Timmothy Pitzen was only 6 years old when he disappeared from Aurora, Illinois. Investigators said his mother, 43-year-old Amy Pitzen, picked up her son from Greenman Elementary School and he was never seen again. Reports claim Amy told school officials there was a family emergency. From the moment the pair were seen on surveillance cameras leaving, Amy refused to return any calls or texts to Timmothy's father Jim Pitzen. Jim ultimately reported his son missing.

Only days later, on May 14, 2011, Amy was found at a Rockford, Illinois motel where she died by suicide. ABC 7 reports Amy and Timmothy were last seen together on the morning of May 13 leaving the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells, after visiting the zoo. According to reports, Timmothy was not seen checking into the motel with his mother 24 hours later and there was a mysterious note left behind. The note claimed the boy would be taken care of and Amy didn't elaborate any further on her claim he is okay.

Investigators have not given up and neither has the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Aurora Police Chief Kristen Zlman said this week, “Our investigation remains active and we’re committed to finding answers for the Pitzen family."

Angeline Hartmann, Director of Communications at NCMEC and Host of the "Inside Crime" podcast, knows exactly how vital these new age enhanced images can be to these cases., “We know that our age progression photos help bring home missing children.” But the question in many minds remains:, “Is there a family out there raising Timmothy as their own child? We know that has happened before and it’s very possible in this case," Hartmann asks.

This is one of the main reasons why Timmothy's case is also the focus of her podcast and dives deeply into those closest to this case. “For the first time, we hear intimate details about what led up to Timmothy's disappearance and what's happened over the last decade." said Hartmann.

In 2019 authorities throught they had a major break in this missing child investigation. Brian Rini, who was 23 at the time and living in Kentucky, claimed to be Timmothy. Rini was a Medina, Ohio man who said he had just escaped kidnappers who held him hostage for years.

Local investigators and the FBI immediately took Rini's claims seriously, but they were met with some hesitation by Rini, and he refused to be fingerprinted. It was later determined through DNA that Rini was not Timmothy at all. In fact, Rini, an imposter, reportedly had a criminal record involving false alarms.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Rini was sentenced to two years behind bars. He pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and was credited with time served. He was also ordered to serve one year probation at the end of his sentence, the report added.

At the time of this imposters story, Alana Anderson, Timmothy’s grandmother, said the family “never stopped looking for him and that they were “cautiously optimistic.”

As for now, Timmothy's father Jim Pitzen recently said, “It’s hard to believe that we have been searching for Timmothy for ten long years now." He added no matter what at the end of the day there is still hope, “We believe he is out there and we hope every day that he will make his way home.”

Hartmann wants everyone to know, although Timmothy has been gone since 2011 and everyone realizes he is 16-years-old, they believe this new detailed image will help significantly, "This is the face that we ask everybody to look at closely, because we know that it’s one way he can be found.”

Anyone who may have information is asked to call The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or the Aurora Police Department’s Timmothy Pitzen Tip Line at (630) 256-5516.