During the third day of investigating a Soho basement for any evidence related to the 1979 disappearance of six-year-old Etan Patz, authorities have reportedly found a "stain of interest" on a wall. According to NBC New York, "It was while investigators were taking apart the basement floor and walls"—of 127 Prince Street—"that they found a 'stain of interest' on a drywall, according to law enforcement sources. Officers from the NYPD Emergency Services Unit used a chainsaw to cut out a piece of the wall, which is being preserved for analysis at the FBI Laboratory in Virginia. It's not clear how significant it is."
Etan Patz went missing on May 25, 1979, when he was walking by himself (for the first time) from his home at 113 Prince Street to his school bus stop on West Broadway when he disappeared. His body was never found, complicating efforts to charge the man who many believed was the prime suspect, Jose Ramos, a "drifter" who dated one of Etan's babysitters and who was arrested while allegedly trying to sexually assault some young blond boys.
Now, 33 years later, the investigation has been reopened after the FBI received additional information about local handyman Othniel Miller, who had a workshop at 127 Prince Street's basement. Miller, now 75 and a stroke victim, has been cooperating with authorities, who interviewed him after his ex-wife said he had sexually assaulted a young niece. According to the Daily News, "Miller insisted that he had an alibi for the day of that incident, although the source said his story could not be corroborated or refuted by the feds. And the niece has never been located."
Authorities have been interviewing various former employees of Miller's and it's been suggested that Ramos could have had access to the basement. One man who lived in the neighborhood during the disappearance said of Ramos, "He was the bum around here. He was aggressively panhandling," while 133 Wooster building manager Stanley Kuzma said of Miller, “He was a very good craftsman... He didn’t seem like that type of guy."
The Post reports that the basement of 127 Prince Street had once been a play area for local children: "'We all got together and put down vinyl tiles on the floor and painted the walls,' said Donald Gangemi. 'We wound up with 13 kids.' The parents, lacking community facilities, chipped in to renovate the space, donated by an adjacent art gallery. The room had no windows but ran the length of the building with a door to the outside, said Judy Reichler, one of the founding parents. The basement would have been familiar territory to the Patz family. Etan’s older sister, Shira, was a play-group member, Reichler recalled."
But by 1979, it was Miller's workshop—and on May 24, 1979, Etan had been with Miller, earning a dollar for chores. During the initial investigation, Miller had poured a new cement floor; he told police they were welcome to rip it up, but someone would need to pay. The Post says the cost back then to replace the floor would have been $1,000 (or $3,000 today). Apparently during the recent conversations with the FBI, Miller mentioned the basement: Per the NY Times, "When the possibility was raised that the boy had been buried in the basement, he blurted out, 'What if the body was moved?'" The FBI told DNAinfo yesterday, "All the concrete is out. Next we're going to comb through all of the dirt for clues. It's a very meticulous process. We're cautiously optimistic about this search."
Etan was declared legally dead in 2001, but Etan's parents, Stan and Julie Patz, never moved from their loft or changed their phone number, in hopes Etan would return one day. The Daily News has a photograph of Stan Patz looking at the investigation scene from his fire escape and the NY Times has one of Julie Patz ("Down the block from the search site, Etan’s mother, Julie, walked by a coffee shop across from her home and expressed dismay at the presence of news photographers."). The couple put a note on by the intercom on their door on Friday, "To the hardworking and patient MEDIA PEOPLE: The answers to all your questions at this time is 'No Comment.' Please stop ringing our bell and calling our phone for interviews. Stan Patz, 3E"
