A 69-year-old convicted sex offender, long suspected of involvement in America’s most famous missing child case, was released from prison Wednesday, but immediately arrested again, officials said.
Jose Ramos, who now has a flowing white beard, walked out of the Pennsylvania state correctional facility where he served his more than 20-year sentence for child molestation, prisons spokeswoman Susan McNaughton told AFP. Because he had completed his whole sentence, he did not face any parole restrictions.
“He was released from prison earlier this morning and he was maxing out,” McNaughton said. “When someone has maxed out they’re not under any parole supervision.”
However Ramos, who was suspected but never indicted in the still unsolved 1979 disappearance of New York six-year-old Etan Patz, was then re-arrested on new charges.
“He was arrested by state police as soon as he stepped out of the prison,” McNaughton said.
Pennsylvania police charged Ramos with violating a law requiring all registered sex offenders to provide the authorities with accurate personal information, such as place of abode.
“He’s now in the custody of the state police,” McNaughton said.
Patz has never been found, but is presumed dead. Ramos was long the prime suspect, but was not charged. However, Patz’s parents sued him and he was declared responsible in a civil action.
In a new twist to the three decades-long mystery, earlier this year, Pedro Hernandez, a former store clerk near Patz’s Manhattan home, confessed to police that he was the killer.
However, prosecutors have yet to show they have any evidence beyond the confession, and Hernandez’s lawyers say he is mentally ill.
Suspect in US missing boy case released, rearrested
