Boy in the Box by David Stout

From the Publisher

A riveting true account of the infamous child-murder mystery that has gripped Philadelphia and all of
America for more than 50 years
 
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 the 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.”
 
The Boy in the Box is the first book to thoroughly examine America’s most famous unsolved case of child murder—a case that ushered in a whole new era of public consciousness about missing children. Through first-hand interviews and thorough research, David Stout chronicles half a century of shocking and mysterious events surrounding the discovery of the body. He considers the case through the eyes of detectives, some of whom spent their entire adult lives working to solve it. 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.

Publishers Weekly

Philadelphia's "Boy in the Box" is one of the country's most famous unsolved crimes, but New York Times reporter Stout delivers a disappointing account of the long-running investigation. In February 1957, the body of a boy between ages four and six was discovered in a cardboard box in a wooded area in Philadelphia's Fox Chase section. Even with an apparent abundance of clues-the plaid blanket wrapped around the body, the cap found nearby-the case went cold fast, though it would become a lifelong obsession for several investigators. Remington Bristow, from the Medical Examiner's office, spent the rest of his life tracking down leads. Detectives Bill Kelly and Sam Weinstein joined the city's elite Vidocq Society-forensic professionals and others who try to solve such crimes-in the hopes of finally giving the boy a name. In 1998, the boy's body was exhumed for DNA testing. A woman has recently claimed that her parents killed the boy but authorities have been unable to prove-or disprove-her story. Stout's uneven chronology, further hampered by myriad digressions, will confuse even the most attentive reader, and frequent lapses into melodrama cheapen a compelling tale. (Sept. 2)

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents