Police and geneticists exhume 1932 Boxcar Boy remains

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police detectives and geneticists from Ramapo College exhumed the remains of an unidentified teenager on Monday. The youth, known locally as the Boxcar Boy, died inside a freight train in 1932.

Crews recovered the boy's cranium, jawbone, and tooth fragments at historic Elmwood Cemetery in Uptown. The teen was killed when shifting steel beams crushed him within the train car.

Ramapo College Case Management Director Tracie Boyle stated that the amount of DNA required to create a profile has decreased over time. She noted that this shift is changing cold case investigations.

The college team has already solved seven other cold cases with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Once a genetic match is confirmed, cold case detectives will contact any living relatives.

CMPD Homicide Cold Case Unit Det. Matt Hefner said the team might finally identify the young man after 94 years. He expressed hope that the boy can be returned to family members.

A crowdfunding campaign raised the $11,000 needed for the exhumation, leaving local taxpayers with no cost for the project. Researchers expect to have a definitive identification for the teenager by next year.