How police discovered the story of the teenager claiming to be a missing boy was a hoax.

The eerie disappearance of six-year-old Timmothy Pitzen eight years ago left investigators flummoxed.

Lead after lead went cold, and the suicide note left by his mother – who had taken her own life in hotel room – was not only scant of detail, but warned he would never be found.

He had seemingly vanished without a trace, and attempts to find him felt futile. For his relatives, all hope was lost.

Until this week, when a 14-year-old boy presented himself to police claiming he had escaped kidnappers, it seemed as though a miracle had occurred.

Bruised, shaken, and claiming to have fled kidnappers – fleeing for his life for two hours – the boy told Indiana Police he was Timmothy Pitzen, the six-year-old boy who was never found.

“He was lost & scared,” says a Newport woman about a 14y/o boy on the street today. Teen tells police he’s Timmothy Pitzen. Pitzen disappeared in 2011 after being taken by his mother. In her suicide note she wrote he was safe but would never be found. @Local12 #TimmothyPitzen pic.twitter.com/SQsvUv9dFT

— Brad Underwood (@BUnderwoodWKRC) April 4, 2019

Timmothy was last seen on May 11, 2011.

Like any normal weekday, the young boy was dropped off by his father at primary school. Soon after, he was picked up by his mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, who took him on holiday for three days before she died by suicide in a hotel room in Rockford.

She left a series of notes claiming her son was safe, but would never be found again.

According to the 14-year-old, he had actually been held hostage for eight years, but finally escaped this week from a US discount hotel, where he says he was being held by two kidnappers.

After escaping, the boy said he ran and “kept running across a bridge” until he reached Kentucky in Ohio, according to the police report released on Wednesday.

A witness told CBS the boy told her he’d been running for two hours, explaining he’d “been passed around for seven years”.

In the report, the boy described two kidnappers, including the Ford SUV with Wisconsin licence plates they drove.

While police investigated his claims, searches conducted of a Red Roof Inn and other nearby motels have revealed nothing.

Understandably, they approached his claims with caution.

“We have no idea if this is Timmothy Pitzen,” Aurora Police Sergeant Bill Rowley said.

“We don’t know if it’s a hoax. Obviously, everyone’s hopeful, but we have to be super judicious.”

“We’ll have to vet this out,” Sergeant Rowley said. “Now we have a grandmother, dad and aunt wringing their hands, hopeful. We are hoping this isn’t a hoax because just imagine the let-down.”

“This could be the story of a decade,” he said. “But if it’s not, it’ll be a horrible let-down.”

Devastatingly, DNA results released on Thursday afternoon local time (Friday morning AEDT), ruled out the teenager as being Timmothy Pitzen.

Authorities did not immediately release the teenager’s true identity or other information.

There have been other false sightings over the years, according to police and Timmothy’s family.