Philadelphia

Memorial Held for Victim of ‘Boy in the Box' Cold Case 60 Years After His Death

A memorial service was held for the still unidentified, "boy in the box," outside a wooded area off 720 Susquehanna Road around 2:30 p.m. Sunday, 60 years after his death.

A group gathered Sunday afternoon to honor the victim of one of Philadelphia's oldest and most notorious cold cases. A memorial service was held for the still unidentified, "boy in the box," outside a wooded area off 720 Susquehanna Road around 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

It was the same location where the child, who investigators believe was between 3 and 7 years of age, was found beaten, stuffed in a card board box and abandoned 60 years ago. The boy's grave now reads “America’s Unknown Child.”

The details of the cold case chilled Philadelphia. Putting a name on the boy’s grave is something that frustrated generations of police investigators. Last year, two authors – one from Los Angeles, and another from outside New York, said they believed they had traced the boy’s family to Memphis, Tennessee and needed his DNA to prove it. You can read the NBC10 Investigators report on their findings here.

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