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TRUE LIFE IS MUCH SCARIER THAN FICTION

Child Murder In The United States Part Two (Certain Images May Be Disturbing) Updated 5/14

Boy In The Box: Despite the huge publicity at the time and sporadic re-interest throughout the years, the case remains unsolved to this day, and the boy's identity is still unknown. He was approximately 4 to 6 years old, whose naked, battered body was found in a cardboard box in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 25, 1957. The boy's body, wrapped in a plaid blanket, was inside a cardboard box that once contained a baby's bassinet from J.C. Penney. He is also commonly called "America's Unknown Child". The story has been profiled on the television series America's Most Wanted. The television series Cold Case, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Law & Order: SVU have all used fictionalized accounts of the story as the basis for episodes.

Although a foster home was under scrutiny, there have been several hypothesis concerning the crime, none ever panning out. From being a child of an unwed mother, a very shameful thing for that time period, to a fantastic story of a child being sold, then abused, tortured and killed by the one who bought him, there still is no credible account or reason as to why this should happen to a small boy.

The second major theory is one brought forward in February 2002 by a woman identified only as "M". She claimed that her abusive mother purchased the unknown boy, named "Jonathan ", from his birth parents in the summer of 1954. Telling a horrific story of extreme abuse that ended in his murder, she claims her mother cut the boy's hair (police had reported that the boy's hair had shown a recent cut with bruises around the head) to conceal his identity and made her own daughter help dump the body - even being seen by a passing motorist who, had testified to witnessing this in 1957.

Police considered the story quite plausible, but were troubled by "M"'s testimony, as she had a history of mental illness. When interviewed, neighbors who had access to the house denied that there had been a young boy living in the house, and said that "M"'s claims were "ridiculous."

The murder continues to be considered unsolved as of 2014.

JonBenet Ramsey: JonBenet Ramsey's story is arguably one of the most well-known stories in the United States. She was killed only a few months after she turned 6 on December 26, 1996.. Her mother discovered the girl was missing and found a ransom note, at which point police were contacted. A search of the house found the girl’s body in a wine cellar, strangled to death.

Mr. Ramsey, Listen carefully! We are a group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction. We do respect your bussiness [sic] but not the country that it serves. At this time we have your daughter in our posession [sic]. She is safe and unharmed and if you want her to see 1997, you must follow our instructions to the letter. You will withdraw $118,000.00 from your account. $100,000 will be in $100 bills and the remaining $18,000 in $20 bills. 

Make sure that you bring an adequate size attache to the bank. When you get home you will put the money in a brown paper bag. I will call you between 8 and 10 am tomorrow to instruct you on delivery. The delivery will be exhausting so I advise you to be rested. If we monitor you getting the money early, we might call you early to arrange an earlier delivery of the money and hence a [sic] earlier delivery pick-up of your daughter.

Any deviation of my instructions will result in the immediate execution of your daughter. You will also be denied her remains for proper burial. The two gentlemen watching over your daughter do not particularly like you so I advise you not to provoke them. Speaking to anyone about your situation, such as Police, F.B.I., etc., will result in your daughter being beheaded. If we catch you talking to a stray dog, she dies. If you alert bank authorities, she dies. 

If the money is in any way marked or tampered with, she dies. You will be scanned for electronic devices and if any are found, she dies. You can try to deceive us but be warned that we are familiar with law enforcement countermeasures and tactics. You stand a 99% chance of killing your daughter if you try to out smart [sic] us. Follow our instructions and you stand a 100% chance of getting her back.

You and your family are under constant scrutiny as well as the authorities. Don't try to grow a brain John. You are not the only fat cat around so don't think that killing will be difficult. Don't underestimate us John. Use that good southern common sense of yours. It is up to you now John!

Victory! S.B.T.C

A sick and worthless piece of paper as her body had already been found. Media coverage of the case has often focused on JonBenet's participation in child beauty pageants, her parents' affluence and the unusual evidence in the case. Reports have also questioned the police's overall handling of the case. Several defamation suits have been filed against several media organizations by Ramsey family members and their friends over reporting of the murder. In October 2010, the case was reopened. 

New interviews were conducted following a fresh inquiry by a committee which included state and federal investigators. Police were expected to use the latest DNA technology in their investigation. It was announced January 27, 2013 that a grand jury found sufficient evidence to indict the parents in 1999 on charges of child abuse resulting in death, but the District Attorney refused to sign the indictment, leaving the impression that the grand jury investigation was inconclusive.


In October of 2013, the unsealing of the four-page indictment 14 years after the grand jurors convened revealed that they voted to charge both John and Patsy Ramsey with child abuse resulting in death and being an accessory to a crime, including first-degree murder of their daughter, though never directly accusing them of killing her. Being convicted of "knowingly and recklessly" causing child abuse resulting in death is a Class 2 felony that could have carried a sentence of four to 48 years in prison, though the three-year statute of limitations had long expired by the time the public ever heard about the indictment.

Barbara and Patricia Grimes: The sisters, 15 years old and 13 years old, disappeared December 28, 1956 in Chicago. Their bodies were found the following January. They had left their house to walk to the Theater to see an Elvis Presley movie and were never seen alive again. The hunt for them was one of the biggest in Chicago history but to no avail. A construction worker found them by pure chance. According to the autopsy, they probably died the day they disappeared - guessing (as well as pathologists could in the 50's) that they died of exposure. There were conflicting summaries that due to the appearance that they were probably still warm for some time before dying, possibly being alive as much as ten days later.

The confrontation of the two hypothesis caused the firing of one of the Coroners. Also, the corpses contained various bruises and marks, including three puncture wounds in Barbara's chest that may have come from an ice pick, which were never fully explained. It was theorized that Barbara Grimes had been sexually molested before she was killed and although the pathologists initially denied the claim, the Chief of Detectives confirmed that the Chicago crime lab had reported finding that while Barbara Grimes did have sexual intercourse around the time of the murders, there was no evidence of violence or sexual molestation.

On January 14, 1957, the parents of Patricia Grimes' classmate Sandra Tollstan received two telephone calls around midnight. When picking up the first phone call, nobody at the other end spoke. On the second phone call, 15 minutes later, a seemingly frightened voice asked "Is that you, Sandra? Is Sandra there?" but before the parents could bring their daughter to the phone, the caller had hung up. Ann Tollstan, the mother of Sandra Tollstan and the one who answered the second phone call, was convinced that the caller's voice belonged to Patricia Grimes.

The suspicion of a drifter eventually didn't pan out. A 17 year old suspect was given a polygraph and failed it, after which he allegedly confessed. However, at the time giving a polygraph to a minor was illegal so he was never formally charged and was let go. A few years later that same young man, Max Fleig, was sent to prison for the unrelated murder of another young woman. A total of four suspects were considered, later one was to be revealed as connected to the murders, however no one went to trial or was convicted of the murder of either sister to this day.

Amber Hagerman: She was only 9 years old when she died January 15, 1996. She was abducted while riding her bike in Arlington, Texas. A neighbor witnessed the abduction and called the police. Her disappearance ignited a huge search that brought in the FBI. Her body was found by a man walking his dog four days after she’d gone missing. Her throat had been cut, and evidence showed that she’d been alive for two days before being killed. Her killer was never found, and her homicide remains unsolved. The high-profile case and ensuing call from Amber’s parents for tougher laws for sex offenders, including a national offender registry, led to the creation of the AMBER Alert, a national bulletin distributed via TV and radio when a child goes missing. The alert’s name is technically “America’s Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response,” but it was named after Amber.

Recently, owners of smart phones were startled to find that Amber alerts now were a part of their messaging system. For a while, certain providers did not give customers a way to either adjust the type of warnings (tornadoes and other disasters were included also) or shut them off until July of this year. A California state-wide Amber alert by smartphone scared quite a few people with its loud tone - that was for the abduction of the two Anderson siblings, the older one being rescued safely and now is back at home with her father.

As of 2014, despite many theories and supposed suspects, the case still has not been solved.

The 1991 Austin Yogurt Shop Murders: This refers to the deaths of four teenage girls in a yogurt shop in Austin, Texas, on December 6, 1991, after which the shop was set aflame. Shortly before midnight on Friday, December 6, 1991, a patrolling Austin police officer noticed a fire coming from an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! shop and reported it to his dispatcher. After the fire was extinguished, firefighters discovered four bodies with three stacked on top of one another. All were bound and gagged with their own clothes as they were found undressed. Each victim had been shot in the head, thus leading police to determine that they had likely died before the fire was started.

The bodies were of 13 year old Amy Ayers (sometimes spelled Ayres), 17 year old Jennifer Harbison, her 15 year old sister Sarah, and 17 year old Eliza Thomas. The initial investigation spanned nearly eight years with over 50 people, for reasons unknown, confessing to the crime. Two men who confessed to the murders were convicted, but they were released by 2009 due to lack of evidence. No new charges have been filed and local media coverage remains ongoing. As of 2011 the Austin police department has five cold-case detectives working on the case.

The I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! shop was located in a strip mall at the corner of Anderson Lane and Rockwood Drive. A nail salon currently occupies the space. In the parking lot there is a plaque that reads: 'In loving memory of Amy Ayres, Jennifer Harbison, Sarah Harbison, Eliza Thomas. Forever in our hearts.'

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