nbc's michelle franzen now with more on the search of eta etan paetz. >> reporter: in the heart of the laid back and upscale soho district, possible new clues in the renewed evidence of the etan paetz case. sources close to the investigation tell nbc news forensic teams cut out a section of dry wall from the basement with which was described as a skein of interest. authorities say they don't know if it is significant but have taken the section to a lab for analysis. the latest search has recaptured the city, the nation's attention. 33 years after etan disappeared while walking to his school bus stop. >> i do remember when this happened 30-some years ago. and we just happened to be out this afternoon walking around. we noticed all the trucks. we walked up to see what was going on. >> reporter: his disappearance rattled the country and changed the way they search for missing children in this country. experts say advances in technology include the internet and social media. >> we're disseminating missing child information instantly across america and around the world, reaching millions of

they're searching for the remains of etan paetz missing for 33 years.en he disappeared walking home. here's the map. you can see how close this is. while walking from his home in soho to a bus stop. the building they're searching, this renewed search 33 years later was prompted by a mysterious comment made by a possible suspect. susan candiotti has the latest. >> reporter: the fbi has been hard at work all day and into the afternoon tearing apart the basement of the building behind me. they even set up sort of an assembly line to bring out gig big chunks of concrete. they've been using jackhammers to knock out the wall and dig up the cement ground. the fbi says they plan to go a good four to six feet beneath the surface of that kron crete to determine if any of the earth had been moved below there. they're trying to see if they can find the boy's remains or any kind of clothing, anything that belonged to him. here's what led them to this building. sources tell us that they were talking to a carpenter who used to work in the basement of that building and

etan paetz missing for 33 years.s 6 years old when he disappeared walking from his home in soho to a school bus stop. you can see the close proximity there from the home to where he was trying to go. and to see right smack dab in the middle of the picture, we marked search, that's the building they're digging today. and this renew the search is here, 33 years later was prompted by a mysterious comment made by a possible suspect. marc claas join us. his daughter was kidnapped and murdered when she was 12 years oled. thank you for joining me. the family of etan still lives in that same apartment block there in lower manhattan. they're not talking with members of the media, that's entirely understandable. >> think about it this way. the best possible news you can pick out of this was your son was murdered and buried under a slap of cement 33 years ago, how would you feel? you would feel absolutely horrible. that's the best outcome they have. or to be dashed and left with the ongoing mystery of what happened to etan. >>