Family and friends of missing Illinois boy Timmothy Pitzen believe he lives in a religious community with no access to the outside world or the internet and may not know who he is.
Linda Pitzen, the boy’s paternal grandmother, speculated that her daughter-in-law, Amy Fry-Pitzen, 43, turned Timmothy over to the Mormons in May 2011 – just days before killing herself, leaving only ‘a brief enigmatic message. suicide is not late.
In the note, Fry-Pitzen reassured his family that Timmothy was safe and had been in the care of other people who love him, but warned them that he would never be found.
Linda Pitzen, after having “tortured” herself trying to decipher the note, with her family, is convinced that her grandson is still alive.
“I think she wanted Timm to be raised Mormon,” Linda Pitzen told the US Sun. “The rest of us are not Mormon and I think this was his way of making sure he was after he left.”
“She never forced this on anyone except Jim. But he was reluctant and I think maybe his church pushed it a little bit, I don’t know.
“But she went to a Mormon church. She wasn’t raised that way, she was a convert – and that was before Jim met her.
On May 11, 2011, Amy Fry-Pitzen pulled her then 6-year-old son out of school early in Aurora, Illinois, telling staff there was a family emergency.
After cutting off all communication with her family for 48 hours, Amy spoke to her mother and her husband’s brother Jim on May 13, informing them that they would be home soon.
The young boy was heard in the background making noise and was put on the phone at one point.
After the phone call, Amy turned off her phone, her last location being in the small town of Sterling, 80 miles west of Aurora.
Amy was found dead on May 14 in a motel room in Rockford, Illinois.
His death was ruled a suicide by prescription drug overdose and deep razor cuts to his wrists.
Timmothy was never found.
Hannah Soukup, the boy’s former classmate, suspected that Timmothy had been placed in the care of people his mother had been instructed to keep away from the world.
“I think she dropped it off somewhere – I don’t know if it was in a religious area or something – but I think she dropped it off and gave it to some people whose she knew they would keep him safe and hidden,” Soukoup told the outlet on the 13th anniversary of his disappearance.
“Whatever Amy did, she did a good job of hiding it,” Soukup added. “I think she made it clear that either his identity needed to be changed or he needed to stay off the internet so he never knew he was missing.”
Linda Pitzen agrees with Soukup’s theory, saying Amy may have given her son to a commune.
“I read that suicide note, and if you read that note and you know her, I guess she probably gave it to someone to live in a compound,” she said. “I have to hope that’s true because that would be a much better option for me to deal with as opposed to what the other options are.”
Timmothy’s former classmate also harbors hope that he is still alive, and if he were to reappear, it wouldn’t be because anyone was looking for him.
“One of my theories is that if he is found, then I think he will reappear on his own, I don’t think it will be the police or the investigators who find him,” Soukup said.
As Timmothy’s family continues to wish for his return, they also hope that new technologies can also play a key role in unraveling the mysterious disappearance.
Investigators found dirt and grass under Amy’s car. They analyzed and determined that they came from northern Illinois, in a location believed to have been visited by the mother before she left alone and committed suicide.
Soukup believes that advances in technology can identify where it came from, which could help determine where Amy went before her death and where Timmothy is.
New York Post
