NEW YORK — Investigators reportedly uncovered clothes and an old toy at the New Jersey home of confessed Etan Patz killer Pedro Hernandez Wednesay.
The items were "age appropriate" for Patz, who went missing at age 6 as he walked to school for the first time in 1979, the New York Post reported. The clothes and toy were reportedly not identified, but they appeared to be from the 1970s. They were discovered during a search of Hernandez's home in Maple Shade, N.J., outside Camden.
“When they were found, the air was sucked right out of the room, [it was] a very emotional moment,” a source told the Post.
Hernandez has a son, and the clothes and toy will be tested to check whether they belong to him, the Post reported.
Hernandez was arrested May 24 after he told police he strangled Patz in the basement of a SoHo bodega. Hernandez worked as a stock boy there, less than a block from the Patz family's home.
Hernandez's lawyer and family have said that he suffers from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and hallucinations. He is being held in the psychiatric ward of Bellevue Hospital, and police are awaiting the results of a psychiatric evaluation.
Hernandez's wife, Rosemary, said she is convinced his confession was "false."
NYPD detectives also reportedly seized a computer and data storage devices during their search Wednesday. The computer belongs to Hernandez's 23-year-old daughter, but investigators will check to see whether Hernandez used it to write a confession or any notes about Patz, the Post said.
