Ohio Man Who Claimed to Be Missing Timmothy Pitzen in Jail, Police Say

An Ohio man who identified himself as Timmothy Pitzen, an Illinois boy who went missing in 2011, spent the night in the Hamilton County Jail after DNA results revealed he was not the missing six-year-old.

Brian Michael Rini, 23, was booked into the Hamilton County Jail at around 11 p.m. Thursday night, but it was not immediately clear if he faced any charges related to the deception. Officials say the Medina, Ohio resident has a history of criminal charges, and documented mental health issues that date back to 2013.

At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Medina Police Chief Ed Kinney said Rini had multiple run-ins with his department, and noted that he is a "known schemer" and has been in and out of jail on a wide range of charges, which include trying to pass bad checks, making false alarms, theft, falsification. He was recently released from Belmont Correctional Institute after serving eighteen months for burglary and vandalism, officials said.

Timmothy's aunt, Kara Jacobs and maternal grandmother, Alana Anderson expressed sympathy for the young man who claimed to be the missing boy.

“I don’t think that anything involving a child is a hoax and I would reserve all judgment and pray for the young man involved,” Jacobs said.

Anderson added that the last 24 hours have been awful for their family. "We’ve been on tenterhooks… It’s just been exhausting," Timmothy's grandmother said. "As Kara said, I feel so sorry for the young man who had a horrible time and felt the need to say he was someone else and hope that they can find his family.”

Rini was found Wednesday wandering around Newport, Kentucky streets, identifying himself as Timmothy Pitzen. DNA tests by officials quickly confirmed that he was not the missing boy and identified Rini when his name came up in a DNA database.

Timmothy went missing nearly eight years ago after his mother picked him up from his elementary school. He was last seen at a water park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, with his mother. A few days later, she was found dead in a motel room in Rockford, Illinois, with a suicide note next to her that said that her son was 'safe' with other people who would love and care for him.

The note promised that people "would never find him."

Timmothy would have turned 14-years-old on Wednesday.

Photo: Hamilton County Sheriff's Department