A MISSING Texas boy who was rumored to have been sold by his own mother is now presumed dead, police said.
Little Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, a six-year-old who suffered from mental and physical disabilities, was reported missing on March 20, 2023, after family said they hadn’t seen him since November.
The endangered missing person case is now being treated as a death investigation, Everman police 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,” Police Chief Craig Spencer said.
Police did not share the evidence that changed their investigation, but did recount chilling reports of abuse Noel suffered at the hands of his at-large mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, 37.
The mother of ten would describe little Noel as “evil, possessed, or having a demon in him,” Spencer claimed, citing their investigation.
Cindy’s brother previously told police that he witnessed signs of abuse when some of Cindy’s ten children stayed with him around a year ago, a search warrant states.
He told police that Cindy asked him not to give the child water because she didn’t want to change his diaper, the warrant states.
The family decided to give him water anyways and allegedly later saw Cindy hitting Noel with keys hanging from a lanyard.
Noel suffered from severe health problems and required oxygen to breathe at times, police said.
Alvarez was last seen in a repurposed shed where he lived with six of his ten siblings.
After getting a request for a wellness check on March 20, 2023, investigators visited the mother who gave them false information on his whereabouts, police said.
Officials issued a felony warrant for Cindy and her husband after it was believed that they jetted off to India.
Authorities tore the dilapidated shed that Noel lived in apart and dug under freshly poured concrete to look for any sign of the boy, but didn’t find any evidence, police said.
Officials have now launched a recovery operation for his remains.
The owner of the shed where the family lived was owned by Charles Parson, 71, who was the last person to see Noel alive on Thanksgiving Day.
He considered Cindy a friend and said that he did not believe that she would hurt anyone.
Parson said he met Rodriguez-Singh at a grocery store and took her in after a rough patch.
“They’re scared they’re going to get in trouble with the law,” Parson told the local outlet.
“They’re afraid they may have done something wrong.”
When authorities first made contact with Cindy, she told them that Noel was with his biological father in Mexico, according to Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer.
CPS reached out to the boy’s biological father, who said he’s never actually met his son since he was deported before Noel was born.
Everman police reached out to Rodriguez-Singh again on March 23, 2023, but they were unable to make contact.
That same day, a witness called the cops and reported that she was with the family on a flight to Turkey.
It’s believed the crew then connected to a flight to India.
Chief Spencer said investigators learned that Rodriguez-Singh has 10 children, seven of whom lived with her and three who live with their grandparents.
Police are asking anyone to contact them with information that could lead to the missing boy’s recovery.
