Missing Everman boy's mother worshipped 'Santa Muerte', police say
EVERMAN, Texas - Everman police and other investigators are planning to conduct more searches for missing Everman 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, who is now believed to be dead.
Police chief Craig Spencer says investigators are combing through an immense amount of data as they attempt to locate the boy and that the FBI is assisting with the analysis.
Crews are currently looking through months worth of records, such as financial records and email to retrace the family's past movements.
Cindy Rodriguez-Singh and her husband Arshdeep Singh flew to India with six of her children after an investigation into Noel's whereabouts picked up.
Police say there is a part of Rodriguez-Singh's life that has caught their attention.
"We do know she was adamant about the Santa Muerte and believed she was part of the religion of Asante Morte that worshipped him," said Chief Spencer.
FOX 4 video inside the family's converted shed recorded a glimpse of a shrine to Santa Muerte, also known as Saint Death.
Some call it a dark world of worship and idolization, and it is condemned by leaders of the Catholic Church.
"In this case it's very important. She idolizes Santa Muerte. It’s everywhere within the shed. It was everywhere within the home, it was on her vehicle, so it was pretty evident to us she was idolizing and worshiping," said Chief Spencer. "Essentially he is the patron saint that offers protection to the cartel and those kinds of activities."
Spencer says the hope is to gain insight into Rodriguez-Singh's mental state and past comments she made to witnesses, describing Noel as a "demon" and "evil."
The 6-year-old special needs boy has been unaccounted for since late 2022 and is now presumed dead by police.
A recent search of the property yielded no physical evidence, but a strong belief that human remains had once been near their shed.
Everman missing boy: Investigators believe human remains were once in shed near where he lived
Investigators in Everman say they believe human remains were once in a shed near where missing 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez lived with his family.
Investigators won't be specific about the types of data they're analyzing, but it has involved over a dozen search warrants to obtain it.
"Essentially the investigative team is trying to immerse themselves in the lives of Cindy and Arshdeep, and the family over the last six months to find out every move they made, try to figure out what their patterns were because we have to identify what was different, what kinds of anomalies occurred in their life and figure out what caused those anomalies, most likely the death of Noel," said Spencer.
Chief Spencer says the evidence from the data they've collected is helping to identify the next search area. Those searches could happen this weekend.