A Texas woman who was on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive list in connection with the presumed death of her 6-year-old son has been arrested.
Cindy Rodriguez Singh, 40, was charged with capital murder in 2023 in the death of Noel Alvarez, whose body has never been found. The charge was filed in Fort Worth, Texas, about seven months after Singh left the U.S. for India amid the investigation into Noel’s disappearance, the FBI said.
The FBI did not say where Rodriguez Singh was arrested but agency Director Kash Patel said on X that she is in custody on charges of capital murder and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
The FBI initally offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to her arrest. They increased the reward to $250,000 and put Rodriguez Singh on its most wanted list in July.
It was not immediately clear where Rodriguez Singh is being held or whether she has obtained an attorney.
Here’s what we know about the case.
When did Noel Alvarez disappear?
The FBI says that 6-year-old Noel Alvarez hasn’t been seen since October 2022.
In March 2023, police at the Everman Police Department in suburban Dallas went to Rodriguez Singh’s home to check on the boy at the request of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, according to the FBI.
“During the welfare check interview, Rodriguez Singh lied to officers when she explained that the boy was living with his biological father in Mexico, and had been there since November 2022,” the FBI said in a news release, adding that the father said he had no relationship with his son.
On March 22, 2023, two days after police questioned Rodriguez Singh, the FBI says that she boarded a flight to India along with her husband and six other children. Later, investigators discovered that Rodriguez Singh had applied for passports for all of her children except for Noel in November 2022, ABC News reported, citing local police.
“None of us will ever forget Noel, and we will continue to put forth all our effort to one day find justice for him,” FBI Dallas Special Agent Pance Kecev said in a statement last month. “That will include Cindy Rodriguez Singh being apprehended and returned to the United States so she can answer for her alleged crimes. I believe − and I can speak for the investigative team including the state, local, and federal investigators as a unit − that her arrest will play a significant part in locating Noel’s whereabouts.”
He said Noel’s disappearance “has had a huge impact on our community.”
“The case is still fresh in the minds of Everman residents and many of us across North Texas,” he said.
More about Noel Alvaraz and his mother
The FBI said that Noel’s history of health and developmental issues included chronic lung disease, pulmonary edema, and esotropia. “He required regular medical appointments and medications, including ophthalmologist and speech therapy appointments, as well as albuterol inhaler medication,” the FBI said.
“Cindy, as the primary adult responsible for Noel’s safety and well-being, failed numerous times to meet his health and developmental needs,” Kecev said.
The FBI said that Rodriguez Singh has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, prompting the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to put her children into foster care at one point.
Other recent arrests on most wanted list
In his announcement about Rodriguez Singh’s arrest, Patel said that hers is the fourth arrest of fugitives on the top 10 list in the last seven months, saying that it’s “a credit to tremendous field work, law enforcement partners, intelligence operatives, and an administration who is letting good cops do their jobs.”
Among the recent arrests was that of Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales, described by federal authorities as a high-ranking leader of the violent La Mara Salvatrucha gang, or MS-13. He was arrested in March at the San Diego port of entry from Mexico on charges of directing MS-13’s activities in the United States, El Salvador, Mexico.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FBI Most Wanted mom Cindy Singh arrested in 6-year-old son’s death
