THE BOY IN THE BOX

The "Boy in the Box" is the name given to an unidentified murder victim, a 4-to 6-year-old boy, whose naked, battered body was found in a bassinet box in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 25, 1957. He is also commonly called "America's Unknown Child." His identity has never been discovered, and the case remains open.
In February 1957, the boy's body, wrapped in a plaid blanket, was found in the woods off Susquehanna Road in Fox Chase, Philadelphia. The naked body was inside a cardboard box which had once contained a bassinet of the kind sold by J. C. Penney.The boy's hair had been recently cropped, possibly after death, as clumps of hair clung to the body. There were signs of severe malnourishment, as well as surgical scars on the ankle and groin, and an L-shaped scar under the chin.

The body was first discovered by John Stachowiak, a young man who was checking his muskrat traps. Fearing that the police would confiscate his traps, he did not report what he had found. A few days later, college student Frank Guthrum spotted a rabbit running into the underbrush. Knowing that there were animal traps in the area, he stopped his car to investigate and discovered the body. Guthrum, like Stachowiak, was reluctant to have any contact with the police, but he did report what he had found the following day, after hearing of the disappearance of Mary Jane Barker.