A Texas boy who was described by his mother as “evil” and “possessed” is likely dead, say police investigating his disappearance.
Youngster Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez has been officially missing since 20 March 2023, but relatives have told investigators that they had not seen him since last November.
Now Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer has said that investigators believe the six-year-old is dead after his family flew to Turkey and then India without him, according to broadcaster WFAA.
“I’m incredibly saddened to share with you today that the search for Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez is now officially a death investigation,” Chief Spencer said on Thursday.
“Based on the totality of the circumstances, along with the evidence available to us at this time, it has led to a very unfortunate, unimaginable and devastating conclusion that Noel is likely deceased.”
The police chief did not elaborate on what exactly had caused his investigators to make the grim conclusion.
But he said that his department had concluded that the boy’s mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, was abusive towards her son.
An investigation began in March after the agency received a tip from Child Protective Services. The youngster, who reportedly suffered from health issues, was living with his mother, stepfather and six siblings in a shed in the garden of a home.
Days after police carried out a welfare check they say that the boy’s mother, stepfather and siblings all got on a plane for a flight to Turkey, then possibly on to India. Officials say that Noel was not on the flight.
Chief Spencer told reporters that Noel was last seen by a medical professional for speech therapy on 21 July 2022 and that several medical appointments were subsequently missed by the family.
He added that the mother had told officers in interviews that she believed her son was “evil” and was going to harm her newborn twins.
Relatives told police that the mother was “abusive and neglectful” towards the boy and her brother said she hit the boy with keys after he was given water.
Police say that in November 2022 the mother applied for passports for herself and all of her children apart from Noel
Active warrants out for Ms Rodriguez-Singh and the stepfather, Arshdeep Singh, for abandoning and endangering a child, a second-degree felony.
“We want these fugitives arrested and extradited back to the US so that we can seek answers for the disappearance of Noel,” Chief Spencer said.
Ms Singh told her mother she had sold the child to an unknown woman at a Fiesta Market, according to a search warrant in the case. Police later denied that had happened.
