The Boy in the Box

Podcast episode originally aired April 2, 2021.

This week I’m telling you about a 64-year old case that is still unsolved today.

A case that is wrapped in just as much mystery as it was when it first happened, a case that had numerous leads which all led nowhere.

From a psychic who told investigators where to look, to a woman who claimed to be a relative of the deceased, to an old foster home that was quite questionable.

This week’s creepy case is The Boy in the Box.

In February 1957, the naked body of a young boy aged 4 - 6 years old was found off of Susquehanna Road in Fox Chase, Pennsylvania.
The body was wrapped in a plaid blanket and stuffed inside a bassinet box, similar to the ones sold at JC Penney.

The boy’s hair had recently been cut super short, possibly after death, as clumps of hair clung to the body. There were signs of abuse and malnourishment, along with scars to the ankle, groin, and chin.
The body was originally found by John Stachowiak, who was checking his muskrat traps. Afraid that police would take his traps, he didn’t report what he had found.

A few days later, college student, Frank Guthrum, spotted a rabbit run into the underbrush. Knowing there were traps in the area, he stopped his car to help and came across the body.
Frank was also reluctant to come forward, but after hearing about the disappearane of Mary Jane Barker, he reported his findings to the police.

On February 26, police opened an official investigation, they took fingerprints and the Philadelphia Inquirer printed and distributed 400,000 flyers of the boy’s likeness. There was a massive amount of media attention in Pennsylvania and Delaware Valley, police were optimistic they would solve the case, even going as far as taking a post-mortem photo of the boy sitting up, fully dressed as he may have looked in life, hoping it would lead somewhere, but not many came forward, and those who did had information that couldn’t be verified.

270 police recruits searched the wooded area where the boy’s body had been found. They came across a man’s blue courduroy hat, a child’s scarf, and a white handkerchief with the letter “G” embroidered on it, none of which could be linked to the boy.

While most theories associated with this case have been dismissed, two have generated considerable interest among the police and media.

Foster Home: Concerns of a foster home approxiately 1.5 miles from the site of the body.
Remington Bristow, an employee of the medical examiner’s off actually pursued this case until his death in 1993, contacted a New Jersey psychic in 1960, who told him to look for a house that matched the description of the foster home. This led to an estate sale at the home where a bassinet, also similar to the ones sold at JC Penney, was discovered.
Also found were similar blankets hanging in the home. Some say the boy belonged to the step-daughter of the man who ran the foster home, and they disposed of him so she would not be exposed as an unwed mother.
Some say the boy was a foster child who was killed on accident and hidden so that they wouldn’t be charged.

While there was circumstantial evidence, police weren’t able to officially connect the boy to the foster home.

In 1998, retired police officer and profiler, Tom Augustine, along with members of the Vidocq Society - a society founded in 1990 to assist in resolving long running homicides in Pennsylvania - interviewed the foster father and step-daughter, who had actually been married.
They were cleared and that part of the investigation was closed.

The Martha or “M” Theory: In February 2002, a woman named Martha came forward claiming that she was the sister of the Unknown Boy.

Stating that her mother had purchased the boy, Jonathan, from his parents in 1954. According to Martha, the boy was subject to severe physical and sexual abuse for two and a half years.

One evening at dinner, the boy vomited up his meal of baked beans, and endured a severe beating, with his head being slammed on the floor until he was semi-conscious.
He was then given a bath, where he ended up dying.

The police considered Martha’s testimony as these details matched information known only to police, as the coroner found the boy’s stomach contained beans, and his fingers were water wrinkled. Martha’s mother cut his distinctive long hair in an effort to conceal his identity, then forced her to assist in dumping his body in the Fox Chase area.
She says that while they were taking the body out of the trunk, a passing motorist stopped to ask if they needed help. Martha was instructed to stand behind the car to block the license plate while her mother convinced them no help was needed.

He eventually drove off.

This story matched a testimony given to police confidentially in 1957.

Although the possibility of Martha’s story, police were unable to verify it.
Martha had a history of mental illness, and people who lived nearby in 1957 deny there ever being a young boy who lived there.

The boy was buried in Potter’s Field, but in 1998, the body was exhumed, and a tooth was extracted for DNA.

He was reburied in Ivy Hill Cemetery in Cedarbrook, where they donated a large plot. The coffin, headstone - which reads “America’s Unknown Child”, and funeral costs were donated by the son of the man who buried him in 1957.
There was significant attendance from the community and the media.
City residents still keep it decorated with flowers and stuffed animals.

I find it quite sad that this poor child was just thrown away like he was nothing but a piece of garbage, never getting justice, or even being known.

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