A teenager has claimed that he is the child who went missing seven years ago after his mother's suicide.
Authorities have launched an investigation after a 14-year-old claiming to be Timmothy Pitzen told the police he had escaped from kidnappers.
The lad told the Campbell County police in Kentucky, US, he fled from a Red Roof Inn where he was staying with two men who held him for seven years.
He described the men as 'body-builder types', said Sharonville Detective Earl Davis.
The boy was said to have bruises on his face and appeared to be 'very scared and agitated' when found, according to US media reports.
Man kicked hole in Asda toilet door and climbed through in bid to escape security
Sharonville Police searched local motels for the two men on Tuesday morning but did not find anyone.
Aurora police spokesman Sgt Bill Rowley told the Chicago Tribune the department receives thousands of tips on the Pitzen case each day.
"We have no idea if this is Timmothy Pitzen," Rowley said.
"We don't know if it's a hoax. Obviously, everyone's hopeful, but we have to be super judicious."
In May 2011, six-year-old Timmothy Pitzen went missing after his mother Amy Fry-Pitzen pulled him out of school and took him on a trip to a zoo and water parks.
His mother took her own life in a motel room days later along with a note saying her son was with people who would take care of him.
"You will never find him," it read.
According to local news Patch, it is not the first time police have received a tip that a boy identified as Timmothy had been found.
In 2014, on the day which an age-progressed photo of Timmothy was released, a woman from Winnebago County claimed to have seen him at a garage sale, NBC Chicago reported.
And in 2015, the officials received a tip that a child living in Orlando, Florida, looked just like Timmothy.
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