Search for missing Everman 6-year-old moving toward a criminal investigation, police chief says

EVERMAN, Texas - FOX 4 got a look inside the repurposed shed where a now-missing 6-year-old boy lived with his mother and siblings.

The man who owns it says he knew the woman at the center of the investigation for more than a decade. He considered himself a godfather to Noel and his siblings. He was shocked to learn the boy was missing and that his friend fled the country with her kids and husband.

Meanwhile, authorities are now shifting the tone of their investigation.

Everman police say they are combing through documents as they continue to search for missing 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez.

Police said much of the day on Tuesday was spent going through documents recovered from the family's home and truck to build a timeline about when the boy was last seen.

"It is swinging more to a criminal investigation," said Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer. "The circumstantial evidence is certainly building up to a level where it becomes criminal."

For most of that time, she had been living inside the main home but moved into the shed a couple years ago as her family grew. 

Now, investigators say she fled the country to India with her new husband and six of her kids while Noel is nowhere to be found.

71-year-old Charles Parson did not want to show his face but showed us photos of him and Noel. He says Noel’s mother called him the godfather to her children. 

He says he met her at a grocery store and took her in after a rough patch, but she and her husband left the country without saying goodbye.

"They’re scared they’re going to get in trouble with the law," he said. "They’re afraid they may have done something wrong."

Parson does not know what wrong they may have done.  He says Rodriguez-Singh previously lost custody of her children but got them back. 

He says he does not know what happened to Noel but believes his mother would not hurt him.

Homeland Security and the FBI have been brought in to the investigation, according to the police department.

Police said they have received tips from across the state and around the country.

When asked what he thought happened to the 6-year-old, Chief Spencer said he does not want to speculate. 

"There is a lot of holes within the answers that we have been getting as a part of this investigation that we have got to continue to fill," he said.

Police got a request from CPS on March 20 to check on the boy, who has multiple physical and developmental disabilities, after they received a tip that he had not been seen since last November.

His mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, reportedly avoided investigators and would not fully cooperate when they began asking questions, police said.

In a warrant, she claimed her son was in Mexico with his father, which police said is not true.

On Tuesday, Everman's police chief said they believed family members who were questioned by police had been coached to say the boy and been seen more recently than he actually had.

Everman investigators said Rodriguez-Singh, the boy's stepfather and six of the boy's siblings flew to Turkey and continued on to India.

After an Amber Alert was issued on Saturday, investigators found the family’s truck parked in a garage at DFW International Airport.

One of the tipsters that called in was from a person on the flight to Turkey on March 23.

The alert was discontinued, and an Endangered Missing Persons Report was issued for Noel.

Police have also since learned that Rodriguez-Singh unenrolled her four older children from school. Noel was never enrolled in a school.

On Monday, SKY 4 captured video of officers searching a shed in the backyard where the boy lived in Everman.

Police said the family had lived in the house for 9 years, but had only recently moved to the shed.

Police say the property owner describes himself as a godfather to at least one of the kids. Police say he has health issues and was in a hospital last week. Singh and her husband were supposed to pick him up but never showed.

Everman investigators say Rodriguez-Singh has 10 children. Seven, including Noel, lived with her. Three others lived with their grandparents.