Etan Patz' Parents Now: Where Are His Mom Julie & Dad Stanley Patz Today?
Etan Patz was a New York boy whose disappearance and likely murder revolutionized the way missing children's cases are handled. He was one of the missing boys whose face ended up on a milk carton, and his body has never been found. On June 22, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court's decision vacating the conviction of the man accused of being his killer, Pedro Hernandez.
That has increased attention on Etan's family, especially his parents, mom Julie and dad Stanley Patz. Where are they now? Today, the parents no longer live in New York, the location of the crime.
"This case concerns a tragic event that once captured the Nation's attention. On May 25, 1979, 6-year-old Etan Patz left his family's apartment in lower Manhattan to take a bus to school. Before boarding the bus, he stopped to buy a drink at a bodega where respondent Pedro Hernandez, then 18 years old, was working. Patz never got on the bus and was never seen alive again," the U.S. Supreme Court noted.
Etan Patz's Parents Moved to Hawaii to Be Closer to Their Other Son
According to The New York Post, in 2019, Etan's parents moved to Hawaii.
"They are moving on . . . to a beautiful place to share whatever time they have left with their child and their grandchildren," neighbor Susan Meisel told The Post.
According to The Post, the parents have two other kids, daughter Shira and son Ari, and Ari, who was 2-years-old when Etan disappeared, lives in Hawaii.
The Post noted that, for years, "Stan and Julie never changed their phone number or moved, in the hopes that their son would reach out or return home." However, once the conviction was achieved, they moved.
Etan Patz's Mom Julie Patz Let Him Walk to the Bus Alone for the 1st Time on the Day He Disappeared
The nation came to know Etan's mom and dad because of the extensive media coverage of his case. Etan Patz "disappeared on May 25, 1979, as he walked by himself less than two blocks to the school bus through the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, where he lived with his family," The New York Times reported. "It was the first day his mother had allowed him to walk to the bus alone in the neighborhood, which at the time was a gritty and semi-industrial area. He never made it to the bus."
His body was never found.
In addition to appearing on television, the parents "Stanley and Julie Patz won a $2 million wrongful death lawsuit against Jose Ramos, a man who had never been charged with Etan's disappearance" and who was not the man ultimately convicted, The Times reported. Ramos was never charged in the case.
Hernandez later confessed that he "lured the boy into a basement at the bodega by promising him a soda, then strangled him, put his body into a bag and threw it into a nearby dumpster," The Times noted. He later recanted. Hernandez was not sentenced until 2017.
"You took our precious child and threw him in the garbage. I will never forgive you. The God you pray to will never forgive you," Etan's dad Stanley Patz told Hernandez at his sentencing, according to The Times.
What Evidence Is There Against Etan Patz's Convicted Killer, Pedro Hernandez?
The court decision on June 22 describes the evidence against Hernandez.
"For the next 20 years, authorities investigated several suspects, but they were never prosecuted, and the case went cold," SCOTUS wrote of the 1979 case. "It was revived in 2012, when Hernandez's brother-in-law reported that Hernandez had made statements about his involvement in Patz's disappearance and suspected murder."
At that time, "Hernandez was living in southern New Jersey, and detectives took him to the Camden County (New Jersey) Prosecutor's Office (CCPO). They began questioning him there without first administering a Miranda warning, see Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436 (1966), and Hernandez, a man with a low IQ and a history of mental illness, eventually confessed to strangling Patz and dumping his body in an alley behind the bodega," the decision says. "The detectives then read Hernandez his Miranda rights. He waived them and made a second, videotaped confession. While still at the CCPO, Hernandez also confessed to his wife, Rosemary, and his daughter, Becky."
The court continued: "Hernandez continued for years to confess to Patz's murder. While in pretrial custody, for example, he confessed to a psychiatrist. He also told this psychiatrist that he had confessed to the crime in 1979 at a prayer meeting and in the 1980s to his ex-wife. And he confessed the crime repeatedly to a second psychiatrist while awaiting trial." A first trial ended in a hung jury, and a second trial ended with a conviction.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
2026 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 10:47 AM.