A Texas man was found alive more than eight years after he was reported missing as a Houston teenager, but neighbors say Rudy Farias has been living with his mom for years.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) said Rudolph Rudy Farias IV was last seen on March 6, 2015 before the Texas Center for the Missing and Houston police said he was found wounded on Thursday outside a church. He was 18 when he went missing after walking his dogs in a neighborhood in northeast Houston, according to NamUs.
Farias’ mother, Janie Santana, told local news station KTRK that someone called 911 after finding him unresponsive outside the church. He had cuts and bruises all over his body and blood in his hair, Santana told the station.
But, Santana’s neighbors – who never knew Farias was reported missing – said Farias had been living with Santana for years, local outlet KTRK reported.
“HPD missing persons investigators plan to speak with Rudy & his family on [Wednesday] to determine his whereabouts since he was reported missing in 2015,” the police department said in a statement on Twitter.
Rudy Farias:8 years after he was reported missing as Houston teen, Texas man found alive, injured
‘He used to come in my garage, chill with my cousin, son and daughter,’ neighbor says
Kisha Ross – who lives on the same street as Santana, according to civil court records obtained by KTRK – told the station that Farias would hang out with her family often.
“He used to come in my garage, chill with my cousin, son and daughter,” Ross told the station. “That boy has never been missing.”
Ross said they know Farias as Dolph, which is short for Rudolph. Ross said they haven’t seen him in weeks.
Santana claimed the man her neighbors hung out with is her nephew, the station reported. She shared a picture of her nephew, but neighbors said that wasn’t him.
Farias’ family said they saw him in 2018, police say
Houston police and the Texas Equusearch, a nonprofit civilian search and recovery team, have been looking for Farias since 2015. Texas Equusearch said he suffered from depression and anxiety, and Farias might have been disoriented because he wasn’t taking his medication, the Associated Press reported.
Houston police spokesman John Cannon told USA TODAY that Farias’ family contacted investigators in 2018. The family said Farias was staying on the property of one of the family members, Cannon said.
Cannon said detectives went to the residence, but did not find Farias after searching parts of the property that they were allowed to access. The missing person investigation remained opened since detectives were not able to find Farias, Cannon said.
Martin Renteria, a private investigator with Checkmate Investigative Field Services in Houston who was hired by Santana a few months after Farias went missing, said at least a dozen reports turned up to be nothing, the AP reported.
Renteria said Farias might have run away and didn’t want to be found.
Contributing: The Associated Press
