HOUSTON – Eight years after Rudy Farias was found alive, his cousin, Cassandra Lopez, told KPRC 2 reporter Corley Peel she has more concerns than relief.
“I was in shock. I was like, I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I was glad, but I just was wondering what was going to unfold from it. Like, what was the story going to be behind it? Because it’s just we always in our hearts knew that he wasn’t really missing,” said Lopez.
Neighbors said they saw Farias and his mother outside their northeast Houston home Tuesday evening. A neighbor shared a video with KPRC 2 showing a conversation with Farias’ mother.
“When he first went missing, he didn’t report it to the police. They’re trying to say he might have done some crimes, which he didn’t. Now, they want to arrest me because they said I was hiding him,” Rudy’s mother was heard saying in the video.
Her 25-year-old son vanished at age 17. During those eight years, Lopez said she called 911 in 2018 after family members saw Farias at his mother’s home.
Lopez said their grandmother told her she spoke with Rudy often.
“She would just say, I saw Rudy. You know, he came to check on me and we said hello and we had a little conversation. She never went into detail, but she would say she saw him,” said Lopez.
HPD said officers responded but didn’t find Farias.
Neighbors tell KPRC 2 Farias has been living with his mother this entire time, but they know him by the name: Dolph.
“When he is with us, he doesn’t really say much or who he is. We just know he lives down here with his mom, goes to work with her around 6 p.m. to 7 or 8 in the morning. He just been freely walking down the street,” said Jeanay Wyble.
A neighbor shared a text message between the neighbor and Farias’ mother where she appears to identify herself as Dolph’s mother. Neighbors also said she asked them not to talk to the news after he was found on June 29.
Lopez hopes Farias is safe enough to tell his story.
“I mean, half of his life is almost a quarter of his life’s already been taken away. Don’t you know that? That’s just not right. He didn’t deserve, nobody deserves that,” said Lopez.
She said it is only a matter of time before the truth comes out.
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