Texas family left U.S. before Amber Alert for missing 6-year-old boy with disabilities

A North Texas family left the U.S. shortly after being contacted by police last week about a boy with serious disabilities who allegedly hasn’t been seen since November, according to authorities.

The Everman Police Department spoke on March 20 with Cindy Rodriguez-Singh — the mother of 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez — who claimed the child has been living in Mexico with his biological father, Police Chief Craig Spencer said at a news conference Sunday.

Three days later, Child Protective Investigations told Everman police the father said he was deported before Noel’s birth and had never met the child, which Homeland Security records supported, Spencer said. CPI said it spoke with family members who claimed they hadn’t seen the boy since November.

“Noel suffers from multiple disabilities including severe development disorder, social disorder, physical disabilities [and] chronic lung disease, which requires treatment and oxygen at times,” Spencer said.

Noel’s mother, stepfather, four siblings and two half-siblings live in Everman, about 12 miles south of Fort Worth, according to police.

“The CPI investigator had attempted to make contact with the other children at their school, but learned that those children were absent and that the mother had contacted the school to inquire about their unenrollment,” Spencer said Sunday. “CPI had attempted contact with the mother by phone and at the residence with no success. It appeared to the CPI investigator that the mother was intentionally avoiding authorities.”

Authorities issued an Amber Alert on Saturday before learning Noel’s mother, stepfather and siblings had left on a flight to Istanbul two days earlier. Noel was not listed on the flight. Officials then issued an Endangered Missing Persons Alert, which can apply to people of any age with intellectual disabilities, the Texas Department of Safety says.

Police issued a warrant for the arrest of Rodriguez-Singh, who has an extensive criminal history involving alcohol-related offenses and has previously been the subject of undisclosed investigations and actions, Spencer said.

Investigators haven’t found any physical evidence of Noel’s whereabouts.

“What I do know is that we have a 6-year-old disabled boy that cannot be unaccounted for, is missing, and that the mother is not willing to cooperate with investigators to help us simply assure that the child is safe,” Spencer said. “We are desperately seeking the public’s help.”