Police officers have shed light on a nearly decade-old lie in the case of a Houston man who supposedly went missing eight years ago.
The Houston Police Department confirmed on Thursday that Rudy Farias was, in fact, found only a day after going missing. The man’s mother allegedly maintained the deception to law enforcement for more than eight years.
Farias was said to have vanished in March 2015 while walking his dogs in northwest Houston on March 7, 2015.
The now 25-year-old was reported to have finally been found on July 1, eight years later, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Since his rediscovery, locals had questioned whether Farias had truly been missing.
Kisha Ross, a citizen who lives on the same street as Farias and his family, told KTRK-TV that she and her family were not even aware that he had been reported missing and had been stunned to find out that he had been rediscovered.
These suspicions appear to have been well-founded as the Houston PD found that Farias had, in fact, not been missing for eight years.
Houston Police Lt. Christopher Zamora told reporters in a press conference on Thursday that Farias was spotted and contacted multiple times during this eight-year period by law enforcement.
Zamora also said that he and his mother had given these officers fake names and dates of birth to make officers believe that he was still missing. Zamora said that the mother was actively attempting to “deceive” officers.
“In fact, both Janie (Santana), Rudy’s mother, and Rudy himself gave fictitious names while interacting with various patrol officers. After investigators talked with him yesterday, it was discovered that he returned home the following day on March 8, 2015,” said Zamora.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said that it is unknown why Santana chose to maintain the lie that her son had been missing for eight years.
Law enforcement has decided not to press a case against Santana or her son.
