Research Catalog

Title

The boy in the box : the unsolved case of America's unknown child / David Stout.

Author

Stout, David, 1942-2020

Publication

Guilford, Conn. : Lyons Press, c2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

vii, 255 p., [8] p. of plates ; ill.; 22 cm.

Summary

"On February 25, 1957, the nude, badly bruised body of a young boy was found in a cardboard box in trash-strewn woods of north Philadelphia. Posters seeking information on the identity of the "Boy in the Box" dotted teh city and police stations nationwide--but to no avail. In November 1998 the remains were exhumed for DNA analysis, and the boy was reburied as "America's Unknown Child ..." Exploring every theory, profiling a wide array of suspects and informants, and following the national movement to help solve this case, Stout gives readers a compelling, haunting, and unique portrait of a city and a nation impacted by this mysterious crime from the 1950s to today."--Cover.

Subject

• Philadelphia (Pa.). Police Department > Biography
• Murder > Philadelphia > Case studies
• Murder victims > Philadelphia > Identification > Case studies
• Children > Crimes against > Philadelphia > Case studies
• Murder > Investigation > Philadelphia > Case studies
• Cold cases (Criminal investigation) > Philadelphia > Case studies
• Police > Philadelphia > Biography

Genre/Form

• Biographies
• Case studies
• True crime stories
• Récits criminels.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Chapter 1. A graveside gathering -- Chapter 2. Trapper and peeper -- Chapter 3. Rain and sorrow -- Chapter 4. What death can tell -- Chapter 5. A life is changed -- Chapter 6. "A national case" -- Chapter 7. A happy time's dark side -- Chapter 8. Paths to nowhere -- Chapter 9. The trail leads West -- Chapter 10. Into the darkest swamps -- Chapter 11. Call back the years -- Chapter 12. Visions of a cabin -- Chapter 13. Sheltering the children -- Chapter 14. The Hungarian clue -- Chapter 15. College secrets -- Chapter 16. American families -- Chapter 17. Changes and farewells -- Chapter 18. Dying too young -- Chapter 19. What happens in life -- Chapter 20. Husband and wife -- Chapter 21. A boy is "adopted" -- Chapter 22. What Adam begot -- Chapter 23. "Way back in time" -- Chapter 24. Places of honor -- Chapter 25. Blessings on him -- Chapter 26. A call from Cincinnati -- Chapter 27. A tale of horror -- Chapter 28. The Good Samaritan -- Chapter 29. How much to believe? -- Chapter 30. "Nothing is confirmed" -- Chapter 31. "Wacky theories" -- Chapter 32. An old coal bin -- Chapter 33. Giving in to time -- Chapter 34. More frustration -- Chapter 35. "Thy will be done" -- Chapter 36. On life's back roads.

ISBN

9781599212692

LCCN

^^2008033750

OCLC

• 213839120
• SCSB-12751088

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library