FBI, police investigating whether child is missing Illinois boy Timmothy Pitzen
Updated: April 3, 2019, 10:45 p.m.
The FBI and local authorities are investigating whether a child is Timmothy Pitzen, a boy who was reported missing in 2011.
Timmothy Pitzen has not been seen since May 13, 2011, when he was leaving the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells with his mother. One day after this, Pitzen's mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen committed suicide in a Rockford motel. But today, a potential major breakthrough, coming from the Tri-State Area.
Aurora Police say two police detectives are on their way to the Cincinnati area to assist with the investigation.
According to a
from the Sharonville Police Department in Ohio, a boy told Campbell County authorities he was Timmothy Pitzen.
The report says the boy had escaped from two kidnappers who have been holding him seven years.
According to the report, the two kidnappers as two male, whites, body-builder type build. One had black curly hair, Mt. Dew shirt and jeans with a spider web tattoo on his neck. The other was short in stature and had a snake tattoo on his arms.
The vehicle they were operating is described as a newer model Ford S.U.V., with unknown Wisconsin plates, with a second row, white in color with yellow transfer paint. There is also a dent on the driver's side back bumper.
The report also says the boy has escaped and kept running across a bridge from Ohio into Kentucky. The boy, along with the kidnappers, had been staying at a Red Roof Inn nearby. However, the boy had no idea where he was. This is when the boy ran.
Fray Knight was one of the witnesses who noticed the boy on the street and says he did not look in the best shape. She says, "He looked like he had been beat up yes punched in the face a couple of times. You can see the fear on him and how nervous he was. He kept pacing, and he just looked odd."
Another witness, Sharon Hall, who sent pictures of the boy on the street to our news team, said she felt horrible for the boy because all she wanted to do was help him. She says, "I'm a caregiver as well. So it's bad, it hurts. It hurts really bad. It makes me want to give my heart to him and have him start all over so he can have a better life."
The FBI has not confirmed a link to the Pitzen case, but will conduct a DNA test to identify the child.
Timmothy Pitzen's grandmother, Alana Anderson, has never given up hope that she would see her grandson again. She says, "We are cautiously hopeful, very cautiously hopeful. If it turns out to be him we'll be thrilled. We never stopped looking for him, thinking about him, and that we love him and we will do everything we can to get him back to a good life."
The FBI offices in Louisville and Cincinnati office are actively coordinating with Aurora police, in addition to Newport police, Cincinnati police, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
Timmothy Pitzen would be 14 years old today.
------
Published: April 3, 2019, 2:05 p.m.
CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - An Illinois boy missing for nearly a decade may have been found in Ohio.
The FBI’s Louisville office and the FBI’s Cincinnati office confirm they’re actively coordinating with Newport police, Cincinnati police, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, and Aurora, Illinois police.
Aurora Police Public Information Officer Bill Rowley said two police detectives are on their way to the Cincinnati area to assist with the investigation.
The male child was found in the west side of Newport Wednesday.
Newport police say a neighbor spotted him and noticed he didn’t belong in the neighborhood.
He told police he’d been held captive.
The boy was taken to a hospital in Newport to be checked out and police say he is being interviewed by detectives and other uniformed officers.
Police say at this moment they aren’t sure he is who he says he is. They don’t believe he is a missing person from the Tri-State.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Timmothy Pitzen is the only missing child from Aurora.
Pitzen has not been seen since May 12, 2011 when he was 6 years old. He would be 14 years old today.
No officials will confirm whether the boy is claiming to be Pitzen.
Rowley said because the case is nearly 10 years old, they receive thousands of tips a day about Pitzen.
He was last seen May 13, 2011 with is mother as they checked out of the Kalahari Resort at the Wisconsin Dells. Pitzen’s father reported them missing the day before, CBS Chicago reports.
They say that at the time he went missing, his mother Amy Fry-Pitzen was found dead inside a Rockford, Illinois hotel room after committing suicide.
CBS Chicago reports that his mother left a note saying the boy was O.K., and she had left him in the care of unnamed people.
CNN says the note read, “you’ll never find him.”
FBI officials say there will be no further statements made until they have additional information.
