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Timothy Wiltsey was five years old when he was killed, shocking the entire community of New Jersey back in 1991. Wiltsey's disappearance and eventual murder were also the subject of a lot of media attention. After several twists in the case, Timothy's mother, Michelle Lodzinski, became the primary and only suspect.
This case will be covered in the upcoming episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered, which premieres on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at 8 pm EST on Oxygen. The synopsis for the episode reads:
"After New Jersey mother Michelle Lodzinski reports that her five-year-old son has vanished from a carnival, detectives embark on a decades-long investigation until a family member identifies a key piece of evidence pointing to a potential suspect."
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This case, though technically unsolved, is filled with details that would appeal to true crime fans of all kinds. Ahead of the episode, we have compiled five such details about Timothy Wiltsey's murder.
5 chilling details about the disappearance of Timothy Wiltsey
1) Timothy's mother said he disappeared when she left him in a ride line to get soda at a carnival
Timothy Wiltsey went out with his mother, Michelle Lodzinski, on May 25, 1991, and was last seen alive by a neighbor at around 11 am leaving with his mother. Michelle had told the neighbor that they would go to the South Amboy Elks Club carnival in nearby Sayreville's Kennedy Park with her brother's infant niece.
However, she reportedly never picked up the baby nor did she call the baby's mother. Instead, she encountered another niece, Jennifer Blair, at the carnival that evening. She reportedly revealed to her that she could not find Timothy Witsley and eventually went to report him missing to a Sayreville auxiliary police officer.
Her initial explanation was that she left Timothy in a line to get a soda but when she returned, he was gone.
2) Michelle Lodzinski was surprisingly unemotional in the time that followed
While Lodzinski seemed emotional at first about losing Timothy Wiltsey, her demeanor changed completely over the days that followed. She was reportedly unemotional while talking to the press or the television and claimed that she would not be another "grieving mother" on television.
This raised the first shreds of suspicion against Michelle Lodzinski.
3) Michelle changed her stories multiple times about the disappearance of Timothy Witsley
In another shocking development, Michelle Lodzinski started changing her story about how Timothy Witsley disappeared multiple times. The first inconsistencies were about where they had been before reaching the carnival, but soon bigger inconsistencies emerged. She claimed a week later that two men with a knife had coerced her into silence and taken her son.
She also recanted a third story where she said two men and a woman had taken her son when she went to get sodas. She later also claimed to know the woman. These inconsistencies seemed to portray that Michelle Ldzinski was trying hard to hide something about her son's murder.
4) Michelle Lodzinski faked her own kidnapping
In a later development, Michelle Lodzinski faked her own kidnapping in 1994. She told the police that she was abducted by men who had posed as FBI agents. Authorities later deciphered that she was behind the crime and she admitted to the same.
She was sentenced in March 1995 to six months of house arrest and three years probation for this. She was also charged with stealing a laptop in 1997.
5) Michelle Lodzinski was convicted for the murder of Timothy Wiltsey but it was later overturned
Decades into the case, the police finally used the blanket that was found around Timothy's body as a piece of primary evidence to charge Michelle. She was already married and had moved on by then.
She was ultimately convicted of the murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2016. However, this conviction was overturned in 2021 following an appeal due to lack of evidence.
Michelle Lodzinski remains free as of today.
The upcoming episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered will cover the murder of Timothy Wiltsey in more detail.
