The FBI has raised the stakes in the desperate search for a Texas mom who has been accused of selling and murdering her 6-year-old disabled son, Noel Alvarez, offering a reward of $25,000 for information that might lead to her arrest.
"Cindy Rodriguez Singh is wanted for allegedly murdering her own young son," Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge Chad Yarbrough said during a press conference Thursday. "I am confident that the combination of publicity, significant reward offering, and the team of experienced investigators assembled by the FBI Fort Worth Resident Agency violent crime squad, Everman Police Department, Tarrant County District Attorney's Office and Texas DPS-Texas Rangers will lead to her arrest. The community of Everman needs justice for Noel."
Police reported that Rodriguez Singh, 37, referred to her son as "evil, possessed, or having a demon in him" in the days before his death.
A search warrant revealed that Rodriguez Singh, who is from Dallas, allegedly told Noel's grandmother that she had sold him to a woman at a Fiesta Market grocery store in Texas, according to NBCDFW.
It was March 20, 2023, the Everman Police Department was alerted by Texas Child Protective Investigations after family members reported they hadn't seen Noel since November 2022, according to WFAA.
During a welfare check at the child's home, Rodriguez-Singh claimed he was in Mexico with his biological father. However, an investigation revealed this was false. Before an AMBER Alert could be issued on March 25, Rodriguez-Singh, her husband Arshdeep Singh, and six of Noel's siblings flew to Turkey and then to India.
To purchase the tickets, Singh allegedly altered his company's cash deposit records, took $10,000 in cash, and deposited $8,000 into his own account-actions that were reportedly captured on surveillance footage.
Police initiated a missing/endangered person search for Noel, who has developmental and physical disabilities, but after weeks of searching the family's home, a nearby wooded area, a shed, and other locations, Noel was not found.
In mid-April 2023, cadaver dogs alerted investigators to a specific area of soil near the family's home. Police also reported that Singh had disposed of a carpet that had previously covered this area.
Investigators concluded that Noel was likely deceased. Everman PD Chief Craig Spencer did not specify the basis for this conclusion but noted that Noel's mother had a history of abuse, including withholding food, water, and diapers and hitting Noel with keys.
