Judge Rejects Dismissal of Etan Patz Murder Charges

A New York judge has ruled against dismissing murder charges against Pedro Hernandez, paving the way for a third trial in the decades-old case of 6-year-old Etan Patz, who vanished on his way to school in 1979. The decision by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michele Rodney on Friday ensures that Hernandez, now 65 and in custody since his 2012 arrest, will face jurors again over allegations that he abducted and strangled the boy. Hernandez is scheduled to return to court in June for a status update, though no trial date has been set.

Etan Patz disappeared on May 25, 1979, while walking two blocks alone to his school bus stop in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood, the first day his mother had allowed him to make the trip unaccompanied. The case quickly captured national attention, marking one of the earliest instances of a missing child's image appearing on milk cartons. The anniversary of his vanishing became National Missing Children's Day, and his parents, Stanley and Julie Patz, advocated for reforms that strengthened law enforcement's handling of child abductions, including the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

At the time, Hernandez was a...