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Police issued an arrest warrant for the mother of missing six-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez as they upgraded his endangered missing alert into a death investigation.
On April 6, the Everman Police Department in Texas held a press briefing about the missing child and his mother Cindy Rodriguez-Singh.
Rodriguez-Alvarez had an amber alert issued for him by the Everman Police on the morning of March 25. By the end of the following day, it had been updated to an endangered missing alert and added the child has intellectual disabilities.
The alert described him as being Hispanic with brown eyes, black hair, 4 feet tall and weighing around 50 pounds. It added that he had last been seen at the 3700 block of Wisteria, Texas, at 11:40 p.m. on March 23.
During the press briefing last week, Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer said despite these developments, the police department would continue to search for Rodriguez-Alvarez.
He said: "Investigators are now working towards identifying potential locations and conducting recovery operations. Some organized searches have already begun and are expected to continue in the coming days.
"Nobody is more committed, more determined or more eager to locate Noel than this investigative team.
"We currently have active felony warrants for the arrest of Cindy [Rodriguez-Singh] and Arsheep [Singh] for abandoning and endangering a child, which is a second-degree felony.
"We want these fugitives arrested and extradited back to the United States so that we can seek answers for the disappearance of Noel."
In previous press briefings, Spencer noted to the press that they had become aware that Rodriguez-Alvarez's mother, stepfather and siblings had left the U.S. on a Turing Airlines flight to Istanbul.
During the press briefing, Spencer also offered further details about Rodriguez-Alvarez's mother and her treatment of her son.
Twin Daughters
He said: "Investigators had learned through interviews leading up to the birth of her two twin daughters [in early October 2022] Cindy had made several statements about Noel.
"Referring to him as evil, possessed or having a demon in him. Cindy believed that Noel was going to harm the new born twins."
He continued: "Throughout the investigation, we learned that Cindy has been known by relatives to be abusive and neglectful to Noel.
"Relatives and witnesses stated that food and water were often withheld from Noel because Cindy did not like changing Noel's dirty diapers."
The Everman Police Department issued a press release on April 11 and gave further details into the search for Rodriguez-Alvarez's body.
The press release read: "On Monday, April 10, investigators and members of TEXSAR conducted open area searches of nearby wooded areas that would have been the most accessible to the property.
"Although there is no specific evidence leading us to any specific area at this time, we continue to be thorough and meticulous with this search."
The press release also stated that Rodriguez-Alvarez's stepfather had disposed of a large carpet in a nearby dumpster the evening prior to the family leaving the country.
When this carpet was recovered, "multiple human remains detection canines" were alerted.
"Investigators learned that this carpet was previously used as the base and flooring to a 'make-shift' shed that was previously built where the current backyard patio sits," the press release continued.
Investigators grew suspicious and secured a search warrant to remove the patio.
The press release stated: "After removing the concrete patio, multiple Human Remains Detection Canines began alerting to the top soil directly underneath the concrete.
"Anthropologists from the Tarrant County Medical Examiners Office were requested to the scene to assist with digging efforts and provide expert guidance to investigators and crews.
"This has led investigators to believe that at some point in time, there were human remains contained within the shed, prior to the installation of the patio.
"Although this search revealed minimal physical evidence, it has certainly provided additional guidance for investigators."
Newsweek has contacted the Everman Police Department via email for comment.
About the writer
Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more