EVERMAN, Texas — The FBI and Everman police provided an update Thursday – for the first time in 10 months – on the AMBER Alert case of missing 6-year-old North Texas boy Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez.
The FBI announced a $25,000 reward being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Cindy Rodriguez-Singh. Chad Yarbrough, special agent in charge of the FBI Dallas Field Office, said he hopes and believes the reward will help tips of Rodriguez-Singh's exact whereabouts.
Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez is feared to be dead, police have said, but his body has never been found.
Patricia Paris, who was Noel's foster mom prior to his biological mother regaining custody, told WFAA the reward announcement is a step in the right direction.
"I’m glad that we have not given up on looking for Cindy and her husband," Paris said.
In the last update, which came in October 2023, Everman police said a Tarrant County grand jury had indicted the boy's mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, on four counts: capital murder, two counts of injury to a child and one count of abandoning without the intent to return. Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer said at the time the indictments would support the continued efforts to bring Rodriguez-Singh and her husband Arshdeep Singh back to the United States.
"Cindy, I think you need to come back, turn yourself in, and face the consequences of what you’ve done," Paris said.
Paris said she believes someone knows something about what happened to Noel and Rodriguez-Singh's whereabouts.
"It’s not too late to tell what you know," Paris said. "Because Noel needs to… his remains need to be put to rest."
Spencer said in Thursday's update that he could not comment further on updates in their investigation due to the active indictments.
Paris, who fostered Noel for more than a year, said she often envisions where the young boy would be now.
"I could envision Noel going to school, playing, meeting new friends... he was such a precious boy," Paris said. "Noel's life did matter. To the FBI: don't stop looking for her. We're not gonna give up."
Back in March of this year, on the one-year anniversary of Noel's AMBER Alert, WFAA spoke with Everman Mayor Ray Richardson, who said he still gets asked by Everman residents about updates on Noel's investigation.
"To me it’s heartbreaking," Richardson told WFAA in that interview, teary-eyed. "Things like that shouldn’t happen to a child."
The community has honored Noel in the midst of his disappearance with a playground in his honor. The equipment is inclusive, suitable for children like Noel who have developmental and physical disabilities.
Noel Rodriguez Alvarez: Backstory of missing 6-year-old Everman boy
On March 20, 2023, the Everman Police Department was contacted by Texas Child Protective Investigations after family members reported that they hadn’t seen Noel since November 2022.
After a welfare check was requested at the child’s home, his mother, 37-year-old Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, told police that Noel was in Mexico with his biological father.
During an investigation, police found that story to be false and, right before an AMBER Alert was issued on March 25, Rodriguez-Singh, her husband Arshdeep Singh and six of Noel’s siblings boarded a flight to Turkey, then to India.
Police said in order to secure the tickets, Singh reportedly altered his company’s cash deposit records and removed $10,000 in cash before depositing $8,000 of that into his own account – all of which, police said, was captured on surveillance.
Police then launched a missing/endangered person search for Noel. After several weeks of searching through the home where his family lived, a nearby wooded area, a shed on the property and additional locations, there has still been no sign of Noel.
In mid-April 2023, several cadaver dogs alerted investigators to the soil in one particular area where the family lived. Police also told WFAA that a carpet Singh disposed of used to lay above the area the dogs alerted.
Investigators determined that Noel was likely dead. Everman PD Chief Craig Spencer didn’t specify how his department came to that conclusion but revealed that Noel’s mother was known to be abusive toward Noel. Spencer said Rodriguez-Singh reportedly refused to give Noel water, food or diapers and hit him with keys.
Per the last sighting of Noel, it was said he appeared unhealthy and malnourished.
Rodriguez-Singh also referred to the 6-year-old as being possessed and evil.
Everman PD has remained vigilant in the search for the 6-year-old's body, while still trying to find a way to bring Rodriguez-Singh and Singh back to the states.
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