Disappearance of Etan Patz
Etan Patz | |
|---|---|
Etan Patz on September 16, 1978 | |
| Born | Etan Kalil Patz October 9, 1972 New York City, U.S. |
| Disappeared | May 25, 1979 (aged 6) New York City, U.S. |
| Status | Missing for 46 years, 9 months and 21 days; declared dead in absentia on June 19, 2001 (aged 28) |
| Died | c. May 25, 1979 (aged 6) |
| Cause of death | Murder by strangulation (presumed) |
| Height | 3 ft 4 in (102 cm) |
| Parent(s) | Stanley Patz Julie Patz |
| Date | May 25, 1979 |
|---|---|
| Location | New York City, U.S. |
| Type | Disappearance, presumed child murder, presumed child abduction |
| Motive | Unclear, allegedly sexual |
| Deaths | Etan Kalil Patz (presumed) |
| Accused |
|
| Charges | Second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping |
| Verdict | Mistrial (2015; first trial) Guilty on both counts (2017; second trial) Conviction overturned (2025; on federal appeal) |
| Sentence | Life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years (overturned) |
| Litigation | Ramos found liable by default in 2005 wrongful death lawsuit by Patz's parents; ordered to pay $2.7 million
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Etan Kalil Patz (/ˈeɪtɑːn ˈpeɪts/; October 9, 1972 – c. May 25, 1979) was a six-year-old American boy who disappeared on May 25, 1979, on his way to his school bus stop in the SoHo neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. His disappearance helped launch the missing children movement, which included new legislation and new methods for tracking down missing children. Years after he disappeared, Patz became one of the first children to be profiled on the "photo on a milk carton" campaigns of the 1980s. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan designated May 25—the anniversary of Etan's disappearance—as National Missing Children's Day in the United States.
Pedro Hernandez—a suspect who confessed in 2012—was charged and indicted later that year on charges of second-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. After a mistrial and retrial, on February 14, 2017, after nine days of deliberations, the jury found Hernandez guilty of murder and kidnapping. Hernandez was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison on April 18, 2017. On July 21, 2025, Hernandez's conviction was overturned by a federal appeals panel ruling that the state trial court's instructions to the jury were erroneous. ; however, on November 25, 2025, the Manhattan DA agreed to retry Hernandez.