& By COLLEEN LONG and JENNIFER PELTZ&
Associated Press &

NEW YORK (AP) - Authorities in New York City say they've cracked a 33-year-old case that helped focus national attention on missing children - the disappearance of Etan Patz (EH'-tahn payts).

Pedro Hernandez is awaiting arraignment. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced Thursday that the 51-year-old was arrested on a murder charge. It was the first arrest ever in the 1979 case.

Kelly says Hernandez confessed to choking the boy and putting his body in the trash.

Police say Hernandez doesn't yet have a lawyer. No one answered the door Thursday night at his home in Maple Shade, N.J.

Hernandez worked at a convenience store near Etan's home when the 6-year-old vanished on his way to school on May 25, 1979. He was one of the first missing children to appear on a milk carton.

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