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In rural Pennsylvania, 195, Fredrick Benosis discovered the body of a young boy. The body has been wrapped in flannel and placed inside a JC Penny’s baby bassinet box. Two days before a man setting muskrat traps had also seen the body but decided against telling local authorities. His decision was based on the traps he was using being illegal in the area.
Benosis waited a few days to tell the police as well. He was spying on women at the Good Shepherd School and didn’t want to answer questions about his misdoings. The young boy was described as having blue eyes, fair skin and light brown hair. His body was covered in deep bruises and was reported to have been in the box for several weeks.
Media dubbed him “The Boy in the Box.” With the immense coverage the boy received, police were hopeful a family might come forward and claim him. They scoured the area for reports of a missing child and checked on every potential lead.
In the end, no one came forward to claim the boy. His identity was never discovered. His fingerprints and footprints didn’t produce any records. Authorities checked into the twelve purchases of the JC Penny bassinet in the area as well. Nothing came of that either.
Investigators think the case of America’s unknown child was a victim of murder. Evidence points to the physical description of the boy. His hair was roughly cut and looked like it had been done after he was deceased. His hands and feet were wrinkled as if he had been submerged in water for a long time.
The boy was super malnourished, and he appears to have vomited right before death. There were also several reported blows to his head and torso which would account for the bruising.
The boy in the box was buried in potter’s field with a headstone that reads “Heavenly Father, Bless This Unknown Boy.” He was exhumed in 1998 to extract DNA and see if there was a match in the database. So far, the DNA sequence has been too small to produce a conclusive match.
