Authorities are offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a woman accused of murdering her six-year-old son in Tarrant County. NBC 5’s Allie Spillyards has the story.
The Dallas FBI is offering a reward in the global search for Cindy Singh, the mother of Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, a 6-year-old disabled boy who has been missing since October 2022 and is now presumed dead.
Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge Chad Yarbrough said Thursday that the FBI issued a UFAP (Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution) warrant for Cindy Rodriguez Singh several months ago and was now adding a $25,000 reward that will hopefully generate more tips and help authorities track her down. Scroll down to see the full press conference.
“Cindy Rodriguez Singh is wanted for allegedly murdering her own young son. I am confident that the combination of publicity, significant reward offering, and the team of experienced investigators assembled ... will lead to her arrest," Yarbrough said. "The community of Everman needs justice for Noel.”
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Singh was believed to be in India with her husband, Arshdeep, and her six other children. Everman police have been working with federal partners to locate the boy's mother and stepfather and return them to Texas since the spring of 2023.
"I am confident that the combination of continued publicity, the significant award now being offered in this investigation and a team of experienced investigators that have been assembled to address this issue are going to lead to the arrest of Cindy," said Yarbrough.
Everman Police Chief C.W. Spencer says he is 'confident' the reward money will generate new leads as to her whereabouts and hopes the continued efforts among multiple city, county, state and federal partners show how important the case is.
“As you can see, we are truly unified with the common goals of seeking justice for Noel and sharing the message that there is no such thing as a throw-away child,” said Spencer.
“He’s a six-year-old child murdered by his mother, and anyone who does not have compassion for that and having justice for Noel, hopefully, that alone will lead to them calling,” said Yarbrough.
The FBI said Singh, who has ties to both India and Mexico, is 39 years old, stands between 5 feet 1 inch and 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighs between 120 and 140 pounds, and has a medium complexion with tattoos on her back, both legs, right arm, right hand, and right calf. She has brown eyes and brown hair.
Wanted posters for Rodriguez Singh were released in English, Spanish and Hindi.
“The immediate capture of Cindy Rodriguez Singh is so incredibly important in the interest of justice, the safety of our communities, as well as the safety of the other children in her custody," said C.W. Spencer, Everman Chief of Police.
Noel’s former foster parent, Patricia Paris, said “the way she wears her makeup and tattoos” might help someone recognize her wherever she is hiding.
Paris says she briefly interacted with Rodriguez Singh when she returned Noel to his mother.
Not a day goes by without her thinking about the little boy who called her ‘momma.’
She is pleading for Rodriguez Singh to turn herself in.
“Cindy, turn yourself in. Do what’s right. How do you live with yourself knowing that you are the reason Noel is not here?" said Paris during a Zoom interview on Thursday. “You threw him away like he was trash! You could have given him back to us. We would have taken him.”
Neither Spencer nor Yarbrough would discuss whether they believe the family is still in India, whether they are receiving help from anyone, or whether there are any indications Rodriguez Singh changed her appearance so as not to 'jeopardize' the active investigation.
Spencer also would not disclose what exactly they believe transpired when the child was killed but says with the evidence they have now, they are ready to proceed with a capital murder trial.
“The actual [reward] amount is significant enough that people are going to start paying attention, not only here in the United States, but also overseas," said criminologist Alex del Carmen.
Del Carmen said the FBI's involvement is a big step for the investigation, albeit one that takes time.
He said rewards require lengthy coordination, as does assigning legal attaches or special agents abroad, and that time can prove challenging.
"We can assume, for instance, that the suspects have changed their appearance. We can also assume that they likely have fake passports from other countries, that they likely went to other places other than India. So in that sense, it becomes a lot harder to be able to find them. But at the same time, there's always a trace that these criminals leave behind. And all it takes is somebody to say something to someone for those leads to start coming in," said del Carmen.
Anyone with information about Cindy Rodriguez Singh that may help investigators locate her is asked to call the FBI Dallas Field Office at 972-559-5000. Tips can also be submitted online at http://tips.fbi.gov.
"Tips can also be submitted directly to the nearest American Embassy if you reside outside the U.S.," said Yarbrough during the press conference.
THE SEARCH FOR NOEL RODRIGUEZ-ALVAREZ
Following a tip in March 2023, Everman police began looking into the welfare of 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez.
Within days of opening that investigation, police learned Cindy Singh and the rest of the boy's family had suddenly left the country. Investigators said a day before the family departed, the couple used a credit card to buy one-way airline tickets to India for the boy's stepfather, mother, and siblings.
In April 2023, cadaver dogs assisting investigators at the child's home on Wisteria Drive "alerted" to a discarded rug and topsoil underneath a recently poured concrete porch at the home the family rented. The "alert," police said, indicated human remains had been present at some time in the past; however, no physical evidence was found that could be tested and identified.
In the spring of 2023, investigators said they believed Noel was deceased after finding no evidence to support claims or rumors that he was either living with family members abroad or had been sold to a woman outside of a local grocery store.
Singh was indicted in October 2023 on four charges, including a charge of capital murder, two charges of injury to a child, and one charge of abandoning a child without the intent to return.
“We’ve talked a lot about Cindy and her comments [lying, claiming Noel was in Mexico],” said Spencer. “We’ve talked a lot and shared with you family was aware some of these things [Noel appearing malnourish]. There are some failures for this child, absolutely, which is why we are here to seek justice for these failures.”
