Skip to main content

The Search for Timmothy Pitzen: New NCMEC Image

photo of timmothy as a child next to his age progression on green background
By Halley Gillespie
05-09-2024

Today, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children revealed a new age progression image of what Timmothy may look like today at 19 years old. He was 6 years old when he vanished on May 11, 2011.

Two portrait photos are side by side. The first photo shows Timmothy Pitzen before he went missing with a mottled bright green background behind him. He is about six years old white, with brown, reddish hair and wearing a red, black, white and yellow tropical print collared shirt with a black t-shirt under it. The second photo is an age progression, and it shows what Timmothy might look like today at 19 years old. It shows a young white man, with short brown hair, a big smile and ears that stick out a bit, wearing a gray t-shirt.

Timmothy’s missing photo (left) and the new NCMEC age progression image (right), showing what he might look like today. Credit: NCMEC 

On the 13-year mark of Timmothy’s disappearance, his father, James Pitzen, asked NCMEC to share this message to his son:

Dear Timmothy, 

The years apart have been hard, I am so looking forward for us to be reunited. 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

A young Timmothy Pitzen with short blonde hair is sitting posed on a moto scooter, with his father behind him. Timmothy’s father has short brown hair and a big smile and is wearing a navy jacket.

Timmothy Pitzen with his father. Photo credit: James Pitzen

On May 11, 2011, James Pitzen dropped his young son off at his elementary school. Not long after that, Timmothy was taken out of his Kindergarten class when his mother, Amy Pitzen, unexpectedly picked him up from school. The two never returned to their home in Aurora, Illinois. Over the next three days, Amy took Timmothy to the zoo and two water parks, driving hundreds of miles across Illinois and Wisconsin. Surveillance footage shows Amy and Timmothy checking into hotels and on May 14, 2011, Amy was found deceased in a motel in Rockford, Illinois. There was no sign of Timmothy. Authorities say that Amy committed suicide and left behind a note indicating that Timmothy would be well taken care of but would never be found. Over the years, there have been many theories about what happened to Timmothy. Family members say Amy would never have hurt him. Did his mother leave him with someone to care for him? Is he still alive?

NCMEC has highlighted Timmothy’s case many times over the years. We need your help to finally find answers. If you have any information about Timmothy or his disappearance, please call NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678 or the Aurora Police Department (Illinois) at 1-630-256-5516.

You can view Timmothy’s missing poster here: https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/1171960/1.

Topics in this article

Copyright © National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. All rights reserved.

 

This Web site is funded, in part, through a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this Web site (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided).

 

3.2.21.P

Subscription Errors

CONFIRMATION

Thank you. Your request has been submitted