A missing six-year-old boy whose mother claimed she sold him at a Texas supermarket because he had a “demon in him” is said to be dead.
Craig Spencer, Everman police chief, said Thursday the search for Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez is now a death investigation and they are trying to locate and recover his body.
Noel was reported missing on March 20 when Texas Child Protective Services received an anonymous tip that he had not been seen since November 2022.
Spencer said Noel was used by his mother Cindy Rodriguez-Singh to receive government benefits. He was last seen ‘unhealthy and malnourished’ in October 2022 before the birth of twins.
His mother reportedly called the boy “evil” and “possessed” or “with a demon in him” and feared he would hurt the newborn twins.
Rodriguez-Singh and the boy’s stepfather, Arshdeep Singh, flew from Dallas-Fort Worth to India with their six other children two days after he was reported missing. But Noel, who has a disability including a lung condition, was not with them.
Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, 6, was reported missing on March 20, when Texas Child Protective Services received an anonymous tip that he had not been seen since November 2022.
Noel’s mother Cindy Rodriguez-Singh allegedly told her mother she sold Noel to someone in a ‘Fiesta Market’ store, but police say there is no evidence to support the rumor
Police said on Friday they had excavated part of a concrete patio on the property where the family lived in a shed behind another house on Wisteria Drive
Noel’s mother and stepfather are now charged with child abandonment and endangerment, and authorities are working to extradite them to the US, police said.
It is believed that they are still in India. Investigators are working to identify locations in an effort to find Noel’s body, Chief Spencer said in an update Thursday.
“I understand this isn’t the news we all hoped and prayed for,” Spencer said. “We need to stand together as a community and fight for Noel.”
Spencer said Noel was last seen by a professional in July 2022. He subsequently missed several doctor’s appointments, prompting the government to issue warning letters that the benefits Rodriguez-Singh received would end.
Rodriguez-Singh then allegedly asked another mother to borrow her child to pose as Noel at the doctor, saying he had COVID.
She was known to family members for being abusive and negligent towards Noel, Spencer said. A family member saw her hit Noel for wanting to drink water because she didn’t want him to wet his diaper. Other family members said she often withheld water and food because she didn’t like changing him.
Police said on Thursday the search for Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez is now a death investigation and they are trying to locate and recover his body
Everman police chief Craig Spencer said they believe the mother made the comments and fabricated stories that she sold him to mislead the investigation
A vigil for Noel will be held Monday, April 10 in Everman and will be open to the community
A family member later told police that Rodriguez-Singh told her mother she sold Noel to someone at a “Fiesta Market” store, according to a copy of the search warrant obtained by police. Star telegram.
Spencer has since said there is no evidence to support the rumored sale of the child and added that they believe the mother made the comments to mislead the investigation.
In the search warrant, Rodriguez-Singh did not say when the alleged transaction of her child took place, but said the woman she sold Noel to threatened to report her to CPS if she tried to get him back.
The search warrant also revealed that Noel’s uncle Cantarino Rodriguez told Everman police that he had witnessed Rodriguez-Singh, his sister, assaulting the child.
The uncle said the last time he saw Noel, about a year ago, he confronted Rodriguez-Singh when he saw her hit the boy with her car keys after he drank water because she didn’t want him to wet his diaper.
Rodriguez-Singh and his stepfather Arshdeep Singh flew from Dallas-Fort Worth to India two days before an Amber Alert went out. But Noel, who has a disability including a lung condition, was not with them. He still hasn’t been found
Noel, who has a disability, including a lung condition, was not with them, and was last seen by a professional in July 2022. In October 2022, he was described as ‘malnourished’
Authorities conducted a welfare check on the family on Wisteria Drive on March 20, where Rodriguez-Singh told police the boy was with his biological father in Mexico.
Police said at the time they had no reason to believe she was lying, but said she had started avoiding them.
Spencer has since provided the update that Homeland Security has verified that there is no record of Noel crossing the border into Mexico. He also said that the biological father is cooperating with the investigation and has not seen Noel.
Rodriguez-Singh then obtained travel visas for herself, her husband and their six other children — all but Noel — and flew to India via Turkey on March 22, continuing to avoid police questioning.
Last week, a search warrant was executed at the family’s home, a converted barn in the backyard of a home owned by Charles Parson. The family also used a few rooms in the main house.
Parson has also collaborated with researchers, Spencer said.
Authorities conducted a welfare check on the family on Wisteria Drive on March 20, where Rodriguez-Singh told police the boy was with his biological father in Mexico.
Last week, a search warrant was executed at the family’s home, a converted barn in the backyard of a house owned by Charles Parson.
Conditions in the converted barn, but it’s not clear if the mess came from the search
Police excavated part of the concrete patio on the property, which they found had recently been poured and paid for by Rodriguez-Singh, despite not owning the property, Spencer said.
The search and excavation failed to find any evidence that would lead them to Noel.
Police have issued arrest warrants for Rodriguez-Singh on felony charges of filing a false report and violating his probation.
But the felony charge wasn’t enough to warrant extradition, Spencer. But now the new felony charges mean the mother and stepfather are fugitives and could be extradited to the US, Spencer said.
The FBI, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Alliance for Children and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are all involved in the investigation.
Anyone with information is urged to call 817-293-2923 or email tips@evermantx.net.