Man in custody over New York boy missing since 1979
Source: Agencies |
May 25, 2012, Friday
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A PERSON in custody has implicated himself in one of New York City's highest profile crimes in history, one that helped launch a missing children's movement across the United States.
A law enforcement official said Pedro Hernandez was taken into custody on Wednesday in New Jersey and was being questioned about the disappearance 33 years ago of six-year-old Etan Patz. Hernandez had not been charged with a crime.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
A woman who answered the door at Hernandez's home confirmed he was in custody.
The development came one day before the anniversary of the boy's disappearance, when detectives traditionally receive a landslide of hoaxes and false leads.
Patz vanished in May 1979 while walking alone to his school bus stop for the first time. His disappearance ushered in an era of anxiety about leaving children unsupervised. The boy's photo was one of the first of a missing child put on a milk carton in a national campaign to find them.
At the time of the boy's disappearance, the man in custody lived in the same Manhattan neighborhood as Patz. He had been known to detectives for years, but it was unclear what brought them back to him now.
The boy's family did not immediately return a message requesting comment.
In the past, the case seemed to have been largely focused on Jose Ramos, a convicted child molester, now serving time in Pennsylvania, who had been dating the boy's babysitter at the time he disappeared. The boy's father, Stan Patz, had his son declared legally dead in 2001 so he could sue Ramos, who has never been charged criminally and denies harming the boy. A civil judge in 2004 found him to be responsible for Etan's death.
In 2010, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr announced he was reinvestigating the case.
More recently, the focus had shifted to a 75-year-old Brooklyn resident, though he was not named a suspect and denied any involvement. In 1979, he was a handyman who had a work space in a basement that was searched in April. The search yielded no obvious human remains and little forensic evidence that would help solve the decades-long mystery.
The handyman's lawyer has maintained his client was not involved in the crime.
A law enforcement official said Pedro Hernandez was taken into custody on Wednesday in New Jersey and was being questioned about the disappearance 33 years ago of six-year-old Etan Patz. Hernandez had not been charged with a crime.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
A woman who answered the door at Hernandez's home confirmed he was in custody.
The development came one day before the anniversary of the boy's disappearance, when detectives traditionally receive a landslide of hoaxes and false leads.
Patz vanished in May 1979 while walking alone to his school bus stop for the first time. His disappearance ushered in an era of anxiety about leaving children unsupervised. The boy's photo was one of the first of a missing child put on a milk carton in a national campaign to find them.
At the time of the boy's disappearance, the man in custody lived in the same Manhattan neighborhood as Patz. He had been known to detectives for years, but it was unclear what brought them back to him now.
The boy's family did not immediately return a message requesting comment.
In the past, the case seemed to have been largely focused on Jose Ramos, a convicted child molester, now serving time in Pennsylvania, who had been dating the boy's babysitter at the time he disappeared. The boy's father, Stan Patz, had his son declared legally dead in 2001 so he could sue Ramos, who has never been charged criminally and denies harming the boy. A civil judge in 2004 found him to be responsible for Etan's death.
In 2010, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr announced he was reinvestigating the case.
More recently, the focus had shifted to a 75-year-old Brooklyn resident, though he was not named a suspect and denied any involvement. In 1979, he was a handyman who had a work space in a basement that was searched in April. The search yielded no obvious human remains and little forensic evidence that would help solve the decades-long mystery.
The handyman's lawyer has maintained his client was not involved in the crime.
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