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NYPD May Visit Land Fills To Search For Etan Patz's Remains
By
Jen Chung
Published May 28, 2012
Modified May 28, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 28, 2012
Modified May 28, 2012
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Last week marked the first time anyone had been arrested for the 1979 murder of six-year-old Etan Patz, with the authorities charging Pedro Hernandez with second-degree murder. Even though the police say that Hernandez confessed to killing the boy in a Soho bodega, doubts remain. According to the NY Post, even the Manhattan DA's office was reluctant to charge Hernandez and "wanted more proof before charging Hernandez with murder, said several law-enforcement sources."
A source explained, "After the last headache with DSK, you don’t want another black eye... You only have one guy making a confession; you don’t have corroborating evidence. That’s never a way to do any case, never mind a high-profile case like this. The DA was not happy to rush to make this arrest. They wanted more things done."
However, it's suggested that Hernandez, a 51-year-old NJ resident who had worked as a stock clerk at a bodega on West Broadway and Prince (now an eyeglasses store), offered details about Etan that were never released. Etan disappeared when walking from his parents' loft on Prince Street near Greene Street to the school bus stop at West Broadway and Prince. Hernandez claims he lured Etan to the bodega's basement with the promise of a soda, strangled him, and then disposed of his body in a bag, leaving it outside 113 Thompson Street.
Hernandez kept the boy's body in the bodega and threw it out at night, according to the POst's sources. The Department of Sanitation says that the NYPD will look at "scour sanitation, landfill and incinerator log books from that time before determining whether to launch a search for the remains." Garbage would have been dumped "at Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island or the Fountain Avenue landfill in Brooklyn," or "brought to the Gansevoort incinerator on West 12th Street," says the Post.
This comes as relatives of Hernandez continue to struggle with his confession (his wife and daughter were supposedly devastated). Hernandez's lawyer has pointed out that his client is schizophrenic, bipolar and has hallucinations. But a member of a prayer group as well as Hernandez's sister says that Hernandez did confess to killing a boy (putting his body in a Dumpster) in New York City a few years after Etan's death. Tomas Rivera told the NY Times he didn't come forward "because he did not confess to me [individually]... He confessed to the group." Rivera confirmed he had spoken to the NYPD, "The detectives told me not to say anything. I am keeping my mouth shut."
Tagged
arrest
cold case
etan patz
investigation
manhattan da
murder
pedro hernandez
soho
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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