Brian Michael Rini, a 24-year-old man from Medina, Ohio, has been identified as the man who falsely claimed he was missing Illinois boy Timmothy Pitzen. Rini has a prior criminal record for fraud and making false claims to police.
On Wednesday, April 3, a man went to police and claimed to be Timmothy Pitzen, who was last seen seven years ago. Pitzen had been missing since his mother removed him from school and took him on a three-day road trip before she was found dead of an apparent suicide. A suicide note found near Fry-Pitzen’s body said that while Timmothy was safe, he would “never be found.”
Wednesday’s development was viewed as a potentially major breakthrough in the case of Pitzen, who was last seen on Thursday, May 12, 2011.
Unfortunately, what could have been a happy story turned even more tragic.
On Thursday, April 4, less than 24 hours after the main identified himself as Pitzen, the FBI confirmed through a DNA test that he was not, in fact, the missing teen.
“Unfortunately, this child is not our beloved TImmothy,” Pitzen’s family said, via Tanya O’Rourke of WCPO-TV in Cincinnati. “We know you are out there, Tim, and we will never stop looking for you and praying for you.”
According to WKRC, “the FBI said the investigation in this case is ongoing. The Aurora Police Department says they’re still continuing the search for Pitzen. The police department says if anyone has information on Pitzen, to call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or the police department at 630-256-5000.”
That is all the information that is available at this time. This article will be updated with new and relevant information should it become available at any time. If there is anything that we missed, please feel free to send an email to editor@teamcoed.com and we will respond as soon as possible.