A mother from Texas was arrested in India and brought back to the United States over her six-year-old son's murder.
The suspect, identified as 40-year-old Cindy Rodriguez Singh, was placed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) list of 10 most-wanted fugitives in July. She was charged in late 2023 with murder in Tarrant County, Texas, after her son, Noel Alvarez, disappeared.
Texas Mother Arrested in India for Son's Murder
The mystery around the young child's disappearance also resulted in a playground being opened in Everman, Texas, in his honor. The last time that Noel was seen alive was in October 2022.
Two days after a welfare check in March 2023, the boy's mother boarded a flight to India with her husband, Arshdeep Singh, and six children. FBI director Kash Patel said that authorities did not believe that the boy's mother had been back in the U.S. since then.
He added that they arrested her in coordination with Indian law enforcement agencies and Interpol. Indian authorities were able to locate Singh's whereabouts and assisted in the FBI's transferring her to the United States, according to the New York Times.
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The suspect is now being held at the Tarrant County jail. The special agent in charge of the FBI office in Dallas, R. Joseph Rothrock, said that Singh's return marks the start of a new chapter in the search for answers regarding the circumstances of Noel's disappearance.
The boy's mother is now facing a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, in addition to the state charge for killing her missing son. Al Brooks, the Everman chief of police, added that they are satisfied that Singh has been into custody.
The Boy's Whereabouts
Despite Singh telling authorities that her son was living with his biological father in Mexico in 2023, officials found that the boy never met him. One of the theories surrounding the child's disappearance is that he was sold to a stranger at a local grocery store, the New York Post reported.
When authorities searched the family's property, they found a filthy shack with only two beds, and trash piling up to the ceiling. They also discovered an altar that was dedicated to Santa Muerte, a cult figure typically worshipped by members of drug cartels.
The young boy's foster mother also released a statement regarding Singh's arrest, saying that the latter's younger children are now facing life without their mother. She added that Noel's father is still carrying the grief of losing his son, who he never had a chance to know, as per NBC DFW.
