HOUSTON (KIAH) — A man who was reported missing as a teen eight years ago was found alive but injured earlier this week, and police now say he had been at home all along.
Rudy Farias IV was 17 years old when he vanished on March 6, 2015, while walking his two dogs near Tidwell Road in north Houston. The dogs were later found, but Rudy was not located.
That is until Sunday, when Farias’ family and the Texas Center of the Missing said that Rudy, now 25, had been found. He was taken to the hospital for “several injuries,” his family said, adding that he was in “bad shape.”
Authorities previously said Farias had been diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. According to his family, Farias was found unresponsive outside of a church.
But he may not have been missing this entire time.
During a press conference Thursday, Houston Police said evidence collected this week shows Farias had returned home on March 8, 2015, a day after his mother, Janie Santana, reported him missing.
According to Lt. Christopher Zamora of the department’s Missing Persons Unit, authorities had searched Santana’s home several times during the eight years that Farias was reportedly gone.
The duo had encounters with officers, but Zamora says they used fake names to continue the ruse that Farias was missing.
Chief Troy Finner said such an act could constitute making a false report to a police officer, a Class C Misdemeanor, but as of Thursday, neither Farias nor Santana will face any charges. The investigation is ongoing.
Finner also noted that, despite allegations of sexual abuse, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges against the man’s mother, or anyone else involved, at this time.
Local activist Quanell X alleges that more serious crimes took place.
X claims he spoke to Farias, now 25, who said that his mother wouldn’t allow him to leave the home and sexually abused him during the years she reported him missing.
According to Insider, several private investigators who looked into the case said that Farias’ mother had lied to them over the years, and that HPD investigators weren’t that interested in the case.
Finner said that HPD respects everyone in the community, including activists, and that he doesn’t question Quanell X’s integrity. But he said investigators did not find any evidence or receive any testimony about alleged sexual abuse.
“We’ve been open as much as we can,” Finner said as he ended the press conference. “This has become a local, national, and in some case, international (story). When it’s appropriate, we will send out more information.”
Farias is back home with his mother, according to Finner.
