EVERMAN, Texas — The Everman Police Department provided an update Tuesday about their ongoing search for missing 6-year-old boy Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, including new details about his stepfather.
Investigators do not have any more ground searches planned as of now, according to Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer. Police and crews conducted ground and drone searches Saturday in two different areas.
Investigators will use recently collected data to figure out if they'll have more ground searches, Spencer said.
Noel’s stepfather, Arshdeep Singh, reportedly used his credit card back in March to buy plane tickets less than 24 hours before he and some of Noel's family boarded a flight for India. Noel was not listed as a passenger on that flight.
Singh altered his company's cash deposit records and removed $10,000 in cash before depositing $8,000 of that into his own account, Spencer said. Singh reportedly worked for convenience stores, and police have surveillance video of him depositing money into the bank. Singh now faces felony theft charges.
"Arshdeep had access to the company's safe as a part of his normal job responsibilities," Spencer said. "Investigators learned that Arshdeep first fraudulently altered the company's cash deposit records, likely in order to prevent detection, and then removed over $10,000 in cash from the company's safe."
Noel's AMBER Alert was first issued around midnight on March 25. Spencer said investigators have recently gone through all the data and evidence they have collected since that point.
As of Tuesday, the mom currently has the following charges:
- Misdemeanor: False info on missing child case
- Violation of probation
- Felony: Abandoning and endangering a child
As of Tuesday, the stepfather currently has the following charges:
- Felony: Abandoning and endangering a child
- Felony: Theft
Everman police believe Noel is likely dead, and investigators are still gathering data through search warrants. Last Tuesday, Spencer told WFAA that investigators obtained new data that allowed them to identify additional people Noel's mother and stepfather communicated with before they flew out of the country.
Saturday's search included volunteers from Texas Search and Rescue, which is a nonprofit first responder organization that deploys at the request of law enforcement, fire departments and emergency management agencies.
Texas Search and Rescue were able to bring human remains detection canines, boats and drones to help with the search.
"We don't have the resources that they have," Spencer said.
In March, CPS questioned Noel’s mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, about the boy's whereabouts. Days later, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, her husband and Noel's six siblings left the country on the previously mentioned flight.
Noel’s maternal grandmother spoke out exclusively with WFAA about her daughter and the investigation. Cindy Rodriguez-Singh’s mother, who is Spanish-speaking and asked not to be identified or named due to safety concerns, said she wants justice for her grandson.
The grandmother said when she learned her daughter, Noel’s stepfather Arshdeep Singh and other immediate family members flew out of the country last month, she was filled with anger.
"She killed him. That's why she fled," Noel's grandmother said. “I want her brought back so she can tell us where Noel is. Where is he? What was the reason? He was a boy who didn’t deserve the bad fortune she gave him. He was an innocent child. Poor boy."