FBI arrests fugitive mom of missing 6-year-old Everman boy Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez
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The search for missing Everman, Texas, child Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez
Here is what’s known about the investigation and the events that police have pieced together so far.
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The FBI has arrested the Everman, Texas, woman who is accused of killing her disabled 6-year-old son Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez before fleeing the country for India in 2023, FBI Director Kash Patel announced Wednesday.
Cindy Rodriguez-Singh was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List last month, the Star-Telegram previously reported.
Rodriguez-Singh faces charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and capital murder of a person under 10 years of age, Patel said.
Asked by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram whether, with respect to extradition, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office made any representations to the Indian government about whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty in this case, DA Phil Sorrells wrote, “Our partners in the federal government are responsible for the return of Cindy Rodriguez Singh. My office has had no contact with the Indian government.”
Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez is presumed dead, but his body has not been found.
Authorities have not yet released details of exactly how or where his mother was found, whether she has revealed any new information to investigators, or when she will be extradited to Texas to face trial. Fox News reported that Rodriguez-Singh was arrested in India and has been transported back to the U.S.
An FBI Dallas spokesperson said federal authorities are not releasing further information about the arrest at this time beyond the statement Patel posted to X.
Everman city officials said the capture of Rodriguez-Singh came as a surprise to them and marks a critical step toward the goal of seeking justice for Noel.
“This has been a long and emotional journey; one filled with difficult days, long nights and an unwavering determination to find the truth,” Everman City Manager and former police chief Craig Spencer said in a statement Wednesday night. “Today’s capture is not just a law enforcement success; it’s a testament to what can be accomplished when people stand together with a shared purpose. I am profoundly thankful to every agency, every investigator and every member of the public who refused to give up.”
Spencer noted that there are still unanswered questions and the investigation is far from over.
“Most importantly, I want our community to know that we will not stop,” he said. “We will continue to fight for answers, for justice, and for the safety of the most vulnerable among us.
Mother fled to India with husband, six other kids
Authorities have been searching for Rodriguez-Singh ever since she fled from North Texas to India with her husband and six other children on March 22, 2023, two days after investigators said she lied about the missing boy was with his biological father in Mexico.
The FBI’s Dallas office, Everman Police Department and Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office held a news conference in July to announce that Rodriguez-Singh, 40, was the newest addition to the most wanted fugitives list. They also announced that the FBI had increased the reward for information leading to the mother’s arrest to $250,000. Authorities have not said whether anyone will receive that reward money.
Spencer, the former chief of police and current city manager and emergency management coordinator for the City of Everman, said in July that somebody knows what happened to Noel, “and now they have 250,000 reasons to come forward.”
A concerned relative from out of town alerted Texas Child Protective Services in March 2023 that Noel hadn’t been seen since the previous fall. On March 20, police went to the family’s home on Wisteria Drive in Everman to check on the child, which is when authorities say Rodriguez-Singh lied to them about the boy’s whereabouts.
Investigators reached Noel’s biological father in Mexico on March 23, and he denied that the 6-year-old was with him. Federal authorities confirmed there was no record of Noel crossing the border into Mexico. Police tried to contact Rodriguez-Singh the following day, but were unsuccessful.
An Amber Alert was issued for Noel the morning of March 25. That night police learned that Rodriguez-Singh, along with her husband, Arshdeep Singh, and six of her other children, had left the United States a few days before.
Rodriguez-Singh’s truck was found at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Authorities confirmed the family left DFW Airport on a flight to Turkey with a connecting flight to India, Arshdeep Singh’s home country. Noel wasn’t with them, according to police. The family wasn’t stopped because the Amber Alert hadn’t been issued yet.
“Let me be clear, fleeing the country doesn’t absolve you of guilt,” Sorrells, the Tarrant County district attorney, said at the press conference in July. “It reinforces it.”
A Tarrant County grand jury indicted Rodriguez-Singh on a capital murder charge on Oct. 31, 2023. She also faces a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Her husband, Arshdeep Singh, also is charged with flight to avoid prosecution. It’s unclear whether he is in custody.
Witnesses told police that Rodriguez-Singh abused Noel, who had serious health issues including intellectual and physical disabilities, that she withheld food and water from him, and that she described the boy as “evil, possessed, or having a demon in him,” according to court documents. Investigators said Rodriguez-Singh told other lies about what happened to Noel, including that she sold the boy to a woman outside a Fiesta Mart grocery store.
Before Noel’s disappearance, the family lived partly in a converted shed in the back yard of a house. Investigators thoroughly searched the property, including digging under a concrete patio that they said Rodriguez-Singh paid to have installed.
Rodriguez-Singh is the fourth “10 Most Wanted” fugitive to be arrested in the last seven months, Patel said.
“Thanks to our local partners in Texas, where this case originated, @TheJusticeDept, as well as partners in India for the coordinating,” Patel wrote. “@FBIDallas and @NewYorkFBI did tremendous work.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Staff writers Emerson Clarridge and Harriet Ramos contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 20, 2025 at 4:04 PM.
