Six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared while walking to a school bus stop in 1979. The publicity of the case led to a societal shift and greater coordination among law enforcement.

An appellate court decision overturning the conviction of Pedro Hernandez once again puts the shocking disappearance of a little boy in the spotlight.

A federal appeals court has overturned the conviction of the man who was found guilty in 2017 of killing 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979.

"Time is not the prosecution's friend," said Michael J. Brown, a Long Island defense attorney who represents alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann.

"48 Hours" goes inside the painstaking investigation through the eyes of those who have spent more than three decades trying to find the 6-year-old boy and to bring closure to his heartbroken parents

The 1979 disappearance of Etan Patz was one of the nation’s most notorious missing child cases. The six-year-old Manhattan resident was among the first children whose disappearance and likeness were publicized on milk cartons across the country.