Without telling anyone of her plans, Amy removed Timmothy from his kindergarten class at Greenman Elementary School on the morning of May 11, 2011. After checking him out of school, she drove to an auto repair shop and dropped off her blue 2004 Ford Expedition SUV at 10:00 a.m.

One of the repair shop employees drove Amy and Timmothy to the Brookfield Zoo. At 3:00 p.m., Amy came to pick up her repaired vehicle and drove with Timmothy to the KeyLime Cove Resort in Gurnee, Illinois, where they spent the night.

Meanwhile, James had reported Timmothy & Amy missing after he went to pick up Timmothy from kindergarten and found out his mother had taken him. He called her cellular phone numerous times but got no answer. Two days later, Amy was found dead and no one knew where to find Timmothy.