US police were working on Thursday to confirm whether a teenager found a day earlier was the same boy who went missing eight years ago after his mother was found dead.
There was hope on Thursday in a case that spanned multiple states and involved the FBI, after a male found wandering the streets of a Cincinnati, Ohio suburb told police he was Timmothy Pitzen and had escaped from his captors.
Timmothy was six years old when he disappeared in 2011. And the male told police he was 14-year-old Timmothy Pitzen.
A slab of concrete sits in the backyard of the house where Timmothy Pitzen used to live in Aurora, Illinois. Source: AP
After much speculation and interest from the community, US authorities released a statement saying "DNA results have been returned indicating the person in question is not Timmothy Pitzen".
“A local investigation continues into this person’s true identity,” Timothy Beam, an FBI agent, said in an email, according to The New York Times.
“To be clear, law enforcement has not and will not forget Timmothy, and we hope to one day reunite him with his family. Unfortunately, that day will not be today.”
In a twist to the story, several US news outlets are now reporting that Police in Newport, Kentucky, told news station Local 12 he was actually identified as 23-year-old Brian Michael Rini.
Ohio corrections records show Rini was released from jail on burglary and vandalism charges last month and remains on parole.
Officials from Timmothy's hometown of Aurora, Illinois - a Chicago suburb - said they were still investigating the identity of the person located this week.
"We still have no confirmation of the identity of the person located," the Aurora Police Department said in a statement, adding that more information could become available later in the day.
"Our primary focus here is in assisting the FBI in their investigation."
The male located this week had visible bruises on his face when he was found and told witnesses he had been running for hours, according to US media reports.
He told police he had escaped from two men with bodybuilder physiques who were holding him at a hotel in an area approximately 300 miles (480 km) from his hometown of Aurora, according to a police report.
A witness who called 911 told emergency officials: "I asked him what's going on, and he tells me he's been kidnapped and he's been traded through all these people and he just wanted to go home," Cincinnati TV station WCPO reported.
Linda Ramirez stands in front of her house in Aurora. Source: AP
Before his disappearance in May of 2011, Timmothy's mother had taken her son out of school and on a trip that covered over 500 miles (800 kilometers) in two days, CNN said.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said Timmothy was last seen at a water park in the midwestern state of Wisconsin. His mother was found dead at a hotel in neighboring Illinois.
She reportedly left a note saying the child was "safe with people who would love and care for him."
"You'll never find him," Amy Fry-Pitzen wrote, according to CNN.
