Case update: On July 21, 2025, a federal appeals court ruled that Pedro Hernandez must have a new trial or be released. On June 22, 2026, the Supreme Court reinstated Hernandez's murder conviction. This story originally aired on April 14, 2018.Etan Patz walked out of his New York City home headed for a school bus stop just two blocks away. The 6-year-old never made it to school that day in 1979 – and he's never been found. His disappearance is a story that shocked New York City and to this day haunts law enforcement investigators who have spent decades trying to find him. The disappearance of the young boy is more than a missing person's case. Indeed, it changed the way parents watched over their kids."I think this was one of the most significant unsolved cases in the history of New York City," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. tell "48 Hours" correspondent Richard Schlesinger."Every missing child case is very important, but this was one of the oldest ones we had," says NYPD Lieutenant Chris Zimmerman.
Etan Patz
Stan Patz/Patz Imaging
Etan Patz disappeared at a time long before social media and every storefront had a video camera. He had asked his parents to let him do the short walk to the bus stop alone for the first time. He had a dollar to buy a soda at a corner deli. His parents were unaware he was missing until he didn't return home after school. Since then, Patz's smiling image used on missing person's fliers is seared into the minds of people around the country."That photo will always haunt me. And every single day that I sent my son out to school, I thought of Etan Patz," says attorney Brian O'Dwyer. "And I was one of eight million New Yorkers like that."Police began searching for Patz by going door to door. Over the years, the case would grow cold. But there was one neighborhood man police suspected of being a pedophile, whom they had their eye on almost from the beginning: Jose Ramos. Ramos, according to law enforcement, had said he took a child back to his apartment and molested him. Ramos told them he was 90 percent sure it was Patz. The case against Ramos, however, lacked corroboration, and never moved forward, says Vance.Vance vowed to take a fresh look at Etan's disappearance when he took office in 2010. "I was on the hunt for the Patz family to find the killer," he says.Then in 2012, the NYPD got a tip from a relative of Pedro Hernandez, saying Hernandez had talked about hurting a boy around the time Patz disappeared. During questioning by police, Hernandez told them he choked a boy. He later took them to locations near the Patz home. Was Hernandez telling the truth?"The facts of that confession make no sense," says Hernandez's attorney Harvey Fishbein. "He's unreliable because of his psychiatric condition."What happened to Etan Patz? THE SEARCH FOR ETANAfter more than 30 years, it took a new team of investigators and a new prosecutor to breathe new life into an old case – trying to find out what happened to Etan Patz. District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.: You really should never close the book on a case if you think there's the possibility that it can be solved. In 2012, investigators were literally digging for clues just blocks away from where Etan was last seen. After thousands of dead-end leads, the public held its collective breath hoping, this time, the case might finally be solved.Etan Patz was just 6 years old, and like many kids that age, he wanted some independence. It was 1979, the last day of school before the Memorial Day weekend, and Etan's mother, Julie, finally agreed to let Etan walk alone to the school bus stop. It was just two blocks away from their Manhattan apartment.Julie Patz | Etan's mother [1980]: Yes, I wish I hadn't let him go to the bus stop that morning alone. …My feelings that morning were very positive about his going.Etan was carrying a book bag and a dollar to buy a soda at a corner store near the bus stop – and then, he seemed to vanish.Julie and her husband Stan didn't realize their son was missing until that afternoon when he didn't come home from school. Julie called the school and learned Etan never arrived and his friends never saw him at the bus stop. So she called the police.Patrick Eanniello | Former NYPD detective: I didn't wanna start with something bad happened to him … I would rather start in my mind, in my heart, that it was just a missing person.Former NYPD Det. Patrick Eanniello immediately headed to the Patz's home.Patrick Eanniello: And then we started to -- knock on doors. "Anyone see this boy?" … We worked all that day, we worked all that night. And then the following day I got home. And – I -- I was ready to break down myself. Richard Schlesinger: Because?Patrick Eanniello: Because I -- I saw my son. Richard Schlesinger: And he was Etan's age?Patrick Eanniello [emotional]: Uh-huh, yeah.A command center was set up in the Patz's apartment.Stan Patz|Etan's father [1979]: Both my wife and I continue to be confident that he is alive and we hope he's being cared for by someone who might want a child as adorable as he.Julie Patz [1980]: The police did not know us. We had to be cleared of suspicion as well as many other people.
