Florida woman found guilty in 1991 murder of five-year-old son

By Marcus E. Howard

(Reuters) - A Florida woman was found guilty on Wednesday in the 1991 death of her 5-year-old son in central New Jersey in a cold case that was reopened five years ago, according to media reports.

Michelle Lodzinski, 48, a former New Jersey resident, was convicted of murdering her son Timothy Wiltsey. She had reported him missing from a Memorial Day weekend carnival they attended in Sayreville, New Jersey, in May 1991, nj.com reported.

Court officials, prosecutors and her lawyer could not be reached immediately for comment.

His remains were found 11 months later in an industrial park near Edison, New Jersey.

Jurors began deliberating on May 12 in the trial in Middlesex County Superior Court that began in mid-March. On Tuesday, Judge Dennis Nieves replaced one juror with an alternate without explaining why and ordered deliberations to start again.

The case was reopened in 2011 after the Middlesex County district attorney's office received an anonymous tip that went nowhere.

Investigators again questioned Lodzinski's acquaintances about a blue blanket found near the boy's remains. The details that emerged led them to link her to the crime.

In August 2014, Lodzinski was arrested by police in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

According to media reports, prosecutors said she felt burdened by the child.

The case was featured twice on the television show "America's Most Wanted."

Lodzinski, who was a 23-year-old single mother when her son went missing, denied being involved in his death. Prosecutors painted her as indifferent to his disappearance.

She faces a potential sentence of life in prison.

(Reporting by Marcus E. Howard in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)