Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, a 6-year-old crippled boy from North Texas, went missing nearly three years ago. And it has been more than two years and four months since his immediate family fled the country. However, the FBI is not content to let the subject go.
Noel’s mother, Cindy Rodriguez Singh, 40, was just added to the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list. She is now the 537th person to receive that ignominious honor.
“The addition of Cindy Rodriguez Singh to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List is an opportunity to bring this case to the eyes and ears of citizens across the country and around the world,” FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock stated in a press release announcing the decision. “We are confident that this publicity will culminate in her arrest and that she will be returned to the United States to answer for her alleged crimes.”
The last time anyone saw Noel alive was October 2022. Those who knew him, however, noticed his absence soon.
Since November 2022, several witnesses have informed law enforcement various versions of accounts — all connected to the boy’s mother — claiming to account for his whereabouts.
Finally, in March 2023, the child’s family left to India.
Late that month, law authorities discovered Rodriguez-Singh had taken an international aircraft with a layover in Turkey, with India as the final destination, two days before an Amber Alert was issued regarding Noel’s disappearance. According to officials, the defendant was accompanied on that flight by her six other children and current spouse, Arshdeep Singh.
Several possibilities, including human trafficking, supported the idea that the boy was still alive; nevertheless, those lines of research were rapidly abandoned in favor of the opinion that he was murdered by his mother.
Noel’s body has yet to be located. The reason of his presumed death is not open to debate; a potential motive is just as hazy – yet occult-related theories may appear in a criminal prosecution. Overall, physical evidence in the case has been difficult to come by.
For years, Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer has relentlessly pursued the now-international case that began in the little town, a suburb of Fort Worth and part of the larger and enormous Metroplex.
“The announcement by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to add Cindy Rodriguez-Singh to the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list represents a significant step forward in the ongoing pursuit of justice for Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez,” Spencer told Law&Crime via email. “This distinguished list has a long track record of success against some of the world’s most dangerous criminals.
This classification not only draws national and worldwide attention to the case, but it also significantly raises the resources and public awareness required to bring Singh to justice. Our agency has collaborated relentlessly with our local, state, and federal partners since the outset. Noel deserves justice. His tale deserves to be resolved.”
The narrative of Noel’s disappearance has been lengthy and winding, but every evidence points to premeditated homicide.
Noel suffered from a variety of diseases that necessitated care and patience. He had been missing for months, according to extended relatives, until police authorities became engaged. When contacted by police about her missing son, Rodriguez-Singh stated that the child had been living with his biological father in Mexico since November 2022. Detectives eventually discovered that was not the case; the boy’s father was deported before he could meet his son.
Following the Rodriguez-Singh family’s hasty departure from the country, a continual stream of sad and distressing incidents appeared to validate the community’s worst suspicions.
Inset: Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez (Everman Police Department). Background: Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer addresses the case on April 12, 2023 (KXAS).
In early April 2023, a search warrant claimed Noel’s mother informed his grandmother she sold him to another lady at a Fiesta Market, a Latin-American grocery store chain found throughout North Texas. In a news conference announcing the warrant, Spencer stated that the boy’s mother had described the 6-year-old as “evil, possessed, or having a demon in him” in the days before his murder.
Later in April 2023, authorities found that the boy’s mother had paid for a new concrete patio to be poured in the backyard of a home she did not own, just weeks before fleeing to India. Cadaver dogs indicated the existence of human remains on the earth just beneath the patio. Dogs also discovered the carpet that had previously served as the floor of a makeshift shed that had originally been in the same location as the patio – carpet that Arshdeep Singh had disposed of in a nearby dumpster. However, no “forensic evidence” was located at the house.
Days later, authorities accused Rodriguez-Singh of worshiping and idolizing a cult-like folk saint who personifies death and is widely believed to support the actions of murderous drug gangs, citing such allegations as “very important” to the missing boy investigation.
One week later, the boy’s stepfather was charged with one count of felony theft for allegedly stealing $10,000 from an employer on March 22 – the same day he flew from the United States on a Turkish Airways flight.
Rodriguez-Singh was indicted in October 2023 for capital murder, two charges of child injury, and one crime of abandoning a kid with no intention of returning.
The FBI said that they were boosting a previously offered reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to Singh’s capture and conviction to $250,000.
Authorities believe that the higher price on Rodriguez-Singh’s head would attract more attention – and eventually halt long-running efforts to extradite her back home.
“We remain committed to seeing this through, no matter how long it takes, no matter how far the trail goes,” Spencer insisted. “We are appreciative for the FBI’s ongoing cooperation and the public’s assistance in keeping this case alive. With Cindy Singh being on the Top 10 list, we believe we’re one step closer to finding her and getting answers.”
Since its start in 1950, the FBI has listed 537 fugitives, with 497 captured or located. According to the FBI, the majority of those successful apprehensions were the result of tips from citizens.
