A young man from Texas who was reported missing as a teenager in 2015 he had returned home a day later, but he and his mother fooled officers for eight years.
Houston police detectives said Thursday that after reporting the alleged appearance of Rudolph “Rudy” Farias IVfound that the mother kept the eight years fooling the policeclaiming that he was still missing.
As reported in a note from Local 10 Newsprosecutors have refused to present false reporting charges contra Janie Santana and her sonRudy Farias, but that his investigation continues.
Authorities did not say where Farias, now 25, had spent the eight years since she was reported missing after walking her two dogs near her family’s home in northeast Houston.
He was hospitalized after police found him last week and detectives interviewed him and his mother on Wednesday.
“After investigators spoke with him yesterday, it was discovered that Rudy returned home the next day, March 8, 2015,” Lt. Christopher Zamora said during a news conference. “The mother, Janie, continued to mislead the police by being adamant that Rudy was still missing.”
After Farias was reported missing, Houston police and Texas Equusearcha civilian search and recovery team, searched for him without success, although his dogs were later found.
In the years that followed, there were several possible sightings of Farias, according to a private investigator hired by the teen’s mother a few months after he went missing.
Texas EquuSearch he began asking the public for help finding him, noting that he was possibly disoriented and had not been taking his medication.
Authorities said they temporarily suspended the search for the then-17-year-old on March 10, 2015, while they worked to gather more information. Two days later, on March 12, the search continued, ending the next day.
When police announced last week that they had found their son, Santana issued a statement saying that “he is receiving the care he needs to get over his trauma, but at this time he is not speaking and unable to communicate with us.”
Police Chief Troy Finner stated that authorities are “just at the beginning” of their investigation into what happened.
Police also said patrol officers responded to a burglary call last Wednesday night at the family’s home and that it is now part of their investigation.
