Manhattan's new district attorney has fulfilled a campaign promise to reopen a 31-year-old cold case of the missing child who was the first ever to appear on the back of a milk carton. District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has decided to take another look at the case of Etan Patz.Etan was 6 when he disappeared while walking from his home to a school bus stop.
On May 25, 1979, Etan's mother agreed to allow him to walk the two short blocks to the school bus stop. His mother could see the bus stop from her doorstep and she saw other parents there waiting with their children.
Etan disappeared that day and has not been seen since.
"It's a case that the district attorney has been aware of since before running for office last year," communications director Erin Duggan told reporters. "Last summer he said he would take a fresh look at the case if he became district attorney. Tuesday he confirmed that the case had been reopened."
A Suspect in the Case
There is a suspect in the case. Convicted child molester Jose Antonio Ramos who once reportedly told investigators that he was "90 percent sure" that a boy he abducted on that day in May 1979 was Etan.
Since then, Ramos has denied ever making that statement. He has never been charged in connection with the disappearance of Ethan.
Etan's picture was the first to ever be published on the back of a milk carton featuring missing children, a practice that later became common.
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District Attorney Reopens Case of First Missing Child on Milk Carton
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Photo: Family Photo
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