( CNN ) -- For more than two decades , New Jersey investigators had not been able to solve the homicide of 5-year-old Timothy Wiltsey . His mother , Michelle Lodzinski , reported the boy missing on May 25 , 1991 , telling police he disappeared at a carnival . On Wednesday , 23 years after Timmy vanished , Lodzinski was arrested in Florida on a murder charge in connection with his death . His disappearance shook the South Amboy , New Jersey , community where his family lived . Dozens of volunteers searched nearby fields and marshes for clues , according to CNN affiliate WCBS . The case gained national attention after missing posters for the boy were distributed to thousands of rail employees in 13 states , WCBS reported . Timmy 's picture was even displayed on a giant screen at Yankee Stadium . Less than a year after he was reported missing , Timmy 's partial remains were found in a remote section of an industrial park in nearby Edison , New Jersey . In the end , a routine cold-case review sparked a new investigation into the death , according to prosecutors in Middlesex County . The findings were presented to a grand jury , according to a statement from the prosecutor 's office . The grand jury charged that Lodzinski `` did purposely or knowingly kill Timothy Wiltsey , or did purposely or knowingly inflict serious bodily injury upon Timothy Wiltsey , resulting in his death , '' according to the prosecutor 's office . Lodzinski was considered a suspect over the years but she was not charged because of a lack of evidence , according to The Star-Ledger newspaper . Days after she reported her son missing , Lodzinski told detectives that two men , one with a knife , kidnapped Timmy , the newspaper reported . She returned later that day and told authorities she had made up the story of the abduction . The next day , she gave police another account , according to the newspaper . In 1994 , in another bizarre scenario , Lodzinski claimed she was kidnapped and driven to Detroit by FBI agents . She later admitted making that story up as well , according to The Star-Ledger . Speaking about the woman 's fake kidnapping story , Alan Rockoff , the Middlesex County prosecutor at the time of Timmy 's disappearance , told the newspaper , `` It confirmed to me what we already knew ; she was the suspect . '' Lodzinski was arrested Wednesday evening in Port St. Lucie , Florida , and charged with murder , the prosecutor 's office said . She was being held without bond and faces extradition proceedings . Police get break , identify sex offender , in 1975 missing girls ' cold case . CNN 's David Shortell contributed to this report .
Prosecutors say boy 's body was found 11 months after he was reported missing in 1991 . A new investigation was launched after a routine cold-case review . Boy 's mother , Michelle Lodzinski , was arrested 23 years after reporting her son missing .