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Timmothy Pitzen, missing since May 12, 2011, is shown in both an undated photo and a rendition of what he may look like at age 13 on a poster obtained by Reuters April 4, 2019. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children/Handout via REUTERS
(Reuters) - Federal prosecutors could give some clues on Friday about the motives of a 23-year-old ex-con who claimed to be Illinois teen Timmothy Pitzen, who went missing in 2011 after his mother committed suicide.
Brian Michael Rini appeared in Newport, Kentucky, on Wednesday, claiming he was 14 years old and that he had escaped from an eight-year ordeal at the hands of kidnappers, FBI spokesman Todd Lindgren said on Thursday.. Timmothy went missing at the age of six when his mother took him on a trip that ended in her suicide.
The imposter's claim was debunked on Thursday after DNA test results conducted at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital confirmed he was not Pitzen.
The U.S. Attorney's office in Cincinnati said it would give more details about Rini at an 11:30 a.m. ET (1530 GMT) news conference. Representatives of the office did not return emails and phone calls seeking additional information.
Rini was released from the Belmont Correctional Institution on March 7 where he had been serving 14 months for burglary and vandalism, according to public records.
Pitzen was last seen in May 2011 with his mother, who pulled him out of school in Aurora, Illinois, a far-west suburb of Chicago, took him on a trip to a zoo and a water park, and then committed suicide in a motel room, leaving behind a cryptic note on her son's whereabouts.
"Tim is somewhere safe with people who love him and will care for him," she wrote in the note, according to reports by ABC7 Chicago. "You will never find him."
(This version corrects paragraph 4 to say the press conference is 11:30 AM ET)
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Scott Malone and Susan Thomas)
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