TIMOTHY WILTSEY - 5 yo (1991)/ Charged: Mother; Michelle Lodzinski - South Amboy NJ

Mother charged in son’s death decades after he disappears

POSTED 2:58 PM, AUGUST 7, 2014,
BY CNN WIRES

For more than two decades, New Jersey investigators had not been able to solve the homicide of 5-year-old Timothy Wiltsey.

His mother, Michelle Lodzinski, reported the boy missing on May 25, 1991, telling police that he disappeared at a carnival.

On Wednesday, 23 years after Timmy vanished, Lodzinski was arrested in Florida on a murder charge in connection with his death.

His disappearance shook the South Amboy, New Jersey, community where his family lived. Dozens of volunteers searched nearby fields and marshes for clues, according to WCBS.

The case gained national attention after missing posters for the boy were distributed to thousands of rail employees in 13 states, WCBS reported. Timmy’s picture was even displayed on a giant screen at Yankee Stadium.

Less than a year after he was reported missing, Timmy’s partial remains were found in a remote section of an industrial park in nearby Edison, New Jersey.

In the end, a routine cold-case review sparked a new investigation into the death, according to prosecutors in Middlesex County.

The findings were presented to a grand jury, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office.

The grand jury charged that Lodzinski “did purposely or knowingly kill Timothy Wiltsey, or did purposely or knowingly inflict serious bodily injury upon Timothy Wiltsey, resulting in his death,” according to the prosecutor’s office.

Lodzinski was considered a suspect over the years but she was never charged because of a lack of evidence, according to The Star-Ledger newspaper.

Days after she reported her son missing, Lodzinski told detectives that two men, one with a knife, kidnapped Timmy, the newspaper reported.

She returned later that day and told authorities she had made up the story of the abduction. The following day, she gave police another account, according to the newspaper.

In 1994, in another bizarre scenario, Lodzinski claimed that she was kidnapped and driven to Detroit by FBI agents. She later admitted making that story up as well, according to The Star-Ledger.

Speaking about the woman’s fake kidnapping story, Alan Rockoff, the Middlesex County Prosecutor at the time of Timmy’s disappearance, told the newspaper, “It confirmed to me what we already knew — she was the suspect.”

Lodzinski was arrested Wednesday evening in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and charged with murder, the prosecutor’s office said. Her bail was set at $2 million and she was awaiting an extradition hearing Thursday.

http://fox2now.com/2014/08/07/mother-charged-in-sons-death-decades-after-he-disappears/

Florida woman charged in NJ in son's 1990s slaying

© AP Photo: Martin County, Florida Sheriff's Office
3 hr ago | By Associated Press

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — A Florida woman was arrested in the death of her 5-year-old son, who was reported missing from a carnival in New Jersey in 1991, but authorities are not saying what led them to file charges.

Michelle Lodzinski, 47, was arrested Wednesday in Jensen Beach, Florida. The Port St. Lucie, Florida, resident was held on $2 million bail and it was not yet known whether she had a lawyer or would agree to return to New Jersey. She was scheduled to appear in court in Florida early Thursday afternoon.

"Following a routine, cold case review of the evidence and facts surrounding the disappearance and murder of Timothy Wiltsey, a new investigation was conducted and the matter was presented to the grand jury," Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey said in a statement.

A grand jury in Middlesex County handed up an indictment against Lodzinski. The panel said she "did purposely or knowingly kill" Wiltsey or did "purposely or knowingly inflict serious bodily injury" resulting in his death.

Lodzinski told authorities the boy had disappeared at a carnival in Sayreville in May 1991. She has long been considered a suspect, with investigators at the time saying that her story changed as police questioned her.

The child's skeletal remains were found in April 1992 in a marshy area in nearby Edison.

Alan Rockoff, the Middlesex County prosecutor when Timmy disappeared, said he wasn't surprised at Lodzinski's arrest.

"We didn't have sufficient evidence at the time to pull the trigger," Rockoff told The Associated Press. "There was no direct smoking gun here."

Rockoff, 81, said detectives never stopped working the case and did as much as they could to solve it.

"Hopefully now, there's a possibility of closure," Rockoff said. "Justice works slowly, but works surely."

Lodzinski ran into other legal troubles after her son's death.

She surfaced in Michigan in January 1994 and said two men claiming to be FBI agents had abducted her at gunpoint outside her apartment building, forced her into a black SUV and drove her to Detroit, where they let her out.

She pleaded guilty in 1995 to making false statements to the FBI and fraudulently using the agency's seal. She was sentenced to probation.

In 1997, Lodzinski was arrested and charged with stealing a computer from her former employer. She pleaded guilty to a theft charge and was pregnant in 1998 when a federal judge sentenced her to house arrest after she admitted she committed a crime while on probation.


http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/florida-woman-charged-nj-sons-1990s-slaying-24877960

Mom Pleads Not Guilty in 5-Year-Old Son's Death

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Sep 16, 2014, 4:53 PM ET


Michelle Lodzinski arrives in court for her arraignment before Judge Bradley Ferencz in State Superior Court, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, in New Brunswick, N.J. Lodzinski, is charged in the 1991 death of her 5-year-old son, Timothy Wiltsey. Lodzinski,... View Full Caption AP


A Florida woman charged with killing her 5-year-old son more than 20 years ago in New Jersey has pleaded not guilty.

A lawyer for Michelle Lodzinski entered the plea during a brief court hearing in New Brunswick on Tuesday. Gerald Krovatin of Newark told the court his client adamantly maintains her innocence.

"We still do not believe they (the prosecutors) have a good explanation for why the case was brought 23 years later," Krovatin told The Star-Ledger after the hearing.

"Criminal cases don't get better with age. She denies the charge and will hold the state to its proof."

Lodzinski, 46, has been in custody since her arrest Aug. 7. She was extradited to New Jersey on Friday and is being held in the Middlesex County jail on $2 million bail.

She has said her son, Timothy Wiltsey, disappeared at a Sayreville carnival May 25, 1991, but investigators said her story kept changing. His skeletal remains were found in a marshy area of Edison 11 months later.

Lodzinski went into seclusion after her son's remains were discovered, and neighbors said at the time that she didn't appear distraught. In late July, a county grand jury handed up a one-count indictment stating she "did purposely or knowingly kill" Timothy or did "purposely or knowingly inflict serious bodily injury" resulting in his death.

During Tuesday's hearing, Middlesex County prosecutors described some new evidence that led to Lodzinski's indictment.

They said that in 2011, investigators realized some of the items found with Wiltsey's remains in 1992 had not been shown to people who could identify them.
They said a blanket found with the boy's remains was shown to Lodzinski and her mother, but both women said they did not recognize it.

Investigators tracked down one of Lodzinski's relatives who babysat for the boy and showed her the blanket. The woman told them it belonged to the boy.

During a further review over the past year, another item found in 1992 was shown to another relative who recognized it as belonging to Timothy. Prosecutors did not identify the item in court or the relatives who were shown the items.

Lodzinski has run into other legal troubles over the years since her son died.
She surfaced in Michigan in January 1994 and said two men claiming to be FBI agents had abducted her at gunpoint outside her apartment building, forced her into a black sport utility vehicle and drove her to Detroit, where they let her out.

She pleaded guilty in 1995 to making false statements to the FBI and fraudulently using the agency's seal. She was sentenced to probation.

In 1997, Lodzinski was charged with stealing a computer from her former employer. She pleaded guilty to a theft charge in 1998. A federal judge sentenced her to house arrest after she admitted she committed a crime while on probation.



http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mom-charged-sons-1991-murder-due-court-25528502