DNA Test Shows Teen Claiming To Be Timmothy Pitzen Is Not Missing Boy
UPDATE at 3 p.m. MT: 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.
CHICAGO (CBS) — DNA test results expected Thursday could confirm whether a 14-year-old boy found in Kentucky is indeed Timmothy Pitzen, of Aurora, Illinois, who has been missing for eight years.
On Wednesday, two Aurora detectives went to Cincinnati to interview the boy, who was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital, after he told police in nearby Newport, Kentucky, that he is Timmothy Pitzen, and had just escaped from two kidnappers that have been holding him for seven years. In addition to the DNA tests, those detectives will be asking the boy questions that only Timmothy would know.
"I have been advised by our investigators that they plan to continue their investigation this morning, however, the details of that investigation remain confidential. We still have no confirmation of the identity of the person located, but hope to have something later this afternoon or early this evening," said Sgt. Bill Rowley, the public information officer for the Aurora Police Department.
According to a police dispatch report, the boy told police he was born Oct. 18, 2004. That is Timmothy Pitzen's birthday.
Timmothy was six years old when he went missing in May 2011. Timmothy's mother picked him up from school in Aurora, and then took him to Brookfield Zoo and the Key Lime Cove Resort in Gurnee. They checked into the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells the next day. The last time Timmothy was seen alive was one day later, when they checked out of the Kalahari Resort.
Amy Fry-Pitzen was found dead two days later at a hotel in Rockford, after she slit her wrists. She left a suicide note indicating Timmothy was fine, and she had left him in the care of unnamed people.
There have been several false sightings of the missing boy since 2011, so Aurora police said they are running a DNA test to confirm if the boy found in Kentucky is Timmothy.
"We hope it's true," said Timmothy's aunt, Kara Jacobs. "What's hard is the story that he escaped from captors, and your mind goes in too many directions that you don't want to think about. And what I've prayed about since he's been gone is that God will keep him close and take care of him, and that maybe by some stroke of luck, he was with people who would love him. And if that's not the case, it will be heartbreaking to get through, and it will be a legacy with Tim for the rest of his life."
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The boy found in Kentucky police he was being held by two white men built like bodybuilders. He'd been staying at a Red Roof Inn and said his kidnappers drove a Ford SUV with unknown Wisconsin license plates.
Witnesses who saw the boy talking with police said he seemed very afraid of his surroundings, and looked like he had been punched in the face.
"He just was real antsy. He wouldn't stand still. Even the police had to get him up to the car, because he wouldn't stand still. Whenever they would walk up like this, he would walk back. So he was pretty much scared of everybody," Fray Knight said.
Timmothy's aunt said investigators told her they are performing a DNA test on the 14-year-old that will hopefully be ready Thursday afternoon.
