Timmothy Pitzen is originally from Aurora, Illinois, but was last seen at a waterpark in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin on May 12th, 2011.
Timmothy may go by the nicknames Tim or Timmy.
He is a white male and, at the time of his disappearance, was 4’2” and 70 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. It is not known what he was wearing at the time of his disappearance.
Timmothy lived with both of his parents, Amy and James in Aurora, Illinois at the time of his disappearance.
His mother went to Greenman Elementary School on the morning of May 11, 2011 and removed him from his kindergarten class. She told the school that she was removing him due to an unspecified family emergency.
After picking up Timmothy from school, Amy drove her vehicle to an auto repair shop around 10:00am. From there, one of the employees from the repair shop drove Timmothy and his mother to the Brookfield Zoo.
Timmothy’s father went to the school to pick him up at the end of the day. After learning that his wife had already picked him up, and when he wasn't able to reach her on her cell phone after several attempts, he reported his wife and son missing.
Amy returned to the repair shop at 3:00pm, to pick up her vehicle and drove with Timmothy to KeyLime Cove Resort in Gurnee, Illinois. They spent the night there. On May 12th, they went to the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. The hotel security camera footage shows them standing in line at 10:00am the following morning to check out.
At 1:30pm on the 12th, Amy made several calls on her cell phone to her loved ones, including her mother and her brother-in-law telling them that she and Timmothy were okay and not in any trouble. Timmothy could be heard in the background sounding normal and saying that he was hungry. This is the last time anyone ever heard from or saw Timmothy.
Amy was seen around 7:25pm at a Family Dollar store in Winnebago, Illinois purchasing stationary, but she was alone. From there, she went to nearby Sullivan’s Foods at 8:00pm and then checked into the Rockford Inn in Rockford, Illinois between 11:15pm and 11:30pm.
It is at the Rockford Inn where she committed suicide at 43 years old and was found the next morning by the housekeeper at the hotel. Timmothy was not in the room when his mother’s body was recovered.
Amy left a suicide letter and had sent two additional letters were mailed, one to her mother and one to a friend, explaining that Timmothy was safe and with people who cared about him. However, the letter did not say who those people were. One of her notes said that ‘no one would ever find him.’
Amy's cell phone was missing from the room and some of Timmothy’s clothes and toys were missing as well.
Investigators believe that Amy may have been planning Timmothy’s disappearance for months before it even happened.
Both James and Amy’s mother firmly believe that Amy loved Timmothy and would never hurt him. Amy had a history of depression and had reportedly left home for periods of time previously.
This is a photo of Timmothy age-progressed to 13 years old.
In 2019, a 23-year-old Ohio man claimed he was Pitzen, which was later proved false through a DNA test. He pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to two years in prison.
The most recent age-progression photo below is of Timmothy as he would look at 16 years old.
Timmothy was 6 years old when he went missing. He would be 18 years old today.
Timmothy’s family members have not stopped looking for him. His disappearance still remains unsolved.
Any leads or information should be directed to:
Aurora Police Department
Detective John Munn
(630) 256-5000
or the Aurora Police Department's Timmothy Pitzen Tip Line at 630-256-5516
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST
(1-800-843-5678)
You can find more on NamUs:
Additional Sources: