Joseph Augustus Zarelli

Discovery of the body

On February 25, 1957, the body of Joseph Augustus Zarelli, wrapped in a plaid blanket, was found in the woods off Susquehanna Road in the Fox Chase neighborhood of Philadelphia. A few days later, a college student spotted a rabbit running into the underbrush. Knowing that there were traps in the area, he stopped his car to investigate and discovered the body. He was also reluctant to have any contact with police, but he did report what he had found the following day, after hearing of the disappearance of Mary Jane Barker in Bellmawr, New Jersey.

Investigation prior to identification

The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) opened an investigation on February 26, 1957. The dead boy's fingerprints were taken, and police at first were optimistic that he would soon be identified. However, no one ever came forward with any useful information.

The case attracted considerable media attention in Philadelphia and the surrounding metropolitan area. The Philadelphia Inquirer printed 400,000 flyers depicting the boy's likeness, which were sent out and posted across the area, and were included with every gas bill in Philadelphia. Police also distributed a post-mortem photograph of the boy fully dressed and in a seated position, as he may have looked in life, in the hope it might lead to a clue. The body was exhumed again in 2019 to retrieve additional DNA samples. Authorities said that an investigation would use the new information to continue the search for suspects. On January 19, 2023, the names of Zarelli's parents were reported.

Investigators were finally able to identify Zarelli after a cousin uploaded DNA to a public database. Investigators subsequently encouraged that person's mother (a first cousin of Zarelli) to submit a genetic profile to GEDmatch, which she did, allowing investigators to identify his parents. A court order for the child's birth certificate was then made, which revealed the child's name and his parents' names, which were also subsequently verified by DNA.

Theories prior to identification Before his identification in 2022, several prominent theories regarding the boy's origin were investigated by law enforcement and amateur sleuths.

The foster home

In 1960, Remington Bristow, an employee of the medical examiner's office who doggedly pursued the case until his death in 1993, contacted a New Jersey psychic, who told him to look for a house that matched a foster home that was located approximately 1.5 miles (2.5 km) from the site of the body. When the psychic was brought to the Philadelphia discovery site, she led Bristow directly to the foster home.

However, police established that all the foster children at the home were accounted for, and a reexamination by investigators confirmed that the family were likely not involved.

The woman known as Martha or "M" Another theory was brought forward in February 2002 by a woman identified only as Martha, or "M", accusing her mother of acquiring and killing the child. Police considered her story plausible but were troubled by her testimony, as she had a history of mental illness.

Other theories Memorial sign near the location where the body was found on the side of Susquehanna Road. The sign was erected five years before Zarelli's identification. Forensic artist Frank Bender developed a theory that the victim may have been raised as a girl. Zarelli's unprofessional haircut, which appeared to have been performed in haste, was the basis for the scenario, as well as the appearance of the eyebrows having been styled. In 2008, Bender released a sketch of the unidentified child with long hair, reflecting the strands found on the body.

In 2016, two writers, Jim Hoffmann and Louis Romano, believed they had discovered a potential relative from Memphis, Tennessee, and requested that their DNA be compared with the boy. The lead was originally discovered by a Philadelphia man (who introduced Romano and Hoffmann to each other) and was developed and presented, with the help of Hoffmann, to the PPD and the Vidocq Society in early 2013. In December 2013, Romano became aware of the lead and agreed to help obtain the DNA from this particular relative in January 2014, which was sent quickly to the PPD. Local authorities confirmed that they would investigate the lead, but said they would need to do more research on the circumstances surrounding the link to Memphis before comparing DNA. In December 2017 Homicide Sgt. Bob Kuhlmeier confirmed that DNA taken from the Memphis man was compared to the boy, and there was no connection.

Burial

Zarelli was originally buried in a potter's field. In 1998, he was reburied at Ivy Hill Cemetery in the Cedarbrook section of Philadelphia, which donated a large plot. The coffin, headstone and funeral service were donated by the son of the man who buried Zarelli in 1957. There was significant public attendance and media coverage at the reburial. City residents keep the grave decorated with flowers and toys. Law enforcement reported at the same conference that both of Zarelli's biological parents are deceased, but the child has living half-siblings.

At the same December 2022 press conference, Philadelphia law enforcement stated that Zarelli had lived in the area of 61st and Market streets. "I don't know what the neighbors knew or didn't know," said the head of the PPD police homicide unit, Captain Jason Smith, at the conference. "The child did live past the age of four years old, so there would have been somebody out there that would have seen this child, perhaps another family member that hasn't stepped forward, possibly a neighbor that remembers seeing that child, and remembers whatever was occurring at that particular household." That same month, the Inquirer reported that Zarelli's biological parents were Augustus John Zarelli and Mary Elizabeth (née Abel) Plunkett; the couple, who were not married or were ever known to be in a relationship, both married other partners sometime after Zarelli was born. Abel had previously put a baby girl up for adoption, and her cousin speculated, in a 2023 interview, that Abel might not have been the one who raised Zarelli, possibly giving him over to adoption.