews convicted murderers and other criminals, as well as professionals in criminal justice and psychology, and the results are often eye-opening. Here's a little about the show from Andrew himself.
00:02:03
Speaker
My name is Andrew Dodge. I have spent the last 11 years getting to know some of America's most notorious criminals, such as serial killers, spree killers, mass murderers, domestic and foreign terrorists, and many more types of criminals. Unforbidden Truth will bring you exclusive interviews with convicted criminals, professionals in the mental health and law enforcement field, and much more. Subscribe to Unforbidden Truth on any podcast platform to join me on a one-of-a-kind true crime experience.
1957: A Contrast Between Idealism and Tragedy
00:02:29
Speaker
When I pictured 1957, I picture girls swooning over Elvis Presley as he sang Jailhouse Rock. I picture women in dresses with matching gloves and men in suits with thin ties and hats. I picture this age of innocence where daddy always knew best and mom always had cookies waiting on you when you got home from school. Everyone loved Lucy and eyes were turned to the sky as the space race was starting.
00:02:55
Speaker
I picture an easier time. I don't picture children being starved, beaten, mistreated, and abused. To me, that time was a happier, better time. Maybe it's only because I didn't grow up in that era, as today's story will highlight. 1957 wasn't the picturesque time we all think it might have been.
00:03:15
Speaker
It too was full of horror. When a little boy was found dead in a box, police were sure his loving family would claim his body soon. They never thought that maybe he didn't come from a loving family. Maybe he lived in terror every single day. All these years later and this boy still has no name.
Podcast Mission: Discussing Cold Cases
00:03:35
Speaker
This is the story of the boy in the box.
00:04:13
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases, where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron.
00:04:23
Speaker
We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the case will take those tips to law enforcement so justice and closure can be brought to these families. With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page.
00:04:39
Speaker
Coffee and cases podcast and to follow us on instagram at coffee cases podcast and on tiktok at coffee and cases podcast Because as these families know conversation helps to keep their missing family member in the public consciousness Helping to keep their memories
Introducing the 'Boy in the Box' Case
00:04:56
Speaker
alive. So sit back sip your coffee and listen to what's brewing this week
00:05:03
Speaker
Allison, today's case is a more well-known case, but honestly, one that I knew very little about going in. I mean, I had heard the name, but I'd never really researched the case. Yeah, same here. I've heard of it, but I don't know any of the details.
00:05:22
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that's because, you know, most of the things we do are like more, or like lesser known cases and this one. So maybe just our free time didn't go to the boy in the box. But today's story
00:05:40
Speaker
So just like a little heads up for our listeners, we will be discussing like a brutal murder of a young boy. And I know a lot of you guys talk about how you listen to us with your kids, which we love. So just kind of know going in, we're going to be talking about like a brutal murder of a small child. So maybe just be cautious with your little listening ears. Yeah.
00:06:05
Speaker
So not only will we be discussing this boy's sad and brutal death, we're also going to be discussing psychic tips, haircuts. Haircuts? Yes, and it will make sense. That's odd, okay. Sex trafficking, DNA testing. Well, I like talking about that. And a lot of other bizarre and interesting things. Okay, I am so ready.
00:06:34
Speaker
Good. So in most of the cases we talk about, we are able, as you guys know, to talk about who the person was, like their hobbies, things like that, because it helps us picture what that person was like, like to set the stage. With today's story, we don't have any of that because we don't know the identity of the boy at the center of today's episode.
00:07:04
Speaker
So I'm unable to tell you what he loved to do. You know, I'm unable to tell you what he did on the weekends, what his favorite subject was in school, because we don't know. And to me, that's one of the saddest parts of the case today.
00:07:22
Speaker
So we are gonna be going basically right into how the boy died, how he was found, who possibly could have killed him, like all these, there's lots of theories basically, Alison, so you're gonna be super excited. Yes, that's always my favorite part. And I feel like the last couple of cases, there's only been like, you know, one or two potential people. So I'm excited to delve in.
00:07:51
Speaker
Yeah, well, this one has theories of like who could have done it, theories of how he died, like theories of his possible identity. There's lots. Okay. Unlike the world we know today, right, where news of a missing child can spread to literally hundreds of thousand people in a matter of minutes, the world in 1957 was a much different place.
Investigation Highlights: The Bassinet Box
00:08:15
Speaker
when a small boy was found dead inside a JCPenney bassinet box. News of his death, yeah, it just is downhill from here. News of his death didn't spread across the world. Instead, it took thousands of flyers being posted before people in the area even knew a boy had been found dead on a cold day in February, 1957. And from the onset, the case,
00:08:43
Speaker
and this little boy's chances of being claimed are off to a rocky start. So I'm going to try to do my best to take you back to February 1957. OK. Oh dang I knew I missed. We got a how do we say this word. I knew I missed one. Susquehanna. Hold on. YouTube. YouTube. There we go.
00:09:13
Speaker
They're saying Susquehanna. Susquehanna? Okay. Oh, it's listed in 10 worst neighborhoods in Philadelphia.
00:09:25
Speaker
Oh, so Slootown's the little town that we're going to be talking about. Y'all know I can't pronounce names. And if you saw this name in print, you would know why when I look at it, I'm like, what do you say? But we looked up the pronunciation and it's Susquehanna, but apparently one of the worst places in Philadelphia to live. So just a heads up. Yeah.
00:09:50
Speaker
As a cold wind blew off Susquehanna Road in Fox Chase, Philadelphia, a man made a horrific discovery on his walk to check muskrat traps as he stepped over garbage and resting appliances. So we're like in a wooded area where there's like trash. What is a muskrat exactly? It looks like a little rat.
00:10:15
Speaker
It's a medium sized, semi-aquatic rodent. Why would one trap one? Are we eating muskrats? Like muskrats stew? Or fur? Oh, maybe. Maybe.
00:10:30
Speaker
He's hunting them in the middle of this trashy wooded area. And as he's stepping over garbage and appliances that are resting, he discovers the corpse of a young child wrapped in a flannel blanket inside a discarded bassinet cardboard box that was distributed by JCPenney.
00:10:53
Speaker
which will be important. I think that makes me so sad when you said that even in the intro because you think of like a bassinet as like a little newborn in it, which makes me think of innocence, which of course this little boy, but then his body has been placed in it.
00:11:10
Speaker
Yeah, and that's one thing that a lot of people in most every article I read, especially like, cause I read a couple blogs, they would say that as well, that's almost ironic, right? That his body is placed in something that's meant for a child. And I even read in one article that they said it even had like fragile handle with care, like on the box.
00:11:39
Speaker
which I think is even more heartbreaking. But I wonder if that gets into, I'm sure we'll get into it, like the psyche of the person who could do something like this. Well, yeah, we do talk about the box. Okay.
00:11:53
Speaker
The discovery shocked this man, but as he stared at the boy in the box, a battle was raging internally. What he was doing was illegal, and knowing his muskrat traps were illegal, he decided against telling the police. Instead, he's like, I'm going to just keep on trekking with my hunting, and I'm going to hope that someone else stumbles upon this boy in the box. No. Yeah.
00:12:20
Speaker
See, I guess I'm a different person. Even if I'm doing something bad, I'm still gonna. Oh, yeah, me too. Oh. Yeah, me too. Days later, though, so it's not a significant amount of time passes, a college student saw a rabbit hop into this wooded area. And being a soft hearted person, as I am as well,
00:12:45
Speaker
He knew there were traps in this area. And so he actually followed the bunny into this wooded area. Right? Cause he's like, I'm going to shift this brush. I'm going to look for traps and make sure this bunny gets. Yeah. Save the bunny. Yeah. I'm saving this bunny. So in the process of doing that, he stumbled upon what he thought was a discarded box, but inside was a four to six year old nude boy wrapped in a flannel blanket.
00:13:16
Speaker
Okay, so pause. So he was nude, which already gets me thinking about theories and things, but I'll save that for a bit.
00:13:27
Speaker
And what's crazy is this boy, this college student, finds the boy in the box. And he too was reluctant to approach police. What? And he waits 24 hours to call police, which, good job, you do call. But why he was reluctant to call is kind of weird. He was actually like in the area I read. He was like a peeping Tom.
00:13:54
Speaker
and had been spying on women at like this Good Shepherd School. And he was worried like police would connect the dots if he said why he was in the area. Oh my goodness. Yeah. What is up with these people? Muskrat hunting, peeping toms. At least he finally came forward though, like you said. Yeah. He was a conscience one and he finally did call police.
00:14:21
Speaker
And when police arrive on the scene Allison, many report not being prepared for what they would find. I actually read one officer threw up at the scene after seeing the boy's body. Is it just because it was so small or because it was decomposed so much? I think it was because it was so brutal. Oh gosh.
00:14:42
Speaker
And I think when we talk about this, how he appeared, you're going to know why, like, especially if you're like a parent and like a loving parent, and you saw a baby treated like this, why you would get physically ill. Oh.
00:15:01
Speaker
The boy inside the box was Tony Allison. Um, he was between four
Efforts to Identify the Boy
00:15:07
Speaker
and six. Some articles even said that he could have been in as young as three and he only weighed like 30 ish pounds. And he was emaciated.
00:15:21
Speaker
Yes and he was also very short like one article said like a 40 inches tall one article said it was close to like 35 inches tall so like stunted growth you know obviously extremely malnourished
00:15:41
Speaker
Because in my eyes, I think it would be easy to look at a healthy four-year-old and say, you're four and you're seven. There should be a big difference between a healthy seven-year-old and a healthy seven-year-old. But they weren't unable to do that. He had light skin, blue eyes, and light brown hair. And here's where we're going to briefly talk about the haircut.
00:16:07
Speaker
It was apparent to police that his hair had been cut and the report added that his cut was done crudely. So like, like buzzed in some areas longer and others kind of thing. Yeah. And I think like you could tell it was done in a hurry. Hmm.
00:16:29
Speaker
What's even more disturbing is that it was determined the hair was kept post-mortem because clumps of the hair were found like on his body. Strangely though, one source I read said that his nails were neatly trimmed. Oh, this is getting weirder and weirder.
00:16:50
Speaker
Just as we have discussed in other cases, most of the time, you need distinguishing characteristics to identify someone. Because if you are just average, those quote unquote average people can be seen in almost anyone. Oh yeah. So if you're a light-skinned, blue-eyed, brown-haired baby, you could be
00:17:12
Speaker
40% of the world's child or something like that. You could be anybody's baby. But the boy in the box did have some abnormal characteristics that investigators were sure someone would recognize and the identity of the boy would be discovered. He had several existing surgical scars like on the ankle, the groin, and like an L-shaped scar under his chin.
00:17:38
Speaker
So surgical, so you'd think there would be hospital records. Right. And that was the hope of police. So they were hoping that if a parent didn't come forward to identify the boy, that perhaps like a local doctor would remember, yes, I operated on a child's groin. Right. Yes. I did the stitches in this child's neck or the chin. And especially with him being so young. Yeah.
00:18:07
Speaker
But nothing panned out from the scars, clearly, because we don't know who he is. Right. Not only did the boy in the box have the significant areas of scarring, not only was the boy in the box malnourished, the naked corpse found in the discarded JC Penney's box was also literally covered in bruises.
00:18:33
Speaker
police could tell from the bruising that his injuries had been long and sustained. So even though the haircut and all of that happened post-mortem, the bruising had been there for a while. Yeah, like basically this child's entire life, pretty much.
00:18:54
Speaker
In fact, when you Google boy in the box, you will sometimes see this colored image of this smiling boy, but that isn't how they found him. He was more bruises than not, including his little face. Oh my gosh.
00:19:15
Speaker
It was swollen in parts of his head. So they took like the features of his face and made what they thought he would have looked like if he were healthy to help people maybe be able to identify who he was. But police actually determined he died from massive head injuries. Oh my goodness. Yeah. And again, like four to six, right? Oh my gosh.
00:19:45
Speaker
We don't really know how long the boy in the box was in the woods. Experts speculate due to the cold weather, he could have been in the box anywhere from two to three days to two to three weeks because it was so cold at that time. So that could have helped with the preservation.
00:20:05
Speaker
So according to Jim H, he was the author of this article called Boy in the Box America's Unknown Child. Here's a list of what experts were able to determine, right? And we talked about these, but I'm going to briefly mention these eight things. Okay. So one, we know the boy's hair was crudely cut and located throughout the body indicating that he was deceased and naked when the hair was cut. Okay.
00:20:33
Speaker
His hands and feet, and we'll talk more about this, were wrinkled indicating that they were submerged in water for an extended period of time before or right after he died. Number three, the child may have had a chronic eye ailment that they believe would have been treated with medication from a pharmacy. Okay.
00:20:57
Speaker
Number four, he had not eaten two to three hours before his death, so they could tell that from the medical examiner's report. Yeah. Right. Which obviously that's not surprising since he was so malnourished. Right. And we're actually going to talk about his potential last meal as well. Okay.
00:21:18
Speaker
The cheap flannel blanket that he was wrapped in was made in either North Carolina or Quebec, Canada, but it was mass produced and shipped basically everywhere, so it really was not traceable. His esophagus contained a dark brown residue, possibly indicating he vomited shortly before death.
00:21:42
Speaker
Okay. He was severely malnourished. And then obviously the last thing we know is the cause of death was officially ruled as multiple blows to the head. Oh my goodness. Yeah. I'm not equipped for this. We're just getting started. You wait till we get down to the theories. Like I literally had nightmares.
00:22:05
Speaker
Oh my gosh. So Philadelphia police opened an investigation on February 26, 1957, and they took fingerprints of the boy. They were confident that even though they had little to go on, the case would quickly be solved. Like after all, there had to be a family out there somewhere that's desperately looking for their missing child. Right. Yeah. Like somebody somewhere is looking for this kid.
00:22:33
Speaker
No one would have ever dreamed that all these years later, the identity of the boy in the box would still be a mystery. According to an article called Unsolved Mysteries, who was the boy in the box, the news featured prominently in like local media across Philadelphia and even into the Delaware Valley.
00:22:55
Speaker
I've read that the Philadelphia Inquirer printed 400,000 flyers that had his likeness on it. The images were posted across the area and this is brilliant. They were included with every gas bill that was sent out in the city. How smart is that? That's really smart because obviously everybody's going to open that up. Yeah. Like that's genius I feel like.
00:23:24
Speaker
So at least law enforcement is doing like what they can. Yeah. And newspapers quickly dubbed this boy as the boy in the box.
00:23:36
Speaker
So that same article, again, police, awesome, visited every children's home. So like every adoption home, every foster care home, and every hospital in the area to ensure that every child that was supposed to be there was there. Wow. Yes. In a BuzzFeed documentary I watched, which Allison already knows,
00:24:05
Speaker
I do not recommend, but y'all do you. It cited that families from over 10 states came to Philly to see if maybe, just maybe, the boy in the box was their missing son, but no one claimed him.
00:24:23
Speaker
Again in the Unsolved Mysteries article, police discovered a man's blue Ivy League corduroy cap, a child's scarf, and a man's white handkerchief with the letter G in the corner at the crime scene. I did not read anywhere if they made significant progress with the items found at those items that were found at the crime scene. Which is weird because I feel like a handkerchief with a letter G is very specific.
00:24:53
Speaker
And what's a blue Ivy League corduroy cap? I picture like a cap you would wear to go golfing. Oh yeah. That's what I picture. Those items seem very like uppity. Yes. Which is not exactly where I would picture uppity things around muskrat traps and rusted appliances.
00:25:19
Speaker
Right. And maybe this was just like someone cleaned out their closet and they threw all of it out and it just so happened to be near his body. Maybe that's what it is. Maybe. Police would receive several tips and inquiries from concerned parents across the country, all wondering if the boy might be theirs. But again,
00:25:39
Speaker
Nothing panned out for police. I read in several places though That the biggest break for police was when they contacted JCPenney about the cardboard box that the boy was found in Like this to me for like in 1957.
Cold Case: The Bassinet Box Leads
00:25:52
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like it's such a good piece of detective work They were actually able JCPenney to trace this specific box to a JCPenney 15 miles away from where the boy's body was found
00:26:09
Speaker
And in a miraculous turn of events, JCPenney was able to tell investigators that only 12 of those bassinets had been purchased from that JCPenney's for $7.50. Oh gosh. Can you imagine $7.50? Well, that's about like $68 today. Cause I was like, holy crap.
00:26:28
Speaker
$7.50. Well, of course, this would rely on the assumption that whoever is related to the boy or to the boy's death was the one who purchased that instead of them grabbing it out of, say, someone else's garbage. But still, we at least know that the box came from one of those 12 people who bought a bassinet. Yes. So that is something that
00:26:57
Speaker
we will talk about too is who possibly was the boy in the box in the bassinet box from the beginning or was the boy in the box placed in that box that was already there? Cause it's already, you know, kind of trashy. Right. Um, in an astounding piece of detective work, investigators were able to track down nine of those owners according to unsolved mysteries and 11 of them according to the history channel.
00:27:26
Speaker
Oh, but each one of those leads ended at a dead end. Maybe it's the last one. Yeah, maybe it's number 12. While there were dozens of leads that seem to be like, you know, quote unquote, the one nothing panned out and investigators were left to start over and over and over again until finally the trail went cold and just faded away.
00:27:54
Speaker
The boy was buried in like a potter's field next to Mechanicsville and Dunks Ferry Road and sad. This makes me sad too. The tombstone just read, Heavenly Father bless this unknown boy. No.
00:28:10
Speaker
That's so sad. That is so sad. That reminds me of Heart Island in the Bronx in New York City, where there's been something like a million people buried who are unidentified. Wow. And it's so sad to think that
00:28:36
Speaker
you know, that you can't even put a name on a tombstone. Like, you can't be remembered in life or in death. And I think that's what makes it so sad.
00:28:47
Speaker
Yeah, and from what I could tell, this little field he was buried in was kind of remote. But he now actually rests in Avi Hill Cemetery in a donated plot. Aww. Yeah, his body was moved there in 1998 when he was exhumed for DNA testing.
DNA Testing: Renewed Hope
00:29:04
Speaker
Oh, that was smart? Yes. And his grave, like you said, although we don't, aren't able to recognize his name, people still pay respect to him and put
00:29:18
Speaker
flowers on his grave and things like that. In an article by CBS Philly it said Philadelphia homicide detectives two years ago got in order to exhume the remains of the boy in the box. What they were able to retrieve this time for DNA purposes was actually sent to a lab in Europe that has now given them their the biggest break
00:29:42
Speaker
Oh, so far in this case. And one of the detectives said, quote, this is the closest, this is the closest we've gotten. Meaning like being able to find out really who this boy is. Well, that's promising. They're hoping that this DNA profile will like turn them toward the family members of the little boy. Like they're hoping maybe through like that ancestral like DNA type things.
00:30:08
Speaker
that they'll be able to go in a new direction for the boy in the box. Another source I read said that, quote, even with DNA, problems remain. For example, the large civilian DNA database, such as Ancestry.com, used mouth swabs for DNA that the little boy cannot possibly provide.
00:30:29
Speaker
So that could potentially be a problem right because I guess the swabs from your mouth I guess are different than what they're pulling from like his teeth which is where we're getting the DNA from from the boy in the box. Other people talked about other experts talked about
00:30:48
Speaker
I mean, he's been dead for a long time. And I read one article that a man said that when they took his body out, it was basically dust. So like how much DNA is left and how good of a sample did we get from it? Of course, in 1957, they weren't even thinking. Yeah, that wasn't even a thing.
00:31:13
Speaker
But I'm wondering if like maybe there's a way, and I have really no idea, but like maybe there's a way that we just keep his teeth, like, is there a way to preserve them in case we were to need the DNA? I think that's a fantastic idea. In fact,
00:31:30
Speaker
This past week, I was doing an interview with a family member of a case that I have coming up and we were chatting and she brought up what I think is the most brilliant thing I've ever heard. That is, she said, especially now that we know that there's DNA testing and that that's constantly improving. She was like, why couldn't we? We have scientists who can basically replicate
00:31:57
Speaker
you know, like your strain of DNA. Yeah. Like, why could we not take the all the chromosomes that we have, you know, from a victim and have it stored in a database somewhere so that eventually when. You know, technology catches up. Exactly. You could you could just pull it back up, you know, or something like that, which is what you were saying, like with the teeth.
00:32:26
Speaker
Maybe there is something like that. Maybe we just don't know about it. It could be.
00:32:30
Speaker
Um, so another great point that was made was that even with pulling his DNA, if we are able to get enough to like kind of work with, I guess, since his case is so old, um, a lot of experts say that it's hard even to get ancestral DNA because most of the people that
00:32:56
Speaker
would have been around in that time that he could have been related to or probably did. So that was what one investigator said. And really, that is all that we know about the boy in the box. So the next like half of what we're going to talk about is
00:33:21
Speaker
theories about identity, explanations of death, suspects, et cetera.
Theories of the Boy's Death and Identity
00:33:28
Speaker
And first we are going to talk about some theories surrounding his death. So like how he could have died or how we can explain his death.
00:33:40
Speaker
Theory number one is he may have died accidentally in foster care. This is actually one of the most popular theories about the boy in the box that he was in an orphan or that he was an orphan and he lived in a foster home where he accidentally died either by falling out a window or drowning in a lake. So falling out of a window I'm assuming because of the head injuries drowning in a lake because of the wrinkling?
00:34:12
Speaker
Is that why they're thinking those two? Yes, I think so. Okay. This theory came from Remington Bristow, a Philadelphia medical examiner. He said a psychic, and we've talked about psychics in several of our cases, told him he thought the child had died while he was living in an old mansion that a couple had turned into a foster home.
00:34:40
Speaker
But remember, we know all the foster care families in the area had already been interviewed. And in fact, this particular medical examiner had already interviewed a husband and wife duo who ran a child's home out of a mansion. And that house was cleared. This family was, their names were Arthur and Catherine Nicoletti.
00:35:10
Speaker
and Catherine's daughter from a previous marriage, whose name was Anne Marie. This is where it gets kind of weird. So according to medium.com, there was gossip that Anne Marie had developmental disabilities and that men often took advantage of her and that she had already given birth to four children out of wedlock.
00:35:37
Speaker
So three of those babies, you know, we're in 1957. So babies out of wedlock is like a big no, no, right. Three of those babies were stillborn, but one survived. It's reported though, that he later would die following an electrical accident on a department store amusement ride in 1955. Okay. That's a freak accident. What's freaky here.
00:36:07
Speaker
is this little bit I'm telling you now. So this medical examiner Remington Bristow attended an estate sale at the home in 1961 when the Nicolleti family had moved.
00:36:23
Speaker
While in this estate sale, he discovered a bassinet similar to the one sold at JCPenney, right? So what would have been in this box? And he said that hanging on a washing line were what appear to be identical quilts to the one that the boy in the box was found in.
00:36:47
Speaker
Arthur Nicoletti, the man, was interviewed by police in 1984, and he basically gave no information, and he refused to take a lie detector test. A little more information, so just try to wrap your head around this. Nicoletti would later go on to marry his stepdaughter, Ann Marie, after Catherine died.
00:37:12
Speaker
So this medical examiner believes that the boy in the box could have been Anne Marie's child. With the stepdad? With the stepdad. That's what was going through my head as well.
00:37:28
Speaker
So investigators in 1957 were only looking to ensure children listed at the home were all present. They never would have thought that there could have been a child there that they wouldn't have known would be there. Oh. Because we have this child hidden from public because she's not married at the time of this kid's birth, like all this stuff.
00:37:59
Speaker
And they, this medical examiner believes that he died in some sort of accident and they dumped his body because they didn't want to be suspected of murder or have anyone find out the extent of their illegitimate, like child slash grandchild. Okay. So a lot of this, if true would make sense to me because I feel like
00:38:28
Speaker
if this child were the illegitimate child of this man and his stepdaughter. And do we know the extent of her developmental disabilities? Like, do we know? It was a rumor. Oh, okay. So we don't even know if that is true. Correct.
00:38:49
Speaker
It could, that could have then led to mistreatment of the child because it came out of, or even mistreatment of the child by Anne-Marie's mom. Yeah, true.
00:39:07
Speaker
Well, detectives were able to follow up on this lead. Um, they actually did determine that she did have a son in 1957 and Marie. Um, but morgue records proved that the boy in the box couldn't have been that child. Oh, well, there goes my theory on that one. Okay. Moving on. Next theory. Number two, someone may have tried to drown him.
00:39:33
Speaker
Right. So Bristow, that same medical examiner, thought the boy in the box could have been drowned after falling in a lake despite the multiple head injuries because we know that the bottom of his feet and the palms of his hands were wrinkled as if he had been in water for an extended period of time.
00:39:53
Speaker
Investigators were unable to determine if the boy had been submerged in water like before or after his death, but we know that his case is ruled like blunt force trauma, not drowning. Right. Yeah. Which means no water in the lungs. Right. And I don't know, like I didn't read if they checked for that, but I'm assuming if we know, we'll talk about later on what he ate.
00:40:22
Speaker
We would know if there were water in the lungs. Okay. And, you know, we know maybe that he had to have been wet to some extent because he had that hair sticking to him. So there's that little tidbit. This third theory is like.
00:40:41
Speaker
one that I read and was like, what? To me, it makes no sense. But you tell me what you think. A theory theory is someone applied too much pressure to his head. Okay. Yeah, exactly. Investigators determined that this child had had a haircut right after he died. When they discovered the boy tufts of his own hair were stuck to his body,
00:41:11
Speaker
However, according to the medical examiner, we know whoever cut the boy's hair had done so like in a hurry and crudely. Reportedly, according to an article published on Ranker.com, there were four distinct bruises on the child's forehead as well as signs of cerebral hemorrhaging. Law enforcement
00:41:32
Speaker
then theorized that the cause of death may have been accidental by means of this, which again, I was like, okay. Okay. Whoever trimmed this kid's hair with clippers could have inadvertently applied too much pressure while holding the child's head in place.
00:41:53
Speaker
And that could have been the quote unquote trauma. I don't think so. Like I'm not a mom. So like, I really don't even know if this theory is possible. Like I know babies have really soft heads, but at, you know, three to six, is that possible to apply that? I mean, maybe because he was so malnourished, but like, I wouldn't think so. I wouldn't think so either. I really wouldn't. I was like, what?
00:42:21
Speaker
Now every parent out there is going to be like afraid to cut their kid's hair and like put too much print. I don't think that that, no, I don't believe that one. Um, and again, in that ranker article, it says a Philadelphia barber came forward shortly to say like he was positive he'd cut the child's hair about a week prior to police finding the body. He said the boy came in to his shop with the older brother and left unharmed.
00:42:47
Speaker
And he actually directed authorities to an area called Strawberry Mansion, citing this was where the boy lived. Investigators followed his lead, but made like no further discovery. So like theory theory is out for me. Wait a minute, but we're back to a mansion again? Yeah. And I don't know if that's just like an area, like maybe a subdivision. Right. This last theory in this section. Okay.
00:43:15
Speaker
Um, is what I believe is most plausible and makes the most sense. Okay. It is also what gave me nightmares. So just know I going in theory for is a woman may have bought him, abused him and killed him. Yes. Yes. And yes.
00:43:39
Speaker
So this seems to be one of the most popular theories, but it is also the most disturbing theory. In this theory, someone came forward to police with a gruesome tale. Oh, no. Some sources said it was a woman who came forward. Some said her name was Mary. Some called her Martha. Others called her M. So since there's so much discrepancy about her name, I'm going to also call her M. OK.
00:44:08
Speaker
Some sources say it was her psychiatrist that called police when she requested he kind of be like the in-between person for her and police. Right, so either some say she called in, some say her psychiatrist called in, most say her psychiatrist called in. Okay. But she asked him to call in? Yes. Hmm.
00:44:33
Speaker
Yeah, and like this theory, I mean, as you can tell between Martha, Mary and Em was a lot. So I read a lot of different theories and then tried to piece it together how I thought that it would go because I was like literally reading like seven different articles that had this theory and comparing information. So there was a lot. Okay.
00:44:58
Speaker
But the gist of it, as I give you, should be correct. So as we've discussed and as you can imagine, over the course of the years, this case has been investigated. Police have gotten numerous tips about the boy in the box, but none like what Em would give.
00:45:18
Speaker
So Em said when she was a young girl, her mother, who worked as a librarian, which I feel is very specific, very specific, purchased this child and brought him into their home in Philadelphia. And according to Em, her mother told her the boy's name was Jonathan. So the boy is purchased by Em's mom. Yes. Okay.
00:45:45
Speaker
Young alleges her mother, who, and this is where it starts being nightmarish, subjected her to sexual abuse over the course of her young life, bought Jonathan for the express purpose of doing the same for him. Oh my gosh.
00:46:03
Speaker
She said that when she was 10, she went with her mother to a neighborhood that she'd never been to before. And according to Michael West, who published this information on medium.com, in this neighborhood, she witnessed her mother hand over an envelope full of money in exchange for a toddler. No. I know. This is heartbreaking. Heartbreaking. Em said the toddler, who remember was called Jonathan,
00:46:34
Speaker
was kept in the home's damp and dirty basement. In the same article published on Medium, he says that M. Toe Police, the basement was filled with garbage and the only bathroom Jonathan would have had was a drain in the basement. Oh my god, who can do this? Yeah, this is, that's what I'm saying. Like this, if this theory is the theory
00:46:59
Speaker
It adds another level of horrificness to this whole entire thing. Oh my gosh. Just like her, Jonathan was subject to sexual abuse by her mother and was often left to go hungry. One day, she remembers that Jonathan threw up beans that her mother had given him for dinner. Is that the brown substance in his throat? And we know he threw up, right?
00:47:30
Speaker
Yep. Em's incest mother exploded in anger and literally dragged poor Jonathan up the stairs to the bathroom. And so many people believe that that's the cause of the recent bruising that was on his body because we know the bruising was like prolonged bruising, but there was newer bruising. Em says that her mother literally threw Jonathan into the bathtub
00:47:56
Speaker
water right on his hands yep and began scrubbing him when he threw up again this time in the bathtub and this was just too much for the mother to handle and i definitely feel like we should use air quotes around the word mother yes absolutely not a very good mother
00:48:19
Speaker
And Em claims that the second round of vomiting was just like too much and her mom went into a fit. And Em recalls that she beat Jonathan and smashed his head on the towel as Em watched from the toilet. Oh my gosh.
00:48:36
Speaker
Yes. And she says the screams of the boy were the only sound she ever heard him make. Oh, oh my gosh. Yeah. I didn't think that this story could get more heartbreaking and gut wrenching. And then it did.
00:48:51
Speaker
Yeah. And like, yeah. As I was reading it, I was like a million pieces. Oh. After he was dead, Em says her mother cut Jonathan's hair. Hence why it was done crudely. Yes. And Em would claim that she did this so people would think the child was loved and looked after by someone.
00:49:19
Speaker
What? Yeah. Yes. Makes zero sense to me, but obviously this woman is not. She's not rational. Yeah, she's not. No. So her mother would pack him into their car and Em went with her to find a suitable spot to dump Jonathan's body. Can you imagine also being Em in this situation? Yeah. And we'll talk about like
00:49:43
Speaker
I'm hearing just a little bit, like a lot of people try to discredit her because she has mental illness and I'm like, okay, first off, who would not? Who would not? Oh my goodness.
00:49:55
Speaker
So they found a place to dump Jonathan's body. And according to medium.com, it said a confidential witness at the time of the murder, so this so-called like Good Samaritan, stated that he spoke to a woman and child near the scene. And he added that the boy must have been placed in the box, like that was previously discarded at the site, that he wasn't brought there that way. And that's what Em said in her story.
00:50:25
Speaker
Wow. And then probably he was wrapped up in a blanket because of her whole rationale for cutting his hair was to try to make it look like someone cared for him. Then that would explain why he was wrapped up. And if he had been in the bathtub, it explains why he was naked. Oh yeah. I hadn't even put that together, but yes. And why the hair stuck to him because the skin would have been wet. Yeah.
00:50:50
Speaker
Over the years, investigators have tried to verify the information that M gave to investigators. Kelly and McKillan attempted to verify much of the story. And like I said, there's a lot of skepticism because M suffers from mental illness. They were, however, able to confirm the route she described from her home to the dumping site and it was correct. They re-interviewed this quote unquote, good Samaritan.
00:51:18
Speaker
A former college roommate of him confirmed that she had once told her her mother was a murderer. I would be like, I need a new roommate. The autopsy of the boy in the box revealed he had baked beans in his stomach. And the condition of the hands and feet would suggest he was partially submerged in water. And like we said, would explain why hair stuck to him and would explain why he was naked.
00:51:48
Speaker
I'm believing the story. Me too. And M's psychiatrist believes that this was a completely real experience. Yeah. This expert in mental illness and mental health says her story never changed during any of his treatments with her. Hmm.
00:52:11
Speaker
And obviously, this is like people are like, well, nobody in the neighborhood remembers the boy. Yes, because he lived in the basement. Right. And never got to leave. Right. And he never spoke. Exactly. That detail, that his scream was the only sound she'd ever heard him make. That's the kick in the gut. Yeah. Yeah.
00:52:36
Speaker
All right. So we've talked about possibilities of like surrounding death. Now we're going to talk about possible identities of the boy and families he could have potentially belonged to. Okay. Theory number one is he may have been raised as a girl.
00:52:59
Speaker
What? That seems odd. And now I want to I want to go into this what's saying I only read this theory in one location and that is on rancor.com. But it was so just different and like interesting that I had to mention it here. OK. So this theory suggests someone raised him as a girl which is why experts had difficulty pinpointing his identity.
00:53:30
Speaker
So one of the biggest proponents of this theory is a man named Frank Bender. So he is a forensic artist and a co-founder of the Vidoc Society. And that's like a private group of these professionals who are dedicated to solving crimes. So he's an expert. Yeah, he is an expert. Um, he has a lot of credibility. According to Bender, the reason someone cut the child's hair
00:53:56
Speaker
was to hide the fact he'd been raised as a girl. Oh, and I do not know if this is true, but I wonder if, generally speaking, those who abuse children tend to abuse one particular gender,
00:54:17
Speaker
Oh, over another. And if M was being abused sexually, she would have wanted this Jonathan girl. Right. Jonathan kid to be a girl. Right. Huh. Hmm. So, okay. I'm following Frank Bender here. He also said pictures taken of the boy in the box show evidence someone even plucked the child's eyebrows before or after his death to make them look more feminine.
00:54:47
Speaker
And he said this indicates someone had already altered the boy's appearance, you know, right.
00:54:54
Speaker
And he would actually draw a sketch, like this bender goes on to draw a sketch of what he thought the boy in the box would have looked like had he been a girl. Like long hair, bangs. Because he said, you know, maybe someone hadn't seen the boy in the box. Because I thought it was a little girl. But maybe someone had seen right. Like a misrepresentation of gender. Wonder if that's why the fingernails were trimmed too. Oh.
00:55:24
Speaker
Hmm. Okay. Okay. I've got this theory in my head. What's the next one? Yeah. First I was like, this is stupid. And now I'm like, huh, maybe possibility. Number two, he may have been the son of a carnival worker. So it's believed by many, obviously that this boy in the box came from a very poor and more than likely an educated family.
00:55:51
Speaker
So many think he may have been the son of a carnival worker. So in 1961, Philadelphia investigator questioned Kenneth Dudley and his wife Irene Dudley. Okay, first off, if you read Harry Potter, no one likes Dudley. So to determine if the boy in the box had been one of the couple's 10 children. Oh goodness. Mr. Dudley was, yeah, they were busy.
00:56:21
Speaker
Mr. Dudley was a carnival worker, so the entire family traveled up and down the East Coast as he looked for work. And while they were busy procreating, they were not busy taking care of the children they already had here on Earth. Because they first came to the attention of law enforcement when one of their children, seven-year-old Carol Ann, died as a result of neglect, malnutrition, and exposure.
00:56:48
Speaker
And instead of buying their young child's, you know, like they're buying a casket, they're putting her in a cemetery. They literally wrapped her in a blanket and placed her body in a wooded area in Virginia. So just like the boy in the box. Yes. So now I see why they get this theory.
00:57:08
Speaker
Yeah. And this series in a couple of different places and Ranker says that authorities learned that seven of the Dudley's 10 children would die as a result of malnutrition and neglect. And none of them received proper, proper burials. So they're basically like, Oh, well, discard. Yeah. Yeah. We're so good at making these. We'll just make another one. Oh my gosh.
00:57:31
Speaker
Um, they, you know, investigators would question the Dudley family about their whereabouts in 1957. But the only thing police were able to determine was that while negligent parents were quote unquote parents, they were not able to connect them with the boy in the box. We're using lots of air quotes in this episode. Yeah. When we're talking about parents, which is sad. Yeah.
00:58:00
Speaker
So the final theory of his possible identity was he was a son of a Hungarian immigrant.
00:58:12
Speaker
OK, oddly specific again, right? Right. One article that I read said that years after police found the child's body, fingerprint expert Bill Kelly theorized that the boy in the box may have been one of hundreds of Hungarian refugees who came to America in the 1950s. Kelly's theory is based upon a newspaper article that he saw published in 1956.
00:58:41
Speaker
OK. So this is one year before we've discovered the boy in the box in this newspaper article. There was a picture of Hungarian refugees. Right. And one of the immigrants in the photo looked just like the boy in the box. OK.
00:59:03
Speaker
But again, we know the boy in the box had, if he's Hungarian, a lot of Hungarian people are probably going to be a lot skinned with brown hair. Right. So I feel like his features could have been seen in a lot of children. Right. True.
00:59:21
Speaker
But Kelly followed up on this theory on the basis police were able to identify the boy and there were no records of his existence due to the status of his like immigration. So he's saying like we really can't find him through immigration records. But this dude is dedicated. He goes through more than 11,000 passport photos.
00:59:49
Speaker
and is able to track down the Hungarian boy from the 1956 article. So he figures out who this kid is. Wow. Okay. But he actually learns that that person is alive and well and living with his family in North Carolina. Okay. I have some theories. Okay. Cause I want to know what do you think? Obviously again, these are all supposition. These are all guesses, but based on the information that you have given me, this is what I think is the most likely.
01:00:18
Speaker
I think, after hearing all these theories, that two of the possibilities of his identity work together. Meaning, I think that he could have been one of the Hungarian refugees, one of the other children, not the one in the article. And the reason I say that is because Em said she never heard him speak a word.
01:00:47
Speaker
which if he didn't speak English might have been funny. Then maybe he was sold to this wealthy woman because if he came over here as an immigrant refugee, maybe his parents didn't accompany him. And here he's spending for himself anyway. And so- Or they could be really poor and they could get the money. Yeah. They could be quote unquote parents like the carnival workers.
01:01:17
Speaker
and say, I'll just take some money. And then they sold him to Em's mom because that whole theory of being raised as a girl then makes sense why the hair was cut. It makes sense to me why the nails were trimmed. And we have this co-founder of the Vidoc Society who is like vouching for that theory.
01:01:42
Speaker
And I'm wondering like when they say hair was cut, did they mean like an inch of hair was cut or was it like five inches of hair? Right. You know? Right. And like I said, I do believe Em's story and if her mother, air quote, mother,
01:02:03
Speaker
sexually abused her, then the boy in the box could have been raised as a girl for that purpose. That's my theory. So basically, we took a lot of these theories and made a new theory. Yes, you're welcome.
01:02:25
Speaker
In recent years, The Boy in the Box has been a hot topic.
Ongoing Efforts and Public Appeals
01:02:28
Speaker
We know that ancestral DNA is getting bigger and bigger, and according to A&E genealogy expert Barbara Rae Venter, who helped crack the Golden State Killer case using DNA and genetic research, confirmed to the Mercury News in August 2018 that she is working on The Boy in the Box case.
01:02:48
Speaker
It's clear the Vidoc Society still wants answers and urgent requests from the organization seeks input from anyone who could hold any piece of information that could possibly fit this insane puzzle. The society is asking those who are over the age of 55, if they remember anything from that time,
01:03:14
Speaker
Does anybody remember a boy who possibly could have been named Jonathan living within the area? They are hoping for tips from current or retired physicians who may have been in the area that treated a boy for a chronic eye ailment who left scars in the groin area and the ankles who possibly sewed stitches in a chin.
01:03:38
Speaker
Someone out there knows who this child is, the society said on their side. Could that someone be you? Again, please like and join us on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast to continue the conversation and to see images related to this episode. As always, follow us on Instagram at Coffee Cases podcast and on TikTok at Coffee and Cases podcast, or you can always email us suggestions to Coffee and Cases podcast at gmail.com.
01:04:08
Speaker
Please tell your friends about our podcast so that more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to write our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon. Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.