Roberto Caraballo

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Roberto^{^[1]} Higüey Alejandro Caraballo, formerly known as "Jack in the Box", or simply as "Jack", was a man found murdered in Michigan in 2002. He was also known by the alias “Juan Cintron” while alive.

He had been beaten to death; as a method of disposal and to conceal his identity, his body was placed in a footlocker, disposed of in a blueberry field, and then set on fire.

He was identified in 2015, following the pursuit of a tip reported to investigators by an informant who watched a documentary film produced by University of Michigan students that was released a decade prior.

Case[]

Caravallo’s remains were discovered by a farmer not long after the body was dumped and incinerated on a blueberry field he owned. Authorities responded to the scene, finding the charred remains in a footlocker, along with a hammer and a baseball bat that were damaged by the fire. At an early point in the investigation, it was speculated that the victim may have been a migrant worker and/or someone involved with illicit narcotic trafficking.

As a means to appeal to the public for information, students from a nearby university were recruited to create a short film about the case, which was completed and released to local movie theaters in 2005. More than a decade after the discovery, a tipster contacted authorities, claiming to have information about the case, which was prompted by viewing the documentary.

Identification[]

Caraballo was identified in 2015 after the police received a tip from someone, ultimately being identified as the stepdaughter of the victim and a suspect, who had seen the online documentary about the case. Three people have been charged with his murder. Caraballo’s wife Beverly McCallum, her daughter, and another man were charged with his murder. McCallum fled to a South Asian country with a man she met online after his identification, and was arrested in Rome in 2020.

McCallum claimed she had pushed Caraballo down the stairs, beat him with a hammer (which was found at the scene), and suffocated him with a plastic bag. She alleged he was killed in self-defense. One of her daughters had aided in the disposal of the body. A man who assisted McCallum in the murder confirmed the crime was premeditated and McCallum was motivated by wanting to divorce him.

McCallum enlisted her eldest daughter and the two younger daughters fathered by Caraballo to help hide the body. The two younger girls didn't know his body was in the box and were told that he left voluntarily and did not want to maintain contact.

Gallery[]

Media[]

The case was the subject of the episode “Mystery in the Blueberry Fields” on the sixth season of Killer Cases.

Sources[]

Notes[]

↑ The victim has also been referred to as “Robert” in recorded courtroom testimonies and other media.

[1] The victim has also been referred to as “Robert” in recorded courtroom testimonies and other media.

[1]