Basement search for Etan Patz clues ends - CNN

The day Etan Patz disappeared in '79var cnnWindowParams=window.location.toString().toQueryParams();if(typeof cnnWindowParams.video!="undefined"){if(cnnWindowParams.video){cnnLoadStoryPlayer('crime/2012/04/21/ac-candiotti-etan-patz-remembered.cnn','cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art' ,playerOverRide,T1);}} else {$('cnnCVP2').onclick=function(){if ($$('.box-opened').length){$$('.box-opened').each(function(val){Element.fireEvent(val,'click');});}cnnLoadStoryPlayer('crime/2012/04/21/ac-candiotti-etan-patz-remembered.cnn','cnnCVP1','640x384_start_art',playerOverRide,T1);};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseover=function(){$('cnnCVP2').className='cnn_mtt1plybttn cnn_mtt1plybttnon';};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseout=function(){$('cnnCVP2').className='cnn_mtt1plybttn';};}NEW: The basement search ends with no human remains found, a source saysNEW: A field test on a possible blood stain was negative, a source says NEW: A dumpster with concrete slabs from the basement was taken away 6-year-old Etan Patz disappeared in 1979 on his way to a bus stop in New York

New York (CNN) -- The search of a New York City basement for possible clues in the disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz more than three decades ago has ended, with no human remains found, a source briefed on the investigation told CNN Monday.

Detective Joseph Cavitola, spokesman for the New York Police Department, also said the search was ending. An FBI evidence team, along with police, planned to do another check to be sure nothing was missed.

A field test on what was considered a possible bloodstain found in the basement was negative, the source said. The stain, some possible strands of hair, and a piece of paper will be analyzed at an FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, the source said.

Officials were at the scene Monday, less than 100 yards from Etan's home. They removed a trash bin that contained some concrete slabs taken from the basement, which was a carpenter's workshop at the time Etan vanished May 25, 1979.

The trash bin and its contents were taken to a location to be safeguarded, a source familiar with the investigation said.

Etan's family still lives in the home where he lived. He would have passed the workshop on the way to the bus stop, which he was walking to alone for the first time when he disappeared.

Days after Etan went missing, the carpenter who worked out of the basement poured a new concrete floor, and it was never dug up until now, according to a law enforcement source.

About a month ago, a cadaver dog reacted to the floor in a way that suggested the possibility of human remains, a law enforcement source said.

The carpenter, Othniel Miller, 75, has not been charged with a crime.

He had no involvement in the disappearance, his lawyer said.

"Mr. Miller has been cooperating with this investigation for over 30 years," attorney Michael Farkas said Friday. "He has continued to cooperate on multiple occasions. And I am going to assist him in cooperating to the fullest extent possible."

Miller's daughter, Stephanie Miller, told CNN affiliate WCBS that her father had cooperated with federal agents, saying he "doesn't have anything to do with it."

FBI agents, assisted by the NYPD, discovered the possible bloodstain over the weekend by spraying the chemical luminol, which can indicate the presence of blood, but is not always conclusive, according to a source, who was also briefed on the investigation.

Investigators used chainsaws to dig out the portion of the wall with the stain, which the FBI will analyze to determine whether the substance is blood and, if so, whose it is, one of the sources said. Anything with potential forensic value will be brought to Quantico, two sources said. Analysis could take several days or weeks, one of the sources said.

CNN's Deb Feyerick, Susan Candiotti, Ross Levitt, and Adam Reiss contributed to this report.

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