If ever there was a child crying out to be identified, the “Boy in the Box” is the one. Also called “America’s Unknown Child,” the little boy was found deceased in a cardboard box in a debris-filled empty lot in northeast Philadelphia on February 25, 1957. Ever since, police and others periodically have assembled at […]
Silvia Pettem
“Little Miss Nobody”
“Little Miss Nobody” is still without her name by Silvia Pettem© Several years ago, while working with my local sheriff’s office on the case of “Boulder Jane Doe” (a then-unidentified murder victim from 1954), my research led me to Prescott, Arizona. There, I came across the case of an unidentified little girl whose likely murdered […]
The Long Term Missing by Silvia Pettem
This book is critical for all who wishes to research missing people cases. When a person is missing for more than three months, that case is usually considered long-term. But when exactly is someone missing? Read this: “There are a variety of different circumstances which fit that description. A missing person may be a victim […]
Justice for Joe Helt by Silvia Pettem
Joe Helt was last seen on January 16, 1987. The 17-year-old high school junior from Ellenville, New York, disappeared after a party at an abandoned ski lodge. One account states that he got a ride with three other teens, their car got stuck in the snow, and Joe decided to walk home. According to various […]
Joseph Halpern Part 3 by Silvia Pettem
Joseph’s nephew had started his search for his uncle, Joseph Halpern, missing since 1933, by contacting the sheriffs’ offices in the four Colorado counties that border Rocky Mountain National Park. The nephew asked about unidentified remains that might be identifiable with DNA comparisons. In 2009, when the NamUs System was inaugurated, the nephew, as a […]
Joseph Halpern Part 2 by Silvia Pettem
For six days in August 1933, park authorities searched drainages and followed all possible trails for the missing 22-year-old hiker, Joseph Halpern. Authorities also checked the registers on Taylor and nearby peaks, but none showed Joseph’s signature––a customary procedure for climbers, once they reach a summit. Perhaps trying to be encouraging, a writer for the […]
Joseph Halpern Part 1 by Silvia Pettem
In the summer of 1933, twenty-two-year-old Cook County, Illinois, resident Joseph Halpern was vacationing in Rocky Mountain National Park with his parents and Samuel Garrick, a college friend. The motorists had driven Joseph’s Ford sedan and had stopped in the Black Hills and at Yellowstone National Park on their way west. Even though the country […]
Update Silvia Pettem’s new book
Update Silvia Pettem’s new book. “Cold Case Research” is in production now and will be on the market July 2012. As per the earlier post, we did not have a cover design at that time. Now we do! A description of the book can be found here. Silvia has extensive experience with all aspects of cold […]