- This is one of those cases where the more you know, the more questions you have.
It’s usually excellent news when a missing person gets to reunite with their family after years of being lost. But what if the missing person was never missing in the first place?
Houston, Texas, authorities are currently trying to answer this bizarre question. They’re grappling with the mystery surrounding Rudolph “Rudy” Farias.
Farias supposedly disappeared in 2015 when he was 17 years old while walking his family’s dogs. Despite their best efforts, law enforcement officials were never able to find a trace of him.
In late June, however, things changed. Rudy, now 25, was discovered lying unconscious outside a Houston church.
That must’ve been a huge relief for his family. If he was ever missing at all.
The family’s neighbors have been confused about the media hubbub about Rudy as, according to them, he’s been home all these years. Now, even Houston police say that Rudy’s mother lied to them and that her son was never missing.
What on earth is going on? Let’s take a closer look at the story of Rudy Farias.
Kidnapped?
The strange events began in March 2015. That day, Rudy Farias took his family’s two dogs out for a walk.
And then he vanished, supposedly.
The family dogs were later found alive and well. Rudy, however, had simply disappeared.
Had he just run away from home? According to his family, that was impossible.
“He has such a huge heart. He loves with all his heart. That’s why we know he wouldn’t just get up and go on his own,” Rudy’s mother, Janie Santana, told KHOU11 in 2016.
Instead, the family members were convinced Farias has been kidnapped and sold as part of human trafficking. They were also concerned for his health, saying he suffered from asthma, anxiety, and depression.
Although the police followed several tips and leads, they could never get on Rudy’s trail. Then, in 2018, they received a surprise report that Farias had been found sleeping behind a family member’s home.
Yet, by the time the cops got there, he had vanished again without a trace.
Found at Last
For eight long years, Farias remained missing. His family seemed adamant to get him back, though, and continued working with the Texas Center for the Missing.
Things took a turn on June 29 this year. Esther Pena Ramirez noticed a person laying on the ground beside a Houston Church.
“It’s a person on the steps. I go over and I look … There was a person, they were trying to wake up,” she told a 911 agent during an emergency call.
Medics arrived and took the man to a hospital. He was later identified as the missing Rudolph Farias.
He was reportedly “not doing well” and wasn’t speaking. Nonetheless, Rudy had been found.
“My son Rudy Farias IV was found on Thursday, June 29, after being missing for eight years … [He] is receiving the care he needs to overcome his trauma, but at this time, he is nonverbal and not able to communicate with us. We are asking for privacy during this difficult time but will share more details as Rudy continues to heal,” his family said in a statement.
Case closed. All’s well that ends well… Right?
‘He Has Never Been Missing’
Rudy’s discovery should’ve been good news. But some people were shocked by it, and not in the way you might think.
Take, for example, the family’s neighbors. They were very surprised to hear Rudy had been found, considering they didn’t know he was missing in the first place.
Kisha Ross and her family live on the same street as Farias’ mother. They told ABC13 that Dolph, as they call him, regularly came over to their house.
“He used to come in my garage, chill with my cousin, son, and daughter. That boy has never been missing,” Ross said.
Broderick Conley, Ross’ cousin, confirmed her statement. He said he and Farias would often hang out together.
“Laughing good times. Sometimes he would go to the park by himself,” said Conley.
Another neighbor, who requested anonymity, also told ABC13 that he’d seen Farias living with his mother the entire time.
Farias’ mother claims that the person living with her has not been Farias, but her nephew. Yet, when shown a picture of the nephew, the neighbors say it’s not the same person they’ve seen.
‘Misleading Officers’
Now, the police are starting to have their doubts as well. On July 6, Houston police said that Farias has never been missing and that Santana has deceived authorities the entire time.
According to them, Rudy returned home on March 8, 2015 — a day after he “disappeared.” Yet, his mother kept insisting he was missing.
“During the eight-year time frame where he was missing, investigators followed up on many tips, leads, collected evidence proving that Rudy was not missing during the eight-year period,” Lt. Christopher Zamora of the Houston Police Department told CBS News.
“Many of these facts included contacts and statements with relatives, friends, neighbors and medical professionals.”
Zamora stated that both Santana and Farias himself spoke with the police on multiple occasions. However, they used fake names and birth dates to feed officers “misleading” info to ensure Rudy remained missing.
No files have yet been charged and Zamora said the investigation is ongoing until they can answer more questions.
And the biggest question is… Why? Why did Santana — not to mention Farias himself — lie all these years that he had disappeared?
Whatever the answer ends up being, we’ll be sure to get back to this story if it’s made public.
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