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Post by Scumhunter on Feb 10, 2014 19:09:26 GMT -5
 Although I am unsure if Etan Patz was ever given a full profile on AMW (besides John Walsh briefly mentioning an update on the case at the end of an episode on AMW's last season on Lifetime) , even AMW viewers know about this infamous case. Patz, of course, was along with Adam Walsh, one of the highest-profile missing child cases when the public finally started to take child abductions more seriously in the latter part of the twentieth century. In fact, he was one of the first missing children to appear on the back of a milk carton during that campaign of the 1980's. Etan Patz was declared legally dead in 2001. Patz was only six-years old when he disappeared from his lower Manhattan neighborhood on May 25th, 1979. Still missing decades afterwards, the focus was soon on Jose Ramos, a convicted pedophile who was a friend of a one-time babysitter of Patz. Although Ramos was never prosecuted, Patz's parents won a civil suit against him in 2004 in which he was declared responsible for Etan's death. However, in 2012, a major curveball was thrown. On May 24, 2012, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced that a man was in custody who had implicated himself in the Patz disappearance. According to The New York Times, a law enforcement official identified the man as Pedro Hernandez, of Maple Shade, New Jersey, and said that he had confessed to strangling Etan Patz. Hernandez, aged 51, was an 18-year-old convenience store worker at the time of Patz's disappearance. On November 14, 2012, a New York grand jury indicted Hernandez on charges of second-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. His lawyer has stated that Hernandez was diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder, which includes hallucinations. According to a New York Times report from May 25, 2012, the police had at that time no physical evidence to corroborate Hernandez's confession. The announcement of Hernandez's arrest seemed to shock everyone. I remember watching John Walsh on "The View" where even he said he thought Ramos was the guy. Ramos has publicly complained that he is tired of being connected to the Patz case and has nothing to do with it. There is a new and very bizarre update in this case. There are some reports suggesting the FBI may believe Patz is still alive. An American man in Europe claims the FBI called him last month and asked him if HE was Etan Patz. Despite having a suspect apparently ready to go on trial. The man thought it was a hoax, especially considering he was 11 years younger than Patz would have been in 2014. Thoughts? This is a very bizarre story but I have serious doubts as to Hernandez's guilt with no physical evidence. We see mentally unstable guys who for some reason falsely confess to killing high-profile missing children all the time, as what happened with John Mark Karr in the JonBenet Ramsey case. I don't know about Ramos either. Ramos is a convicted pedophile so obviously he is not a model citizen. But it does seem like without the sex offender registry or anything like that, there were unfortunately a lot more unknown creeps around back then than even today. This really is a weird but tragic infamous case. I hope they can find something physical to prove their case against Hernandez, or something overwhelmingly circumstantial, because in my opinion a confession is not good enough just yet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Etan_Patzwww.nydailynews.com/news/national/convicted-pedophile-jose-ramos-angry-named-etan-patz-coverage-article-1.1549072jpupdates.com/2014/02/10/fbi-nycs-famous-missing-child-etan-patz-might-still-alive/ |
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Post by HeadMarshal on Feb 12, 2014 10:07:18 GMT -5
I personally don't believe the man in Europe is Etan Patz. It's been mentioned that an "anonymous tip" led to the man in Europe being investigated and chances are, Etan would have known that he disappeared since he was six when he went missing. Authorities need to investigate every possible lead, but it just doesn't make sense to me. I also don't have any reason to believe Hernandez was involved in Etan's disappaerance at this time, since all we have to work with is a man with mental illness who confessed to one of the most infamous unsolved missing person cases in US history without any physical evidence.
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Post by Scumhunter on Feb 12, 2014 13:21:39 GMT -5
I don't think anyone thinks the guy is Patz. The lead seems pretty ridiculous on its surface.
Also I edited but wanted to clear something up. I forgot to add the word "falsely" when mentioning mentally unstable men who confess to killing high-profile missing children.
Look up any famous missing child case and it probably will have happened at least once. Whether it be just to get attention or because of their mental state. That is the reason it took so long to close the Adam Walsh case despite Ottis Toole confessing. (Although we now know that Toole was in fact Adam's killer)
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Post by Scumhunter on Apr 29, 2015 16:07:56 GMT -5
The Jury has deadlocked in the Etan Patz case- and while they are still deliberating after 11 days it seems a mistrial is possible.
This case tears at me. On one hand, I want to see Pedro Hernandez brought to justice if he did in fact kill Etan Patz. Etan does need to have justice and someone held accountable, especially after over 35 years.
On the other hand, we see false confessions from mentally ill murder suspects all the time, and I don't want to see an innocent man sent to prison.
I didn't witness the trial but on the surface it appears all Prosecutors have is a confession from a mentally ill man whose disorder includes hallucinations, and not a lot of physical evidence.
I guess how much the jury buys the confession and whether it matches up to the details of the case will ultimately determine the verdict- or possible mistrial.
Obviously, this is a very difficult decision and whatever happens- the jury should be commended for the amount of time they've spent trying to resolve it.
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Post by Scumhunter on May 8, 2015 20:47:45 GMT -5
There indeed has been a mistrial after a jury tried three times. It was actually just one hold out juror against conviction. The people I feel most sorry for in this are Etan's parents. They've waited 36 years for justice, thought it was Ramos and even successfully sued him, only to see the Pedro Hernandez confession pop up and now a mistrial. Based on the fact the jury was 11-1 FOR conviction, I would expect the Prosecution to try this case again. But NO ONE, not me or most people can likely relate to the agony Etan's family is going through. mobile.nytimes.com/2015/05/09/nyregion/etan-patz-jury-murder-trial.html?_r=0&referrer= |
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Post by Scumhunter on May 18, 2015 17:31:19 GMT -5
The Manhattan DA intends to re-try the case. The more I read up on the trial, despite the mistrial, I am more confident about the case Prosecution has now. I am usually weary of confessions from mentally unstable suspects, however, Hernandez's story seems to be pretty consistent. He didn't confess out of the blue, and had been claiming he killed Etan in private for years. There was also apparently a walk-through in SoHo where Hernandez was very detailed in leading to the location where he says he dumped Etan's body and was able to say what was and wasn't there. While I'm not entirely surprised the first trial ended in a mistrial based on what I knew before the case, I would say based on an 11-1 guilty vote the DA does stand a better chance at conviction next time around. Hopefully there can be a verdict one way or the other. Sad Etan's parents will never get to give him a proper burial, but at least there will be justice- or closure as to whether or not Hernandez did it. www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Etan-Patz-Missing-Boy-Soho-1979-Mistrial-Pedro-Hernandez-Jurors-Re-try-Case-Cy-Vance-Manhattan-304158191.html |
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Post by King Of Clubs on Jan 17, 2016 23:55:35 GMT -5
Let me say that I think that Hernandez is the wrong guy. But I'm glad that this case is developing.
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Post by Scumhunter on Feb 3, 2017 4:42:26 GMT -5
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Post by Scumhunter on Feb 14, 2017 13:02:42 GMT -5
Pedro Hernandez has been found GUILTY of the murder of Etan Patz during a second re-trial. As said before, I started to change my tune once I read about how seemingly consistent his confession was with the facts in this case. This, to me, is a good conviction, and I can imagine still an incredibly tough one. Thanks to the jury for pulling through and making their decision as I know it couldn't have been easy. Sad since Etan's body will never be found based on Hernandez's confession, but at least Etan's family has some sense of finality. (I never like using the word closure.) crimewatchdaily.com/2017/02/14/jury-rules-pedro-hernandez-is-guilty-in-etan-patz-murder-trial/ |
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Post by catchumall on Feb 17, 2017 18:59:11 GMT -5
I first learned about the Etan Patz case from the NBC comedy/reality series "Real People". It stood out because most of the content on "Real People" were humorous in profiling eccentric people or newspaper headline misprints or funny photos and this case was presented seriously without any audience laughter.
It was the first of a series of missing children segments that was narrated by host John Barbour. Rather jarring for one used to the comedy content in the program but important to present to a national viewing audience at the time. A later segment profiled the Adam Walsh case 10 years before America's Most Wanted premiered.
Probably the first crime reenactment segment for a prime time non-news/entertainment program of its time (1979) ("The FBI" tv series changed names and fictionalized some storyline scenes for dramatic effect)...the segment ended with photos of other missing children and a phone number tipline to contact with information...not sure if the Center for Missing Children was in existence, but this segment and the "Adam" tv movie with Daniel J. Travanti playing John Walsh also on NBC could have started its formation.
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Post by Scumhunter on Apr 19, 2017 10:36:57 GMT -5
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Post by walshfan on May 7, 2017 5:20:34 GMT -5
I've been familiar with this case for years, having the read the book on it and watching the full 20/20 episode on it a few years ago, both of which heavily suggested that Ramos was the guilty party here.
I always had nagging doubts about Ramos's guilt though. He is a thoroughly creepy pedophile no doubt, however he was never known to actually murder a child. It's not too far-fetched to think that he might have, however I would think that a scraggly looking man and a precious boy walking together would have attracted attention. I don't know what to make of Ramos's claim that he took a boy back to his apartment that day to molest, but it wasn't Etan.
That's something that's always bothered me. Whether it was Ramos or Hernandez or neither, I can't fathom how nobody saw anything. This was a Friday morning, during a holiday weekend in the most populous city in the country. Granted, with the hustle and bustle of NYC, people were probably doing their own thing, but still you would think somebody would have seen something, whether it be Ramos or Hernandez or whoever talking and walking with the boy, or Pedro carrying his body in a box. *Something*.
Which leads me to Hernandez. I've come around more to thinking he is guilty, but I don't think I'm all the way there yet. In the sense that he has been convicted, I hope he is guilty.
However, I can't dismiss the possibility of it being someone else entirely. Wasn't there a man who had been giving Etan candy? This dude sounds pretty suspicious. There's also a chance that he could still be alive, although it's unfortunately not a very good one. But someone could have wanted a child and snatched him.
Etan was the first child to be featured on a milk carton, a distinction that sometimes erroneously gets attributed to Johnny Gosch. John Walsh wrote acclaim for the Etan Patz book (it appears on the back cover, the book was written by Lisa Cohen), stating that the Patzes served as a source of inspiration for him and Reve after Adam vanished.
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Post by Scumhunter on Jul 18, 2017 7:29:49 GMT -5
Not sure where else to put this but there's some woman on Youtube claiming she is missing child Jennifer Lee Klein, who disappeared from Moab, Utah in the 1970's and that the people who abducted her also abducted Etan Patz and Kurt Newton where Etan is still alive and Kurt Newton passed away a few days ago.
This sounds way too absurd and far-fetched to be believable but apparently a Facebook group called "Missing in America" which has a decent amount of followers is claiming DNA has 100 percent matched the woman as Jennifer.
i remind everyone:
1) There has been no media reports
2) Even if it is true this woman is Jennifer Klein, it does not mean the other parts about Kurt and Etan are true.
This is not about being a hater but dealing in facts and reality. it's annoyed me how I've received private messages about this and everyone's replying to news on this as if it is fact when there has been NOTHING in the media or any comments from law enforcement about these cases. Just that one group.
I would love if by some miracle Etan is alive (although it would mean Pedro Hernandez was wrongfully imprisoned), but I believe I have good reason to be skeptical until proven otherwise.
i have no reason to doubt the group's integrity, but even the best of us can fall pray to false hope or information.
If this somehow turns out to be true, this won't be a case of me eating crow. Just that you should NEVER believe anything you read until multiple legitimate sources and/or law enforcement as well confirms it. I'm not wrong on that whether this comes true or not.
If it does comes true, I'll be the first to congratulate the page on a job well done as sites who try to accomplish the same goal should not be in competition with each other and should work with each other instead. My concern is in believing things before they become proven fact.
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Post by Scumhunter on Jul 22, 2017 5:05:19 GMT -5
And it turns out from what I'm reading that the woman turned out to not be Jennifer Lee Klein after all. And that Missing in America page on Facebook is now gone (the large page, not the smaller group which I don't think is associated).
I am beside myself at how gullible everyone was and believing what the page said right away.
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