Convicted pedophile Jose Ramos — long the prime suspect in the disappearance in Etan Patz — plotted to run away to Florida with a female pen pal after he was sprung from a Pennsylvania prison, the Daily News has learned. But first, the unlikely couple planned a pit stop in Manhattan, just a few miles from where the boy disappeared in 1979.
In letters intercepted by state police, the duo discussed holing up in the Mayflower Hotel in the Upper West Side, or Carlton Arms Hotel in Kips Bay, following Ramos’ expected release from prison last week after serving a 27-year sentence for molesting two boys.
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Ramos and Janet Hicks of Reno, Nev. then were going to make way down to Florida in a school bus, then perhaps Brazil, according to the letters, said Luzerne County district attorney Alexis Falvello.
Hicks pitched bringing along her grandson, Falvello said.
But there was a big problem: “There was no grandson,” Falvello said. “She was using that to bait him” into a relationship.
Investigators intercepted letters between Hicks and Ramos beginning early last month, after they grew suspicious the 69-year-old pervert had no intention of living in a Bronx apartment he listed as his expected residence upon release. Turns out, the apartment belonged to a cousin who hasn’t lived there in 30 years and wanted nothing to do with the pedophile.
Instead of being released from the clink, Ramos was promptly re-arrested on the felony Megan’s Law violation, and now faces an additional 10 years behind bars.
The letters revealed a strange relationship with the 63-year-old woman, that Falvello said began behind bars.
“If you’re not there, I’ll feel unwanted and unloved,” Ramos wrote to Hicks, according to Falvello. “I want you to have a hotel room for us so I have some place to go.”
Ramos’ public defender, Jonathan Blum, argued Megan’s Law only required him to provide an address, and then notify the authorities of a change in plans within 48 hours upon arrival.
But Judge James Tupper wasn’t buying it and set bail at $75,000. Ramos will be arraigned on Jan. 25.
Calls to Hicks’ home in Reno were not returned.
Ramos was long considered a prime suspect in the 1979 disappearance of Etan, whose parents still live at the same Prince Street address in SoHo. On Wednesday, Pedro Hernandez was indicted on the murder and kidnapping of the 6-year-old boy. But the Manhattan DA’s case against Hernandez — who has a long history of mental illness — has been criticized because it hinges largely on videotaped confessions.
“Nothing has changed my mind that Jose Ramos is responsible for the abduction and murder of Etan Patz,” said Brian O’Dwyer, who represented the Patz family in a 2004 civil case.
“None of the evidence I have seen so far changes my belief that the New York Supreme Court got it right in the case against Ramos.”
