Man who claimed to be missing Illinois boy made false claims before
The Associated Press
This undated photo provided by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in Cincinnati shows Brian Rini. (Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
A slab of concrete sits in the backyard of the house where Timmothy Pitzen used to live in Aurora, Ill., Thursday, April, 4, 2019. The man who lives in the house now, Pedro Melendez, says he didn’t know the boy but saved the concrete slab with Tim’s name, handprint and footprint etched in it when he redid the back patio. Authorities conducted DNA testing to try to determine Thursday whether a teenager found wandering the streets of a Kentucky town is who he claims to be — an Illinois boy who disappeared eight years ago around the time his mother took her own life. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)
A slab of concrete sits in the backyard of the house where Timmothy Pitzen used to live in Aurora, Illinois, Thursday, April, 2019. The man who lives in the house now, Pedro Melendez, says he didn’t know the boy but saved the concrete slab with Tim’s name, handprint and footprint etched in it when he redid the back patio. Authorities conducted DNA testing to try to determine Thursday whether a teenager found wandering the streets of a Kentucky town is who he claims to be — an Illinois boy who disappeared eight years ago around the time his mother took her own life. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)
Linda Ramirez stands in front of her house in Aurora, Ill., Thursday, April 4, 2019, where she is waiting to learn if a 14-year-old who told police he is Timmothy Pitzen and had escaped kidnappers in the Cincinnati area is really him. Authorities conducted DNA testing to try to determine Thursday whether a teenager found wandering the streets of a Kentucky town is who he claims to be — an Illinois boy who disappeared eight years ago around the time his mother took her own life. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)
This undated photo provided by the Aurora, Ill., Police Department shows Timmothy Pitzen, missing since 2011. A young man’s claim to be Timmothy, the missing Illinois boy who disappeared under tragic circumstances eight years ago, has been exposed as a hoax, authorities said Thursday, April 4, 2019. DNA tests have determined the young man is not Timmothy. (Aurora Police Department via AP)
CINCINNATI — An FBI affidavit says an Ohio man who authorities say falsely claimed to be an Illinois boy missing for eight years has made similar claims twice before.
The affidavit filed in federal court Friday says 23-year-old Brian Rini repeatedly told investigators he was Timmothy Pitzen, who disappeared in Aurora, Illinois, in 2011 at age 6.
The affidavit says Rini refused to be fingerprinted but submitted to a DNA test after which his true identity was determined.
The affidavit says Rini had watched a TV show about Pitzen and told investigators he wanted to get away from his family.
Investigators determined Rini had twice before falsely portrayed himself as a juvenile sex trafficking victim.
Federal court records don’t list an attorney for Rini.
