IL IL - Timmothy Fry-Pitzen, 6, Aurora, 13 May 2011 - mom found dead - #1

[blazelet]

Search for missing Aurora boy complicated by communication problems

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

 

[Wondergirl]

Poor Timmothy.

Well, the timing of the purchase of the toys (May 11 to May 13), gives me a more negative sense about the whole thing. They were small items, along with the toothpaste, purchased for Timmothy to play with while they were traveling, IMO. Craft supplies and dinky cars.

Also, she knew enough to ditch the cell phone and I-Pass. This information, combined with the new information about the weeds on the undercarriage of the car, seem to point towards a recovery mission of the dear child, at this point.

The mother did just get the SUV back from the garage prior to leaving, correct? I am sure the garage would have known if there were weeds etc. on the undercarriage, while it was in (though I can't recall why it was there, was it tires?)

With any luck at all, the analysis on the weeds will lead LE to some narrowed down search areas.

 

[Wondergirl]

Here is a little more information on the "visibly dirty SUV":

• http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...itzen-missing-pictures,0,4687953.photogallery

Amy Fry-Pitzen's 2004 Ford Expedition was "visibly dirty" when it was discovered, police said.

Authorities are hoping geologists and other specialists can determine whether dirt and weeds found under the vehicle are unique to the Rock Falls-Sterling area of northwestern Illinois, where she and her son, Timmothy Pitzen, were last known to be together about three weeks ago.

Fry-Pitzen made several cellphone calls from the area, but police have not been able to pinpoint their exact location. Her final call, placed about 1:30 p.m. May 13, put her around five miles northwest of Sterling near Illinois Highway 40, police said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-timmothy-pitzen-0602-20110601,0,380490.story

 

[blazelet]

Grandma hopeful that missing grandson will be found.

http://www.indeonline.com/news/x437340228/Grandma-hopeful-that-missing-grandson-will-be-found

Timmothy Pitzen was last seen May 13 with his mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, at a grocery store in Winnebago, Ill. Fry-Pitzen’s body was discovered the next day at a motel in nearby Rockford, Ill. According to authorities, Fry-Pitzen committed suicide and left a note that indicated she had left her son with an unidentified couple.

Is there new information Ive missed? Or is this story incorrect?

Linda noted she recently was contacted by a friend from her hometown in eastern Iowa, about 45 miles west of the Mississippi River, who just learned of Timmothy’s disappearance.

“People who I grew up with are starting to hear about it. I don’t think we have coverage of it nationwide,” Linda said.

Pitzen added her co-workers at Chapel Hill have been supportive during her family’s ordeal.

Most definitely not nearly enough national exposure.

 

[blazelet]

This is the best article I've seen on this case on a LONG time. It's full of new information, filling in a lot of things we've guessed at previously :

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/5872067-417/one-month-later-search-continues-for-timmothy-pitzen.html

Edit : Hmmm seems to have been taken down ... it had more details about the suicide note, what she bought at the grocery store, the route taken to Sterling, where the phone calls were made, hotel workers impressions of Amy the night she killed herself, even more details of the crime scene and what room it was.

What I can remember after reading it :

The suicide note was 5 lines, and stated in it that Timmothy was with people and would never be found.
At the grocery store in Winnebego she purchased Ritz Crackers and Milk, and was seen on security camera.
In the hotel she was in room 108 and paid $40 cash. The manager said she was calm and even - he doesn't believe she had killed her son.
She cut her wrists in the bathtub and then tried to get out, collapsing by the sink. Maids found her the next morning.
She took interstates through Rockford to Sterling, not back roads (based on ipass). However she took back roads back to Rockford.
The results of the grass \ mud samples and the more recent searches in Sterling have been inconclusive.

 

[fedfan4life]

OK, total speculation here. I have 2 thoughts, both having to do w/the fact that Amy got out of the bathtub after slitting her wrists (assuming, of course, this means that she regretted doing so):

1. Why would she have a change of heart regarding committing suicide if she indeed had killed her child?;

2. Would she be second-guessing the reasons for separating Timmothy from his father and extended family? This requires another assumption in that from her POV, she was protecting him, not harming him.

Either way, would this action not point to the fact that the child is still alive?

 

[blazelet]

I felt the exact same way, just never know when I'm being too speculative. But I'm 100% with you on both of these points.

 

[fedfan4life]

I felt the exact same way, just never know when I'm being too speculative. But I'm 100% with you on both of these points.

Good, then I am not the only one who is hopeful that the child is alive.

 

[summer_breeze]

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/5872067-417/one-month-later-search-continues-for-timmothy-pitzen.html

June 10, 2011 4:17PM

Video and photos at link

 

[Wondergirl]

These pictures and captions are some of the ones accompanying the Beacon Article that is still online, as posted above (thank-you).

I have a few questions:

-What did Amy do in the half-hour after going to the Dollar Store for paper, and being seen at the Grocery Store?

-Where did she go for the 6 hours she was unaccounted for?

-Has anyone found the Aurora Police video showing Timmothy with his Mother?

-Why isn't this case receiving more attention, I don't get it. Does LE think he has passed?

At 8 p.m. Friday, May 13, Amy Fry-Pitzen was seen on surveillance video buying Ritz crackers and milk at this Sullivan's Foods in Winnebago, hours before she killed herself in a Rockford motel. Her son, Timmothy, is not seen in the video. | Marianne Mathe
http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/index.html?story=5872067

Amy Fry-Pitzen bought paper, a pen and envelopes at this Family Dollar in Winnebago, around 7:25 p.m. Friday, May 13. About a half hour later, she was seen at Sullivan's Foods, a grocery store a few hundred feet away. | Marianne Mather~Sun-Times Media

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/index.html?story=5872067

On Friday, May 13, about 5 miles northwest of Sterling, along Route 40, Amy Fry-Pitzen made her last phone call. Amy turned her cell phone off at 1:30 p.m. and wasn't seen for six hours, 50 miles away. | Marianne Mather~Sun-Times Media

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/index.html?story=5872067

Sometime between 11:30 p.m. Friday and 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Amy Fry-Pitzen killed herself in room 108 at the Rockford Motel. A maid found her body Saturday afternoon. | Marianne Mather~Sun-Times Media

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/index.html?story=5872067

Aurora police have released security video showing 6-year-old Timmothy Pitzen and his mother checking out of a Wisconsin Dells resort. The video marks the last time Timmothy and his mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, 43, were seen together.

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/index.html?story=5872067

 

[Wondergirl]

Here is the video of the last time Timmothy was seen with his mother :

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/new...y-new-video-kalahari-wisconsin-dells-20110526http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/new...y-new-video-kalahari-wisconsin-dells-20110526

 

[Wondergirl]

Where did Amy go between 8:00 and 11:15 pm May 13th?

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.

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/new...y-new-video-kalahari-wisconsin-dells-20110526

 

[HesterMofet]

Okay, crazy theory of the day here.

What if she put him in the cemetery? Have they checked to see if there were any open graves that day or recent burials? I don't know if there are a lot of oak trees in Oak Hill Cemetery, but old oaks can be hollow. Maybe he's in a tree? These would all qualify for "with people" and "never be found."

If she gave him away, she would have convinced someone in a 3 hour 15 minute radius (if you want to say from 1:30 to 8 pm) to take Timmothy. If they think he might be with the Amish in the area, why don't the police go to their community and speak with a leader and tell them the situation and ask for help?

I am speculating that the reason she got out of the tub is because she had second thoughts about not telling where Timmothy really was and decided to make a death bed confession before she died. Unfortunately, she didn't make it.

I warned you, I can think of some crazy theories.

 

[Janeumayer]

Okay, crazy theory of the day here.

What if she put him in the cemetery? Have they checked to see if there were any open graves that day or recent burials? I don't know if there are a lot of oak trees in Oak Hill Cemetery, but old oaks can be hollow. Maybe he's in a tree? These would all qualify for "with people" and "never be found."

If she gave him away, she would have convinced someone in a 3 hour 15 minute radius (if you want to say from 1:30 to 8 pm) to take Timmothy. If they think he might be with the Amish in the area, why don't the police go to their community and speak with a leader and tell them the situation and ask for help?

I am speculating that the reason she got out of the tub is because she had second thoughts about not telling where Timmothy really was and decided to make a death bed confession before she died. Unfortunately, she didn't make it.

I warned you, I can think of some crazy theories.

You are not crazy, I thought the same thing when the cemetery was mentioned. I disregarded it because I was thinking that all the graves where covered.

 

[LongTallTexan]

More speculation....
Maybe this whole trip had nothing to do with Amy, her 'place', or her suicidal history or her agenda....maybe it has everything to do with Timmothy and protecting/removing/saving him from something/someone.....her own suicide was simple a by-product of giving her son away to someone....meaning the suicide was unplanned until Winnebago. In that case, maybe on her trip back (going thru Winnebago and Rockford), everything unraveled for her.

This puts her on a route from W to E along Rt 20.

Now that we've learned that she took the interstate, she got off the interstate around Dixon/Sterling area and was headed NW. This puts her driving toward NE Iowa and returning from that same area....coincidentally, where she has some family/friends/history.

So, some more questions:
Who did she talk to during those calls, in what order, for how long each and where do they live??? If her she made plans to give her only Son to someone for life and there are no other communications/emails, etc of contact, maybe she made arrangements on the cell phone that day and whoever she talked to, whether interrogated already or not, are harboring or have knowledge of Timmothy.

It state she drove 170 miles while makeing the calls....what is the 170? There is no way of knowing the mileage between calls, so that must mean they are estimating that between 1:30 (Sterling) and 7:30 (Winnebago) that she drove that much?? How are they calculating 170? Is this based on the expected mileage after traveling logical routes up until Sterling? 170 miles would take her well into Iowa? Any thoughts on that?

 

[blazelet]

It state she drove 170 miles while makeing the calls....what is the 170? There is no way of knowing the mileage between calls, so that must mean they are estimating that between 1:30 (Sterling) and 7:30 (Winnebago) that she drove that much?? How are they calculating 170? Is this based on the expected mileage after traveling logical routes up until Sterling? 170 miles would take her well into Iowa? Any thoughts on that?

The 170 miles and calls ended with the 1:30p call NW of Sterling. After that her phone was turned off. So the 170 miles would be from Wisconsin Dells to Sterling.

That has been my understanding.

I have absolutely no clue how much of this was pre-meditated. I do know that based on all of her actions I have a hard time believing Timmothy was hurt by her. Iowa is a thought that has crossed my mind, that's where she met her husband prior to moving to Illinois.

 

[LongTallTexan]

It is just about 170 from Dells to Sterling...but we can all do that math. Why can't they tell us how many miles she put on the truck. If they know the basic local route from Aurora to Zoo to Gurnee to Racine to Johnson Creek to Dells to Sterling....either from the Gas bought v. used or the mileage from the Repair shop....someone must know an estimate of how many miles between Sterling and the Rockford motel.

that would tell us good info.

Why have we not seen the clothes bought in Racine....he could be wearing them????????

 

[LongTallTexan]

Does anyone have any thoughts or theories about milk and ritz crackers or the water and childrens cough syrup? Odd findings to me.

Any information on what type of weapon used to slit her wrist? Where she may have gotten it? I find it odd she bought envelopes...did she put the note in an envelope and how many were left. She had 3 hours between the purchase and the hotel...maybe she sent more mail to someone.

Just the fact that she states he's with "people" and not someone leads me to believe that he's with a large group.

Also, that a source said the note stated, "that he wouldn't be found"....that she know's he's protected. I'm hoping this to be a good sign, I don't think she'd make such a bold statement if she disposed of a body.

The real question is why. Why does she not want him to be found? Why take him away from his father and home......what was going on there? The father didn't report until the next day, and won't discuss her mental health with LE.....what are we not being told here.....there's more to this story still.

 

[LongTallTexan]

I woke up in the middle of the night last night with this....it's the phone calls.

Take a look at her route....consistent, major highways, the whole way....until around 12:00 on Friday. Apparently, with a 10:10 sighting in Dells, and calls being made between 12 and 1:30, her route was direct from Dells to Sterling area...giving a reasonable margin error (Dells to Sterling via I-90 & I-39 = 170 miles or about 2.5 hrs) This has her entering Illinois around 11:45 and exiting I-39 onto I-88 around 12:15-12:30. Currently we don't know of any other stops she made prior....but I believe the MSM reports state that she made several calls between 12:00 noon and the infamous 1:30 call about 5 miles N of Sterling.

It was apparent that she might be coming home....but who did she talk to in those first calls from 12:00 to 12:30 that may have assisted her, put her in contact with someone or help make up her mind to go West (Sterling) on I-88 instead of East to Aurora?

I realize it doesn't take another hour(12:30-1:30) to drive to Sterling, more like 30 minutes, but this could account for a rest stop, wrong turn, pull-over to talk or just driving around Sterling Rock Falls trying to figure out what she's going to do.

But back to the calls....(assuming this was less planned) everything was going well for the two of them, but she didn't have pen & paper at that point, she was driving South toward Aurora, and amost abruptly, turned West to Sterling and continued N-NW out of Sterling...in the opposite direction. Unless she met someone in that area, which seems unlikely with the amount of time it took her to get to Winnebago, she drove further N-NW out of Sterling, meaning that she was heading home but changed her mind....someone on the other end of her phone may have more information....who was it and what was said to make her turn west?

 

[LongTallTexan]

More theory...only because I believe someone has this little boy.

I believe this was completely unplanned. The car needed work, they were both dropped of off at work as usual, nothing was packed (not even tooth paste). They had to stop for clothes.

It's been said by a few that she needed time away, but from what? Why the secret?

Why not a call home to Dad/Hubby, after a missing person's report was filed on Thurs, why not a courtesy call from the Dells, "Hey, we're OK"?

Several calls on Friday, but not one call made to 'home'???

Why not return a call to her own husband....maybe even a text?

It makes me ask who or what was she running from?

People who fight depression often can only find a long term solution (in this case suicide) to a short term problem. What was that problem? It may not be as big as we think, but there has to be a problem in her mind.

So, I believe it was unplanned, and at somepoint (calls on Friday) when she realized she couldn't run forever and started heading home, she found a better solution than going home. Who did she talk to besides her Brother-in-law (??) Dave West?