In this 1979 photo provided by the New York City Police Department shows a missing child poster for Etan Patz. New York City Police and the FBI began digging up a New York basement Thursday, April 19, 2012 for the remains of the 6-year-old boy whose 1979 disappearance on his way to school drew helped launch a missing children’s movement that put kids’ faces on milk cartons. (AP Photo/New York City Police Department)CRISTIAN SALAZAR
NEW YORK (AP) – He was America’s missing child, the little boy who went off to school alone and vanished.
A renewed investigation into the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz in New York City recalled the years when printed images of missing children appeared on milk cartons.
On Thursday, investigators began searching a basement in Manhattan for human remains of the boy.
Etan’s disappearance on May 25, 1979, drew national attention to child safety, ushered in a generation of parents who became afraid to send their kids out alone and helped fuel a movement to publicize missing children’s cases. President Ronald Reagan declared the day of the boy’s disappearance National Missing Children’s Day.