Etan Patz

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2 Paperboys Missing Since the 1980s Helped Shape Our Fear

They were white boys from the 'safe' city of Des Moines, Iowa, writes Paul M. Renfro

(Newser) - When it comes to missing children cases and the origin of the "stranger danger" warnings of the 1980s, the names Etan Patz and Adam Walsh are regularly invoked. In a piece for Slate , Paul M. Renfro focuses on two others—the "kidnapped paperboys." The disappearances of Johnny...

40 Years After He Vanished, Etan Patz Case Gets Closure

Pedro Hernandez found guilty of murder of 6-year-old NYC boy, could get life in prison

(Newser) - The face of little Etan Patz has haunted parents for decades, but on Tuesday, some justice was finally served in his death, NBC New York and CBS New York report. Pedro Hernandez, 55, was acquitted of intentional second-degree murder in the nearly 40-year-old case, but he was found guilty of...

Prosecutor: Etan Defendant Didn't Make Up Confession

Etan Patz disappeared while walking to school 37 years ago

(Newser) - A New York City prosecutor says a man accused of killing 6-year-old Etan Patz 37 years ago didn't make up his confession. Etan vanished while walking to school on May 25, 1979, the AP reports. His face was one of the first on milk cartons, and his body has...

Holdout Juror in Etan Patz Trial Explains Himself

'I just couldn't get there,' says Adam Sirois

(Newser) - Eleven jurors voted to convict Pedro Hernandez in the 1979 murder of young Etan Patz, but the judge had to declare a mistrial yesterday because the 12th couldn't be swayed. “Ultimately I couldn’t find enough evidence that wasn’t circumstantial to convict,” explains 42-year-old Adam Sirois....

Etan Patz Case Ends in Mistrial

Suspect Pedro Hernandez will remain in jail as prosecutors plan new trial

(Newser) - The murder trial of the man accused in the disappearance of first-grader Etan Patz ended today with the jury deadlocked after 18 days of deliberations, leaving unresolved a case that has haunted New York City for 36 years. Jurors said for a third time that they were deadlocked in the...

Etan Patz Jury Again Deadlocked After 3 Weeks

Judge: Keep deliberating

(Newser) - "We the jury would like the court to know that after serious significant and thorough deliberations we remain unable to reach a unanimous decision," reads the note from the jury in the Etan Patz case , admitting today that for a second time in nearly three weeks of deliberations...

Etan Patz Suspect Indicted
 Etan Patz Suspect Indicted 
Nov 14, 2012 12:55 PM CST

Etan Patz Suspect Indicted

Police say Pedro Hernandez has already confessed

(Newser) - Pedro Hernandez, the 51-year-old suspect in the 1979 disappearance of a 6-year-old New York City boy that led to a national missing-children movement has been indicted on charges of murder and kidnapping, his lawyer said today. Hernandez was arrested earlier this year, and investigators say he confessed to luring Etan...

Etan Patz Suspect Kept Photo of Boy for Years

Pedro Hernandez's ex-wife says she found picture among his possessions

(Newser) - The man who confessed to murdering 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979 kept a photo of the boy for years following the killing, his ex-wife told police. Daisy Rivera, former spouse of Pedro Hernandez, said she found the picture, which was apparently cut from a missing persons poster, in a “...

Child's Clothes, Toy Found in Etan Patz Suspect's Home

Could be first physical evidence backing Pedro Hernandez's confession

(Newser) - A search of Pedro Hernandez's home on Wednesday turned up child's clothing and a toy that are both "age appropriate" for Etan Patz, reports the New York Post . Hernandez himself has a son, so the evidence will have to be tested against both his and Etan's...

New Wrinkle in Etan Patz Case: No Sanitation Records

Curb-to-landfill records stretch back to 1989

(Newser) - Etan Patz's killer may have been found, but the same may never be said for the 6-year-old's remains. If Pedro Hernandez did indeed kill Etan and put his body in a Dumpster, figuring out which landfill the body wound up in would be a painstaking task even if...

Etan Patz Suspect Confessed to Church Group in '80s

Reportedly told Camden group he had strangled a child

(Newser) - The missed opportunities for justice seem to be stacking up in the Etan Patz case. The New York Times today reports on a prayer group suspected killer Pedro Hernandez attended in the early 1980s in Camden, NJ—and whose members he reportedly confessed to. The Times speaks to the then-leader...

Etan Patz Suspect Had 'Intimate Details'

Cops long had details only the killer would have known, sources say

(Newser) - Pedro Hernandez may or may not be mentally ill , but cops think his confession to Etan Patz's murder is the real deal, sources tell the New York Post , because he had "intimate details" that only the child's killer could have known. Back in 1979, the sources say,...

Lawyer: Etan Patz Suspect Is Mentally Ill

Pedro Hernandez is formally charged with boy's murder

(Newser) - A lawyer for a New Jersey man accused of strangling 6-year-old Etan Patz in New York City in 1979 says his client is mentally ill and has a history of hallucinations. Pedro Hernandez was arraigned on a murder charge today, the 33rd anniversary of the boy's disappearance. The 51-year-old...

Etan Patz Suspect Under Suicide Watch

Pedro Hernandez taken to hospital

(Newser) - The suspect arrested in Etan Patz's disappearance and accused of the boy's murder was put under suicide watch last night, the New York Times reports. Pedro Hernandez was continually watched until 5:30am, at which time he was transferred to Bellevue Hospital Center, an official says. The official...

How Etan Patz's Soda Could Have Led Police to Suspect

He had a dollar to buy drink, and Pedro Hernandez worked at bodega

(Newser) - Exactly 33 years ago today, on another Friday before Memorial Day, 6-year-old Etan Patz convinced his mother to let him walk the block and a half to his school bus stop alone, for the first time. His mother told detectives Etan had a dollar with him so he could buy...

Etan Patz Suspect Charged With Murder

Pedro Hernandez confessed to killing boy in 1979

(Newser) - The confession of a New Jersey man in the killing of young Etan Patz in 1979 apparently has the ring of truth to it: NYPD Chief Raymond Kelly announced tonight that Pedro Hernandez has been charged with second-degree murder. Hernandez told police that he lured the 6-year-old into the basement...

Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance: I Killed Him

Man implicated himself in the case: NYPD commissioner

(Newser) - Police have arrested a man who has implicated himself in the 1979 disappearance of Etan Patz, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly confirms today. A man who sources name as Pedro Hernandez was arrested yesterday in New Jersey and is now being questioned in New York. But beyond that the details get...

Etan Patz Search Comes Up Empty

They found a single hair, brick with blood stain

(Newser) - The FBI and NYPD called off their search for Etan Patz in a Soho basement today, having found precious little evidence. "The digging aspect is done," one police official said. All investigators found in the basement was a single human hair, some animal bones, and a cinder block...

How the Etan Patz Case Was Relaunched

New agent sought 'peace' for missing child's family

(Newser) - The case of Etan Patz was opened in 1979 and almost closed five years ago, but a fairly low-ranking FBI agent brought it back into the limelight —culminating in the recent search of a New York City basement , reveals the New York Times . Agent Thomas McDonald took on the...

FBI Targets New Suspect in Patz Case

Othniel Miller reportedly raped his niece before Patz vanished

(Newser) - The FBI has a new suspect in the 33-year-old disappearance of Etan Patz: a wood shop owner who once used the SoHo basement where cops are now digging for Patz's body, the New York Post reports. Othniel Miller, a 75-year-old living in Brooklyn, fell under suspicion after his ex-wife...

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