A sign displayed outside the Everman Civic Center, Tuesday, March 26, 2023, in Everman, Texas, asks the community to call in with tips about the disappearance of six-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez. Authorities said Thursday, April 6, 2023, that the 6-year-old Texas boy whose mother has given various stories to explain his absence since last fall is believed to be dead.
Madeleine Cook/Star-Telegram via APInvestigators this week released new developments in the ongoing search for Texas 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez , saying human remains had been stored in a shed behind his family's house at some point.
Noel is believed to be dead and had last been seen in October, around the time his mother gave birth to twin girls, Everman police Chief Craig Spencer said at a news conference . Noel’s mother and stepfather are believed to have flown to India, along with six children — the entire family except Noel — March 22.
The search for the boy's body has been focused near the family's home in Everman, south of Fort Worth.
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But Monday, a police dog trained to smell human remains alerted on a large carpet once used as flooring for a shed formerly in the family's yard. Noel’s stepfather had disposed of the carpet in a nearby trash bin the night before the family fled the country without Noel, investigators have since learned.
The carpet had been part of the family’s makeshift shed, which sat where a concrete backyard patio slab now sits. Investigators began dismantling and removing the concrete patio Monday.
Anthropologists from the Tarrant County medical examiner's office assisted with the digging efforts. The police dog that can smell human remains alerted to the topsoil underneath the concrete, leading investigators to believe human remains had been held in the shed before the patio was put in, according to Everman police.
The investigation remained ongoing. Check back for updates.
