A missing six-year-old boy lived in a cramped shed with six of his siblings before his parents fled to India.
Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, from Everman, Texas, US, was last spotted in November but wasn't reported missing until earlier this month after a concerned family member contacted police stating they hadn't seen the boy for months.
Everman police conducted a welfare check on March 20 at the family’s home after receiving a tip-off but mum-of-10 Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, 37, refused to answer questions.
She claimed her son was in Mexico with their dad but when authorities got into contact with the father he revealed he had never met his son after he was deported.
Authorities entered the shed where the child had been living and found tons of rubbish, toys, clothes and old food,
Seven of the kids, thought to be five months and 11 years old, had been living with Cindy.
Police said the boy has both physical and developmental challenges and reportedly requires oxygen during some parts of the day.
Three of the children had been staying with their grandparents, according to police.
On March 23, Rodriguez-Singh left the US with her husband, Arshdeep Singh, and the other six children for a flight from DFW Airport to Istanbul, Turkey. Noel was not with them on the flight.
Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer said: "The circumstantial evidence is certainly building up to a level where it becomes criminal."
Neighbour Charles Parson, 71, revealed he gave the shed to mum Cindy after meeting her at a supermarket.
He offered her help and let the children stay there for the last ten years with Cindy living in the front of the house before moving to the shed after the family grew.
Charles, however, doesn't believe the parents would deliberately leave their children at home especially as Noel suffers from health issues.
He said: "They're scared they're going to get in trouble with the law. They're afraid they may have done something wrong."
Cops tried to contact Cindy on March 23 but she was already leaving the country and Amber Alert was soon issued two days later.
It was also revealed Noel had not been enrolled at a school as police believe members of the family were "coached" to say the boy had been seen.
Mr Spencer said: "We have a six-year-old disabled boy [who] cannot be accounted for. He has a requirement to be on oxygen at certain points in time and we don’t know if he’s getting that."
