Michelle Lodzinski was hospitalized after a day of police interviews, a retired cop testified during her murder trial.
NEW BRUNSWICK -- Retired Sayreville police Detective Lt. Robert Dunworth told a jury Thursday morning he received a call the night of June 13, 1991 that Michelle Lodzinski was taken to the emergency room of South Amboy Memorial Hospital, suffering from a mental breakdown.
Lodzinski had just spent a long day being interviewd by both the N.J. State Police and the Sayreville Police Department, giving additional statements with information in the investigation into the disappearance of her son Timothy Wiltsey, 5, who she reported missing May 25, 1991 from a carnival in Sayreville.
Dunworth, who retired 20 years ago, said he went to the emergency room "to find out why she was there," and was told by two of her friends that "she was suffering from a mental breakdown."
He said he returned to the hospital the next day to find out her condition, only to learn she had checked herself out.
Dunworth was asked by Lodzinski's attorney, Gerald Krovatin, who called him as a defense witness. However, when he asked if the long day of police interviews "played a role" in her mental breakdown, Dunworth said, "no."
When he first took the stand, the retired officer admitted to Krovatin that his memory of the events of 25 years ago was not very good.
Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves gave the jury a recess so Dunworth could read the three reports he wrote in the case to refresh his memory.
But, there were some things about the search for the boy he did remember.
Under cross examination by Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Scott La Mountain, Dunworth said Lodzinski's demeanor during the search for her son at the carnival was unusual.
"She seemed to be enjoying the attention that was directed towards her," Dunworth said. "She was not crying, was not upset. Her behavior was very uncharacteristic of a mother of a 5-year-old child who had been missing for as long as he had been."
He admitted that Sayreville police called in the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office the day after Lodzinski reported her son missing because, "there were no witnesses who saw the boy at the carnival."
Dunworth admitted under questioning by Krovatin that there was one carnival worker who did identify Timothy Wiltsey as being at the carnival, but he said police later discounted her because "it seemed like she was giving us information that came from other sources."
Lodzinski was charged in August 2014, but she had been the prime suspect early on in the investigation after giving police conflicting statements about the disappearance of her son, according to testimony during the trial.
She originally said he disappeared while she was buying a soda at a concession stand. Then she said he was abducted by a woman named Ellen and two men when she went to get a soda at the concession stand.
Lodzinski has always maintained she had nothing to do with her son's disappearance and death.
Timmy's skeletal remains were found in a creek in a swampy area of Raritan Center in Edison 11 months after he was reported missing.
The trial resumes Thursday afternoon.
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.