At Ivy Hill Cemetery in Cedarbrook, Philadelphia, there is a large tract of land that is almost entirely covered with stuffed animals donated by local families and casual visitors. The stone in this place serves as a tombstone for the grave of a little boy. It reads "America's Unknown Child."
This is a child whom the law enforcement agencies have never been able to identify. The creepy story of the boy in the box has become one of the most perplexing crimes in Philadelphia the police have ever faced in over 50 years. And today this crime remains a mystery and raises a lot of questions.
Terrible find
In 1957, a local sheep hunter went to check his traps near a park north of Philadelphia. He found a small cardboard box lying on the ground. It contained the body of a naked boy, but he was wrapped in a blanket. Fearing that the police would confiscate the traps if he alerted them to the box, the young hunter ignored the gruesome find and resumed the hunt.
A few days later, a college student driving along the road saw a rabbit running along the highway. The student knew there were traps in the area and stopped to make sure the animal was safe. As he explored the undergrowth for traps, he came across a box. Fearing interacting with the police, the student nevertheless reported the strange find.
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Nobody was looking for a boy
Considering that the boy was small (3-7 years old), the police hoped that his identity would be quickly established. However, after the examination of the body, these hopes soon collapsed. People are likely to be looking for a missing boy who was healthy, well dressed, and clearly loved, and unlikely to be looking for a skinny, filthy, malnourished child. Unfortunately, the boy in the box was just that.
The murdered man's hair was matted and seemed to have been recently cut. His body was severely emaciated and covered with surgical scars, especially on the ankle, groin and chin. Despite the fact that he looked homeless, the police stamped his photograph, hoping to find at least some thread of this mysterious crime. Unfortunately, no evidence or evidence has been found.
Compilation of a composite sketch
Over the next several years, over 400,000 flyers were sent to the Philadelphia area as well as other cities in Pennsylvania. A forensic facial reconstruction was performed and all of the posters featured the face of a happy boy. Flyers have been posted at police stations, post offices and even included in envelopes with gas bills, but still no one has provided the police with any information.
The crime scenes themselves were searched and examined several times, but apart from a few items of children's clothing, there was no evidence. To this day, the boy's identity remains as much of a mystery as it did in 1957.
Although the investigation never got off the ground, over the years interest from amateur investigators has sparked several theories.
Medical Examiner Theory
In 1960, one of the medical examiners contacted a psychic, and he said that the boy in the box was the adopted child in the family. The police inquired about the boy in the foster family and found a blanket similar to the one in which the boy was wrapped, and
The expert suggested that the boy was born to the daughter of a man who ran the foster home and that his death was accidental. Despite persistent investigation by law enforcement officials, no connection was found between the boy in the box and the foster home.
New theory
Only 40 years later, a new theory was born. The woman, who was simply named "M", made itself felt, claiming that the boy was killed by his own mother. "M" claimed that after the boy took his baked bean dinner, his mother hit his head against the wall as punishment. Then his mother tried to redeem him. He died during this procedure.
At first, the police were inclined to believe this version, since there were indeed baked beans in the boy's stomach, and his fingers appeared to be wrinkled. They were also spurred on by the description of the boy as a small child with long hair. This was in line with their theory that his hair was cut off. Also connected to the case were the long-standing testimony of a man who claimed to have seen the boy being placed in a box near the forest.
Unfortunately, in the end, the police did not find evidence of this theory, as their officers were unable to verify the testimony of Ms. After examining her story in more detail, the police found that she suffered from a mental disorder, and when they tried to confirm their suspicions by interviewing neighbors and friends, they received the answer that no one had ever seen the child in the house. Ultimately, the theory began to look ridiculous.
Several other theories have been presented over the years, although ultimately all of them also lacked foundation. It seems that the mystery of the boy in the box may never be solved and that "America's unknown child" will forever remain one of the biggest mysteries in jurisprudence.
Maya Muzashvili