Why Would Someone Claim To Be A Missing Child?

(CNN)

It didn't take long for investigators to learn that a young man claiming to be a boy who went missing in 2011 wasn't who he said he was.

That man, Brian Michael Rini, 23, had shown up in a Kentucky neighborhood Wednesday, claiming he had fled for two hours from his captors, and identifying himself as the missing Illinois boy Timmothy Pitzen. But DNA results quickly showed otherwise.

"The person in question is not Timmothy Pitzen," the FBI in Louisville tweeted Thursday.

FBI Louisville

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@FBILouisville

FBILouisville, @FBICincinnati, @AuroraPoliceIL, Newport PD, @CincyPD, and HCSO have been conducting a missing person investigation. DNA results have been returned indicating the person in question is not Timmothy Pitzen.

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4:37 PM - Apr 4, 2019

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"To be clear, law enforcement has not and will not forget Timmothy, and we hope to one day reunite him with his family. Unfortunately, that day will not be today."

The jaw-dropping twist in the case raised the question: Why would someone claim to be a missing child?

Jonathon Rini, the man's estranged brother, was at a loss too. When journalists asked why his brother might impersonate a missing child, he replied, "I honestly do not know." Read more