The man in custody who implicated himself in six-year-old Etan Patz’s death has previously been linked to the case, Fox News is reporting. The man was picked up in Camden, New Jersey yesterday. He was subsequently questioned by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is leading the probe by the FBI and police.
Patz disappeared on May 35, 1979 as he was walking alone to his school bus stop, which was two blocks from his home in New York’s SoHo neighborhood, for the first time. His disappearance helped launch a missing children’s campaign that puts children’s face on milk cartons.
Police led an extensive search for Patz after he disappeared, and the case brought extensive media attention. Thousands of fliers were distributed around New York, and hundreds of people were interviewed. Patz’s parents, Stan and Julie, still live in the same apartment, and have kept the same phone number, in case their son tried to come home.
The case was previously focused on Jose Ramos, a convicted child molester, who is now serving time in Pennsylvania. Ramos had been dating Patz’s baby sitter at the time he had disappeared.
Stan Patz had his son declared legally dead in 2001 so that he could sue Ramos, who has never been charged criminally in the case. In 2004, a civil judge found Ramos to be responsible for Patz’s death.
Written by: Karen Benardello
