Cops Test Stain In 33-Year Hunt For Missing Boy

Police have tested a stain found on the wall of a basement in New York in the search for clues in the hunt for a boy who went missing more than 30 years ago.

Etan Patz was one of the first missing children in the US to have his photograph printed on milk cartons and helped fuel a national campaign in search of "lost" children in the 1980s.

"The search in the Patz location has concluded and there was nothing conclusive found," said one officer - who wished to remain anonymous.

"A stain on the wall is being tested but it's inconclusive what that's about. The digging has been done. There were no bones or obvious human remains found."

The stain, described as a spot on a wall, was found on Saturday, the third day of excavations by the New York Police Department and the FBI.

They have been looking at a basement that was used by a handyman as a workshop at the time of Etan's disappearance.

Investigators recently reopened the case and began tearing apart the basement in Manhattan's SoHo neighbourhood looking for clothing and human remains after a cadaver dog sensed something at the site.

In 1979, Othniel Miller, then a handyman, used the basement as his workshop. The building is a short walk from where Etan lived.

Investigators recently interviewed Mr Miller, who has not been charged with a crime.

His lawyer said the handyman was not involved in the boy's disappearance and that he is co-operating with the authorities.

On May 25, 1979, Etan's parents allowed him to go to the bus stop on his own - for the first time. They never saw him again.

President Ronald Reagan later declared that date to be National Missing Children's Day.Etan was formally declared dead in 2001.

No one was ever criminally charged in the disappearance but in 2004 the Patz family won a $2m civil judgement against Jose Antonio Ramos, a friend of Etan's babysitter who has denied any involvement in the disappearance.

The sum has not been paid.