EVERMAN, TEXAS — Human remains recovered during a multi-department excavation at a home in the 3400 block of Wisteria Lane in Everman, Texas, have been positively identified as those of 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner used dental records to confirm the identification at the family's former home, which had been searched previously in connection with the boy's disappearance.

Noel was last seen alive in October 2022 and was reported missing in March 2023. Everman police visited the Rodriguez-Singh family's home on March 20, 2023, after the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services requested a welfare check. During that visit, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh told officers that Noel was staying with family in Mexico, a statement later determined to be untrue. Two days later, Rodriguez-Singh, her husband, and six of her children flew to India without Noel. Police announced a search for the boy in April 2023.

Noel was born with developmental and physical disabilities. Rodriguez-Singh was charged in absentia in October 2023 with a state count of capital murder. She had been placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List before being apprehended in India in August and brought back to Texas. She is being held at the Lon Evans Corrections Center in Fort Worth.

A psychologist found Rodriguez-Singh not competent to stand trial, but it is expected that her competency can be restored. In letters from jail filed in court, she wrote, "Why am I being placed in the state hospital?" and "I'm not a psycho person." She also wrote, "They're treating me very very bad, and I cried for the pain they're making me go through."

Everman Police Chief Al Brooks addressed Noel directly in a statement about the identification. "I would like to tell him. Rest well little man. We'll take it from here," Brooks said.

Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells said his office would pursue the case. "Here at the district attorney's office, we will continue to seek justice for Noel. We owe that to him and to the citizens of Tarrant County," Sorrells said. Everman is a city of around 6,100 within the Fort Worth area, about 8 miles south of downtown Fort Worth.