He never got off the block, investigators believe.
Authorities are digging up the basement of a SoHo building where they believe a handyman buried the body of Etan Patz — whose disappearance 33 years ago sparked one of the most extensive and heart-wrenching manhunts in US history.
Leads developed by Manhattan DA Cy Vance’s office suggest the boy is buried in the basement of 127 Prince St., where neighborhood handyman Othneil Miller, 75, had a workshop when the six year old disappeared in May 25, 1979, law enforcement sources told The Post.
Miller had befriended the boy, and would give him a dollar or two for helping out around the shop, sources said, adding that Miller is the “target” of their probe.
Investigators recently interviewed Patz’s mother Julie, who told them they should talk to Miller, of Quincy Street in Brooklyn.
Investigators knew about him after Etan went missing, but did not consider him a suspect until recently.
After talking to Miller, the feds put “scent pads” – which absorb odors – in the basement and then brought them to a cadaver dog, and “got a hit,” which means the dogs got the scent of human remains, sources said.
The feds brought the dog to the basement and got another hit, the sources said.
Agents subsequently questioned Miller, who blurted out: “What if the body was moved?” the sources said.
Miller has not been charged and is not in custody.
A team of 40 investigators started digging through the concrete basement floor of the SoHo building about 8:30 a.m. searching for evidence and the possible remains.
“Obviously we’re hopeful that we’ll find evidence in the disappearance of Etan Patz. There is obviously probable cause that exists for us to be here,” said FBI spokesman Tim Flannelly at the scene.
More than 40 cops and FBI agents swarmed the neighborhood surrounding the seven-story building and cordoned off a section of Prince between West Broadway and Wooster Street — a block filled with galleries, lofts and clothing boutiques.
Authorities said the digging could take as many as five days as investigators painstakingly pore through the evidence in the 13×62-foot space.
“This will be going on for several days. It could go on for up to five days,” said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.
Patz – whose photo was one of the first to be put on the side of a milk carton – was last seen walking two blocks from his home to a bus stop for the ride to school.
“Time doesn’t matter to us and NYPD in investigations like this. He was 6 when he disappeared and we’re not going to quit,” Flannelly said
“We are hoping we can provide some sense of closure to the investigation and to the family, but in the event that we don’t, I think people need to know that we’re committed to these investigations and we’re not going to give up.”
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said the space had been looked at before.
Browne said he has spoken to parents but didn’t comment on what they said.
The search for evidence “would be either human remains, clothing or personal effects that may lead to the identification of Etan Patz,” Browne said.
The boy was never found despite one of the largest missing-child searches in history.
Etan was officially declared dead in 2001.
Vance re-opened the case after taking office two years ago.
FBI spokes Jim Margolin confirmed today that the feds were looking for new evidence in the case.
“We are conducting a search in connection with the Etan Patz case,” he said, declining to elaborate.
Stanley K. Patz, the boy’s father, who lives nearby on Prince Street, declined comment
Investigators are leaning away from the decades-old assumption that Patz was abducted by convicted pedophile Jose Ramos.
Ramos, now in prison for an unrelated case, was never charged with Patz’s abduction.
The day he disappeared, Etan ran down three flights from his SoHo loft, kissed his mother goodbye, dashed out his front door to head west on Prince Street, and then vanished somewhere on the next block as he approached West Broadway.
It was Etan’s first solo walk to the school bus stop on the corner.
When he didn’t return, cops fanned out in a massive hunt throughout lower Manhattan, tearing through basements and sewers and closets of family friends.
Stan and Julie Patz had worked hard to renovated the empty shell of a loft, building it into into a loving home for Shira, 8, Etan and Ari, 2.
Stan was a commercial photographer, while Julie used their space for a toddlers’ day care center.
For months and years after Etan seemingly vanished into thin air, Stan tirelessly spread out photos of his son, in hopes of keeping their search on the public’s mind.
Images of the smiling, young blond Etan were plastered on posters around New York — and, for the first time, on milk cartons.
Milk carton pictures have become a regular tactic in missing-child cases.