Jose Antonio Ramos, a man long suspected in the 1979 disappearance of New York first grader Etan Patz, has died at the age of 82, authorities reported this week. Ramos passed away on March 7 at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, according to a court filing in the case of Pedro Hernandez, the man now facing a third trial for Patz’s murder. Etan’s disappearance became a national symbol for missing children and helped spur the creation of National Missing Children’s Day.
Ramos, who denied any involvement in Etan’s disappearance and was never charged, spent much of his adult life in prison in Pennsylvania for sexually assaulting a child. He spent his final years living in New York, selling scavenged items on the street, and was cared for by Rabbi Howard Cohen, a former prison chaplain who had maintained contact with him for decades. Ramos first came under suspicion in the early 1980s after reports surfaced of him trying to lure boys in the Bronx, but authorities never found evidence linking him to Patz. Sworn testimony and informant claims over the years suggested possible involvement, but Manhattan prosecutors never charged him. He was named in a wrongful death suit filed by Patz’s parents, but the case was ultimately dropped after Hernandez’s convictions. Ramos’ death ends any possibility of his answering questions about the case, though Hernandez’s defense continues to explore Ramos’s alleged role in the upcoming trial.
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