A suspect in the disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz 33 years ago has confessed to strangling the little boy and disposing his lifeless body in a box, authorities said.
New York City police on Wednesday detained Pedro Hernandez, 51, who worked at a corner store in the Manhattan neighborhood where the Patz vanished more than three decades ago. Friday is the anniversary of the boy's disappearance.
Police have expressed a "cautious optimism" that they have cracked a cold case that has haunted New York City for decades and was a major reason that the photos of missing children were put on milk cartons.
The suspect, who would have been 18 when Patz disappeared, has told investigators that he strangled Patz and put his body in a box to dispose of it.
But the police have yet to charge Hernandez with any crime. Those charges could come as early as today.
Hernandez was questioned when the reinvestigation of the long dormant case resumed in January 2010. The suspect has made numerous admissions implicating himsef, but investigators remain cautious because some of Hernandez's statements contradict known facts, sources said.
Patz disappeared in May 25, 1979 while walking to school for the first time near his parents' apartment in SoHo section of Manhattan.
"An individual now in custody has made statements to N.Y.P.D. detectives implicating himself in the disappearance and death of Etan Patz 33 years ago," Commissioner Ray Kelly said in a statement.
Hernandez was taken into custody at his residence in Maple Shade, N.J., on Wednesday morning. He had never previously been named as a suspect.
Etan Patz Mystery: New Focus on Basement Stain
Watch Video New York City police officers accompanied by local cops took him into custody at his New Jersey home at 7:30 a.m. Hernandez lives in the rental apartment with his wife and daughter. Neighbors describe him as quiet and "the best tenent ever."
Detectives took Hernandez to the Camden County, N.J., Prosecutor's Office for initial questioning. He was then taken to New York City for additional questioning by authorities there.
Though police have named other suspects in the past none have ever been arrested or charged.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg declined to provide details today, but said, "A person of interest is in custody and being questioned."
"The suspect came forward and made a statement implicating himself. I caution you all that there's a lot more investigating to do," the mayor said.
Referring to Patz's family, Bloomberg said he hopes that "we are one step closer to providing them some measure of relief."
This morning, NYPD Chief of Detectives Phil Pulaski walked along Prince Street, where Patz vanished. Pulaski and his team were reexamining the crime scene in light of new information they have obtained from questioning Hernandez.
The police commissioner is expected to hold a news conference later today. Neither Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, nor the FBI would comment on the investigation.
The search for Etan has been one of the largest, longest lasting and most heart wrenching hunts for a missing child in the country's recent history. His photo was among the first of a missing child to appear on a milk carton.
Hernandez was taken into custody one month after the investigation into Patz's disappearance returned to the headlines when police excavated a Manhattan basement in the hopes of finding evidence about the boy's death.
At the time police named Othniel Miller as a suspect. The dig focused on a basement room, where Miller once operated a workshop.
The dig yielded no obvious human remains and little forensic evidence that would help solve the decades-long mystery of what happened to the boy.
Miller's lawyer Michael Farkas said authorities had not been in touch with his client since Hernandez's arrest Wednesday.
The boy's parents, Stan and Julie Patz, were reluctant to move or even change their phone number in case their son tried to reach out. They still live in the same apartment, down the street from the building that was examined in April.
The family did not immediately return a message requesting comment.
ABC News' John Santucci and Mark Crudele contributed to this report
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