A man in the US, who claimed to be missing boy Timmothy Pitzen, has been charged with making false statements to a federal agent.

Brian M Rini could face up to eight years in prison, after claiming he was the Illinois boy who vanished in 2011.

Rini was found walking alone on Wednesday morning around 800km from where Timmothy went missing.

He claimed he escaped kidnappers and "kept running across a bridge" into Kentucky, where he was discovered.

However DNA tests later revealed he was not the missing boy.

Linda Pitzen talks of the family's hopes to find her missing grandson, Timmothy Pitzen | Image: TNS/SIPA USA/PA Images

Instead it emerged he was Rini - a grown man with a criminal record, Reuters reported.

Rini told officers that he had been kept at a Red Roof Inn by two men, although there are a number of motels with that name in area and it was unclear which one he was referring to.

Police forces in the area investigated hotels with the same name near to them.

Rini also claimed the two men drove a Ford SUV with Wisconsin number plates.

Timmothy Pitzen was dropped off at school in Aurora, Illinois, on May 11th 2011 by his father - but was picked up just hours later by his mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, who took him on a trip.

They drove to Wisconsin and visited the zoo and a water park together - the last place that Timmothy was seen alive.

Two days later, his mother was found dead in a motel room.

Mother of Amy Fry-Pitzen and grandmother of Timmothy Pitzen, Alana Anderson (left), and daughter Kara Jacobs in Antioch, Illinois | Image: TNS/SIPA USA/PA Images

Reports at the time said that she checked in alone and had written a cryptic note that said her son was safe, but adding: "You'll never find him."

Pitzen was never seen again.

On Friday, the FBI in Cincinnati said Rini had been charged with making false statements to a federal agent.

Acting Special Agent Herb Stapleton said: "False reports like this can be painful to the families of missing children and also divert law enforcement resources in order to investigate these untruthful claims.

"Law enforcement takes dishonest reports very seriously, and we caution that people making false claims can and will face criminal penalties".

Age progression photo of Timmothy Pitzen released on the US National Missing and Unidentified Persons System in 2015

After the DNA test results, the FBI said: "To be clear, law enforcement has not and will not forget Timmothy, and we hope to one day reunite him with his family.

"Unfortunately, that day will not be today."

Main image: This undated photo provided by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office in Cincinnati shows Brian Rini | Image: Uncredited/AP/Press Association Images