newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

A Camden man has confessed to killing the first missing child whose picture ever appeared on the back of a milk carton.

Friday is the 33rd anniversary of the date 6-year-old Etan Patz disappeared from Soho when he was going to school in 1979.

According to the New York Times, Pedro Hernandez has confessed to strangling Patz, wrapping his body in a bag and putting it in a box, police said. Hernandez said that he left the box in Manhattan, but when he later returned, the box had been moved.

The New York Post reported that Hernandez told investigators that he lured Patz with candy into a shop where he worked, killed him, and put his remains in plastic bags.

“He’s made admissions, he’s implicated himself and now you’re in the very odd position of trying to prove that his admissions are correct because this would not be the first time someone has made admissions in the case and not had them pan out,” correspondent John Miller said, according to CBS New York.

In April, investigators began digging up a basement in Soho near Patz’ home in search of remains. Then, according to the New York Daily News, a relative of Hernandez contacted police with suspicions that he may be involved in Patz’ disappearance.

Etan Patz was officially declared dead in 2001. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. reopened the case in 2010.

The case led to a campaign of missing children’s faces appearing on milk cartons.President Ronald Reagan declared the day of Etan Patz’ disappearance to be National Missing Children’s Day.