It was May 2012, and the phone rang inside the NYPD's Missing Persons Squad in Harlem. The disappearance of Etan Patz haunted families in New York and across the country for nearly four decades, Vance said. The search for remains of 6-year-old Patz began Thursday in the basement of a building on Prince. Soon after his release he was arrested on a Megan's Law violation. Pedro Hernandez appears in Manhattan criminal court, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2012, in New York. He also ordered a hearing to determine whether the defendant's statements could be used at trial. In 1983, on the fourth anniversary of Etans abduction, President Ronald Reagan declared May 25 to be National Missing Childrens Day. No trace of him has been found since the May day he vanished, on the first day he got the grown-up privilege of walking alone to the bus stop about two blocks away in the then-edgy but neighborly SoHo section of lower Manhattan. The agents never told the man why they were still pursuing anonymous leads, despite the fact Hernandez has been charged in the disappearance. The first-grader was making the short journey alone for the very first time, but it would be the last time his mother saw him. [8], At school, Etan's teacher noticed his absence but did not report it to the principal. Such was the pain the Patz family endured as one delusional young man, and others, somehow attached themselves to this infamous case. Prince Street is no longer their haven. In a recent interview with investigators, he blurted out What if the body was moved? according to an official. That afternoon, when Etan did not return, Ms. Patz testified, she called around and learned that he had never made it to school or boarded his bus. When she realized that Etan was missing, Ms. Patz said, she fell into shock. This is a new chapter that will help them live with their grief, said Meisel, adding, They are very nice people. The case remains officially unsolved. In the early 1980s, he was arrested on theft charges, and had photos of other young, blond boys in his backpack. 0:58. [27] Hernandez was charged with second-degree murder. It was a mystery that endured for decades, a case that rattled New York City, even at a time 1979 when the city was a grittier place. However, Ramos did not use Etan's name. After police finally came to Hernandez Maple Shade, New Jersey, door, he confessed, saying hed offered Etan a soda to get him into the store basement, choked him, put him in a box still alive, he said and left the box with a pile of curbside trash. Hill Tele:212.694.7781 FBI Special Agent Tom McDonald Tele: 212.384.1000 But there was no hard evidence linking Ramos to the crime. Ramos said that he was "90 percent sure" it was the boy whom he later saw on television. Murray Weiss is a "48 Hours" producer who has reported on the Etan Patz case since the day the boy vanished in 1979, while working at the New York Daily News, the New York Post and DNAInfo New York before joining CBS News. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Then, he said, he attacked him. Ms. Patz, with some reluctance, agreed. No body or bag has ever been found. Several leads arose over the years, though the boy's body was never found. He was never seen again. "[22], On May 24, 2012, New York police commissioner Raymond Kelly announced that a man was in custody who had implicated himself in Etan's disappearance. Stan and Julie never changed their phone number or moved, in the hopes that their son would reach out or return home. At the time of Patz's disappearance, the 13-by-62 basement at 127B Prince St. was being used as a workshop by Othniel Miller, a handyman who was friendly with the Patz family. He walked away carrying a $1 bill, planning to buy a soda on the way. The search, which brought about a new wave of news media coverage, did not turn up Etans remains. Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, leaving court in December. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. When the incident took place, Mr Hernandez had been stacking shelves at the small grocery shop for about a month. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. (Pool). A member of a church group testified that Mr. Hernandez fell to his knees in tears, saying he had attacked a child. Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, More than 100 police hurt in French May Day protests, MasterChef Australia host Jock Zonfrillo dies, Explosion derails train in Russian border region, Street piano confiscated as public 'break rules', Shooting suspect was deported four times - US media, US rock band Aerosmith announce farewell tour, King Charles to wear golden robes for Coronation, Trump rape accuser says her generation stayed quiet, Disney faces countersuit in feud with Florida. A man has confessed to suffocating a six-year-old boy who went missing in New York in 1979, police say. undermine the credibility of his confessions. Read about our approach to external linking. But Hernandez is set to go on trial for the boy's murder in April. Mr. Hernandezs former wife, with whom he has had an acrimonious relationship, recalled how he had pulled her aside before they married and told her he had killed a muchacho, which she inferred to be a teenage boy. In an apparent breakthrough for the decades-old investigation, the Manhattan basement flat was excavated over four days. Pedro Hernandez, center, appears in Manhattan criminal court with his attorney Harvey Fishbein, left, on Nov. 15, 2012, in New York City. The disappearance of Etan Patz haunted families in New York and across the country for nearly four decades. Prosecutors said that soon after Etan disappeared, possibly within days, Mr. Hernandez returned to New Jersey, at some point taking a job at a dress factory. Seemed that people saw him like light trails every time they turned. The confessions and the testimony about Mr. Ramos were among the major points of discussion. In "The Lost Boy," viewers will witness their searing, emotionally charged odyssey, as investigators seek to identify the killer of their son. He could tell fantasy from reality., Pedro Hernandez Found Guilty of Kidnapping and Killing Etan Patz in 1979, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/nyregion/etan-patz-pedro-hernandez-guilty.html. At first, detectives considered the Patzes to be possible suspects but quickly determined they had no involvement. I just wish them luck.. The heartbroken father of little Etan Patz called his son's convicted killer a "monster" Tuesday before a New York City judge closed the book on the 38-year saga and sentenced the bodega worker. NEW YORK -- A former store clerk was convicted Tuesday of murder in one of the nation's most haunting missing-child cases, nearly 38 years after 6-year-old Etan Patz disappeared on the way to. The alarm caused by the abduction reverberated across America, evoking the worst fears of parents and helping to change the way the authorities tracked missing children. His disappearance alarmed parents around the country, touching on one of their worst fears and changing the way many of them watched over their own children. Im really grateful Im really grateful this jury finally came back with what Ive known for a long time, he added, that this man, Pedro Hernandez, is guilty of doing something really terrible so many years ago.. [13] Ramos had been known by the Patz family and was the prime suspect all along, but in the early 1980s authorities were unable to prosecute Ramos. [46][47] The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) coordinates the "Help Bring Them Home" campaign in 22 countries in conjunction with International Missing Children's Day. This time, the jury deliberated over nine days before finding Hernandez, 56, guilty of murder during a kidnapping in a case that shaped both parenting and law enforcement practices in the United States. The search of this apartment building revealed no new evidence in the search for Etan Patz. Pedro Hernandez appears in Manhattan criminal court, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2012, in New York. GraBois eventually found out that Ramos had been in custody in Pennsylvania in connection with an unrelated child molestation case. The Patzes have not moved since his disappearance and for years refused to change their phone number, hoping that Etan was alive. [11] In a special feature on missing children, the New York Post reported on October 21, 1999, that Ramos was the prime suspect in Etan's disappearance. His trial began in January 2015 and it ended with a mistrial that May, when 1 of the 12 jurors held out. His disappearance alarmed parents around the country,. The couples son Ari, who was 2 when his brother went missing, lives in the Aloha State. The 56 . [6], On the morning of May 25, 1979, Etan left his SoHo apartment at 113 Prince Street by himself for the first time, planning to walk two blocks to board a school bus at West Broadway and Prince Street. "We can only hope that these developments bring some measure of peace to the family," he said. Neighbors and police canvassed the city and placed missing-child posters featuring Etan's portrait, but this resulted in few leads. Different theories were floated, and various suspects emerged, including a convicted child molester named Jose Ramos, whom the authorities pursued for years. He then told authorities he'd seen Etan Patz at the bus stop, offered the boy a soda to entice him to a corner store where he worked and choked the boy in the basement. Etan Patz, a 6-year-old boy, vanished as he walked the almost two blocks to his school bus stop in Manhattan alone for the first time. He also claimed he had put the boy on a subway going uptown. He planned to stop in the bodega for a soda along the way. The first trial was declared a mistrial after the jury became gridlocked at an 11-1 verdict, due to the lack of a body and the defense citing psychological evaluations that suggested Hernandez may have had multiple mental illnesses that would have tainted his confession. Arkansas woman indicted for selling stolen body parts to Pennsylvania man, DNA solves "decades-old mystery" after woman's remains found in 1995, Operator in limo crash that killed 20 goes on trial in Schoharie, NY, NYPD officer Troy Patterson dies 33 years after being shot in robbery, $3 million fentanyl shipment to Maine restaurant prompts arrest. He added that police had already informed Etan's family of the development in the case. Hernandez was arrested in May 2012 - after Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance re-opened the Patz case - when family members told authorities that he admitted to killing Patz. He said he had put the boy into a plastic bag and put the bag into a box that he left with garbage nearby. By The search continued for weeks. The FBI did not respond to a Daily News request for comment. Here is a look at the case and its place in the history of New York City, based on testimony from the trial and what has been published in scores of articles in The New York Times since Etan disappeared. Despite a massive nationwide search effort, Etan could not be found and police were unable to find any answers as to who was responsible. He said hed wanted to tell someone, but I didnt know how to do it. (Bryan Smith/for New York Daily News). However, he did not specifically identify Etan, but merely claimed he was 90% sure it was him. 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. [41][42] Sentencing was scheduled on February 28, with Hernandez facing 25 years to life in prison. Etans parents, Stanley and Julie Patz, in 1980. When police searched the drain pipe, they found photographs of Ramos and young boys who resembled Etan. He had been pushing for more independence, his mother said, and amid the bustle, he spotted an opportunity: He wanted to walk to school by himself.