Hernandez, however, insisted via his lawyer Harvey Fishbein that he didn't kill the little boy. They canvassed their SoHo neighborhood with hundreds of flyers after Etan went missing. They refused to move or even change their phone number in the vain hopes that their son would be found alive. Etan was declared dead in , but police never stopped searching for him or his likely killer. Hernandez, who was 18 when Etan went missing, later confessed to luring the boy into a bodega with the promise of a cold soda and then grabbing him by the neck and choking him to death.
That boy was Etan Patz, a 6-year-old, who disappeared while walking alone for the first time to a school bus stop near his Manhattan home. The tipster told Detective David Ramirez that he believed his brother-in-law, Pedro Hernandez, might have been involved in the year-old case, the most mysterious unsolved missing child case in New York City history. And one that literally changed the way parents looked after their children, and ultimately defied several generations of law enforcement from the NYPD, the FBI and prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
Even though Hernandez had worked in a bodega near that bus stop when Etan disappeared, no one really held out hope that this tip -- one of thousands of frustrating leads over the years -- would change the course of history, including his parents, Stan and Julie Patz. After all, they had scored a civil court decision years before that officially had another man, Jose Ramos, a convicted pedophile, declared "responsible" for the disappearance, and death, of the their fresh-faced, blond-haired boy with that eternally winning smile.
Authorities decided to excavate the building after interviewing Miller, who has become a person of interest in Etan's disappearance. But a source told the Daily News that Ramos, a longtime prisoner found responsible for the boy's death in a civil case, was still thought to have abducted Etan.
Miller's lawyer echoed this as he argued that his client is innocent of any wrong-doing and has merely been helping police with their investigation.
Captivated a nation: Etan's father Stanley submitted a number of black and white pictures of his son at the time of his disappearance. Michael Farkas spoke to reporters outside the Brooklyn apartment of Othniel Miller, 75, to assure his client was a 'wonderful, hard-working man' who has been cooperating with the case for 30 years - though admitted it was the first time he had ever met him.
His statement came on the same day it emerged that police had the opportunity to search the Manhattan basement formerly belonging to Miller which is now at the center of their investigation soon after the six-year-old went missing - but decided not to because it would be too costly. The FBI and NYPD returned to the place they had considered taking jackhammers to 33 years ago after questioning handyman Miller several times over the last few months.
The key issue is the fact that the year-old performed a sudden renovation on the basement shortly after Etan's disappearance on May 25, , in a house he would have passed on the way to the school bus belonging to a man who had befriended him just the night before. Police sources told the New York Post that when they questioned Miller about pouring concrete over the floor he gave them permission to tear it up at their own cost, but cops decided it wasn't worth it.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance reopened the case shortly after he took office in and it is believed that Etan's mother Julie Patz urged them to question Miller - who now lives in Brooklyn - again in recent discussions with authorities. Mr Farkas said his client is very disturbed by the accusations.
He said: 'I'm going to assist him in cooperating to the fullest extent possible. He did not do this and denies any role in anything that may have happened. Day two: FBI agents and New York City police officers remove concrete to sift through for evidence from the Prince Street apartment building after dogs picked up the scent of human remains.
Interest: The nation's media gather at the New York site where the search for Etan Patz has resumed two years after it was reopen by Cy Vance. Police sources say that if Etan was familiar with Miller then he would have also been familiar with Ramos - who would have had access to Miller's basement workshop as he had done a few odd jobs for him at the time. Ramos is currently languishing in a Pennsylvania prison serving a twenty-year sentence for the molestation of two other young boys.
Police are said to be 'cautiously optimistic' the search will succeed after cadaver-sniffing dogs picked up the scent of human remains in the same area that was surfaced with fresh concrete. NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said an array of new technology unavailable to law enforcement in including x-rays and black lights are being used in the investigation. Though Miller was never named as a suspect in the initial investigation, police say they did search and examine his basement but didn't take it further because he had a credible alibi at the time.
When the FBI went back to Miller recently and told him their sniffer dogs picked up the smell of human remains, he allegedly blurted out: 'What if the body was moved?
Miller was arrested in Florida in May for driving without a license. While the search has been underway, Etan's parents Stan and Julie Patz have been holed up in the same apartment they have lived in since his disappearance - wondering if the remains of their son had been mere yards away all this time.
Mr Patz was spotted today taking pictures of the crime scene from his fire escape just a block away. Heavy duty: Utility workers with jackhammers and saws helped chip away an area around aging pipes before law enforcers carried out the basketball-size chunks of rubble.
Map: Etan went missing after leaving his home on Prince Street on May 25, Today, police are searching premises a block away, on Prince for his remains. Etan was finally declared legally dead in , though no trace of his body has ever been found and the case remains unsolved. He was last seen walking two blocks from his lower Manhattan home to a bus stop for the ride to school wearing his favorite Eastern Air Lines Future Flight Captain hat - something his parents said he would even wear to bed.
It was the first time his parents had let their son walk to school alone, after he begged them, saying all his friends were allowed to do it. Mr Browne said: 'We're looking for human remains, clothing or other personal effects of Etan Patz. It's a very painstaking process. But nothing has been found yet. The foot by foot basement space being searched today sits beneath several clothing boutiques. To Read the Full Story. Subscribe Sign In. Continue reading your article with a WSJ membership.
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