Timmothy Pitzen - Found or Hoax?

[keen23]

I don't remember hearing about his disappearance in 2011, but a boy has come forward claiming to be him and claiming to have escaped from kidnappers. Twitter is saying that DNA says he's not Pitzen. But, who is he then? Is this just all a hoax?

[VelociRapture]

For anyone not familiar, this article gives the backstory:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cincinnati.com/amp/3364096002

Timmothy was six years old when he disappeared in 2011. His parents (Jim and Amy) were going through a rough patch in their marriage and his mother (who had been divorced several times) had a history of mental illness. Her family believes she was scared she wouldn’t get custody of Timmothy if she and Jim divorced. On May 11, 2011, his father dropped him off at school and 30 minutes later his mother took him out of school unexpectedly (she claimed there was a family emergency.) His father didn’t know Amy had taken Timmothy from school until he went to pick him up at the end of the day. Jim checked Amy’s work and their house and ended up reporting them missing on the morning of May 12th. Amy contacted her mother and Jim’s brother while they were gone, stating she needed space and that Timmothy was her’s. Timmothy was last seen on video footage at a resort in Wisconsin around 10 am on the 13th. Amy was seen on video in a grocery store later that day, but she was alone. There are very strong indications that Timmothy’s disappearance was planned in advance as Amy had visited a certain area she traveled to in those days several times in the months leading up to her death. Amy was found dead from self-inflicted wounds on May 14th in a motel. She left a note stating that Timmotthy was safe, with people she trusted, and that they would never find him. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

[KnittingOwl]

The FBI in Louisville confirmed that the DNA does not match Timmothy.

 Horrible for the family to have it be a hoax. 

[kpmom]

56 minutes ago, keen23 said:

I don't remember hearing about his disappearance in 2011, but a boy has come forward claiming to be him and claiming to have escaped from kidnappers. Twitter is saying that DNA says he's not Pitzen. But, who is he then? Is this just all a hoax?

Is it certain the DNA is not a match, or just Twitter's opinion? 

If it's not him what a cruel hoax on the rest of his family.  And for what reason?

2 minutes ago, KnittingOwl said:

The FBI in Louisville confirmed that the DNA does not match Timmothy.

 Horrible for the family to have it be a hoax. 

Ok, we posted at the same time.

Yes, very cruel.  And for no good reason.

[JermajestyDuggar]

It makes me want to know who the kid is and why would he do this.

[JenniferJuniper]

3 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

It makes me want to know who the kid is and why would he do this.

He's not even a kid - he's 23.

[JermajestyDuggar]

2 minutes ago, JenniferJuniper said:

He's not even a kid - he's 23.

Ok that’s so fucked up. I hope he’s charged. He wasted time and resources. And he hurt that family terribly. 

[keen23]

Ok, that's fucked up.

[Briefly]

3 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

For anyone not familiar, this article gives the backstory:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cincinnati.com/amp/3364096002

Timmothy was six years old when he disappeared in 2011. His parents (Jim and Amy) were going through a rough patch in their marriage and his mother (who had been divorced several times) had a history of mental illness. Her family believes she was scared she wouldn’t get custody of Timmothy if she and Jim divorced. On May 11, 2011, his father dropped him off at school and 30 minutes later his mother took him out of school unexpectedly (she claimed there was a family emergency.) His father didn’t know Amy had taken Timmothy from school until he went to pick him up at the end of the day. Jim checked Amy’s work and their house and ended up reporting them missing on the morning of May 12th. Amy contacted her mother and Jim’s brother while they were gone, stating she needed space and that Timmothy was her’s. Timmothy was last seen on video footage at a resort in Wisconsin around 10 am on the 13th. Amy was seen on video in a grocery store later that day, but she was alone. There are very strong indications that Timmothy’s disappearance was planned in advance as Amy had visited a certain area she traveled to in those days several times in the months leading up to her death. Amy was found dead from self-inflicted wounds on May 14th in a motel. She left a note stating that Timmotthy was safe, with people she trusted, and that they would never find him. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

After hearing that the dna test confirms that the young man is not him, after reading this it makes me wonder if she killed him.  I was hoping that it was him.  But dna does not lie.

2 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

It makes me want to know who the kid is and why would he do this.

I have that same question.  Is he possibly someone who WAS kidnapped, parental or otherwise?  Is he a scammer?  Is he just someone who wanted the attention?

I feel so bad for the family of Timmothy.

[Glasgowghirl]

I hadn't heard of this case until today and at first I thought great news if this is Timmothy but now I feel sick knowing that someone did that. I feel sorry for his father and family being put through this.

I do suspect he was murdered by his mother or by someone she knew but she may have given him to people to spite his father, either way he needs to be found so that his family are able to get the truth

[JenniferJuniper]

14 minutes ago, Glasgowghirl said:

I do suspect he was murdered by his mother or by someone she knew but she may have given him to people to spite his father, either way he needs to be found so that his family are able to get the truth

I don't see much chance he's alive.  The mother suffered from depression and/or severe mental illness and she acted deliberately and almost certainly on her own during the period of time they were missing.  She likely killed the child, disposed of his body and personal items, and then returned to the hotel room to commit suicide. 

[Briefly]

I don't know if it's true or not, but I did read something that said the person claiming to be him is 23 years old and is not a missing person at all, but has apparently run scams before.  With dna testing now, hopefully people will not be able to pull id scams like this anymore. 

[RosyDaisy]

The guy claiming to be Timmothy is 23 y/o Brian Michael Rini who is a known schemer and was released from prison on March 7, 2019 (burglary and vandalism). According to his brother, he's bi-polar, Apsburger's, and ADHD. He had been receiving treatment but stopped.

More info here: https://www.wlwt.com/article/police-ex-convict-claimed-to-be-missing-boy-timmothy-pitzen/27047414

[laPapessaGiovanna]

I think that the police and media handled this very badly. Did they really need to make it international news (even Italian TV news talked about it) BEFORE it was confirmed? Couldn't they wait 24hrs? It may have been less of an heartbreak for Timmothy's family.

[VelociRapture]

49 minutes ago, laPapessaGiovanna said:

I think that the police and media handled this very badly. Did they really need to make it international news (even Italian TV news talked about it) BEFORE it was confirmed? Couldn't they wait 24hrs? It may have been less of an heartbreak for Timmothy's family.

I’m not sure how things played out exactly. If the media got wind of it - maybe from a police scanner or an overeager witness who contacted them? - then the Police might have felt they had no choice other than to comment on it when they did. It’s certainky possible that the Police made a public announcement without prompting. I’m not sure why they’d do that and I do think that would have been a poor decision.

I don’t know if handling it differently would have really made this less difficult for his family because Timmothy is still missing and nothing can erase that pain, though I do see your point and agree. My only hope is that someone saw this story and is compelled to step forward with legitimately helpful information. Timmothy’s poor father deserves to know what happened to his child. 

[VelociRapture]

Timmothy’s dad has spoken out:

https://people.com/crime/timmothy-pitzen-dad-speaks-out-after-missing-child-hoax/

I feel so badly for him. That poor man had been living an absolute nightmare and finding out this was a hoax must have hurt so badly. 

[viii]

What a horrible situation for everyone involved. Naturally, since I work at a school, that's where my first thought went to. I'm sure they carry so much guilt, even though I can't imagine that they did anything wrong. We have plenty of split families at my school, and how often do we contact the other parent to ensure that it's all right if the first parent takes them? Unless there is legal documentation... we don't. Ugh, so sad. 

[unsafetydancer]

Yikes! What a cruel trick to play. I hope no one uses the scammer’s autism diagnosis as an excuse. I have autism and I know that doing something this awful is unforgivable.