When did Timothy Wiltsey disappear and was he ever found?

Publish date: 2024-05-14

Over three decades ago, in May 1991, Timothy Wiltsey was at a carnival in Sayreville, New Jersey, with his single mother Michelle Lodzinski when the five-year-old disappeared. A months-long and extensive search for the boy seemed fruitless. His skeletal remains were found near an Edison marshland the following April alongside a blanket and pillowcase nearby.

Before the discovery, Michelle reportedly changed her version of the events surrounding little Timothy's disappearance, which drew suspicion toward her. The young mother also exhibited strange behavior in the following years. She was arrested and charged with the killing in 2016 and was later convicted. However, on the grounds of insufficient evidence, the conviction was vacated after five years.

This Friday, September 1, 2023, an all-new NBC Dateline episode, titled The Blue Blanket Mystery, is slated to revisit Timothy Wiltsey's mysterious disappearance and murder. The episode will air on the channel at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Here's an official synopsis:

"A decades-long investigation begins after a New Jersey mother reports that her 5-year-old son has vanished from a carnival. Andrea Canning reports."

Timothy Wiltsey's skeletal remains were found nearly a year after he went missing from the Sayreville carnival in 1991

On May 24, 1991, the Friday just before the Memorial Day weekend, Timothy Wiltsey spent the day, playing at the park, walking around the lake, and visiting the petting zoo with his mother Michelle Lodzinski in Holmdel, New Jersey. The duo then headed towards the Sayreville carnival at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Park where, around 7:30 pm, the boy got separated from his mother.

NJ.com reported that Michelle informed the police that she turned her back to buy soda, following which Timothy disappeared. She then immediately reported the incident to authorities and the carnival was suspended as police, firefighters, and other volunteers carried out a search in the area for the boy until the early morning hours. They also searched the neigboring area but he was never found.

As the missing person investigation progressed, Michelle changed her story in June of that year, claiming that she left her five-year-old son with a woman named Ellen she formerly worked with. Ellen, who was allegedly accompanied by a little girl and two other men, agreed to look after Timothy while the young mother went to get soda. But once she returned, none of them were there.

The outlet reported that with days, Michelle changed her story once again. This time, she claimed that one of the men with Ellen took Timothy from her at knifepoint. Then, in October, the missing boy's size 13 sneaker with Teen-Age Mutant Ninja Turtle prints was found at the Raritan Center industrial park by a passerby.

Eventually, on April 23, 1992, police found Timothy's skeletal remains in a marshland in Edison near the fulfillment center where Michelle once worked, as per People Magazine. They also found a child's blanket and his clothes, among other evidence, from the area where his body was found. The case was then ruled to be a homicide.

Was Timothy Wiltsey's mother behind his slaying?

The news of Michelle Lodzinski's conflicting narrative was revealed later but all the while she was suspected for her involvement in the disappearance and murder of her five-year-old kindergartner, Timothy Wiltsey. However, due to a lack of direct evidence, the single mother was never charged with the crime. In fact, in 1994, she even faked her own kidnapping to draw suspicion away from her.

It took detectives more than two decades to finally charge Michelle with Timothy's murder after the case was reopened in 2014 with new evidence that suggested that the blanket found near the body came from their home. The discovery led to an arrest and murder charges being filed against her. The controversial trial took place in 2016.

During the trial, Michelle was found guilty of her five-year-old son's murder, and the following January, she was sentenced to 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole. She then appealed her conviction, which was overturned in late 2021 on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

Learn more about Timothy Wiltsey's murder case on NBC Dateline this Friday.

More from Sportskeeda

" modalPopup.closeOnEsc = false; modalPopup.setHeader("Why did you not like this content?"); modalPopup.setContentText(modalText); modalPopup.addCancelOkButton("Submit", resetRatingAndFeedbackForm, sendRating); modalPopup.removeCloseModalIcon(); modalPopup.disableDismissPopup(); modalPopup.open(); } else { sendRating(index); } } function sendRating() { var requestPayload = { "post_id": 1651143, "rating_value": ratingValue } if (ratingValue > 3) { requestPayload.rating_feedback_type = null; requestPayload.rating_feedback = null; } else { if (!$('input[name="drone"]:checked') || !$('input[name="drone"]:checked').value) { showErrorMessage('option'); return; } if (!$(".post-rating-feedback-note textarea") || !$(".post-rating-feedback-note textarea").value) { showErrorMessage('note'); return; } var selectedOption = $('input[name="drone"]:checked').value; var feedbackNote = $(".post-rating-feedback-note textarea").value; requestPayload.rating_feedback_type = selectedOption; requestPayload.rating_feedback = feedbackNote; } pureJSAjaxPost(addratingAPI, requestPayload, onsaveRatingSuccess, onsaveRatingFail, function() {}, true); } function resetRatingAndFeedbackForm() { var activeStars = Array.from($all('.rating span.rating-star.active')); for (var i=0; i < activeStars.length; i++) { activeStars[i].classList.remove("active"); } if ($('input[name="drone"]:checked')) { $('input[name="drone"]:checked').checked = false; } var userNote = document.querySelector(".post-rating-feedback-note textarea"); userNote.value = ''; modalPopup.close(); } function onsaveRatingSuccess() { modalPopup.close(); savePostIdInUserRatedPostsCookie(); $("#post-rating-layout").classList.add("hidden"); $("#post-rating-message").classList.remove("hidden"); window.setInterval(function showMessage() { $("#post-rating-widget").classList.add("hidden"); }, 3000); } function onsaveRatingFail() { console.error('Saving post rating failed!'); modalPopup.close(); } function savePostIdInUserRatedPostsCookie() { userRatedPostIds.push(1651143); var expiryTime = new Date(); expiryTime.setMonth(expiryTime.getMonth() + 12); // Expiry after 1 year setCookie("user_rated_post_ids", JSON.stringify(userRatedPostIds), expiryTime); } function isPostRatedByUser() { var userRatedPostIds = getCookie('user_rated_post_ids'); if (userRatedPostIds) { try { userRatedPostIds = JSON.parse(userRatedPostIds); } catch (err) { console.error(err); return false; } } else { return false; } if(userRatedPostIds.indexOf(1651143) >= 0) { return true; } else { return false; } } function getRatingCountByPostId(postId) { return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) { pureJSAjaxGet( getRatingCountBaseURL + postId + '/rating/count', function(data) { try { data = JSON.parse(data); if (data.meta_value) { resolve(data.meta_value); } reject("Failed to fetch rating count for the post:" + postId); } catch (err) { reject("Failed to fetch rating count for the post:" + postId); } }, function(err) { reject("Failed to fetch rating count for the post:" + postId); }, true); }); } function showErrorMessage(messageType) { var messageContainerId = '#' + messageType + '-error'; $(messageContainerId).classList.remove('hidden'); window.setInterval(function () { $(messageContainerId).classList.add("hidden"); }, 5000); } (function() { var callFired = false; function lazyLoadPostRating() { if (callFired) return; callFired = true; if (!isPostRatedByUser()) { getRatingCountByPostId(1651143) .then(function(ratingCount) { if (ratingCount < 10) { $("#post-rating-widget").classList.remove("hidden"); } }) .catch(function(err){ console.error(err); }); } } document.addEventListener("scroll", lazyLoadPostRating, { passive: true, once: true }); document.addEventListener("mousemove", lazyLoadPostRating, { passive: true, once: true }); document.addEventListener("touchmove", lazyLoadPostRating, { passive: true, once: true }); })();

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tLzOq6uso5WasaJ6wqikaKifpXqkwcutrKudX6OvpHnDmquepJmjsm7Dx56lZqyZory1tNhmrqKkpKiyunnDoqqaqKCarrN5xK%2Bcq2WWpMKvsA%3D%3D