Timmothy Pitzen 6, Missing 5/12/11, Aurora, IL - Mother deceased (suicide)

[grace-land]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-cops-press-on-in-missing-boy-case-despite-setback-20110523,0,5668071.story

Cops press on in missing boy case despite setback
Tribune reporter
5:53 p.m. CDT, May 23, 2011

The realization that 6-year-old Timmothy Pitzen’s car booster seat was at his grandmother’s home -- and not with the persons in whom his mother said she had trusted his care -- was a setback in the investigation to find the missing boy, authorities said today.

But police continue to follow leads in the case and may conduct another search for the boy later this week.

 ::snipping2::

[grace-land]

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/news/5542325-418/im-not-going-to-give-up-hope.html

“I’m not going to give up hope’
By Matt Hanley mhanley@stmedianetwork.com May 24, 2011 06:46PM

AURORA — In the backyard, Jim Pitzen has started an impressive tree house. He’s a handy guy and the project is bold. When finished, it will have an 8-foot by 12-foot main room, plus a porch, the perfect perch for a 6-year-old boy to look out on his backyard kingdom.

 ::snipping2::

After driving his wife to work early May 11, Jim Pitzen dropped the couple’s only son at Greenman Elementary School. Both his son and wife’s goodbyes that day had been utterly normal: love you and a see you later. Amy seemed normal, Jim said. The couple had met in Ames, Iowa, at a going away party. They moved their 1-year-old son into a two-story home on the West Side of Aurora in 2006.

 ::snipping2::

Police have said that Amy had a history of mental health struggles, including one previous suicide attempt. Neither Jim nor Amy had any criminal history.

Jim Pitzen declined to comment at all on his wife’s mental health. On Tuesday at his home, he stressed she was a good mom who had a good relationship with her son.

 ::snipping2::

Police and the family have gone through months worth of credit card receipts, e-mails, iPass records and cell phone calls. Detectives are combing through three of Amy’s computers for any clues. Last week, they conducted a massive search in the Sterling-Rock Falls area, where Amy call made those last family calls before she shut her phone off.

Investigators found nothing useful. As with any investigation, the calls have tapered off although they’re still coming in.

 ::snipping2::

“I would literally love to see my son again at home, where he belongs,” Jim Pitzen said Tuesday.

It’s easy for Jim to find hope because he knows his son. He’s friendly and would approach strangers. Timmothy knows his address, his phone number and his name. At home, he’s a daredevil. Bold. Unafraid.

And so when Timmothy figures out the vacation has gone on too long, or the strangers who have the boy make a mistake, Timmothy will come home. Then Jim won’t mind the media swarming his house. Take all the pictures you want of that family reunion.

 ::snipping2::

[SuzieQ]

Last known video of Timothy and his mother checking out of the resort.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/25/timmothy-fry-pitzen-still_n_867159.html

[Lovinlife]

Not sure if this was posted or not, it was on my local news here in OH:

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-news-missing-boy-update,0,4240424.story

Missing Boy's Uncle Says Mother Had Ohio Ties
By Dave Nethers
4:47 p.m. EDT, May 23, 2011


HELP FIND TIMMOTHY PITZEN ON FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/help.find.timothy

[grace-land]

With video

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/timmothy-pitzen-amy-fry-rockford-aurora-missing-boy-new-video-kalahari-wisconsin-dells-20110526

Aurora Police Release New Video of Missing Boy Timmothy Pitzen at Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells
Updated: Wednesday, 25 May 2011, 4:40 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 25 May 2011, 3:51 PM CDT

Sun-Times Media Wire

Aurora - Aurora police say they are "increasingly concerned" about the welfare of 6-year-old Timmothy Pitzen, missing for about two weeks since his mother committed suicide in a Rockford hotel room on May 14.

On Wednesday Aurora Police released security video showing the boy and his mother checking out of a Wisconsin Dells resort, as well as additional details in the timeline for the period the two were missing.

 ::snipping2::

Detectives have learned that Amy visited a Family Dollar store in Winnebago about 7:25 p.m. on May 13, where she bought a pen, paper and envelopes. She was then spotted at a food store about 8 p.m. and checked into the Rockford Inn at 11:15 p.m. Timmothy was apparently not with his mother Friday night.

Her body was discovered May 14. She had committed suicide and left a note saying Timmothy was in the care of persons she did not identify.

Police have narrowed cell phone triangulations from the calls Fry-Pitzen placed on May 13 to a tower just northwest of Sterling near Route 40. Plans are under way to search that area, the release said.

 ::snipping2::

[grace-land]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-timmothy-pitzen-0529-20110529,0,6213211.story

Leader of missing-children center urges hope
Search for Aurora boy to resume after holiday

By Vikki Ortiz Healy, Tribune reporter
May 29, 2011

With the next organized search for a 6-year-old Aurora boy not planned until after the holiday weekend, officials from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are encouraging the public to stay vigilant.

"There are a lot of people out there that think that if you don't find the child in 24 hours, or in two weeks, that you won't find the child. That's just not true," said Ernie Allen, president of the center, which has been working closely with local, state and federal investigators to find Timmothy Pitzen.

 ::snipping2::

The next search will focus on an area around a cell phone tower near the small northwest Illinois town of Sterling, the last place to get a cell phone signal from Fry-Pitzen, Aurora police said.

 ::snipping2::

[SuzieQ]

http://www.facebook.com/help.find.timothy

Facebook page for Timothy

[grace-land]

http://www.wisn.com/news/28087598/detail.html

Search For Missing Ill. Boy Suspended Until Later This Week
POSTED: 6:02 pm CDT May 31, 2011

The search for a missing 6-year-old boy last seen in Wisconsin has been suspended until later this week.

Police originally planned to comb an area around Sterling, Ill., Tuesday for Timmothy Pitzen, but authorities delayed the search because they didn't have enough manpower.

 ::snipping2::

Read more: http://www.wisn.com/news/28087598/detail.html#ixzz1Nz4FSuGU

[grace-land]

View Gallery of photos of Amy’s 2004 Ford Expedition and toys similar to the ones she bought for her son.


http://www.suntimes.com/5715658-417/police-hope-dirt-grass-on-suv-lead-to-missing-boy-clues.html

Police hope dirt, grass on SUV lead to missing boy clues
By Matt hanley mhanley@stmedianetwork.com Jun 1, 2011 07:18PM

AURORA — Police are hoping that bits of grass and mud discovered underneath an SUV will help them narrow the search for a missing 6-year-old Aurora boy.

Timmothy Pitzen has been missing since his mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, checked him out of Greenman Elementary School May 11, then killed herself in a Rockford motel three days later. Amy left a note saying the boy was safe, but family and friends have not been able to find him.

On Wednesday, police released photos of Amy’s 2004 Ford Expedition and toys similar to the ones she bought for her son.

Police say when the SUV was found in the Rockford motel parking lot, it was dirty. Police found grass, dirt and weeds underneath the truck during an initial search and have since towed the SUV back to Aurora, where it is being examined a second time.

Police said the dirt and grass samples will be analyzed by geologists and other specialists to determine if they are unique to certain areas.

 ::snipping2::

[grace-land]

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110603/news/706039845/

Article updated: 6/3/2011 3:44 PM
Search for missing Aurora boy complicated by communication problems
By Marie Wilson
 
Aurora police say they faced communication obstacles that may have complicated their recent search for a missing 6-year-old boy near Sterling, Rock Falls and Dixon.

The hunt for Timmothy Pitzen was hindered not by glitches with Aurora’s 7-month-old Harris OpenSky radio system, but because channels designed to allow multiple agencies to communicate weren’t available, Lt. Nick Coronado said Friday.

Coronado said law enforcement agencies almost always face communication challenges when operating outside their normal jurisdictions, as Aurora police were doing during the May 19 search for the boy who went missing May 13.

In this case, the search didn’t uncover any evidence of the missing boy and so no obvious harm was done. But that didn’t make dealing with the complications any easier or less frustrating.

The search brought 70 people from 10 law enforcement agencies to an area about 75 miles west of Aurora — far outside usual radio range, Ted Beck, the city’s chief technology officer, said.

Although organizers devised ways for each search group to communicate through a mobile command post, the fix didn’t solve the lack of direct radio communication between Aurora officers and staff from other departments.

“We certainly would have appreciated being able to communicate with all of the other agencies that were not the Aurora Police Department,” Beck said.

 ::snipping2::

Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110603/news/706039845/#ixzz1OKSvdMyy

[Nut44x4]

6/2/11

Aurora police are processing Amy Fry-Pitzen’s SUV for a second time, hoping evidence in the vehicle may lead to information about her 6-year-old son Timmothy, who has been missing since May 13.

When authorities found the 2004 Ford Expedition, it was "visibly dirty" with plants that appeared similar to tall grass or weeds underneath, according to Aurora police. Police are taking samples for analysis by geologists and other experts.

If the plants or dirt are unique to certain areas near Dixon, Rock Falls or Sterling — the last general location it can be proved Fry-Pitzen and Timmothy were together — police say they will target those areas. No additional searches are planned, pending test results.

snip
Several items Fry-Pitzen bought for Timmothy before his disappearance also have not been found. Police are asking land owners near Sterling and visitors to the area to look out for the belongings including a cellphone, an I-PASS device, a Spider-Man backpack, a tube of kids Crest toothpaste, a clear plastic craft case, a blue Hot Wheels starter set, an aquatic rig toy truck and pretend gold coins decorated with animals.

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1430374831&start=19

[Nut44x4]

Not sure if this was posted or not, it was on my local news here in OH:

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-news-missing-boy-update,0,4240424.story

Missing Boy's Uncle Says Mother Had Ohio Ties
By Dave Nethers
4:47 p.m. EDT, May 23, 2011


HELP FIND TIMMOTHY PITZEN ON FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/help.find.timothy

Probably not related, 330 miles away, but not impossible.......


Boy Found Dead In Hamilton Woods
Homicide Detectives Investigate Case As "Unspecified Death"

6.4.11

HAMILTON, Ohio -- Hamilton police said the body of a boy has been found in the woods at the dead end of Gordon Smith Boulevard on Saturday morning.

Homicide detectives said the boy has been identified, but they are not releasing his name due to his age.
snipped

http://www.wlwt.com/r/28132590/detail.html

[MuffyBee]

Not sure if this was posted or not, it was on my local news here in OH:

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-news-missing-boy-update,0,4240424.story

Missing Boy's Uncle Says Mother Had Ohio Ties
By Dave Nethers
4:47 p.m. EDT, May 23, 2011


HELP FIND TIMMOTHY PITZEN ON FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/help.find.timothy

Probably not related, 330 miles away, but not impossible.......


Boy Found Dead In Hamilton Woods
Homicide Detectives Investigate Case As "Unspecified Death"

6.4.11

HAMILTON, Ohio -- Hamilton police said the body of a boy has been found in the woods at the dead end of Gordon Smith Boulevard on Saturday morning.

Homicide detectives said the boy has been identified, but they are not releasing his name due to his age.
snipped

http://www.wlwt.com/r/28132590/detail.html

It's not Timmothy, but sadly it's a young man gone too soon.
Update:
 http://www.wlwt.com/r/28132590/detail.html
Coroner: No Foul Play Involved In Teen's Death
Updated June 6, 2011

 ::snipping2::
HAMILTON, Ohio -- The death of a teenage boy found over the weekend in Hamilton was not a result of foul play, the coroner's office said Monday.

Hamilton police said the teen's body was found in the woods at the dead end of Gordon Smith Boulevard on Saturday morning.

Homicide detectives said Monday afternoon that the 14-year-old boy was identified as Patrick Fugate.

Detectives said they were investigating the case as an unspecified death, and they did not specify whether the boy died as a result of suicide, natural causes or an accident.
 ::snipping2::

[grace-land]

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/5890673-417/one-month-later-search-continues-for-timmothy-pitzen.html

One month later, search continues for Timmothy Pitzen
By Matt Hanley mhanley@stmedianetwork.com June 11, 2011 5:25PM
Updated: June 11, 2011 9:32PM

Sometime between late May 13 and early May 14, Amy Fry-Pitzen — cut and bloodied — tried to get out of the bathtub.

She was in Room 108 of the Rockford Motel, where rooms are tidy but sparse: two beds with maroon spreads, a night stand, a dresser and an old TV. Amy had added little to the surroundings. Besides a bottle of water, a flier from the Wisconsin Dells and a bottle of children’s cough syrup, there was the five-sentence suicide note. Amy had double-locked the door and secured the chain.

At some point, she cut her arms lengthwise, letting the blood spill into the bathtub. In her last moments, she took one or two steps toward the sink and collapsed.

“All that was left was the final beats of her heart,” the motel’s manager said.

After two attempts to wake up whoever was in Room 108 about 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 14, a maid unlocked the door. Even with the chain still on, she could see Amy’s body. When Rockford police identified her, it tripped an alert: Reported missing with her 6-year-old son out of Aurora. The boy was not in the room. Police found no sign he had been there.

 ::snipping2::
 

[MadMom]

I wonder if there was any abuse suspected or reported.

I am NOT accusing this father, especially under such circumstances.  I am only trying to determine a reason for this mother to hand over her child to someone other than family.

Alas, even that idea is far fetched. 

[MuffyBee]

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/06/14/case-of-missing-timmothy-pitzen-turns-cold/
Case Of Missing Timmothy Pitzen Turns Cold
June 14, 2011

Police on Saturday released this image of Timmothy Pitzen, which is considered the most recent picture of the missing Aurora boy.

[grace-land]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-timmothy-pitzen-0619-20110618,0,6278746.story

Missing boy's grandmother shaken, hopeful
Police want to conduct another search but wonder, 'where do we start?
By Ted Gregory, Tribune reporter
3:16 a.m. CDT, June 18, 2011

Alana Anderson refuses to wipe away the small handprint left on a window at her northwest suburban home — a reminder of her 6-year-old grandson, who has been missing for more than a month.

"I cry a lot," said Anderson, who lives with constant reminders of the boy — the sight of children's clothing in department stores, the garden where he helped her plant beans. "It's like it's somebody else's life, not mine."

 ::snipping2::

Police are considering another search — dozens of law enforcement officers conducted one May 19 in a rural area about 100 miles west of Chicago — but they've been unable to pinpoint a place, Ferrelli said.

"When you look at the expanse of area where he and Amy were last reported, the biggest challenge is where do we start?" he said.

That frustration is why authorities hope the public remains vigilant, Ferrelli said.

Finding missing items belonging to the boy, including a Spiderman backpack, a Wild Republic "Aquatic Rig" truck and a blue Hot Wheels starter set, might give investigators a more manageable area to search, he said.

Authorities also have sent soil samples and weeds found under Amy Fry-Pitzen's SUV to be analyzed in hopes of determining where she may have driven.

 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://mystateline.com/fulltext-news?nxd_id=261757
Video
Missing Boy Investigation Takes Toll on Investigators
June 29, 2011

[wildmala]

6/2/11

Aurora police are processing Amy Fry-Pitzen’s SUV for a second time, hoping evidence in the vehicle may lead to information about her 6-year-old son Timmothy, who has been missing since May 13.

When authorities found the 2004 Ford Expedition, it was "visibly dirty" with plants that appeared similar to tall grass or weeds underneath, according to Aurora police. Police are taking samples for analysis by geologists and other experts.

If the plants or dirt are unique to certain areas near Dixon, Rock Falls or Sterling — the last general location it can be proved Fry-Pitzen and Timmothy were together — police say they will target those areas. No additional searches are planned, pending test results.

snip
Several items Fry-Pitzen bought for Timmothy before his disappearance also have not been found. Police are asking land owners near Sterling and visitors to the area to look out for the belongings including a cellphone, an I-PASS device, a Spider-Man backpack, a tube of kids Crest toothpaste, a clear plastic craft case, a blue Hot Wheels starter set, an aquatic rig toy truck and pretend gold coins decorated with animals.

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1430374831&start=19

My hope is that this purchase might be evidence that she didn't do any harm to him...why buy him toothpaste unless she knew he would need it...  I hope.

[grace-land]

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110805/news/708059737/

Mother: ‘You will never find’ Aurora boy
Article updated: 8/5/2011 5:52 PM

 ::snipping2::

Timmothy Pitzen last was seen May 13 — one day before his mother Amy Fry-Pitzen was found dead with a box cutter under her body. Winnebago County authorities said Friday that Fry-Pitzen left a note that reads: “Tim was somewhere safe with people who love him and will take care of him. You will never find him.”

A coroner’s jury on Friday ruled Fry-Pitzen’s death a suicide, caused by loss of blood from sharp force trauma, Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia said. The 43-year-old woman had a large cut to the right side of her neck and cuts to her left forearm, Fiduccia said.

While Fry-Pitzen had a high level of an antihistamine in her system when she died, there were no signs of alcohol or illegal drug use, according to the coroner.

 ::snipping2::

Previous efforts including searches near Dixon, Rock Falls, Rockford and Sterling; an investigation of files on Fry-Pitzen’s computers; and an analysis of plant material on her vehicle have been unsuccessful in finding the boy.

 ::snipping2::

Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110805/news/708059737/#ixzz1UIfmXB2S