New age progression photo of Timmothy Pitzen released as Saturday marks 13 years since disappearance

Timmothy's case sent shockwaves through the nation, when police found the boy's mother dead of an apparent suicide, along with a note saying her son was safe and in someone's care

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Note: "What Happened to Timmothy Pitzen," an NBC Chicago documentary focusing on the twists and turns of the case, can be found in the player above.

As the 13-year mark since Timmothy Pitzen vanished approached, a new image was released in hope of spurring leads in the Aurora boy's bizarre 2011 disappearance.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on Thursday revealed an age progression photo of what Timmothy may look like at his current age, 19 years old. Timmothy's father, shared a message he wrote to his son with the NCEMEC, ahead of the 13-year mark of the then-6-year-old's disappearance.

"Dear Timmothy, The years apart have been hard, I am so looking forward for us to be reunited," the message read. There is so much of your young life I have not been able to be a part of while you have been missing. The future is bright, and I look forward to spending time with you, and getting to know my son again. Till I see you again. Love, Dad."

Timmothy's case sent shockwaves through the nation, when police found the boy's mother dead of an apparent suicide, along with a note saying her son was safe and in someone's care, but that he would never be found.

Three days before she was found dead, Timmothy's mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, checked the then-6-year-old out of school on May 11, 2011. Over the next two days, the two visited the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, the Key Lime Cove Resort in Gurnee and the Wisconsin Dells. Both were last seen at the popular vacation town's Kalahari Resort.

Fry-Pitzen's cell phone, I-Pass and the clothing she was seen wearing on other surveillance videos, as well as Timmothy’s Spider-Man backpack and his toys from the SUV, remained missing years after the boy disappeared, according to police.

The case returned to national headlines in 2019 when a 14-year-old appeared in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area claiming to be Timmothy. A DNA test later showed the boy in question was not actually the missing child, according to the FBI. 

In November 2022, NBC Chicago brought renewed attention to Timmothy's disappearance with "What Happened to Timmothy Pitzen" -- a documentary following the twists and turns of the case with exclusive interviews and details that upend previous theories about Timmothy's whereabouts.

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