The family of the 6-year-old boy missing since November left the U.S. on a Turkish Airways flight without him just two days before an Amber Alert was issued, Everman police said at a news conference Sunday.
Police issued an Amber Alert just after midnight on Friday and replaced it with an Endangered Missing Persons alert around 9 p.m. Saturday.
Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, who has serious disabilities including a chronic lung disease that requires medical treatment and occasional oxygen treatment, is still missing.
An investigation into Noel’s whereabouts started on March 20 when Child Protective Services received an anonymous tip that Noel hadn’t been seen since November 2022. When they began investigating, Everman police and Child Protective Services found that other family members hadn’t seen Noel or his siblings.
When Everman police spoke with Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, Noel’s mother, she told them the 6-year-old was in Mexico with his father, according to police.
But investigators with CPS spoke to Noel’s biological father, who told them he’d never had the opportunity to meet Noel, having been deported before his birth. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed his statement.
On March 23, police and CPS investigators learned that Noel’s four siblings, aged 7 to 11, and his half-siblings, 5-month-old twins, had been absent after the mother contacted the school to ask about unenrollment, according to police. Rodriguez-Singh could not be reached again by police or CPS and seemed to be avoiding authorities, prompting an investigation into Noel’s whereabouts.
Police said Sunday they are unable to release specific details about CPS investigations, but could confirm that there had been prior investigations and actions against Rodriguez-Singh. She also had an extensive criminal history involving alcohol-related offenses.
The Amber Alert for Noel was issued just after midnight on Friday, but when police learned that Rodriguez-Singh left the U.S. with her husband and all her children except Noel on a March 23 flight to Istanbul, Turkey, the alert was upgraded to Endagered Missing Person.
Everman police spokesman Craig Spencer said Sunday that police “do not have any physical evidence related to Noel’s status as a missing person.”
“What I do know is that a 6-year-old, severely disabled boy cannot be accounted for and is missing, the mother has not been willing to cooperate with investigators to help us simply assure the child is safe and we desperately need the public’s help,” he said.
Police are asking anybody with information on Noel’s whereabouts to contact them by calling 817-293-2923.
Spencer said after the news conference that investigators are staying optimistic about Noel’s well-being. They have no evidence that he has been harmed, and hope that he is with friends or a family member they have not yet found who don’t realize he is considered missing and in danger.
Police, CPS and the Department of Homeland Security are working together to try to find out if Rodriguez-Singh and the rest of the family stopped in Turkey, or if their flight connected to India, where Rodriguez-Singh’s husband is from. Spencer said they don’t know of any official connections to the Turkish government that could aid in locating or detaining Rodriguez-Singh for questioning.
There is no evidence to suggest any of the other children are in danger and no reason to connect Noel’s stepfather to the Amber Alert, Spencer said. Investigators are working to get access to Noel’s medical records to determine the last time he received medical treatment for his disabilities.
Spencer emphasized that if he does not get medical attention regularly for his chronic lung disease, Noel could die.
For that reason, he said if anybody has ever had so much as a conversation with anybody from Rodriguez-Singh’s family, no matter how long ago it was, they should call Everman police.
“We want to learn everything about this family we can,” Spencer said. “Anything can help at this point.”
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