Family of an Illinois boy missing since 2011 believe he is still alive and living in a Mormon community, convinced by a cryptic suicide note left by the 6-year-old's mom that she wanted him to be safe, according to reports.
Timmothy Pitzen was last seen alive on May 13, 2011, when he and his mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, checked out of a hotel in Wisconsin, the U.S. Sun reported.
The boy's paternal grandmother, Linda Pitzen, theorizes that her daughter-in-law handed over Timmothy to Mormons just before killing herself.
Pitzen points to a sucide note left by the boy's mom in which she said she gave Timmothy away to people who "love" him and that he would never be found.
The grandmother and other family members believe that Timmothy's mother would not hurt her son and that she handed the boy to others who would care for him, influenced by her Mormon beliefs.
"I think she wanted Timm to be raised Mormon," Pitzen told the U.S. Sun.
"The rest of us aren't Mormon and I think this was her way of making sure he was after she'd gone," she added.
Fry-Pitzen had picked up her son early at his Aurora, Ill., school on May 11, 2011, claiming there was an emergency.
Her body was found in a hotel room in Rockford, Ill., on May 14 along with the suicide note.
Timmothy was gone.
