Timmothy Pitzen impersonator admits he lied about being boy missing since 2011
Brian Rini was found wandering the streets of Newport, Kentucky on April 3, 2019 and claimed he was Pitzen, telling authorities he 'just wanted to go home.'
A fraudster has admitted pretending to be a little boy who vanished without a trace in 2011. T
Brian Michael Rini, 24, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to federal aggravated identity theft after he told police he was Timmothy Pitzen, a 6-year-old boy who disappeared in Aurora, Illinois in 2011.
He was sentenced to two years in jail and will get credit for time served.
Rini, who found wandering the streets of Newport, Kentucky on April 3, 2019, claimed he was Pitzen, telling authorities he ‘just wanted to go home.’
He reportedly knew the missing boy’s full name and date of birth. He then told police he had been held captive by two men in a hotel who ‘sexually and physically abused (him) for years.’
Rini’s case sparked a worldwide media sensation amid hopes one of America’s most disturbing unsolved missing person’s cases had finally been solved.
However, federal investigators became suspicious of Rini’s claims after he refused to be fingerprinted. They later tested Rini’s DNA and quickly learned his true identity.
Timmothy Pitzen’s case made national headlines in 2011 after he vanished after his 43-year-old mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, killed herself in 2011.
On the day of the boy’s disappearance, Fry-Pitzen reportedly picked her son up from his kindergarten classroom, then took him to a zoo and amusement park before she died, leaving behind a suicide note saying Timmothy was safe but would never be found, according to The Chicago Tribune.
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Rini, of Medina, Ohio, admitted he had been lying after the DNA test and said he learned about Pitzen from the television news program ’20/20,’ according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.
When asked why he lied about being Pitzen, who would now be 14-years-old, Rini said he ‘wished he had a father like Timmothy’s.’
DNA tests also confirmed that Rini is a known felon who was released from a prison in Ohio on March 7, 2019 after serving more than a year on burglary and vandalism charges.
Prison records show he was accused of lying and making up stories while behind bars.
According to a federal magistrate, Rini has past mental health issues and ‘a lengthy criminal history’ that began when he was 13-years-old.
In 2017, Rini was treated at a center for people with mental health or substance abuse issues in Ohio.
He was sent to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago after his arrest for an evaluation, which indicated that Rini has ‘some symptoms of depressive disorder which are in remission.’ He was then cleared to stand trial.
Rini has been held in jail without bond since April 2019.