The Etan Patz case never ends for NYC & America

Last week, the file was reopened on a 46 -year -old murder case, we all thought we were finally closed. Eight years after Pedro Hernandez was found guilty of the abduction and murder of 1979 of Etan Patz, 6, a federal appeal committee judged that a jury of New York State had obtained bad advice from the judge and poorly recognized Hernandez.

Now, Manhattan DA’s office must be returned to the case “in a reasonable period”, either Hernandez, who has been in detention since his arrest in 2012, will be free. It is the last in the series of decades of twists and turns of superb twists in a case which led to a cultural change in the way we raise our children.

I have been reporting on this story for 35 years, first as a producer of news from the network, then to write the only book on the case, “After Etan: The Missing Child Case which held captive America”. I am often asked why this title is so appropriate – what has captivated us in this case? There were other missing children, both before Etan and after. All these terrible crimes were, to quote the cliché, “the worst nightmare of the parents”. What made this one different?

The initial swell of interest was specific to the case. Etan was a beautiful blonde boy with blue eyes. His father was a professional photographer who worked at home. The boy liked to stand up for his father’s models while Stan Patz turned on his sets, which meant that there were hundreds of photos perfectly taken to distribute, at a time when mobile phones, selfies and social media were in the distant future.

When Etan’s face jumped posters, then display panels, national reports and finally cartons of milk, the shine captured with love in his eyes was an urgent appeal for action. Hundreds of police officers and whole neighborhoods of New Yorkers who descend into the streets in the immediate days that followed, in the world pursuit which ultimately followed, people around the world.

The parents of Etan were articulated, educated and heartbreaking when they asked the public for help. Their pleadings resonated with the Americans and because these pleas have never received an answer, the Americans kept the family in their hearts. This has also increased our personal fears – if it could and happened to this child, it could happen to mine.

When it has become more likely over time, Etan had left forever, Stan and Julie Patz have eloquently turned their efforts to fight for the change in how these cases were followed, taking advantage of attention to help create new laws and organizations, such as the national center for missing and exploited children, who could help other parents suffer from their own pain.

Their dignity and their grace have always impressed me when I tried to tell their history faithfully, and I believe that their fundamental humanity also touched the public.

Finally, this case never ended (although we thought until last week that she had finally had). This is probably the main reason why the new generations of Americans were attracted to it. And not only because there was no resolution, but also because every few years, there would be a surprising new development: a possible Israeli connection; A main suspect appears after a decade; A new series of investigators has dug a basement in the middle of Manhattan, a different foreign suspect emerging after three decades, and again.

These developments are the result of another striking example of humanity – the commitment of decades of application of the law which made it personal. I interviewed dozens of investigators, journalists and really anyone has already been affected by this case whose dedication went beyond the professional. Some of them told me that they always thought of Etan every day and always wish justice for his family.

I am one of these people. The compassion of everyone connected to this case has always been a touchstone for me. I started to report the Patz affair when it was blocked in the early 1990s. At the time, another leading suspect had frustrated the authorities to carry accusations against him. Jose Ramos was a serial predator renowned for having abused countless other children, and an American lawyer took extraordinary measures to prosecute him in the name of a 9 -year -old victim who had the satisfaction, before the court, to see his attacker held responsible.

The end of this story has not yet been written. And it may never be. But there is good: victims who were found, authors who have been punished, families who now have resources. And recognize the exceptional commitment of legions of application of the law, lawyers, judges and countless others who all worked, both in public and more often behind the scenes, to finally bring justice for a little boy.

Cohen is the author of “After Etan: The Missing Child Case which held captive America”.