Less than two weeks after Michelle Lodzinski reported her 5-year-old son, Timothy Wiltsey, missing at a carnival in Sayreville in May 1991, sparking a massive search that drew national attention, police were having trouble confirming information she gave them.
NEW BRUNSWICK -- Less than two weeks after Michelle Lodzinski reported her 5-year-old son, Timothy Wiltsey, missing at a carnival in Sayreville in May 1991, sparking a massive search that drew national attention, police were having trouble confirming information she gave them.
Sayreville police Detective Sgt. Richard Sloan, now retired, testified in a New Brunswick courtroom Tuesday that police called Lodzinski in to police headquarters on June 7, 1991, confront her with some of her inconsistencies.
Unlike in past meetings when she was cooperative, this time Lodzinski was "quiet, sullen and wouldn't look at us," Sloan said.
"She said, 'Go ahead and charge me if you think you could,' '' he said.
Sloan said then Lodzinski broke down, crying and told him and another police sergeant that two men took Wiltsey off a car ride and warned her to "stay away or we'll hurt the boy."
MORE: Murder trial against Michelle Lodzinski will proceed
She refused to continue the conversation and when asked to explain her comments told them, "I made that up because you wanted to hear something."Then, Sloan said, "she got up and left police headquarters."
Later in the day, she would return with a family friend and give a statement in which she told police she met someone she knew from several years back, a woman named Ellen. Lodzinski said she left Timmy with Ellen so she could get a drink and Timmy could go on a ride, but when she returned Ellen, and the three people with Ellen, including a small girl and two men, were gone.
Lodzinski told police she lied on May 26, 1991 when she gave her first statement to police because "I didn't want to get in trouble for leaving him with someone I didn't know that well."
Lodzinski, 47, was indicted in August 2014 for the murder of her son.
MORE: 23 years after child's death, his mother Michelle Lodzinski to appear in court on murder charges
Sloan is testifying in the first of three days of motions prior to Lodzinski's trial.The trial is scheduled for sometime in January before Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves who is hearing the motions.
Wiltsey's remains were found in a marshy area in Raritan Center in Edison 11 months after his disappearance.
In the months and years following Timmy's death, Lodzinski's behavior was puzzling and bizarre, authorities said. In addition to changing the story she gave law enforcement several times, she was later arrested twice--once for allegedly faking her own kidnapping and again in 1997 for stealing from an employer.
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.