Right though you may be, this case is about as cold as it gets. No matter how hard you try, sometimes there comes a point in which there is nothing more you can do. That may be the hardest pill to swallow, but how many years can you look, not find anything, and not get discouraged?

I'm probably a hypocrite for saying that because if it was my kid I wouldn't stop looking. The cops on the other hand, that's a different story. They have soooo much other crap to deal with and take care of, including other missing people to look for, that after a while they have to move on. After a while they can't afford to devote anymore time or resources to the search. At that point if you want to keep looking you have to look to private sector help, like PIs and such. Even then it's expensive as hell and you might have to take a break from the search to build your resources back up.

Sometimes, and this is emotionally hard for me to say, there is nothing left to find.

I would say a national database would be handy. Perhaps with the parents DNA if the missing person's DNA is not available. Then any John or Jane Doe found anywhere in the nation could be submitted as well. Matches, or relationship to the parents could return a hit. It would probably close more than a few cases. Also, with consent or court order, suspected abduction victims could be submitted for verification. Take for example the lady in Texas who shot a woman dead and took her infant. Turns out she has 3 other children. I would think that if they prove not to really be her children, that this could help authorities to locate their parents, wherever they may be in the country.

Perhaps they already do this, I don't know.

Wonderful thing this internet. I did a quick search and it turns out there is such a database. The FBI maintains it. However, not all law enforcement know about it or bother to submit samples to it or even mention it to victims families. At least that's how I understand what I'm reading so far.

@Nomenclature - Yes this database does exist, it is called the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and it is routinely used by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. To say that "not all law enforcement know about it or bother to submit samples to it" is absolutely false!!! CODIS is used extensively by law enforcement agencies throughout the country and I doubt you could find a detective on any police force in the country who does not know about it. As for victims families knowing about it, I would bet that anyone with a missing family member is well aware of it along with a very large percentage of the population in general. You can hardly watch TV these days without hearing it mentioned on one of the plethora of police procedural dramas that are on the air these days. All I can say is that from your comments, you must not watch much TV at all.

@JS in SD - whether Nomenclature was correct or not about the general usage of CODIS, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a person not watching "much TV at all". Some people actually have better things to do with their time.

we need to find away to have a GPS chip in our kids so that things like this will never happen again. I think a little water boarding would be helpful in solving the case's that are unsolved. Anyone who would hurt a little kid should have their junk cut off and shoved down their throats ! PEOPLE PLEASE WATCH YOUR CHILDREN LIKE A HAWK !

Sooo sorry for the parents! He was a cute little bugger, may he rest in peace, and may the SOB that killed him burn in Hell!!!!

Nantucket, it sounds like, from reading the article, that the police did in fact basically give up looking at one point. I make that assumption based on the line in the article that says D.A. Vance is re-opened the case, so the case was indeed closed. It's interesting how this new evidence is coming to light now, and how this lead was never followed before. I'd love to know when exactly that "new"drywall was installed (or applied...whatever word is used to refer to drywall).

"Sooo sorry for the parents! He was a cute little bugger, may he rest in peace, and may the SOB that killed him burn in Hell!!!!"

So right!!!!

I'll bet the parents of Johnny Gosch & Trudy Appleby will never stop looking.

I wouldn't stop. Peace, little angel.

I have tears in my eyes just typing that.

Yeah, definately keep every case open, It would certainly help the unemployment rate for all the new jobs it would create. OR maybe instead of assigning people to "jury duty" they could assign people a "missing person" report and have it be their "civic duty" to track down leads. Lets try that.

I remember this case like it was last week. My own child was close in age when Etan Patz was kidnapped, so it really tore me up to hear about it. I can tell you from personal experience when I was small that the predators are definitely out there. My mom told me to watch out for the boogie man. I thought the boogie man was some sort of freak I would recognize and run away from, so I made sure my own children knew that anyone, even trusted individuals, may be predators and told them exactly what to do if something happened. People, guard your children with your lives. As for myself, I am one of the lucky ones who got away.

Etan Patz' father sends a copy of the missing poster with a note to the suspect, who is in jail, and the note says "what have you done with my little boy." or something like that. Mr. Patz sends that poster and note every year to that bum on the anniversary of his little son going missing.

Obama did it.

No wait, it was Bush. No, it was Clinton, No, it was Bush. No, go back farther.............

...........it was Ford.

Or was it Carter............?

Don't B hatin'. I'm actually surprised no one else has said it.

I remembered this case I was always hoping they would find him and return him to his family. I can't imagine going through what they are still going through.

And to think that too many dietitians, nutritionists and Drs. cannot understand why so many kids do not go outside to play anymore!

I remember this story as a kid. Its good that the NYPD are trying to do something about a cold case this old. As i recall there was a young girl that went missing from Joshua Tree desert campground back in the mid-80s also. Her name was Laura Ann Bradford and along with Etan were the first two children featured on milk cartons. Her father wrote a book about it and its a very sad story and i still think about it to this day. Maybe California will follow the NYPD example and do more about that cold case.

Good Point, sillyshrinks you are so right. May I say that kids need the outdoors and fresh air but alot of parents think the kids will be ok to be outside by themselfs it's just being lazy to let the little one out by themselfs.

I found this scary ! The other day for the heck of it I looked up on the internet all the predators listed in our area (zip code) area listed on the police force web page of convicted kid molesters.
I think we all would be surprised at the number in city neighborhoods. Check it out. check out 49321 thats mine which is 75% farms not livestock either lollol

The video from the 70s makes me feel really old. I was actually a teenager then.

I was a kid myself when he went missing; I remember watching t.v. like it was yesterday. My mother become obsessed with the case. Hard to believe it's been that long.

I very young when he went missing and he lived not too far from me. In my travels I'd keep an eye out hoping he just wandered off and I might be able to spot him out there.

I was 11 when he went missing and i still remember him. I just get the feeling, the guy locked up who they think is involved has slipped up saying something or did something to make them think they can finally make the connection to Etan. That if they can find the body, they can make the connection and put the scumbag away forever. Best of luck NYC, this kid and case needs to be put to rest, and the family deserves some peace knowing the truth.

JS in SD...like nom said, they found all this and was just being truthful. I watch Law n Order all the time but I don't claim to know everything.

Be nice, sweetie.

So you are convinced that Ramos is the one that killed him, despite his claim that he let him go? Hmm, interesting, how could law enforcement have missed that for more than 20 years. Congratulations on solving the case. Just in case, he wasnt the real killer, do you have any other theories you would like to share to assist the family in locating the remains?

Yep, Skeptikal, we should all be believing Ramo's explanation that he simply let the boy go after trying to molest him, after all, he is such a shining example of humanity. Congratulations, you're an idiot.

And of course we would also have to believe that Ramos let him go but he was coincidentally kidnapped by someone else immediately after. Talk about a bad day.

Oh thats right, I forgot, since he confessed to one crime, he MUST be guilty of another, and a worse one at that. Isnt that a bit naive? It would be like trying to pin a hit and run on someone that plead guilty to a speeding ticket on the same street around the same time? Im not letting the guy off the hook for what he has admitted to, but im not jumping to a conclusion based purely on speculation or convenience either. Also it seems that law enforcement hasnt acted that way either, meaning that there is still at least some shred of hope for the criminal justice system.

Skeptikal You my friend are a moron!

skeptikal, you leave me speechless. just think about it before posting any more. we are not talking about a speeding car.

Has anyone seen the article that says Ramos is being released from prison in November of this year? I think they are trying to find evidence to convict him before then.

People who defend the demented criminals usually are one. They could care less about the victim as they can only relate to the offender. In this case maybe Skeptical likes little boys too and that is why he seems to want to believe a convicted child molester that says he let the little boy go after trying to molest him and it's just a coincidence he ended up missing. There is no place in this world for these types of criminals they can never be rehabilitated and should never be on the outside of a barbed wire fence.

Well Skeptikal, at the very least, he WAS found guilty by a judge in the civil case. I imagine he will eventually be found guilty in a criminal case too, as long as some solid proof is uncovered that is more than circumstantial.

HEY ALL!!! The MSN article is not complete and misleading...the handyman was NOT Ramos, it's another man. This is from another resource:

"On 19 April, 2012 The FBI began a search into the SoHo basement of 127b Prince Street, which, at the time of Etan's disappearance housed a wood shop and art storage space.^[4] It was also a known meeting place for sexual liaisons at the time. [It now belongs to a gay and lesbian art museum.]

Othneil Miller, a handyman at 127b at the time, is currently a Person Of Interest in the case.

In 1979, Miller would give $1 to Etan for helping out with small chores at the SoHo building. Mr. Miller had put down a cement floor in 127b, shortly after Etan's disappearance. It was not dug up at the time, as The Patz's said Miller was a family friend."

So, if it turns out it was Miller, then Ramos gave a phony testimony, either for attention, or because he's mentally ill. Remember the West Memphis 3? They all went to prison because of a false admission by one of the boys. Also, if Etan was used to getting paid by Mr. Miller for his help, perhaps Miller lured him very easily into that basement that was a known area for sexual liasions at the time.

Uh, yeah, Skeptical, they're just searching this former building because the police have nothing better to do <insert eye roll> This is a silly thought but MAYBE some new evidence was uncovered that lead them to this point. Try reading the article, you might be surprised of what you'll find out.

Same here...but I don't think I would want to know they were looking unless they found something.

And if he didn't do it? What good is a false confession? It happens. Not saying he didn't do it but he may not have.

Really, Devil's? The guy ADMITTED he took the child back to his apartment and MADE SEXUAL ADVANCES towards a 6 yr old. And we're all supposed to believe that he let him go after that - and, coincidentially, the child's never seen again?

Please. They could have thrown the guy down a bottomless pit just for admitting he made advances towards a 6 yr old and I wouldn't have shed a tear. I don't really see the danger of a "false confession" here.

Devil, would you believe that even though Ramos took the kid and made advances toward him that very same day, he let him go and another person took the kid right after? Or he left Ramo's house and fell into a ditch never to be found again? What's the more logical explanation?

You can't drill to get a confession. It's illegal. You need a body to prove murder and/or an eyewitness. The investigators had neither in 1979. What is the definition of an "advance" made to a 6 year old? Is it the same that you might make to a 16-year old? No evidence here to convict of anything at this time. Perhaps locating the remains will bring to light new evidence.

b707320C, did you even read the story???????

He CONFESSED to trying to molest him.

No he did not.

I wouldn't be so quick to believe his 'confession'....Jose almost certainly has mental issues. Without physical evidence, his 'confession' means nothing.

Its entirely possible that he is missing the limelight, or life in jail is just too boring...whatever.

For the non-readers here:

During that questioning, Ramos admitted to having taken a young boy to his apartment on May 25, 1979, and that he later recognized the boy as Patz, declared missing on the news.

But Ramos said the boy had refused his advances, and that he let him go. Without any evidence, GraBois was not able to charge Ramos with the crime.

He was later asked how many times he had had sexual contact with the boy and broke down - maybe an indication of guilt.

If they had any creditable evidence even on the taking the kid to his apartment and making advances they would have charged him at least with that. Sounds like they didn't believe that he even took the kid to his apartment. Again I am NOT saying he didn't do it. I am just saying the prosecutor did not think he had enough to charge. If the cops grill them to long it only gives them a reason to appeal. Remember the Mc Martin daycare case. All the "evidence" pointed to a guilty verdict. Except it was all false and manufactured. Seven years and $15 million dollars and it was all BS. People lives were ruined. The days of tuning up a suspect should be over. Chicago had a long history of tourturing suspects with old chank phones to induce a shock. How many death row cases have been overturned? How many people have spent long sentences in jail only to be freed when proven innocent? The police need to get it right not just get it done. Did he kill Etan? Maybe. Maybe is not good enough.

One wouldn't think that a child predator would break down remembering a crime. He'd be more likely to smile in remembrance. I hope he's in solitary for the next however many years.

It would be good for the Patz family to finally know what happened. Its been 40 years, as a parent, to think of not knowing for 40 years would be hell on earth. And then when someone is found, alive with a predator, like that girl and her children, your hope would start up again. Because hope is all we have.

AND B7 he's currently in prison for molesting ANOTHER boy. Read the article before you comment, then you won't sound so ignorant.

Willow I disagree. I don't want him in solitary. He should be in general population so he can be enjoyed by all the inmates.

Devil, not having enough evidence to convict does not make him innocent. While he admitted to luring a boy that same day, who he later said was this same kid, they couldn't find solid proof to convict him. How does that make him patron saint of the neighborhood?

I have to agree with Skeptikal-waterboarding and "drilling" would only produce a false confession even if a person were innocent-just to stop the torture. THINK about it. You would still never know for sure that you got the killer. What dumb ideas.

Lou, what????? You are agreeing to something that was never said here!! Maybe you need a definition of drilling. That means interrogating intensely. it does NOT mean waterboarding, or any other POW techniques.

Dear Lord in the heavens!!! And I'm not religious!!

tfnj-don't take it so personally. You didn't mention waterboarding, but someone else did. Although you are right about the drilling. After reading so many suggestions as to what should be done to the body of the perpetrator, I read your drilling comment incorrectly. lol. Although drilling, as in intense interrogation, has already produced false confessions.

And it's a good thing you are praying.

I might add that you can't assume that ramos killed the boy. The chances are good that he did, but you can't be certain of that. Stranger things have happened. And what could the police do without a body? One would hope that they searched the building thoroughly at the time.

Police use intense drilling all the time. The good cop bad cop routine. He was last known to be with Ramos, and disapeared right after. Unless he was coincidentally abducted by someone else right after that, what other conclusion can be drawn?

TZ,

I did read the story. Did you? Nor did you understand only what you wanted to understand. He admits to having the victim in his apartment but that he let him go. He does not admit to molesting him or killing him.

Under the Constitution, you are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Now, you are entitled to your opinion and I to mine as to what might have happened, but there is no body to prove murder, no victim or witness to press charges of molestation. If they find remains, there may be evidence to press charges and take whoever did it to trial but there is nothing now. And just because he molested one kid does NOT PROVE he molested the murder victim.. That is how our system works....like it or not. BTW, how do you feel about Zimmerman?

He admits to having the victim in his apartment but that he let him go.

And you bought that hook, line, and sinker. Not too smart, are you, B7?

You'd make a crappy detective, though.

Dave, I don't like jumping to conclusions. You'd make a crappy detective, too! You don't have the facts either. You are jumping to conclusions to ease your conscience.

TFJN, I never said he was innocent. I never said he was the patron saint of the neighborhood. He is a bad guy, true. He was later convicted of another crime, true. But the police and prosecutors need to get the right bad guy not just a convenient bad guy. They also need to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Evidently they did not think they could or they would have charged him. In my small town there are 13 registered sex offenders within one mile of my home. Imagine how many there could be in a square mile of a large city like New York.

TFJN-actually, I think you meant "grilling", since "drilling" means "disciplined, repetitious exercise as a means of teaching and perfecting a skill.." etc.

Grill means to question relentlessly or cross-examine.

I was repeating what the original poster said, but the point is I got his meaning. And it doesn't mean torture.

Kids...Devi's Son was just saying that you can't force a confession and then say it's the truth. Would you want the wrong one punished while the right one was out there?

bluepanther, we were making it clear that he misread the original post, and no one was saying anyone should be forced.

i agree never stop looking

Seeing how they never collected the 2 million..... A judgement against a guy in jail is not worth the paper it is printed on.

RIP little guy.

How could they collect any money from a guy who was probably making minimum wage his whole life to begin with and has been in prison the last how many years??? I wish they would let people get real justice instead of fake money promises

Asully, it was not about the money for the family, just knowing that someone else believe that this POS scum kidnapped and killed their baby. For them this was the only justice they could get.

Asully i agree with you....i always thought jail should be for those who rob or commit minor crimes...jail is a safehouse for these pervs. i cant imagine what this kids parents are going through nor do i want to...i hope he speaks up and finally give his family closure.

I am sure the parents never wanted the money at all.... they just wanted a court to say he was gulity and at least with that there was a small measure of peace. They never expected the money, they went the civil route because that was their only option.

Chris, the DC-10 was exactly what went through my mind when I was reading this article. It's amazing what we remember.

I hadn't thought anything about that date until I read your post. I was in Chicago at the airport seeing a friend off. His wife and I watched the planes taking off and saw that one go down. Unsure of which plane it was, we waited at the airport to be sure it wasn't his plane. That was a bad day.

Wow...I believe I had just graduated from HS that week...saw Alien several times and moved in w/my dad.

When I was a freshman, after school I invited a classmate over to my grandparents' house, which was 2 blocks away from school. She said she needed to call her mom and tell her when she got there. As soon as she did, suddenly she's crying and apologizing, hangs up and says she has to leave.

I didn't know that it was her little brother who had disappered in '72. They never found him. Because his sister stopped on the way home, naturally her mother thought the worst because she hadn't come home when she usually did.

I felt so bad.

Brilliant! How do you castrate a woman?

Needle and thread.

No, the correct answer is death.

@ YetAnotherRick

They do all the time in some North African countries. They call it female circumcision. Pretty ghastly.

Since rape is not a sex act, it is an act of violence, there probablyy would be nothing worse than an angry castrated pedophile rapist. There are all kinds of objects that he could use. Its not physically the sex, it is the process in their head that gives them satisfaction.

No the punishment for convicted sex offenders should be death! They serve no purpose on this earth and counseling and therapy is a joke.

Apparently they get their punishment from fellow inmates.

Enma3...I don't know how you parents stand it sometimes. I am an aunt, and at times I get scared for my nieces and nephew.

Jaycee Dugard was held captive for 18 years, there was a girl in Austria for longer I think. One never knows and until proven otherwise one would always have hope.

You are right he could be locked in a shed raising kids like that one girl.. She was a cold case and was found.. She was also missed in the investigation several times.. Jaycee Dugard.. Or ended up with a horrible family who he thinks is his real family.. He may not even know he is missing if he is alive .. He is a grown man.. Almost 40

The girl in Austria was considered a runaway while her own father was holding her captive in their house. If I remember right, her father made her write a runaway note. That's a bit of a different animal than what Jaycee Dugard went through.

I thought prescription "castration" took away the Drive and made the Perp pretty much lifeless..... Am I not correct. I don't know why they are not given life...to do that to a child....they should have any rights after. Or they should have sexual abusers live in communities that are monitered by parole officers. where they have curfews and can only have authorized visitors.....

He is in jail....

Yeah my guess is he offered the info in exchange for something.. Less time to another crime... or something..

They don't have to even do that, his little brother Ari looked just like him, he's now in his 30's and filled out some obviously, but you can see it is what Etan would have looked like as a grown man. I hope they finally bring little Etan home and burn that monster Ramos. Just do a google search for Stan and Ari Patz.

You wouldn't feel that way if it was your child. A case is a case no matter how old it is, they deserve justice just like everyone else.

I agree, these cases should remain opened. I know it takes a great deal of time and effort but in the years since this case and others have happened many advancements have been made in investigating and solving cases - there is always a chance something will turn up to solve or bring some type of closure for the families involved.

Tell that to the parents whose kids have been taken. Better to be paranoid than to lose a child to a predator.

Smeado, you are so wrong. I am living proof of that. I grew up in the 50s and 60s and I can tell you positively that there were plenty of predators out there. Unfortunately, those things like funny uncles were swept under the rug because it was embarrassing. I was every predators dream - a petite, blue eyed blonde. I know now how lucky I was to be wary and to get away from one of them. They use tricks you couldn't imagine and I'm not going to get graphic here.

Matter of opinion John. Is the degredation of an entire generation better or worse than a handful being lost or hurt? Should we all wear lightning rod helmets all day in case lightning hits us? Should we all lock ourselves in our houses all day, never interacting with anyone else, because we may catch the Ebola virus? Should we ban kids from cars because some of them might be killed in a car accident?

There's reasonable precautions and then there's unreasonable paranoia. The chances of your kid being taken and killed by a child predator are probably about the same as being killed by a komodo dragon... nearly zero. It happens, but extremely infrequently. The problem is that when it does happen we all hear about it and assume it's running rampant as if it happened to the kid next door.

Smeado, I disagree with your view of the frequency of child abductions and abuse. I myself had four experiences with them until around the time I hit puberty. Two were people I trusted and two were strangers. I was definitely in more danger with the strangers and was lucky to have had a mother who warned me about these things because I was a very, very small child when they happened. If someone is too afraid they will make their child paranoid or scared by warning them about pedophiles and kidnappers, all I can say is they have never had the experience of being a child in peril and are naive. Anyone who has experienced a lost child, almost been abducted, or been in the company of a pedophile can tell you a little paranoia is a good thing.

Smeado, make the number five - I forgot to mention the two cops in the paddy wagon. Fortunately, I was a little older then, about 13.

JerseyKat - For the record, I was talking about child abductions and murder. Those are very very rare. But child molesters are more common so kids should be instructed to tell their parents anything regarding someone wanting to see or touch their private areas. But the "don't talk to strangers" lesson has been proven incorrect a number of times. Kids are usually molested by someone they know so making them afraid of anyone they don't know sends a damaging and incorrect message.

Thank you for at least making one point that's another one of my pet peeves. The "these days" argument. Child molesters have been around forever. And are not in any increased numbers in recent years. It's just as okay to let your kids out of your sight to play now as it was 50 years ago.

Smeado, one thing that never changes is human nature. I don't know if you were ever molested as a child, but I was by two. One was my cousin - I was in grade school and he in college and ROTC. The other was an old neighbor man in his 70s. I can't tell you the shock of seeing an old man with wispy white hair on his head and red pubic hair. Well, I can't tell you the shock of the whole thing on here. I was just a little kid. As far as strangers I got away from, I don't know if I would have been snatched and killed, but many times kids are killed because the offender doesn't want those kids to become witnesses. Kids are easy to overcome. When my kids were growing up there was a show on public TV called Street Smarts and it gave tips on how people could protect themselves against attacks. My kids watched the show and I had already told them what to do when they were out on their own. Yes, they could be out on their own if they had learned how to keep themselves safe. Of course, there are some areas I would have never left them alone. I never let men watch my kids (after an incident with my father-in-law towards my daughter), I never left them alone in the car even for a few minutes. I did everything in my power to protect them and advise them what to do if I was late or anything like that.

Sounds like you were a typical soccer mom. That's not a compliment.

Smeado, I was no soccer mom. I came up from a very hard background. I don't owe you any explanation about that. I know what I'm talking about but Im not sure you do. I just don't want any child to suffer abuse or abduction because I have some personal experience with that.

Hey guys...you both make good points...

I think things are worse in that it seems some are bolder at hurting kids...however it could be that it is more reported now.

Jersey Kat..what freakin' neighborhood did you live in, anyway? Not sure what you meant when mentioning abductions and abuse (5) and then molestations (2). I thought you meant one and the same. I'm sorry that happened to you. Did you tell your mom? Your dad? ANYONE who could have done something? I hope your children never have to deal with that.

Smeado..I think you still need to tell kids about "stranger danger." And I certainly hope you never have to go through what Jersey did.