Months after police last provided information on the mystery case of a missing 6-year-old Texas boy, authorities on Monday announced a significant update.
A year after Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez was last seen alive, Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer said a grand jury had issued four indictments against Noel’s mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, including capital murder, two counts of injury to a child, and one count of abandoning without the intent to return.
Spencer said the indictments will “significantly support” efforts to apprehend and extradite Rodriguez-Singh to the United States, adding that teams are already working with U.S. Marshals on those efforts.
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Rodriguez-Singh and her husband, Arshdeep Singh, Noel’s stepfather, are understood to be in India after flying from the U.S. to Turkey in March with six of his siblings.
In June, police released pictures and CCTV footage of the family at the airport before boarding their flight, but Noel was nowhere to be seen.
“Although this is a tremendous milestone for the justice in this case, make no mistake that our work is not done,” Spencer said. “We will continue to work towards justice and we will continue to search for Noel.”
Spencer confirmed police have still not found a body and that investigators have ruled out any other potential outcomes apart from murder.
“Noel may never be found,” Everman Mayor Ray Richardson said. “No child should ever have to go through the abuse that Noel did. Now that the murder warrant has been issued, we will hopefully be able to get the answers to many unanswered questions that surrounds this case. The goal is and always has been to locate Noel and give him the justice he deserves.”
Police alleged that the disabled boy’s mother had a “history of abuse and neglect” toward her son, noting that relatives had “seen her beat him with keys, refuse to give him water, refuse to change his diapers.” The alleged abuse was regular, and “Cindy reportedly referred to Noel as evil, possessed, or having a demon in him.” Noel had never been enrolled in school.
It was these facts that led to the indictment of Rodriguez-Singh and not her husband, Singh, Spencer said. Cops “weren’t able to make necessary connections” to Singh, the chief added, but “if more information comes to light that he has any involvement in this,” that could change.
“It’s been extremely emotional. Today is emotional for me,” Spencer added. “At the same time, it also confirms our biggest fear. We’ve got a mix of emotions.”
Police had previously obtained felony arrest warrants for Rodriguez-Singh and Singh on charges of abandoning or endangering a child.
“I can’t wait until they get her and bring her back,” Spencer said.
“How she treated this boy and all the sad things that had to occur in his life, it just continues to solidify our belief that he’s dead and she murdered him, in my mind.”
