Mystery after family of missing disabled 6-year-old boy flees country

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of a six-year-old boy has deepened after the family fled the US just two days before an Amber Alert for the child was issued.

Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez was first reported missing on Saturday when the alert was issued. It was replaced with Endangered Missing Persons Alert, an alert for missing persons diagnosed with an intellectual disability, the same night.

At a news conference on Sunday, Everman police said they changed the alert after they found Noel’s whole family, including mother Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, stepdad and siblings, left Texas on a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul on 23 March.

“We currently do not have any physical evidence on Noel’s status as a missing person,” police said. “What we do know is that we have a six-year-old disabled boy… that is missing and that the mother is not willing to cooperate… to ensure the child is safe.”

Noel has multiple serious disabilities and chronic lung disease that require medical treatment and occasional oxygen treatment, police said.

Police said they first received information through an anonymous tip on 20 March that family members have not seen Noel since November 2022.

On 23 March, Child Protective Investigations got in touch with police to inform them that Noel’s family members are still concerned about his whereabouts.

It informed police that they also tracked down his biological father in Mexico who said he was deported before Noel’s birth and that he never met his son.

They were unable to contact his mother or his school.

An Amber Alert for the child and an arrest warrant was issued for Ms Rodriguez-Singh on Saturday (25 March).

On the same night, the police found out that the family fled to Turkey and Noel was not on the list of passengers on the plane.

Police revealed that Noel’s stepfather is an immigrant from India and they are trying to determine the final destination of the flight which could also be India.

Everman Emergency Services said in a Facebook update on Sunday evening that they found a 2012 Chevrolet Silverado that his mother was seen driving and could be linked to Noel’s disappearance.

“Noel is still missing!” the update said. “Please help us find him!”