Investigations

In 1957, a young boy was found dead and beaten inside a box in Philadelphia’s Fox Chase neighborhood. The investigation into his death became one of the nation’s most notorious cold cases. Now, 65 years later, police finally know the boy’s name: Joseph Augusuts Zarelli. The NBC10 Investigators and Claudia Vargas unveil the decades...

A slain child at the center of one of Philadelphia’s oldest cold cases now has his name on a grave marker. Mourners who gathered at the gravesite Friday marked what would have been the 70th birthday of Joseph Augustus Zarelli — the 4-year-old found dead in 1957 and long known as the “Boy in the Box.”

Forensic genealogy helped police identify the suspect in the murders of four University of Idaho students. NBC10 Investigative reporter Claudia Vargas explains how law enforcement officials are using this new and growing technology to solve cases.

The child formally known as “The Boy in the Box” now has a name thanks to forensic genetic genealogy. Now, investigators want to use similar methods to identify other victims as well. NBC10’s investigative reporter Claudia Vargas has the details.

The NBC10 Investigators look into questionable police data, a housing loophole and the impact of school lockdowns in their “Digging Deeper” special. Watch the entire special here.

Just a week after America’s Unknown Child was identified as Joseph Augustus Zarelli, we are still learning more about how investigators uncovered the mystery. NBC10 Investigative reporter Claudia Vargas has a sneak peak of the documentary made by the NBC10 Investigators.

The NBC10 Investigators released a new documentary on the effort to finally identify the “Boy in the Box,” a child who was found dead and beaten inside a box in Philadelphia’s Fox Chase neighborhood in 1957. NBC10 investigative reporter Claudia Vargas shows you how to watch.

With the ongoing gun violence crisis in the city, Philadelphia Police are preparing for any incident in which they could be shot at, including schools. NBC10 investigative reporter Claudia Vargas gives us an inside look at police participating in an active shooter drill.

He was found severely beaten, naked, malnourished and stuffed inside a cardboard box on the side of a Philadelphia road. The brutality of his death shocked people’s consciousness – and the question of his identity for decades vexed both area residents and investigators alike. Now the boy, whose headstone for years read only “America’s U...

City Council approved a permanent 10 p.m. curfew for children and teens under the age of 18 in Philadelphia. 

One school in Bucks County gave the NBC10 Investigators an inside look on how they go through a lockdown drill in the event of an active shooter situation. NBC10’s Claudia Vargas has the story.

The NBC10 Investigators discovered a loophole that allows people to get Section 8 housing in Philly in the federal housing system, delaying the housing of Philly residents who have waited years for the same opportunity. After seeing our initial report, state legislators now say they want a change in the system.

Through a public records request, the NBC10 Investigators obtained school lockdown logs kept by the School District of Philadelphia — as well as school security, or lockdown, drills.