Friday, May 25, 2012

33 Years Ago Today

Etan Patz went missing on May 25, 1979, which, like today, was a muggy Friday before the Memorial Day weekend. And now 33 years later police have a man in custody for this heinous crime, one that changed childhoods forever. For the sake of Stanley and Julie Patz, I sure hope the man who confessed to murdering their son is telling the truth. I tend to agree with Jim Dwyer that the police should have held off on the publicity, and searched for evidence first. (Cases built on confessions alone tend not to end well.) But if you're anything like me, you're guilty of being completely engrossed in all the coverage going on -- however conflicting and erroneous. This "Crime Scene" graphic is from today's NY Post HERE.

And James Barron's article in the New York Times, Since 1979, a Vigil for the Face on Milk Cartons and the Ages He Would Miss, will move you, marking the events that have passed in the 33 years since the little boy went missing. This photo of Etan's parents in their SoHo loft in 1979, shot as police officials answer phones in the disappearance, reduced me to tears, imaging the fear and anguish they must have been feeling -- and knowing that they still are. A timeline HERE shows all the fits and starts in this case, which drives home why it's so important that this not be another false hope.


Although I noted that kooks do try to insert themselves into high-profile crimes all the time -- the Lindbergh kidnapping and JonBenet Ramsey come to mind -- I guess this is different in the sense that Pedro Hernandez did (at the very least) have the means to commit the crime. While he claims he did not sexually assault Etan -- a claim police are skeptical about -- perhaps it's true he did just simply suddenly feel "the urge to kill," which makes the parallels between this case and the recent abuction and slaying of Leiby Kletzky all the more chilling.

1 comment:

Justice for Etan said...

I've read alot about this case over the years and find it amazing the shoddy policework involved. If what the parents claim is true, there was only a finite number of people along the route who could have had the means and location for the crime (barring a vehicle abduction). To not interview everyone along that route was incredibly stupid.
I too have my doubts about this latest confession. Of course, after reading some of the history, I had my doubts about parts of the parents' story as well (I know heresy).