A police evidence unit brought out several large paper bags on Wednesday from the basement on West Broadway in SoHo where the man charged in the murder of Etan Patz says he killed the boy.
Officers from the Police Department's Crime Scene Unit, detectives, and others spent about six hours at 448 West Broadway, where Pedro Hernandez, who was arrested in May for Etan's death, worked as a stockboy in a bodega in 1979. A store manager across Prince Street from the building said that he heard jackhammering that sounded like it was coming from the basement. Officers at the scene would not discuss what was in the bags.
Etan, 6, disappeared on the way to catch a school bus on May 25, 1979, setting off a decades-long search. 448 West Broadway now houses an eyeglasses store.
Mr. Hernandez, the police have said, told investigators that he had lured Etan to the basement of the bodega with the pro mise of a soda, choked him, stuffed the body into a bag and left it a block and a half away.
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly told reporters on Wednesday that he knew nothing about why Prince Street was blocked off at West Broadway.
Mr. Kelly was also asked about a report on DNAInfo.com that Mr. Hernandez kept a photograph of Etan hidden among his belongings. The commissioner said he could neither confirm nor deny the account. A hearing on Mr. Hernandez's mental fitness to stand trial is expected to be held in the fall.
At the Patzes' apartment a block and a half away, a woman who answered the buzzer declined to talk, saying “I'm sorry, we're not doing interviews.â€
Wendy Ruderman contributed reporting.
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