FORT WORTH, Texas — Relatives of the mother of a 6-year-old boy who went missing in Everman, south of Fort Worth, told police the boy was potentially being abused, according to a search warrant for the family’s home.
Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez was officially reported missing March 20, but according to some relatives’ reports to Everman police, they have not seen Noel in about a year. Texas Child Protective Services received an anonymous tip about Noel’s disappearance on March 20 and authorities went to a property on Wisteria Drive, where the family had been living for several years. Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, her husband and their seven children, including Noel, lived partly in a converted shed in the back yard and partly inside the house, which is owned by Charles Parson.
Rodriguez-Singh, who is Noel’s mom, told police March 20 that the boy was living with his biological father in Mexico, authorities have said. On March 23, police said, they talked with the father and found out this was not true. On March 24, police returned to the house, but the family had disappeared.
According to police, Noel’s mother and stepfather had obtained travel visas for themselves and the children except for Noel and, on March 22, they boarded a flight from Dallas-Fort Worth Airport to India with a connecting flight in Turkey. Police have not been able to contact the family, and investigators have found no physical evidence of Noel’s whereabouts.
After previously searching the property with the owner’s consent, on March 30, police obtained a search warrant to look for specific items in the shed as evidence of child endangerment and abandonment. According to the search warrant, Parson told police that Rodriguez-Singh lived primarily in the shed, and Noel and some of her other children stayed mostly inside his house. Parson said he had not seen Noel since around Thanksgiving. Rodriguez-Singh also told Parson that Noel was living with relatives in Mexico and he had no reason to doubt the story, he said.
According to a copy of the search warrant obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in which the child’s name is redacted, relatives told police that Rodriguez-Singh previously made concerning comments about Noel and had assaulted the child. During a visit with one family member, Rodriguez-Singh told the relative not to give Noel any water because she did not want to clean up after him if he had a dirty diaper, the warrant states.
The relative’s wife gave Noel water anyway and Rodriguez-Singh found out, the search warrant says. The relative saw Rodriguez-Singh hitting Noel with her car keys attached to a lanyard, he told police. The relative confronted Rodriguez-Singh, and she left the house with the child, he said. The relative said he had not seen Rodriguez-Singh or her kids since then.
According to the warrant, a relative said that Rodriguez-Singh told her mother she had sold Noel to someone at a “Fiesta Market” store. She did not say when the supposed transaction took place but said that the woman she sold Noel to threatened to report her to Child Protective Services if she tried to get Noel back, the warrant states.
Rodriguez-Singh first applied for passports for her children in November, according to the warrant. She did not apply for a passport for Noel. She also did not take him to a scheduled medical appointment in October, the warrant states.
Police Chief Craig Spencer said at a news conference that police have not ruled out any possibilities about where the boy may be or what might have happened to him. Noel has a chronic lung disease and needs to be treated regularly, as well as esotropia, a speech delay and several other undiagnosed illnesses, according to police.
On March 31, authorities filed felony charges of abandonment and endangerment of a child against Rodriguez-Singh and her husband, Arshdeep Singh. Police, who are working with the FBI and Homeland Security, say they are trying to extradite the couple from India to the U.S.
The search warrant included a list of items police were looking for related to investigation and the abandonment/endangerment charges, including medical and financial records, any evidence of physical injuries or abuse, photos, and electronic devices such as phones and computers.
———
