Updated: 4/5/2019 8:57 AM PDT
On Wednesday, someone contacted police authorities saying that Brian Rini was roaming around claiming to be Timmothy Pitzen, a child who went missing seven years ago and caught national attention. The case was also recently featured on the A&E show, “Live PD.” Local authorities and the FBI responded to the report and picked up Rini then immediately performed a DNA test to confirm if he was, in fact, the real Timmothy Pitzen.
On Thursday, the DNA test came back negative, and law enforcement knew that Brian Rini was an impostor. As of now, it’s still unclear as to what Rini’s motive was for impersonating the child and what his charge will be for falsely impersonating Timmothy. However, we know the U.S. Attorney’s Office is on the case. Meaning, he will be charged federally.
Rini appears to have a lengthy history of illegal actions. Recently, he just got out of jail a month ago after doing 18 months for burglary and vandalism. He was also convicted of unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Rini was detained Thursday night in Ohio.
Update: 8:51 a.m. 4/5/19
Authorities announced that the FBI has now charged Rini for making up false statements to a federal agent.
The FBI released a statement, which said, “False reports like this can be painful to the families of missing children and also divert law enforcement resources in order to investigate these untruthful claims.”
They continue, “Law enforcement takes dishonest reports very seriously, and we caution that people making false claims can and will face criminal penalties.”