Genetic testing on a young man who identified himself as Timmothy Pitzen failed to match DNA of the missing Illinois boy on April 4.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) rejected the man’s claim he was the same boy from Aurora, Illinois who disappeared in 2011 when he was just six-years-old.
The FBI ruled out any suggestion the individual was Pitzen, and police do not believe his story, after he was found wandering the streets of Newport, Kentucky on April 3. The man had told police he was Pitzen and had just managed to escape two kidnappers.
BREAKING: DNA test rules out teenager’s claim to be an Illinois boy who has been missing since 2011, FBI says. https://t.co/uEogo5dj1K
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 4, 2019
Newport, Kentucky Police Chief Tom Collins told ABC News the man is actually Brian Michael Rini, 23, who is from Medina, Ohio and nine years older than Pitzen would be today. Police and the boy’s family revealed there were previously other false reports and sightings too.
State prison records show a man by that same name left state prison on March 7 after completing jail time for burglary and vandalism charges. He pleaded guilty to burglary charges in January 2018 and passing bad checks in December 2015, according to Medina County Court records, the Associated Press reported.
The same man also had multiple citations in Medina Municipal Court, including driving without a valid license, disorderly conduct, and theft.
Teen found wandering streets is not Timmothy Pitzen: FBI https://t.co/Ttu97Gng1C pic.twitter.com/9ICRkKzu0j
— New York Post (@nypost) April 4, 2019
Aurora Police Sargent Bill Rowley described Rini’s claim as a “disappointment” and yet another time the family had false “hope raised.”
A spokesperson from Pitzen’s family said relatives are heartbroken to learn Rini’s claims to be Pitzen were likely a hoax.
Pitzen’s aunt, Kara Jacobs, said learning her nephew is still missing was “like reliving the day” he disappeared all over again. Grandmother Alana Anderson said father James Pitzen was also “devastated once again.”
Timmothy Pitzen’s aunt says news of a 23-year-old falsely claiming to be the child missing since 2011 is “devastating.”
“It’s like reliving that day all over again, and Timmothy’s father is devastated once again.” https://t.co/kkqKvM3CT6 pic.twitter.com/ocKweCaof7
— ABC News (@ABC) April 4, 2019
“There have been so many tips and sightings and what not,” Anderson told the Associated Press.
Pitzen disappeared in the year 2011 around the time his mother Amy Fry-Pitzen took him to the zoo and a water park before killing herself in an Illinois hotel. According to a suicide note she left behind, the child was safe, with people who would love and care for him, and nobody would ever find him.
Fry-Pitzen had experienced challenges with her fourth marriage and depression for many years, according to Anderson.
JUST IN: DNA test results indicate teenager who claimed to be Timmothy Pitzen, telling authorities he escaped from his kidnappers, is NOT the same boy who vanished nearly eight years ago, according to FBI https://t.co/EGimOUp5PJ pic.twitter.com/CJPkkbt0R8
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) April 4, 2019
Hopes were raised that Pitzen had finally been found when the young man told Kentucky police he was 14 years old, and claimed that on April 3 he had just escaped kidnappers in the Cincinnati area after being held captive for seven years.
Nick Baughman, the then principal of Greenman Elementary School, which Pitzen attended and where he was picked up by his mother, said his thoughts are with the boy’s family.
“It was just one of those moments where you maintain hope and be supportive and say a lot of prayers,” said Baughman, who now works as an associate superintendent at Yorkville Community Unit School District 115.
Associated Press contributed to this article.
