Unexplained Mysteries

Boy in the Box

Normally I find mysterious murders fun but when it comes to children....I find myself disgusted and sad. Especially, the case of the Boy in the Box. Don't look at the pictures of this little boy. His face is so little and abused....:( I've never seen so much fear and horror in a face before.

After all these years, almost everything about this boy's life and death is still a mystery - even who he was. On February 25, 1957, a foggy day, Sam Weinstein, now a retired detective, was one of the first policemen on the scene. Weinstein was responding to a call about a suspicious box. He found a boy's beaten body, stuffed inside the box. Nobody knows who this boy is or who killed him. He had no clothing and his hair was chopped off - bruises from head to foot. He is referred to as “The Boy in the Box,” and his death continues to haunt people because there is so much we still don’t know. Over five decades of inquiry, we still don’t know why this boy was beaten to death. Or why the evidence didn’t offer a single, good lead. Or how a child could disappear without anyone noticing. Identifying a victim had never been so difficult. What makes this case stand out is there is no leads whatsoever. The blanket, the box, the body...nothing provided any evidence. All they know is that he died by blows to the head. Police couldn't even identify when he died.

The American Medical Association circulated a complete medical description in the hope that some doctor, somewhere, might recognize the boy.In a dozen states, from California to Maine, promising leads have developed—and all proved futile.The police found no witnesses, no identity for the boy, not even any record he had ever existed. This is a mystery almost without parallel. How is it possible for a murderer not only to escape justice but even to shroud the identity of the victim? It would seem impossible for a child to be murdered and have no persons come forward to claim him as their own or, at the very least, identify him. Somewhere in his life the boy must have been known, not just to his parents, but to their friends. Somewhere he must have had playmates. Somewhere there must have been neighbours who knew he was alive—and now is around no more. Somewhere there must be a person who neatly trimmed the nails on his fingers and toes. Somewhere there must be a barber—professional or amateur—who gave him a bowl-like cut shortly before his death. Somewhere the boy’s fingerprints—or footprints—must be on file.

That is, all these people—and these things—”must be” in the logical course of events.

But this case defies logic.

The young man who found the body waited a day before coming to the police with the information. In fact, he was the second person to find the body; another young man who had seen the boy in the box two days earlier, but preferred not to get involved. With the cold February weather, and these delays, there was no way to determine just how long the body had been lying in the field (or how many other people had seen it and said nothing.)

The case was never closed. Some of the detectives originally assigned to the case continued following leads for years afterward. One detective stayed with the case well into his retirement.

A few people have come to the police claiming to be witnesses.  Ten years ago, a woman told the police her parents were responsible for the boy’s death. She offered a detailed, consistent account, but there is no way to corroborate her facts.