The boy in the box

This case happened in 1953, a boy’s body was discovered in a box in Philadelphia. He was beaten and shoved into an old bassinet box. His hair was freshly cut with some of it discovered in the box with him

His murder shocked the nation, as many tried to find out who he was and what happened to him. As the search went on the boy was given the tittle of American’s unknown child. There was almost no leads and with no identification the case went cold

Some of main theories of this case are the Martha theory and the theory that Joseph was raised as a girl instead. The Martha theory centers around a woman named Martha who informed the police that her mother had bought the boy off of his parents and then killed him. Seeing as Martha had a history of mental illness, the police did not take her seriously. The girl theory centers around how Joseph’s hair had been freshly cut. Some investigators believe that he was raised as a girl instead which is why no one could identify him.

In much better news, 2022 was an extremely good year for cold cases. This investigation was one of them that also took a turn for the better as the boy was given back his identity as Joseph Augustus Zarelli. His murderers are sadly still not identified but the investigators did announce they had some major suspects. They revealed that they were not naming them as the Zarelli family still had existing family members that could potentially be harmed if names were released

 

The Dennis Martin case

Dennis Martin was a 6 year old boy who mysteriously disappeared in 1969 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He was playing with his brothers and another family, while under the supervision of all the parents at all times

The children were playing hide and seek, and the parents saw Dennis hide behind a tree. When he was not found by the seeker, they went to look, and he was no longer there.

Because of the landscape around said tree, it should have been easy for the parents to see him if he had run off. The Appalachian trail (Which is known to be a trail many people disappear on) was nearby, and his father immediately set off along it, looking for him. When he had no luck they called the park rangers and searched for him all night.

The search for Dennis became huge and lasted almost 6 weeks. The FBI, Green Berets, Rangers, and local volunteers turned out to look for him

Despite all this, all that was ever found of Dennis was one shoe, and one sock. No other signs were found.