The pedophile found responsible for the death of Etan Patz, whose disappearance 26 years ago in Manhattan launched a nationwide missing children movement, has been ordered to pay the 6-year-old boy’s family $$2 million.

A judge last year declared Jose Ramos responsible for Patz's death, because he refused to cooperate with a deposition by a lawyer representing the boy's parents. Ramos, who is serving a prison sentence in Pennsylvania in an unrelated child molestation case, was never charged in criminal court, due to lack of evidence.

Patz’s parents say they filed the wrongful death lawsuit against Ramos to ensure he could not profit by selling his story.

Patz disappeared in 1979 while walking from his home in Lower Manhattan to a bus stop two blocks away. An extensive search followed, but his body was never found.

His case helped raise awareness about missing children across the country. His was the first photograph of a child posted on a milk carton.