A man who authorities believed was missing for eight years was not actually missing, Houston police said Thursday, adding that his mother deceived them.
Officials said earlier this week that Rudolph "Rudy" Farias was found alive after allegedly vanishing as a teenager eight years ago, but community members then raised questions about whether he was ever truly missing.
Police said Thursday that Farias' mother, Janie Santana, reported her son missing on March 7, 2015, when he was 17 years old. He returned home the following day, on March 8, but his mother continued to deceive police by remaining adamant he was still 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 homicide division's missing persons unit at the Houston Police Department said at a news conference Thursday. "Many of these facts included contacts and statements with relatives, friends, neighbors and medical professionals."
Zamora said that both Farias and his mother had interactions with Houston Police officers over the last eight years. But he and Santana gave false names and birth dates, "misleading officers," he told reporters, "and Rudy would remain missing." Santana also alleged that her nephew "was the person friends and family were seeing coming and going," rather than her son, according to police.
The district attorney's office had so far declined to file any charges for making fictitious reports when Houston police gave their latest update on Thursday. Investigators have contacted adult protective services and connected Farias "with victim services to ensure that he has a method to recover," Zamora said, although he noted that, based on Farias' interview with Houston police, "there were no reports of sexual abuse" as some rumors claimed.
"If there is a disclosure made, we will continue to investigate," Zamora said. "Currently, the investigation is active and there are new leads coming in, and we will continue to follow those leads."
Police said Monday that Farias was found outside a church in Houston's Magnolia Park neighborhood at about 10 p.m. last Thursday. The Texas Center for the Missing, a nonprofit organization that works on missing persons cases, said in a tweet over the weekend that Farias was "located safe" and recovering at a hospital, although it did not share details about his condition.
Officials previously said Farias disappeared while walking his dogs in north Houston in March 2015. The dogs were later found, but Farias was seemingly gone.
Farias' aunt told CBS affiliate KHOU that his mother was a "mess" in the wake of her son's alleged return. Speaking to the station several years ago, Farias' family said they were concerned that he may have been abducted and trafficked.
"He has such a huge heart. He loves with all his heart," Farias' mother told KHOU one year after his disappearance. "That's why we know he wouldn't just get up and go on his own."
But neighbors who said they have spent time with Farias since he supposedly vanished have questioned the family's story and whether or not he truly disappeared. Kisha Ross, who lives with her family on the same street as Santana in northeast Houston, told ABC affiliate KTRK-TV they were shocked to hear Farias was found last week and were not aware he was ever reported missing.
Quanell X, a community activist based in Houston, also spoke to news outlets including CBS affiliate KHOU in the wake of Farias' apparent return home this week. Saying he met Farias Wednesday after Farias' mother, Janie Santana, asked him to come to the hotel in Humble where they were meeting with investigators, the activist cast doubts on the accuracy of his family's story.