A teenager found alive eight years after he disappeared in Houston, Texas, had been living with his mother for most of that year, police said at a press conference Thursday.
• Read more: Missing 8-year-old girl found alive
Rudolph Rudy Farias IV, whose pen name is Rudy Farias, was officially sighted on March 6, 2015, according to the National Missing Persons Registry.
Last Thursday, he was found alive in critical condition by a man walking his dogs outside a church in north Houston.
Texas Center for Missing Persons
However, CNN notes that the teenager would have returned home a day after he went missing and authorities would not have been notified.
Rudolph “Rudy” Farias IV, now 25, returned home on March 8, 2015, Lt. Christopher Zamora said at a news conference.
Whenever the police dealt with him and his mother, both of them misled the authorities by giving false names and dates of birth.
Screenshot | CNN
His mother “always misled the police by insisting that Rudy was still missing,” Lt. Zamora said.
Nothing has been ruled out at this time as to whether he or his mother will face charges. In particular, it is illegal to provide false identification to police officers, and the missing person has done so at least once.
The District Collector declined to press charges pending a police investigation.
Rudy Farias decided to stay with his mother “by choice.” Police have contacted Adult Protective Services to help him if he wants.
He was ‘found’ last Thursday with cuts all over his body and blood in his hair.
Neighbors, who were unaware of her disappearance, said she lived with her mother for most of her year, local media outlet KTRK reported.
Screenshot | CNN
Kisha Ross, who lives on the same street as Johnny Santana and her son, said the boy often hangs out with her family.
“He would come to my garage and hang out with my cousin, my son and my daughter,” she said. “That boy never disappeared,” she insisted.
Screenshot | CNN
She knew him as Rudolph, nicknamed “Toff”.
Houston police spokesman John Cannon told USA TODAY that Farias’ family contacted investigators in 2018. After they searched the apartment they found nothing.
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