Remains of 6-year-old found years after he went missing

Authorities in Texas said they found and identified the remains of 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, who went missing and was presumed dead in 2022. His mother is charged with his death.

Noel’s remains were discovered during an excavation of the home where he once lived in Everman, Texas, a town of about 6,500 people just outside Fort Worth, according to the FBI’s Dallas field office and Everman police. Noel was last seen in October 2022 and was reported missing months later in March 2023, authorities said.

The FBI said Noel, who has developmental and physical disabilities, was presumed dead for years but has never been found. His identity was confirmed using dental records, authorities said.

Her mother, Cindy Rodriguez Singh, 41, was charged with capital murder but fled the country to India with the boy’s stepfather and six other children during the investigation into Noel’s disappearance, the FBI said.

Authorities accused him of abusing and neglecting Noel. Rodriguez Singh was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitive list and was located and arrested in 2025 and extradited back to the United States. He was determined to be incompetent to stand trial in April 2026 and was ordered committed to a state hospital, the FBI said.

“From the beginning, this case has placed a heavy burden on our community,” Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells said in a statement. “Noel was a child whose life mattered. He deserved protection, care and love. Instead, he became the victim of an unimaginable crime.”

Noel was last seen at the hospital in October 2022, where his mother gave birth to twins, and appeared to be in poor health at the time, authorities said. At the request of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, police went to the family’s home to check on him in March 2023, the FBI previously said.

Two days after being questioned, Rodriguez Singh boarded a plane to India with her husband and six children.

Investigators said before Noel’s death, his mother failed to give him appropriate care for problems such as chronic lung disease, pulmonary edema and esotropia. The FBI had previously said in a press release that the mother had a history of drug and alcohol addiction, which had previously led to her children being placed in foster care.

Rodriguez Singh was charged with capital murder, two counts of injury to a child and one count of abandonment without intent to return.

Credit: Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Amanda Lee Myers

This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez’s remains found years after boy disappeared