Authorities announced Thursday that a man found wandering around in Kentucky on Wednesday, who said he was Timmothy Pitzen, is a 23-year-old Ohio man with a criminal history.
Local12 reports that the man claiming to be missing boy Timmothy Pitzen is actually Brian Michael Rini, of Medina. The real Timmothy disappeared from Illinois in 2011 when he was six years old, and has not been seen since.
In 2015, Rini was charged with “making false alarms involving a law enforcement agency,” according to the Post. During the same year, he was convicted of passing off bad checks. In 2017, he was arrested for causing more than $1,000 in damages to a home, the Medina Gazette reported.
A 2017 mugshot [featured] showed Rini with blondish-brown hair. In another mugshot, the man apparently dyed his hair black.
BREAKING: THIS is the man who told police he was a 14-year-old boy who was abdicated years ago. This is Brian Michael Rini of Medina, Ohio who claimed he was Timmothy Pitzen. This is an old mugshot of Rini. @Local12 pic.twitter.com/GPRSFckVA2
— Angela Ingram (@NewsLaw1) April 4, 2019
Further, court documents stated Rini was sentenced to 18 months in in prison at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction for vandalism and burglary. He was released in March 2019.
Although DNA test results confirmed that there was no match to the missing boy, the FBI stressed that the search for Timmothy is not over.
“To be clear, law enforcement has not and will not forget Timmothy, and we hope to one day reunite him with his family,” an FBI spokesperson stated. “Unfortunately, that day will not be today.”
APD continues to lead the investigation into the Timmothy's disappearance. The FBI will support this investigation in any way possible. Anyone with genuine information about the case is asked to call the APD at 630-256-5000 or the NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
— FBI Louisville (@FBILouisville) April 4, 2019
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police found Rini in a Newport, Kentucky, neighborhood at around 7 a.m., close to 8th Street and Columbia Street. Someone reported a “young teen” walking around the area as if “he didn’t belong there.”
“[He was] walking around the east side of Newport and didn’t seem like he belonged there. … Things didn’t look right,” Newport Police Chief Tom Collins said.
When questioned, Rini said he was 14 years old and kidnapped years ago, but managed to escape. He said he was being held in a Red Roof Inn, but he didn’t know the exact location. With the assistance of the Sharonville police, authorities began searching area hotels, but nothing substantial was found.
Rini said after he escaped, he ran for for a few hours and crossed over a bridge in Kentucky.
Rini claimed the alleged kidnappers had been holding him captive for at least seven years. He described his captors as two white men with “bodybuilder builds,” according to the outlet.
One of the kidnappers, according to Rini, has a spider web tattoo on his neck and black curly hair. He was last seen wearing a Mountain Dew shirt and jeans, the man claimed. The other captor was described as short with “snake tattoo on his arms.”
Sharonville police said the man described the abductors’ vehicle as a late model Ford SUV with a Wisconsin license plate. The vehicle is white with yellow transfer paint and has a dent on the left bumper.
While authorities investigated, Timmothy’s grandmother, who lives in Illinois, said she doesn’t want to get her hopes up but she’s praying it’s truly him.
“Don’t want to say anything until I know for sure. I just don’t want to comment until I know for sure, praying it’s him and he’s okay.”
Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
[Feature Photo: Timmothy Pitzen/NCMEC; Bryan Michael Rini/Police Handout]
