10 Most Famous Child Disappearance Cases in the US

Etan Patz (1979): The Case That Changed America

On May 25, 1979, six-year-old Etan Patz left his SoHo apartment in New York City to walk two blocks to his school bus stop — and never arrived. It was the first time his parents had allowed him to walk alone. His disappearance launched the missing children movement in America, and his face became one of the first printed on milk cartons. Congress declared May 25 National Missing Children’s Day. After 33 years, Pedro Hernandez confessed to killing Etan and was convicted in 2017. His body was never found.