Rise in missing children in Cleveland alarms advocates
Newburgh Heights (Cleveland suburb) Police Chief John Majoy and Sylvia Colon, who founded the Cleveland Family Center that helps families of missing persons, talk about missing kids in the Cleveland area.
Texas man Rudolph "Rudy" Farias, who supposedly went missing eight years ago as a teenager, has now made shocking abuse allegations nearly a week after he was found outside a church, according to a local activist.
Farias, then 17, was reported missing by his mother on March 6, 2015, after taking his two dogs for a walk near his family’s home in northeast Houston. The dogs were later found, but the teenager appeared to have vanished.
Then, in what was hailed as a "miracle" by a missing persons search organization, Farias, now 25, turned up June 29 outside a church in southeast Houston.
Detectives with the Houston Police Department's missing persons unit reportedly interviewed Farias and his mother, Janie Santana, in the presence of activist Quanell X Wednesday at a hotel in Humble.
MISSING MINNESOTA MOM'S BOYFRIEND CHARGED AFTER GRISLY FIND IN STORAGE UNIT
A Missing Person poster for Rudolph "Rudy" Farias shown during the Missing Person Day event at City Hall Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016, in Houston. (TexasEquuSearch/Courtesy of Houston Chronicle via AP)
The activist told reporters that Farias had been sexually abused and drugged for years.
"She would ask him to play daddy, she told him that he had to be the husband," Quanell X said.
The activist was allegedly present at the request of Santana.
"I never heard of a mother doing to a child what this woman did," Quanell X said, according to KTRK. "That boy needs to go to the best drug rehab and best psychological, mental health facility we can find for him. He's a good kid. That kid was just severely abused."
Farias said he did run away in 2015 but returned home two days later. He claimed his mom threatened him if he left the house, according to Quanell X.
COLORADO HIKER WITH ‘EXTENSIVE BACKGROUND IN SURVIVAL’ GOES MISSING AFTER SUMMITING MOUNTAIN, FAMILY SAYS
"She convinced him that he was in trouble for initially running away, and that law enforcement wanted to arrest him and put him in jail for running away," Quanell X told reporters. "She had convinced him that all types of agencies were looking for him to put him in jail."
After years of alleged abuse, Farias finally had enough and took off.
"He said he just got tired of her not respecting his boundaries and he wanted his own life," Quanell X said. "His exact words were, 'I was tired of living like a slave.'"
Farias was later found sleeping outside a church at 76th Street and Avenue L at about 10 p.m., according to Houston police.
Santana said she had taken her son to the hospital and believed he had been kidnapped then beaten and abused for all these years, KTRK reported.
"My son Rudy is receiving the care he needs to overcome his trauma, but at this time, he is nonverbal and not able to communicate with us," Santana said in a statement.
However, her story immediately raised red flags when neighbors came forward and said they had seen Farias regularly since his alleged disappearance.
TEXAS POLICE INVESTIGATING HOUSTON EXECUTIVE’S ‘PRE-PLANNED’ DISAPPEARANCE
"He used to come in my garage, chill with my cousin, son and daughter," Kisha Ross told the news station. "That boy has never been missing."
She added, "I am confused right now. I am like, 'What's going on?'"
Another neighbor, who was not identified by name, said Farias had been living at home with his mother for years.
"I was just shocked someone over here was missing, and we see him," he said. "It's shocking to everyone."
Rudy Farias was 17 years old and was walking his dogs when he vanished in March 2015. (Texas Center for the Missing)
Police said that a family member called in 2018 and reported that Farias was living behind a relative's home, but police were unable to locate him.
Before the police interview, A KTRK reporter confronted Santana about the discrepancies, and she claimed that the man the neighbors spent time with was not Farias but a nephew.
The reporter showed a photo of the nephew to the neighbors, but they said they did not recognize that man.
Quanell X said that police had failed Farias, who spent years trapped in his family's home.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Only recently was he allowed to hang out with neighbors because his mom thought enough time had passed that no one would recognize him as the missing person once plastered on a billboard, according to the activist.
The Houston Police Department is holding a press conference Thursday on the case.
