Etan Patz Murder Suspect Pedro Hernandez Arraigned on Murder Charge

Investigators reopened the long-dormant case in 2010 an in April excavated a basement apartment steps away from Patz's home and the bodega where Hernandez says he killed the boy.

The new focus on the case led one of Hernadez's family members or a friend to alert police that they suspected Hernandez's involvement.

AP

Poster provided by Stanley K. Patz shows a... View Full Size

AP

Poster provided by Stanley K. Patz shows a flyer distributed by the New York Police Department of Patz's son Etan who vanished on May 25, 1979, and has never been found.

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When confronted, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Hernandez quickly confessed, even expressing "remorse" and "relief."

Hernandez was taken into custody at his home in Maple Shade, N.J., on Wednesday morning where he lives with his wife and daughter. The apartment is rented by his wife, Rosemary Hernandez, who let her husband move in after he told her that he was dying of cancer.

"We never had a problem with him," Hernandez's brother-in-law, Jose Lopez, told KYW, a CBS station in Philadelphia. "There was never a problem. He was a normal person. Never gave any sign that he did something like that."

Police have named other suspects in the past, but none had ever been arrested or charged.