
Loading summary
Heidi Wong
Crime House has the perfect new show for spooky season Twisted Tales. Hosted by Heidi Wong, each episode of Twisted Tales is perfect for late night scares and daytime frights, revealing the disturbing real life events that inspired the world's most terrifying blockbusters and the ones too twisted to make it to screen. Twisted Tales is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts New episodes out every Monday.
Crime House Host
This is Crime House. I am truly relieved and I'll tell you, it's about time. It really is.
Narrator
It was nearly four decades ago that Stan and Julie Pates sent their six year old son Eitan to the bus stop in New York City by himself.
Katie Rang
Eitan simply disappeared.
Narrator
They would never see him again.
News Reporter
New at noon, the Manhattan District Attorney's office is asking the Supreme Court to review the Eitan Pates murder case. A federal appeal court ordered a new trial or the release of Pedro Hernandez last month.
Narrator/Investigator
Pedro Hernandez had been serving a sentence of 25 years to life for killing Etan Pates. He had confessed in 2012, but his attorneys at the time had questioned his mental fitness. Now an appeals court says an issue involving a jury note in 2017 means.
Katie Rang
Hernandez didn't get a fair trial in 1979. Six year old Eiton Pates disappeared on his walk to the school bus. Recently, the man once convicted of his murder was told he might be a free man. Now the question remaining is will he walk free or will he stay behind bars? Hi, I'm Katie Rang, a true crime analyst, self defense instructor and fierce advocate for victims. And this is Crime House Daily, your essential true crime companion. Every weekday morning and night here at Crime House Daily, we dig into the true crime stories making headlines right now, where justice is unfolding, arrests are happening, and new evidence is emerging. Every morning, First Watch gets you up to speed on the biggest cases. Every night, Nightwatch takes you deeper. If you want to follow a case from the first 911 call to the final verdict, this is the place for you. Follow Crime House Daily wherever you get your podcasts, leave a review and for ad free listening, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. For video, check out our YouTube channel, Crimehouse Daily. This episode discusses active criminal cases and breaking news. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform, not to decide guilt or innocence, so everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Tonight we're revisiting one of the most Haunting cases in American history. The disappearance of six year old Eton Pates, who was one of the first missing kids featured on milk cartons after he vanished in 1979. Decades later, Pedro Hernandez was convicted of his murder. But this summer a federal appeals court overturned the conviction and believes he should get a new trial. Now New York prosecutors are asking the U.S. supreme Court to reinstate the verdict, setting the stage for yet another battle in the case that forever changed the how America searches for missing children.
Advertiser/Promoter
The detective said missing kids usually come home. What happens when they don't?
Crime House Host
Based on a true story. Police looking for John Gacy. We discovered bodies. By the looks of it, they're younger men. The things he did to those kids. He's sick.
Katie Rang
The system failed these families.
Crime House Host
Devil in disguise. John Way Gacy Streaming now only on Peacock.
Katie Rang
Do you know how many there are?
Crime House Host
Up to you to find out.
Katie Rang
Our case tonight is one that sparked the national missing Children's movement and what led to the practice of printing photos of missing kids on the sides of milk cartons in the 80s and 90s. The disappearance of six year old Aton Pates. The four years it was one of the world's most notorious cold cases until a man named Pedro Hernandez was convicted of murdering Eitan in 2017. But this summer it started heating up again because the conviction was overturned on appeal due to the jury receiving improper instructions. However, prosecutors in New York City recently announced that they are asking the Supreme Court of the United States to restore the conviction. So this story is far from over. But how did we get here? Let's go back to 1979 in New York City's SoHo neighborhood. Today, SoHo is flooded with nice restaurants, designer clothing stores and insanely expensive apartments. But back in 1979 it was a little grittier with less designer labels, more makeshift galleries and and industrial spaces and no plumbing. It was the heart of the boho artist scene. Perfect for a professional photographer like Stan Pates and his young family. Stan, his wife Julie and their three kids, Shira, Etan and Ari lived at 113 Prince St. Stan and Julie had met in college at the University of Massachusetts. After they graduated, they moved to New York, got married and moved into a tiny apartment in the city. When their daughter Shira was born in 1970, they were looking for a place with more room and decided to buy a loft in Soho in 1971. A year later, Eiton was born and Ari arrived four years later. By the time Aton was six, he was attending school at PS3. He was happy there and loved Learning Aton was an outgoing and gentle kid. He only saw the good in others and had a hard time even understanding the concept of evil. Eyton was definitely a city kid. He wanted to do things by himself. And one afternoon, after a shopping trip in the Village just north of Soho, Eitan asked his mom if he could walk through Washington Square park alone. Kids ran around the city unsupervised way more frequently than they do today. It was just the way things were. No one thought for a minute that someone might actually take or harm a child. So Julie agreed to let Eiton stroll through the park on his own. But she walked along the perimeter, never taking her eyes off her son. Eitan must have loved the experience because on May 25, 1979, six year old Eitan asked if he could walk to the bus stop by himself. The stop was at West Broadway and Prince, which was only a block and a half from the Pate's apartment. It was just before 8 in the morning and Julie considered the circumstances. Her oldest child, Shira, was dragging her feet trying to stay home from school that day. Meanwhile, her youngest son, Ari was 2 and had a friend over from the night before, so they were up and running around. Julie walked Eitan downstairs and saw everyone she usually saw on the street that morning. So she figured it was better to let Eitan walk the block and a half to the bus by himself than leave Ari and his friend alone to wreak havoc on the apartment. She kissed Eitan goodbye and watched for just a couple of seconds as her son, in a black cap, blue jacket, blue jeans and blue sneakers, walked towards the bus stop at West Broadway. Moments later, he disappeared into the morning bustle of Prince Street. A neighbor and the mailman would later say they saw him at the corner of Prince street and Worcester, just a block from the bus stop. But they're the only ones who reported seeing Eitan after he left his home. By 3:30 that afternoon, Eitan hadn't returned home from school. So Julie called a neighbor in a panic. That neighbor asked her daughter if she had seen Eitan after school. The girl said no, Eitan hadn't even come to school at all. Which raised the question, how is Julie just finding this out hours later? First, a new driver was on Eiton's bus route. He'd left the stop 10 minutes early with only 6 kids on the bus instead of the usual 24, and he had no idea because he was new. So when the parents of the 18 kids who'd been left behind showed up, a Few minutes later, they probably just figured Aton was one of the few children who had made it onto the bus. Then there was Aton's teacher. She noticed he wasn't there and didn't alert anyone. But she wasn't expected to. She taught in a crowded public school where parents weren't generally notified if a kid wasn't there. It was just assumed they were likely sick at home. So by the time Julie Pates found out her son was missing, it had been almost eight hours since anyone had seen him. I can't imagine what, what that realization must have been like for her. It's a parent's worst nightmare. Julie immediately called the police, and the NYPD deployed nearly 100 officers and bloodhounds to look for Aton. The search quickly grew from there, soon involving helicopters, boats on the east and Hudson Rivers, Transit Authority police and Port Authority police. In the first two weeks of the investigation, 500 officers were assigned to both full and part time to Eitan's case. Neighbors cooperated with police, allowing their apartments to be upended and searched. Since Stan Pates was a professional photographer, he had clear portrait style photos of his son. These pictures of Eitan were printed out on flyers, and those flyers soon papered the entire city. They were even projected onto screens in Times Square. But the initial investigation didn't produce a ton of leads. At first, police focused on a handyman named Othniel Miller. He had a workshop in his basement only a few buildings down from the pait and had known Eitan from around the neighborhood. The day before Eytan's disappearance, Othniel had given him a dollar, which made the authorities wonder if he had an interest in Eitan. Othnia was questioned, but there was no evidence to make an arrest. And over the next few years, they couldn't find any other credible suspects. But the national conversation around missing and abducted children had now forever been changed. Parents were drilling the concept of stranger danger into the minds of their kids. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan designated May 25, the anniversary of Eitan's disappearance, as National Missing Children's Day. The following year, the national center for Missing and Exploited Children was established. But for the most part, everyday life moved on for most people in the paid Soho neighborhood. But Eitan's family woke up every day to the cold reality that they still had no answers as to what happened to Eiton, and they may never get any. But then, in 1985, six years after Eiton's disappearance, a lead with real promise finally emerged in the form of a man named Jose Ramos.
Advertiser
At New Balance, we believe if you.
Katie Rang
Run, you're a runner.
Advertiser
However you choose to do it. Because when you're not worried about doing things the right way, you're free to discover your way. And that's what running is all about. Run your way@newbalance.com Running.
Katie Rang
At the time of Eton Pate's disappearance in 1979, Jose Ramos had been living in a basement of a tenement on East 4th street, about a mile from where the Pates feature family had lived. Ramos had also dated one of the Pate's neighbors, a woman named Susan, who would also sometimes walk Eton to the bus stop. In the original search for Eitan, Ramos wasn't identified as a suspect. But in 1982, three years after Eiton disappeared, he was detained by police for stealing books from kids. By that point, he was living in a drainage pipe in a park in the Bronx. Cops searched the drainpipe and found photos of young boys. None of them were Eitan, but several looked like him. When they questioned Ramos, he admitted that he knew who Eiton was and that the woman he'd been dating when Eitan disappeared sometimes took care of him. Ramos admitted that on the day of Eyton's disappearance, he'd spoken to a blonde kid that matched Eytan's description, then took him back to his apartment to rape him. But he didn't identify Eiton as being that boy, and there was no physical evidence to tie Ramos to Eitan's disappearance. However, it was enough to keep him on the authorities radar, and when assistant United States Attorney Stuart Grabois took over the case in 1985, he identified Jose Ramos as a strong suspect. He was tracking other leads at first, but Grabois eventually questioned Ramos in 1988. This time, Ramos told Grabois that he was 90% sure that Etan was the boy he'd abducted that day, and his criminal history certainly made it seem likely. Grabois found out that Ramos had traveled around the country in a bus trying to lure boys onto it. These discoveries led to Ramos being convicted of a separate molestation charge in Pennsylvania in 1990 and sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. But there was no physical evidence linking him to Eitan's disappearance. However, Grabois and his team considered him the prime suspect. By June of 2000, investigators still hadn't given up hope of finding their smoking gun. They searched the basement where Ramos had been living back in 1979, the tenement on East 4th Street. He'd supposedly told a fellow inmate that the basement was where he buried a ton of. They dug it up and found nothing. A year later, In June of 2001, Eiton Pates was officially declared dead. His father Stan said that in the years immediately following Eiton's disappearance, he'd have fantasies where a cab would pull up in front of their apartment and Aton would come out. But as the years went on, those fantasies faded. As reality set in, his son was never coming home. There wasn't enough evidence to charge Jose Ramos with Eiton's murder. But the Pates still could proceed with a civil suit against him for wrongful death. And in 2004, he was found liable by default. And Julian Stan pates won a $2 million judgment. But Ramos didn't have that kind of money. So the Pates never saw a dime of that. In the meantime, the authorities kept working on Eiton's case. And in 2010, Manhattan elected a new district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr. Who never really believed that there was solid proof that Jose Ramos had killed Eitan. So Vance took the investigation in another direction. Two years later, in April of 2012, investigators revisited Othniel Miller, the handyman who knew Etan from the neighborhood. The nypd, with the help of the FBI, and dug up the basement in Miller's apartment building, which was on the same street where the Pates lived. The dig turned up nothing. Miller was finally officially cleared once and for all. It was starting to look like Ramos had really killed Eitan. But that was before an unexpected phone call came into the nypd. A man named Jose Lopez called the police after seeing footage of Othniel Miller's basement being dug out on the news. He believed they were on the wrong track. The man told police he thought his brother in law might be involved with Aiton's disappearance and murder. He was a guy named Pedro Hernandez, and until this point, he hadn't been identified as a possible suspect. Back in 1979, Hernandez was an 18 year old high school dropout working as a stock boy out of bodega on West Broadway and Prince, the intersection where Eitan's bus stop was. After Eitan vanished, which was possibly within days of the disappearance, Hernandez quit his bodega job and returned to his hometown of Camden, New Jersey. Detective notes from the initial 1979 investigation revealed that they knew Hernandez worked at the bodega, but that's it. It's unclear if he was ever questioned at the time, but maybe he should have been. By the early 1980s, Hernandez started telling a few people that he had killed a kid in New York. First he told someone from his church while on a religious retreat. Then he told his entire church prayer group. Then he told a friend, although in this confession he claimed the victim was black. He even confessed to his former wife before they were married. But because Hernandez used the word muchacho to describe the boy, she thought he was talking about a teenager, not a six year old child. Eventually his brother in law found out about it. And when the police questioned Pedro Hernandez On May 23, 2012, he confessed to killing Eton Pates. So good, so good, so good.
Advertiser
Just in thousands of winter arrivals at your Nordstrom rack store. Save up to 70% on coats, slippers and cashmere from Kate Spade New York, Vince Ugg, Levi's and more.
Katie Rang
Check out, check out these boots.
Crime House Host
They've got the best gifts.
Advertiser
My holiday shopping hack. Join the NordicLub. Get an extra 5% off every rack purchase with your Nordstrom credit card. Plus buy it online and pick it up in store the same day for free. Big gifts, big perks. That's why you rack Limu Gameu and Doug.
Crime House Host
Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us. Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings Fairy Underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. Affiliates excludes Massachusetts.
Advertiser
Imagine fast hydration combined with balanced energy. Perfectly flavored with salt. Zero artificial sweeteners. Introducing Liquid Ivy's new energy Multiplier.
Katie Rang
Sugar free.
Advertiser
Unlike other energy drinks, you know the ones that make you feel like you're glitching. It's made with natural caffeine and electrolytes so you get the boost without the burnout. Liquid IV's new energy multiplier. Sugar free hydrating energy. Tap the banner to learn more.
Katie Rang
On May 23, 2012, NYPD detectives went to New Jersey to question Pedro Hernandez about a Eitan Paiges just two days before the 33rd anniversary of Eitan's disappearance. After several hours of questioning, Hernandez finally broke down. He told police that on May 25, 1979, he saw 6 year old Eitan waiting for the bus outside the bodega where he worked. He asked Eitan if he wanted to come into the bodega's basement to get a soda. Hernandez said that once he got Eiton into the basement, he attacked the little boy he told investigators he grabbed him by the neck and choked him. Hernandez claimed Eitan was still alive when he put him in a garbage bag, then put the bag in a box. He said he then hoisted the box up onto his shoulder, walked to the next corner and dumped the box into the trash about a block away from the bodega. This was enough for Pedro Hernandez to be placed under arrest. Once he was in custody, Hernandez agreed to show investigators where he'd lured Eitan into the basement than where he'd dumped the body. The rest of Hernandez's family was questioned, and investigators learned that he'd been telling people about attacking Eiton for years. And it was somewhat of an open secret in their family. In January of 2015, Pedro Hernandez went on trial for the murder of Eiton Pates. His attorney, Harvey Fishbean, argued that Hernandez was mentally ill, and because of that, his confession wasn't credible. Fishbean said that his client's illness made him make up the whole story about Eiton. One example Fishbean pointed to was how Hernandez claimed he'd seen Eitan waiting for the bus that morning in 1979. But all the parents who knew Eitan from the bus stop never reported seeing him there. Fishbean insisted that investigators took advantage of Hernandez's illness and limited intellect and coerced him into a confession. Meanwhile, the prosecution countered that Hernandez was not mentally ill, that he had no record of mental illness and could be seen on home videos socializing and appearing to be fully cognizant. The jury was facing a tough decision. They deliberated for 18 days but couldn't reach a unanimous verdict. So the judge declared a mistrial. One year later, in 2016, Hernandez was tried again. Only this time, the jury was able to come to a unanimous decision. They found Pedro Hernandez guilty of kidnapping and murdering Eiton Pates. For these crimes, he was sentenced to 25 years to life. Eiton's parents are convinced that Hernandez is the killer and drop their civil judgment against Jose Ramos. But the story doesn't end there. Hernandez appealed his conviction, continuing to argue that he was inhibited by mental illness. His confession was coarse, and there was absolutely no physical evidence tying him to the murder of Eton Paetz. The case worked its way through the legal system for the next eight years until July of 2025, when federal appeals court overturned Pedro Hernandez's conviction. This decision had to do with the confession Hernandez made before his arrest and before he'd been read his Miranda rights. In the 2017 trial, where Hernandez was convicted. The jury had asked what to do with that pre Miranda confession. They wanted to know if they decided that this confession was involuntary, if they should then disregard the two videotaped confessions that came after his rights were read. In that instance, the judge said the answer is no and gave no further explanation. So Hernandez's confessions were considered as evidence and Hernandez was convicted. But the appellate Judges on the 2nd U.S. circuit Court of Appeals who reviewed the case felt differently. They decided that the state trial court had disregarded established federal law. They ordered that Hernandez be freed or retried as a result of this overturned conviction, which means that once again, Eiton Pate's murder is considered unsolved. As of this recording, Eiton's parents, who moved out of their home in Soho in 2019, haven't publicly commented on Hernandez's conviction being overturned. But the prosecutors in New York City remain convinced that Pedro Hernandez killed Eitan. On September 15, 2025, they announced that they asked the 2nd U.S. circuit Court of Appeals to hold off on enforcing its decision while they take the case to the US Supreme Court. As of this recording, this process is still in motion. We'll be tracking this case closely, and as always, we'll bring you major updates as they come in. What did you think of tonight's case? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments. You stay curious and I'll stay on the case. See you next time. If you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel Rimehouse Daily and follow us on social media crimehouse247 for real time updates. Because the pursuit of justice never stops.
Advertiser/Promoter
Today we're going to talk about deep breathing, something we all need to do more of, especially when you're getting ready to call your health plan and deal with one of those automated phone trees. You know how it feels to get into an endless phone loop when you just have a simple question that could take two minutes or less and then pretty soon you've lost your Zen. Shouldn't your health plan help you reduce stress? That's why you'll talk to a real person when you choose Pacific Source Health.
Katie Rang
Plan Tranquil Tranquility Twisted Tales with Heidi.
Heidi Wong
Wong is perfect for spooky season.
Katie Rang
Dive into the real events behind the.
Heidi Wong
World'S most terrifying blockbusters and beyond. Twisted Tales is a crime house original. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes out every Monday.
Date: October 16, 2025
Host: Katie Rang
This episode revisits the haunting and impactful disappearance of six-year-old Etan Patz in 1979, a case that ignited the national movement for missing children, including the now-iconic milk carton campaigns. Host Katie Rang provides an in-depth narrative of the decades-long investigation, the multiple suspects, and the trial and recent overturned conviction of Pedro Hernandez—the man once thought responsible for Etan’s fate. With new legal maneuvers underway and the possibility of Hernandez walking free, the episode explores how this case continues to shape American justice and child safety to this day.
On the initial pain and uncertainty:
"I can't imagine what that realization must have been like for her. It's a parent's worst nightmare."
— Katie Rang ([07:19])
On the birth of a movement:
"The disappearance of six-year-old Etan Patz… sparked the national missing children's movement and what led to the practice of printing photos of missing kids on the sides of milk cartons in the 80s and 90s."
— Katie Rang ([04:19])
On the enduring impact:
"But the national conversation around missing and abducted children had now forever been changed… In 1983, President Ronald Reagan designated May 25, the anniversary of Etan's disappearance, as National Missing Children's Day."
— Katie Rang ([09:58])
On the latest legal battle:
“As of this recording, Etan’s parents, who moved out of their home in Soho in 2019, haven't publicly commented on Hernandez's conviction being overturned. But prosecutors in New York City remain convinced that Pedro Hernandez killed Etan.”
— Katie Rang ([23:02])
Katie Rang’s delivery maintains a tone of respectful intensity and clear-eyed empathy, aiming to both inform listeners and honor the gravity of Etan’s story and legacy. The narrative is fact-driven but sensitive, with care not to presume the guilt or innocence of the individuals involved given the ongoing nature of legal proceedings.
This episode serves as both a meticulous chronicle of a pivotal case in American history and a timely reminder that even resolved-seeming mysteries can resurface. In the absence of definitive physical evidence and with the confession under question, the search for justice in Etan Patz’s case remains painfully unfinished, forty-six years after a small boy vanished into New York City’s morning streets.
Stay tuned to Crime House Daily for continuing coverage as legal developments unfold.