Timothy Pitzen, 6 Missing

Police come up empty in massive search for Aurora boy

Aurora police and officers from other agencies are searching areas in and around Sterling for clues to the whereabouts of a missing 6-year-old Aurora boy Timothy Pitzen on Thursday, May 19, 2011.

FBI, U.S. marshal join hunt for missing Aurora boy
Cops: Missing boy’s backpack, car seat also gone
Missing boy’s classmates tying yellow ribbon around school
Aurora police and officers from other agencies combed the countryside of western Illinois for five hours Thursday, looking for clues to the whereabouts of a missing 6-year-old Aurora boy.

But the search turned up nothing, said Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli.

Nine police teams comprised of multiple agencies searched about 30 rural areas around Dixon, Sterling and Rock Falls for any clues to the disappearance of Timothy Pitzen.

Timothy’s mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, took the kindergartner out of Greenman Elementary School in Aurora on May 11, and over the next couple days they visited amusement parks in Gurnee and Wisconsin. The 43-year-old mother was found dead in a Rockford motel room last Friday, and her son has not been seen since.

Fry-Pitzen was last heard from when she used her cell phone in the Sterling-Rock Falls area Friday at about 1 p.m., police said. She left a note saying she had left Timothy in the care of someone, according to police.

“The tips have been very slow coming and we don’t have any strong leads,” said Aurora Police Lt. Pete Inda from a mobile police command center at the Lee County Sheriff’s Department in Dixon. ”We are looking for evidence.”

Police are hoping to find the car seat and Spider-Man backpack that were missing from Amy’s car, and children’s clothing and toys that Amy bought in the days before her death.

A bloodhound, part of a Joliet-based canine unit, was given a plaid shoe insole before hitting the trail and one of the police teams searched a wetland area near the Castle Rock State Park about 10 miles north of Dixon.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Illinois State Police provided planes for the search.

Officers did not begin the search until Thursday because police hoped to get some better leads, according to Inda. But he said better leads haven’t come in.

“We wanted to continue the investigation and talk to family and friends to try to pinpoint a location,” he said. “We couldn’t pinpoint a location, but we knew we had to start searching.”

Police crews are concentrating on the area along the Rock River, rural areas and back roads. The area around Dixon is surrounded by wetlands, bluffs and farmland.

About 70 officers participated in the search. Aurora police were being assisted by the police departments in Sterling, Rock Falls and Dixon, the sheriff’s offices in Lee, Ogle and Whiteside counties and the state Conservation Police.

Inda said the local departments have “the local knowledge. They are helping us in these rural areas.”

“It’s kind of a needle in a haystack,” Inda said of the search. “But we have to be searching. We have to get out there.”

Ferrelli said police search teams will next meet to plan out the next search, but will not be searching Friday.

On Wednesday about 10 police officers canvassed the area with fliers. At the same time, family members and police officers distributed fliers with Timmothy’s picture at rest stops, restaurants, gas stations and businesses along the same area.

Visitation for Amy Fry-Pitzen is scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. today at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 100 Hankes Road in Sugar Grove. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the church.

Anyone with any information about Timmothy’s possible whereabouts is asked to call Aurora police at 630-256-5500, or local police by dialing 911.