A six-year-old boy whose mum was feared to have sold him is now presumed to be dead, authorities have said.
Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez was last seen in October 2022 at a hospital when his mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, was there to give birth to twins.
On March 20, the Texas Department of Family Services asked police to conduct a welfare check on Noel, but he was not found at the family's home in Everman, south of Fort Worth, Texas.
Mrs Rodriguez-Singh claimed Noel was in Mexico with his biological father, which investigators later determined was not true.
The investigation has turned into a death investigation, and arrest warrants have been issued for the boy's mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, and her husband, Arshdeep Singh, on a charge of abandoning and endangering a child.
On March 22, just two days after the police came to the family's home to search for the kid, his parents and six other children got on a plane and travelled to India.
Investigators believe Mrs Rodriguez-Singh and her husband are still in India.
Interviews with relatives and a witness suggest Mrs Rodriguez-Singh had been abusive to Noel, including depriving him of food and water and at one point striking him with her keys.
The last time the child had been seen by a medical professional was in July for speech therapy, and other professional appointments around that time were missed.
Rodriguez-Singh has previously made comments that the boy was "evil" or "possessed."
Arrest warrants have been issued for Mrs Rodriguez-Singh and her husband, Arshdeep Singh, on a charge of abandoning and endangering a child.
Police have said they're working to develop additional locations to search, and some searches have already begun.
The search for Noel has included using dogs that can detect human remains and digging up a recently poured concrete porch at the property where the family had been staying.
Based on the totality of the circumstances, along with the evidence available, police have concluded that Noel is likely deceased.
A body has not been found as of yet. An investigation is still ongoing and federal agencies are assisting.
Everman police Chief Craig Spencer said at a news conference that around the time that Noel was last seen, he was described as “appearing unhealthy and malnourished.”
Chief Spencer said that his mother “has been known by relatives to be abusive and neglectful to Noel.”
He said that, in November, Mrs Rodriguez-Singh began to try to explain Noel's absence with “various stories,” including that he was either with his biological father or aunt in Mexico or that she had sold him to a woman in a grocery store parking lot.
Chief Spencer said that investigators have looked into all of those stories and none were true.
The family was reportedly living in unhealthy, cramped conditions, in an abandoned shed.
Also, he said, investigators learned through interviews that she had referred to Noel as “evil, possessed or having a demon in him” and believed he would harm the twins.
Police have said that Noel suffers from numerous physical and developmental challenges.
“Relatives and witnesses stated that food and water were often withheld from Noel because Cindy did not like changing Noel's dirty diapers,” Chief Spencer said. “A relative even witnessed Cindy strike Noel in the face with keys because he drank water.”
Spencer said that on November 1, 2022, Mrs Rodriguez-Singh got passport photos for all of the children living with her except for Noel.
And then, the next day, she applied for passports for herself and all of the children except for Noel.
