Brian Michael Rini: Fast Facts On The Man Who Claimed To Be Timmothy Pitzen
Chicago (CBS) -- A person found in Kentucky on Wednesday is not Timmothy Pitzen, the Aurora boy who disappeared nearly eight years ago, the FBI said Thursday. Here are fast facts about Brian Michael Rini, the person who claimed to be Timmothy Pitzen.
1. Newport police identify the person claiming to be Timmothy Pitzen as Brian Michael Rini, 23, of Medina, Ohio.
2. Rini has a criminal record, including burglary and vandalism. In 2015, he was arrested and pleaded guilty to making false alarms involving a law enforcement agency.
3. The person, who police now say was Rini, was seen roaming alone Wednesday morning in Newport, Kentucky, and told officers that he was Timmothy Pitzen and had just escaped from two kidnappers who had been holding him for seven years.
4. The woman who called 911 after she found the person wandering the streets said he told her he'd been running for hours, crossing the bridge from Cincinnati into Newport, after escaping his kidnappers.
"He told me he had been kidnapped, he just really wanted to get home, he lived in Illinois. That's what he told me, and he just was passed around to people that he didn't know," she said. "I don't know why he would just come here and make that up. I just don't see why he would just make up his name."
5. In a press conference on Thursday, Timmothy's maternal grandmother Alana Anderson said the family has been on "tenterhooks," hopeful, frightened and exhausted. "I feel so sorry for the young man who's obviously had a horrible time and felt the need to say he was someone else in hope that they can find his family."
6. Rini recently served 18 months in prison for burglary and vandalism.
7. In the past, Rini has pleaded guilty to making false alarms to law enforcement.
8. Rini's lengthy record also includes passing bad checks, criminal trespass and driving without a license.
