The Lost Boy | Full Episode

Children — July 16, 2024 · 106 Comments

More than three decades after 6-year-old Etan Patz went missing, police found a surprising suspect. "48 Hours" correspondent Richard Schlesinger goes inside the investigation. Is the haunting case finally over? Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

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True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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106 Comments

  1. This case is heartbreaking. I remember when this was happening. Monsters who do such things to little children. There is a Special place in Hell for them.

    4. Odd that ewetube DELETES me quoting the Bible scripture to support your statement of a special place in hell for these demons. (Luke 17:2) Ewetube HATES TRUTH.

    5. @WatercolorMama2345: If you’re a Christian, then you should accept that Jesus died for all of our sins, including what happened to Etan.
      This means that if the perp is a Christian, he will go to heaven.
      Read Romans 10:9.

  2. I remember this case as so many do because of Etan being the first child I ever saw on a milk carton. I was a newlywed hoping to start a family and it scared me to death.

    1. Hmmm 🧐
      Most likely NONE of them did it. I have this gut feeling.
      I don’t know if I’m the only one or not, but I suspect *the parents.*
      There is something awfully dark and shady about them.

      Were there any witnesses at all that even saw the poor boy leave the house and walk to the bus stop that morning, to begin with? 🤔🤔

    3. While I do NOT suspect the parents, I do agree that something happened to Etan BEFORE making it to the bus stop. None of his friends or any parents at the stop ever even saw him.
      I totally understand wanting justice for atrocities perpetrated upon society, especially family members. I had a loved one murdered in 75, but I want the correct individual to pay not just anyone who said they did it. I realize so many were vested in this case. It’s heart wrenching, but I don’t think that I could have, in good conscience, convicted this man. He was not even seen at the bus stop. The book bag was never located, along with his history of mental illness, but mainly that video recording delay. Too much reasonable doubt for me to say guilty. 🤔😲

  3. I’m confused. They couldn’t charge the first guy because they only had his word, but it was enough to charge the last guy based only on his word. That doesn’t make any sense.

    1. Exactly. And the fact the body was never found is soo mind blogging. Especially if it thrown down a few steps not far from the bus stop. Neither one of them did it

    3. The first guy who was a pedophile named Etan as a boy named Jimmy. And then said no more. The key here for the man who was convicted was when he showed police where he put Etan’s body in the stairwell. He said there was no doorway in the stairwell in 1979. This held true.

    5. It pisses me off that 48 Hours didn’t call out the cops for claiming that they couldn’t convict on just a confession from Ramos, but ultimately did just that with Hernandez. The whole thing about the door that wasn’t there was evidence of nothing. Plus, the missing interrogation tapes. That prosecution was a joke.

    3. @@IheartDogs55I’d have been with you. 6 hours is a ridiculous amount of time to not be recording. Literally the only reason for not recording it would be trying to coerce this man into a confession.

    4. Right… It’s one thing if the equipment wasn’t there. But you have everything to record video and audio, and you purposely leave it off for 6 hours? Then, all of a sudden, you turn it on? Something is VERY fishy about that.

    2. I am also not sure. People needed a closure and this mentally ill guy probably repeated what the police told him to say BEFORE they started recording.

  6. Why tf didn’t they initially have the cameras rolling during the initial interview? Smh. This is exactly how good cases are thrown out in court.

    3. In my country they do that, torture the suspect then turn the video on. It is ridiculous. These days the way of torture is different. They do spank the prisoner and let them without food, water, blankets. Many, after a while will confess they killed their mother. But she is still alive. It is better, but far from good judicial system. Americans are better, but not perfect. IMHO the system in the USA does work.

    5. @@jimwerther
      NO, they do that to brainwash or beat a confession out of the people, so they get points in their careers, even for advancement. It’s easy to do that to gullible people and the ones who have diminished capacity! Think, if you can!!

    1. I have a 5 yo and I can’t fathom letting her walk two blocks in NYC to the bus. And stopping by a corner store to buy a soda. Crazy, maybe I’m overprotective.

    2. @@jesseerickson662 I hear ya. That’s not overprotective. The attitude about kids outside on their own has changed a lot. (And for good reason obviously.) I was 14 when this happened but at the age of 6 I walked to school. We didn’t live in a city though, which I would’ve thought parents would be more cautious there than in suburbs or in rural areas even back then. But maybe not.

    3. ​@jesseerickson662 I agree! It’s OUR responsibility to protect & accompany our kids,,especially that young! He’s too young for Independence. She could of still followed him without him knowing. But me..I wouldn’t of EVER let my 6 year old child out alone to walk anywhere! Too many monsters & predators looking for easy targets:/

    4. @@nativeamericanfeather9948 When I was 10 in 1964 we lived in San Francisco. We walked everywhere and came home when it was time for dinner. I can’t even imagine doing that now even as an adult! Times have really changed. It’s so sad. 💜 🦝

    3. Kudos to that one juror who held his own for 18 days and didn’t believe this suspicious interrogation nonsense.
      Even on the recorded part you can see they’re patting the suspect on the back and telling him that his doing a good job. It insults my intelligence, I don’t know about the other 23 jurors.

    4. Came here to say the same thing…why would you interrogate a suspect for 6 hours without a recording when there’s no attorney present, and then suddenly decide to document the conversation? It’s either suspicious or really stupid.

    5. Agree! It’s quite scary to think that the other jurors were happy to convict the man considering that huge discretion.

  10. I was born in 1972 too. Kids were left to learn independence from early on. I do sometimes wonder how I survived, but I would not change my freedom as a kid for anything ❤❤❤❤

    1. I was also born in 72 and remember this case very well because he was the exact same age as me. You are 100% correct, it was a different time and people who keep trying to blame the parents by saying they should never have let him walk alone need to realize that this was normal back then.

    3. @@suzanne26slingerI think she’s more so referencing the freedoms of childhood “then” vs “now.”
      Kids have to be afraid everywhere now… including in class, of being gunned down by assault rifles.
      It’s a different youth-experience. There was more freedom, neighborhoods felt “safer,” people trusted more, etc.

    4. @@suzanne26slinger only about 4.2% of children go missing a year and within that 4.2% 66% of missing children are between the ages of 15-17 and within that age range 91% are runaways. Also, between the ages of 0-6 almost all abducted children were taken by a relative or family friend. The actual chances of a small child being taken by a stranger are infinitely small and while children need to be aware of strangers parents need to be more worried about that family member.

  11. One Man, a known Paedophile, whose girlfriend had previously, walked Etan to the school bus; confessed to killing him but it was dismissed, through lack of evidence.
    A second suspect, does the same thing, there’s no corroborating evidence or witnesses and he was interviewed, for six hours, without it being recorded.
    But he is charged.
    What an absolute shambles!!!
    I think, I feel, the real culprit, is the first suspect.

    1. The first guy never admitted to killing him.. He said he met a boy in the park, could’ve been Etan, brought him back to his apartment and molested him.

      The killing confession was from a jailhouse informant, saying they overheard him saying he disposed of the child down the apartment building furnace, but the police couldn’t substantiate that.

      I know, I still agree though… I’m still boggled too.

    2. Hmmm 🧐
      Most likely NONE of them did it. I have this gut feeling.
      I don’t know if I’m the only one or not, but I suspect *the parents.*
      There is something awfully dark and shady about them.

      Were there any witnesses at all that even saw the poor boy leave the house and walk to the bus stop that morning, to begin with? 🤔🤔

  12. Idk about this one. The way the detective rubbed Hernandez head and the other detective saying he was proud of him as if talking to a child tells me they recognized his mental state. It also indicated that they may have coerced him to say certain things. It sounded more like “I’m proud of you for saying what I wanted you to say”. I still believe it was the first guy.

    1. The head-rubbing was really weird and patronizing. I can’t think of any context when adults do that to other adults, let alone someone in position of authority doing it to a suspect they are interrogating.

    2. The beginning footage is strange too. What is this lol the first ever public psy-op 🤣🤦🏼‍♀️ its sad about the little boy but how many little bipoc kids were going missing. What a strange situation to use up so many resources when there were other bad things happening. It’s like this one story is used to soothe their ‘hero’ consciences for ignoring other situations. The parents are close to dying so let’s get a conviction? Just, weird. Weird case.

    4. I was scrolling the comments to see if maybe I was tripping. That gesture was unprofessional. I treat “vulnerable” populations like everyone else, with a handshake or simply, thank you. I don’t think I have ever seen that 🤔 in an interrogation video.

  13. It’s very unsettling. They never found the little boy. The police didn’t record the first part of the interview with the suspect. They only recorded a confession. He doesn’t quite remember where he took the little boy. He may have mental health issues. Did they convict the right person? I’m so confused.

    3. Exactly! It really isn’t clear he did it. There’s no body, his mental state coupled with the loss of the first 6 hours is very suspicious, and all they really have is a confession from a man that seems obviously impaired. This should not even have been brought to trial. The accused appeared as though he should have been institutionalized either way, not imprisoned. Truthfully, it’s cases like this that make it clear why so many people in this country are falsely imprisoned. smdh

    4. @@philippamediwake1235 Yes but someone with severe mental health issues like him could’ve known about the case through the papers, the posters, other people and then imagine that it was himself that did it. He could be guilty, but he’s not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

    5. He seemed to become mentally ill when he was put on trial. Also, he tried to unburden himself by confessing to several people. Who would do that if they hadn’t been carrying around that guilt for many years.

  15. I’m 60. I remember this case well along with the case of Johnny Gosch. These cases were the end of innocence in that it taught us the world could be a dangerous place for children. My heart goes out to Stan and Julie Patz. To live all those years without knowing what happened to their son had to be devastating beyond words. The fact that they continued to live in the same neighborhood, the same flat is incredible. Rest in peace beautiful little Etan. Someday, your mom and dad will hold and hug you again when they come to heaven.
    Forever 6 years old.

    4. ​@@norakleps8344
      They finally moved after 40 years. Five years ago they sold the apartment and moved to Hawaii, joining their son Ari, who was 2 when Etan disappeared.

  16. That juror who was the lone holdout is a hero. To be able to stick to your principle, all alone, after 18 days of stressful deliberation in a highly emotional case must have been beyond difficult. That type of determination is one of the pillars of justice in America and I suspect, unfortunately, it is not a trait most of us would exhibit in that situation.

    5. ​@@sigma_curryNonsense. His conscience remains clean. Let others carry the very probable burden of convicting an innocent person.

    2. agreed, i forget the mans name, but he literally confessed to killing his father who was found alive a few days later.. no mental illness, no drug use… it was all coerced by police

    3. Its not even allowed in my country.
      Cant sentence anyone for whatever crime solely on their own confession.
      The one juror first time was right.
      All the rest werent.
      Unbelievable that in the US, this is possible.

  20. My money is on Ramos. He literally dated a woman who knew the family and had access to the child. Most kids are taken by someone who knows them.

    2. exactly!!! i could never get past the fact of how his had NO MOTIVE WHATSOEVER he had NO OTHER criminal history yet Ramos DEF HAD SERIOUS MOTIVE!!!!

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