The Boy in the box mystery - buried without a name

Few unsolved cases can be as sad, as tragic as the case of the boy in the box.

The little boy was discovered completely unclothed in a box in Pennsylvania in the USA on February 25, 1957. Judging from his injuries, the poor little mite had been battered to death.

Despite numerous police appeals, nobody came forward to identify him never mind claim the child.

His murder was a double tragedy. Buried without even a name, somewhere someone should have been mourning the little boy who was just 4 or 5-years-old.

How the little boy mighy have looked

So, who was the Boy in the Box, also known as America's Unknown Child?

Why did nobody claim him as their own?

The police inquiries focused on why his hair had been cut so severely short very closely to his scalp, probably shortly before his death. They believe it was cut to hide the lush big curls he would have had in life so identification would be easier.

Someone must have cared about him. He'd been wrapped in a blanket, but there were signs he'd been starved.

The police printed thousands of leaflets with a photograph of the little boy who'd been posed to look as closely as he would to in life. They hoped someone would recognise him.

Their hopes were dashed.

There were plenty of theories, but none that could be proven -

He was the child of an unwed mother who's father ran a nearby foster home and he wanted rid of the child.

He was a child who'd been raised as a girl and that was the reason his hair had been hacked off.

Whoever the child was, he was never identified and was finally laid to rest for a second time (after he was moved from a potter's field). His funeral was attended by members of the public and paid for by the son of the man who'd first buried the unknown child. The headstone bearing the words 'America's Unknown Child.'

~~~Updates~~~
In 2016, a forensic facial reconstruction was done of his face and he was entered in the the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children database.

In 2018, a top genetic genealogist who helped identify the Golden State killer, said she was trying to use a new DNA profiling to finally give a name to the little boy in the box for the first time.

Rip it up and start again - your novel might be better for it

There's nothing worse than working hard into the wee small hours, making yourself so tired you don't just have grey bags under your eyes you have saucers, only to get two thirds of the way through writing your novel and finding yourself shaking your head. 

You know something is wrong with your novel. Thankfully you realise what it is.

You might have taken the wrong turn in the plot or given a character way too much of the story that they haven't earned (if you've watched the 3rd season of 13 Reasons Why and met the new narrator Ani you'll know what I mean).

Of course you could ignore this feeling in your gut that your book isn't quite right. Then you could end up sending it to a critique agency when publishers and agents turn it down, which is very expensive, only to be probably told what you already knew - that a part of your book wasn't working. 

Something you knew already but couldn't face acknowledging. 

Getting over the finishing line isn't what it's all about

Instead of spending money you probably haven't got ask yourself this (I look like I'm shouting but I  need to be reminded of this too) ask yourself this   -

IS IT BETTER TO GET THAT BOOK WRITTEN THAN IT IS TO GET IT WRITTEN TO THE VERY BEST IT CAN BE?

Sure, getting that novel finished is your goal, but you want it to be as good as it can possibly be so it gets a publisher or you get an agent, or you self-publish a good novel. 

That may mean either cutting swathes of text or even ripping it up and starting again. 

Be brave. Good writing is fearless. It often comes from knowing when to reach for that delete key or recycle bin.

Why I watch #truecrime

I don't watch #truecrime out of some macabre fascination. To hear gruseome details of how people were hurt.

No, I watch because whilst I do the people who were murdered who never got justice are alive and its like they're telling me "I matter, don't let people forget me."

I hope someone is watching who can get them justice so they can rest in peace.