IL TIMMOTHY PITZEN: Missing from Aurora, IL - 12 May 2011 - Age 6

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Timmothy's photo is shown age-progressed to 13 years. He is missing from Aurora, Illinois, but was last seen at a water park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Timmothy was last known to be in the company of his mother who has since been found deceased in Rockford, Illinois. Timmothy may go by the nickname Tim or Timmy.
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Timmothy lived with his parents, James Pitzen and Amy Joan Marie Fry-Pitzen, in Aurora, Illinois at the time of his disappearance; he is their only child.

Without telling anyone of her plans, Amy removed him from his kindergarten class at Greenman Elementary School on the morning of May 11, 2011. After checking him out of school, she drove to an auto repair shop and dropped off her blue 2004 Ford Expedition SUV at 10:00 a.m. One of the repair shop employees drove Amy and Timmothy to the Brookfield Zoo, and at 3:00 p.m. she came to pick up her repaired vehicle and drove with Timmothy to the KeyLime Cove Resort in Gurnee, Illinois, where they spent the night.

Meanwhile, James had reported his wife and son missing after he went to pick up Timmothy from kindergarten and found out his mother had taken him. He called her cellular phone numerous times but got no answer. Photos of Amy and her car are posted with this case summary.

On May 12, Amy and Timmothy drove to the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The following morning at 10:00 a.m., security camera footage showed them waiting in line to check out.

At 1:30 p.m., Amy made several cellular phone calls to her loved ones to say she and Timmothy were fine and not in trouble. Timmothy could be heard in the background and sounded normal, saying only that he was hungry. This was the last time anyone saw or heard from the child.

At 7:25 p.m., Amy was sighted at a Family Dollar store in Winnebago, Illinois, where she purchased stationery. This time she was alone. She went to the nearby Sullivan's Foods at 8:00 p.m., then checked into the Rockford Inn in Rockford, Illinois between 11:15 and 11:30 p.m.

Sometime that night or the next morning, she took her own life by slashing her wrists and neck; she had also taken an overdose of antihistamines. She was 43 years old. The inn's employees found her body at 12:30 p.m. the next day, May 14.

Amy left a note and two letters in the mail (one to her mother and one to a friend) saying Timmothy was fine and with people who cared about him, but she didn't name those people. One of her notes said no one would ever find him. Her cellular phone was missing.

Other items were also missing, including Timmothy's Spiderman backpack, his toys and clothes, the clothes Amy was wearing when she checked out of the Kalahari Resort, a tube of Crest toothpaste and an iPass transponder.

Authorities initally believed Amy had in fact given Timmothy to other people to care for, in part because his car seat was missing. However, the car seat turned up in Timmothy's grandmother's possession in Wooster, Ohio; she had had it since a week before Timmothy disappeared. As the days passed without any indication of the child's whereabouts, police became increasingly concerned for his safety.

When they examined Amy's SUV, they found traces of Timmothy's blood in the backseat. However, they couldn't tell how long the stains had been there and one of the boy's relatives said he had gotten a bloody nose in the vehicle about twelve to eighteen months before his disappearance. The knife Amy used to commit suicide had only her own blood on it.

Amy's SUV was "visibly dirty" and had soil, tall grass and weeds stuck to the undercarriage when it was located after her death. Forensic testing on the plant and sediment materials on the car indicated it stopped for a time on a gravel area just off an asphalt road that had at one time been treated with glass road-making beads.

The vehicle backed into a grassy meadow or field which contained Queen Anne's lace and black mustard plants and would have been nearly treeless; some oak or birch trees were in the general area but not in the direct place where the car stopped. There was possibly a pond or small stream close by. There were no indications that the land was cultivated as either a lawn or for growing crops.

Investigators think the meadow is probably in Lee County or Whiteside County in northwestern Illinois, but they are also considering Carroll, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago Counties.

Investigators believe Amy may have been planning Timmothy's disappearance for months. In February and Marcy 2011, she took two unexplained trips to the area he would later disappear from. She had an email account opened under her maiden name in 2007, and kept it a secret from her husband, but the account didn't contain anything useful to the investigation.

James stated he was baffled by his wife's suicide and Timmothy's disappearance, and had no idea where his son could be. He and Amy's mother both stated Amy loved Timmothy and they didn't believe she would have harmed him. Amy had suffered from depression and had reportedly left home before for extended time periods.

All of the child's family members have all been cooperative with the investigation and none of them have been named as suspects in Timmothy's disappearance.

NCMEC - NamUs - Charley Project -
 

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Man, 24, who pretended to be missing boy Timmothy Pitzen pleads guilty to identity theft

A man who pretended be a boy who disappeared in 2011 pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated identity theft.

The charge, filed in federal court in Cincinnati, carries a mandatory two-year prison term, although Brian Rini will be formally sentenced at a later date.

Rini, 24, with a neatly trimmed beard, answered U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett with a soft “Yes, sir,” when asked whether he understood the consequences of his plea.

Prosecutors dropped charges of lying to FBI agents.

The competency report said Rini has "some symptoms of depressive disorder, which are in remission," according to a transcript of the October hearing. "But he does not appear to be suffering from any severe mental disease or defect."

 

Some Nightmares are Real... Season Two of the HLN Original Series "Real Life Nightmare" Returns Sunday, November 8

December 6, 2020
"You'll Never Find Him" - Six-year-old Timmothy Pitzen vanishes after a 3-day trip to waterparks and the zoo with his mom. In a terrifying twist, his mom is found dead in a motel room with a disturbing note by her side.

Real Life Nightmare will stream live for subscribers via CNNgo (at CNN.com/go and via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Samsung Smart TV and Android TV) and on the CNN mobile apps for iOS and Android. Additionally, all episodes will be available on demand the day after their broadcast premiere via cable/satellite systems.
 
This Sunday.


Timmothy Pitzen’s family recalls his disappearance on ‘Real Life Nightmare’ TV series​

Timmothy Pitzen’s aunt said her family does not “have any hard feelings anymore” after a man last year lied about being the missing Aurora boy.

“We recognize that this is an individual who needs help, and we hope that he gets the help that he needs. Even though what he put us through was very difficult and challenging, at the very least, it got people talking about Tim again,” Kara Jacobs, Timmothy’s aunt, says on Sunday’s episode of the HLN series “Real Life Nightmare.”

“Timmothy, I love you. I miss you. I want us to be together. We have a lot of catching up to do. I just can’t wait ‘til you come home,” Pitzen said.
 
This Sunday.


Timmothy Pitzen’s family recalls his disappearance on ‘Real Life Nightmare’ TV series​

Timmothy Pitzen’s aunt said her family does not “have any hard feelings anymore” after a man last year lied about being the missing Aurora boy.

“We recognize that this is an individual who needs help, and we hope that he gets the help that he needs. Even though what he put us through was very difficult and challenging, at the very least, it got people talking about Tim again,” Kara Jacobs, Timmothy’s aunt, says on Sunday’s episode of the HLN series “Real Life Nightmare.”

“Timmothy, I love you. I miss you. I want us to be together. We have a lot of catching up to do. I just can’t wait ‘til you come home,” Pitzen said.
This sounds a good series. I hope someone sees it who can bring Timmothy home!
 
I hate to be so cynical. But with all the evidence it seems to me his Mother took his life. Used the vehicle to dispose of everything and then drove back to take her own life. Most people don't cut their own throats. But they are saying she did. So it seems to me she wanted to make sure she was dead. And the cryptic note saying no one would ever find him. Why would she hand him off to strangers. It doesn't make sense. Doesn't seem like the family was a problem.
 
I hate to be so cynical. But with all the evidence it seems to me his Mother took his life. Used the vehicle to dispose of everything and then drove back to take her own life. Most people don't cut their own throats. But they are saying she did. So it seems to me she wanted to make sure she was dead. And the cryptic note saying no one would ever find him. Why would she hand him off to strangers. It doesn't make sense. Doesn't seem like the family was a problem.
My thought is he was six. He would be 15 now. If he is alive, it will likely be in the next few years he may think about what he remembers (old enough to recall some things and probably the zoo, etc. in the story are things he would recall) and put things together--if he IS alive... And that's if he does not believe his family is dead or some such... That is also if he even becomes aware of this story, kids don't exactly follow crime as we do...

I alternate in what she did myself. I tend to think she did not kill him on one hand as she taunts about him never being found and kills herself separately but on the other hand what a way to torture the father for years to come looking for him to say he is alive when he is not which may have been her intent as well...
 

Ohio man who claimed to be missing Aurora boy Timmothy Pitzen sentenced to two years in prison​

A federal judge Tuesday sentenced an Ohio man to two years in prison and one year of probation for falsely claiming to be long-missing Aurora child Timmothy Pitzen.

Brian Michael Rini, now 25, said he was sorry during the video hearing before U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett made his sentence official.

“I wish that I could just take it back,” Rini said. “I am sorry to the family.”


Barrett told Rini earlier this year he faced a mandatory two-year sentence, but the judge wanted to see results of a presentencing investigation before entering his sentence. Rini will be released on probation in less than four months.

The judge said Rini should receive mental health treatment and counseling, have no contact with the missing boy’s family and can’t have drugs or guns.
 
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Timmothy Pitzen’s Family Fears Harassment From Career Criminal Who Lied About Being Missing Boy​

The family of an Illinois boy who disappeared in 2011 said they fear harassment from an Ohio man who, in 2019, claimed to be the missing boy.

Timmothy Pitzen’s aunt, Jen West, told The Sun that Brian Rini lives near her following his release from jail for masquerading as her missing nephew. She said she is afraid Rini will somehow find her mother, who has the same last name as Pitzen, and find a way to harass her.

“I’m happy he doesn’t live anywhere near my brother [Timmothy’s dad], but the thought of him just roaming around somewhere nearby makes me feel uneasy,” West told the news outlet.


Rini was charged with identity fraud and lying to the FBI, but he ultimately pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. He was released on probation in December 2020.
 

New Information Emerges on Timmothy Pitzen's 18th Birthday​

Kara Jacobs is Timmothy Pitzen’s aunt. Her sister Amy was the missing boy’s mother.

Timmothy was 6 years old back then, and Tuesday marked his 18th birthday.


Now, Kara will not accept a life without Timmothy.

She’s worked with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children and retraced her sister’s steps, searching each stop along a 500-mile route.

“It took me 10 years to get the courage myself to make that drive. And when I did, it was light bulb went off and I’m like, now I get it. Now, I know where she went. Now I could see her steps and I could be in her head and see what she was doing,” said Kara.

Based on Amy’s cellphone and I-PASS records, Kara said that she believes Amy headed west on I-88 and took exit 44 into Sterling, Illinois.

“Somewhere between Sterling and Mount Carroll, she makes the phone calls,” said Kara as she showed NBC5 Investigates the location on a map.

Those phone calls were to family members saying Timmothy was fine. Then, Amy turned off her phone and apparently tossed it behind a grain storage building off a remote road in Mount Carroll.

Kara said she feels that at that point in the saga, her sister Amy had made up her mind, and that the phone calls to family were to say goodbye.

However, she says that in the calls there was no hint of trouble. Amy even let Timmothy talk to a relative, but he was not heard or seen after that.

Kara believes her sister then drove north on Highway 78 and onto Route 20.

“If you turn left, that will take you to Dubuque,” Kara said.

She remembered this road was one she and her sister had traveled as children.

Dubuque, Iowa was a place that her family often visited.

“We spent a lot of time on Route 20 back and forth when we were young visiting our grandparents and an aunt and uncle. Amy actually lived with my grandparents for a period of time in the 90’s. She met people in Iowa. I believe (behind) whatever happened was a connection she made there,” said Kara.

Kara believes that Timmothy was handed off to another family in Iowa.

No one has reported seeing Timmothy after his disappearance, but Kars sees her search for answers as a long road with one destination, not a place but a person, a little boy who would now be a man.

“We are not done. I am not done until I can see Tim standing in front of his dad, and then I’ll feel complete, like the circle is closed,” Kara said.
 

New Information Emerges on Timmothy Pitzen's 18th Birthday​

Kara Jacobs is Timmothy Pitzen’s aunt. Her sister Amy was the missing boy’s mother.

Timmothy was 6 years old back then, and Tuesday marked his 18th birthday.


Now, Kara will not accept a life without Timmothy.

She’s worked with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children and retraced her sister’s steps, searching each stop along a 500-mile route.

“It took me 10 years to get the courage myself to make that drive. And when I did, it was light bulb went off and I’m like, now I get it. Now, I know where she went. Now I could see her steps and I could be in her head and see what she was doing,” said Kara.

Based on Amy’s cellphone and I-PASS records, Kara said that she believes Amy headed west on I-88 and took exit 44 into Sterling, Illinois.

“Somewhere between Sterling and Mount Carroll, she makes the phone calls,” said Kara as she showed NBC5 Investigates the location on a map.

Those phone calls were to family members saying Timmothy was fine. Then, Amy turned off her phone and apparently tossed it behind a grain storage building off a remote road in Mount Carroll.

Kara said she feels that at that point in the saga, her sister Amy had made up her mind, and that the phone calls to family were to say goodbye.

However, she says that in the calls there was no hint of trouble. Amy even let Timmothy talk to a relative, but he was not heard or seen after that.

Kara believes her sister then drove north on Highway 78 and onto Route 20.

“If you turn left, that will take you to Dubuque,” Kara said.

She remembered this road was one she and her sister had traveled as children.

Dubuque, Iowa was a place that her family often visited.

“We spent a lot of time on Route 20 back and forth when we were young visiting our grandparents and an aunt and uncle. Amy actually lived with my grandparents for a period of time in the 90’s. She met people in Iowa. I believe (behind) whatever happened was a connection she made there,” said Kara.

Kara believes that Timmothy was handed off to another family in Iowa.

No one has reported seeing Timmothy after his disappearance, but Kars sees her search for answers as a long road with one destination, not a place but a person, a little boy who would now be a man.

“We are not done. I am not done until I can see Tim standing in front of his dad, and then I’ll feel complete, like the circle is closed,” Kara said.
Been through Dubuque many a time too as a child. Always different when one is familiar with the area in these cases.

My dad liked to pronounce it as "Do-Be-Q" Doobiekew. In fun. There were other towns he did the same with.

So anyhow, it sounds like this area was familiar to her and meant something to her...

It is a haunting case. She still may have killed him but it all seemed planned and then why kill herself separately. I do think in this one there is a CHANCE she placed him with someone and then took her own life after ensuring his wellbeing in her mind. But the other part of me battles as to what other person or family would risk having a child that wasn't legally theirs especially once he was being looked for? Sadly then I come back to there is every possibility he is dead and was at that point in time.
 
I think she probably killed him before she killed her self. She probably thought it was an act that was saving him from the world or something. I think the Sister probably has it figured out too, it’s just that finding them at this point in all that terrain would be very difficult.
That's what I have thought all along also. Unfortunately.
 
I tend to agree. For one you just aren't going to find people all that easily to take a child and hide him from the law. And for this long and with the attention it got and still gets.

One would think though they'd go out with their child but then she wouldn't have been able to leave everyone wondering... Was that part of it? Easy to find her and determine what happened but not him. I don't know.

I do think he is far more likely dead than alive. Sadly.
 
Well yeah. She goes down a deserted road. Tosses her phone. She says they will never find him. The part he is being taken care of. Not in those words, But that always turns out to be B.S. And the "Never find him" With national attention for this long would have been spotted I would think. And then she commits suicide. IMO It's obvious.
 

Is Timmothy Pitzen Alive? Documentary Unearths New Details in Missing Aurora Boy Mystery​

Timmothy Pitzen was 6 years old in 2011 when his mother Amy Fry-Pitzen picked him up from school in Aurora, a suburb of Chicago, to embark on a three-day adventure to his favorite places. The joyride ended in his mother's suicide and Timmothy's disappearance hinged on a bizarre suicide note indicating the child was safe but would never be seen or heard from again.

The mystery of Timmothy's disappearance has haunted his family, police and a legion of supporters, many of whom believe he is alive, for 11 years.

They all want to know: What happened to Timmothy Pitzen? Where is he? Does he know they're looking for him? Is he still alive?

A new documentary from NBC Chicago and NBC 5 Investigates follows the twists and turns of the case with exclusive interviews and details that upend previous theories about Timmothy's whereabouts.

"It’s not over yet," said Kara Jacobs, Timmothy's aunt and Fry-Pitzen's sister. "He’s not living the life that we think he should be living because I think he should be with his father,. But one day, we are going to see him and you’re gonna see the other side of the story. And that’s going to be amazing."

The hour-long documentary airs on NBC 5 at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19, and on NBC Chicago digital platforms. The documentary airs again all week after Thanksgiving, at 7 p.m. nighty from Sunday, Nov. 27, to Saturday, Dec. 3, on the NBC Chicago News streaming channel on Roku, Samsung TV and Peacock.
 

‘I Know He's Here': Timmothy Pitzen's Father Reveals New Information, Says Missing Son is Alive​

"I think he’s going to find me before I find him," Pitzen said.

Timmothy, now presumably an adult with access to a phone or internet, has not reached out to his father.

"Maybe he's off the grid in the middle of nowhere," Pitzen believes, noting that perhaps Timmothy is unable to call. "In my whole mind, I know he’s here somewhere. Where he's at, I’m not sure."
 

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