SOUTH AMBOY, NJ—In 1991, five-year-old Timothy Wiltsey went missing from a carnival, sparking a national search for him until the remains of his body were found in woods near an office complex where his mother once worked.
Now, on what would have been Timothy’s 29th birthday, Wiltsey’s mother Michelle Lodzinski was arrested in Florida for the murder, raising questions about the role previous prosecutors played in the case.
Just weeks before Wiltsey’s disappearance, Robert Gluck took over as county prosecutor. Glenn Berman and Bruce Kaplan followed in his footsteps, but none brought charges in the cold case.
As we reported last year, Andrew Carey was nominated by Governor Christie to take over for longtime Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan.
Carey’s office has taken a special focus on re-opening so-called “cold cases.”
Lodzinki’s statements about the boy’s disappearance were often inconsistent and she left New Jersey for Florida in 1998 after pleading guilty to stealing a laptop.
Lodzinski was the main suspect since in the case and was arrested after a grand jury in Middlesex approved an indictment that claimed she “did purposely or knowingly kill Timothy Wiltsey, or did purposely or knowingly inflict serious bodily injury upon Timothy Wiltsey, resulting in his death.”
Lodzinski had previously worked as a secretary in the Raritan Center office complex in Edison, not far from where her son’s body was found. But charges were not filed against her at the time.
She is currently incarcerated on $2 million dollar bail.
If you have any information that can help this case, please report it to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s office at (732) 745-2957 or send an email to [email protected].
