In the weeks and months after Timmy's disappearance, the case received considerable regional and national publicity. On April 23, 1992, his partial remains were discovered across the Raritan River in the marshlands of Edison, New Jersey, near one of Lodzinski's previous employment locations. She was considered the primary suspect in the crime – but despite major inconsistencies in her story, two failed polygraph tests, a self-kidnapping hoax, and years of intense scrutiny, she was not charged with Timmy's death until August 6, 2014, which would have been his 29th birthday. At trial, extensive witness testimony for the "cold case" prosecution successfully overcame inadmissible facts and a lack of forensic evidence directly connecting Lodzinski to the crime. On May 18, 2016, a unanimous jury convicted her of first-degree murder. After unsuccessful motions of appeal, she was sentenced to 30 years in prison with no possibility of parole.