Altars to Holy Death in Everman, Texas; Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, on the left, and her presumed dead son, Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, on the right, appear inset. (Screengrab via KDFW; Everman Police Department)
The mother of a 6-year-old disabled boy who has been missing since last October allegedly worshipped and idolized a cult-like folk saint who personifies death and is popularly thought to favor the activities of violent drug cartels. Police in North Texas say that’s a big deal.
Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, who suffers from a host of ailments that require attention and patience, has not been seen in months, according to the Everman Police Department. When initially contacted by law enforcement in late March, his mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh said her son had been living with his biological father in Mexico since November 2022. Detectives later learned that was not true.
Since then, the Rodriguez-Singh family have absconded to India. Officials are currently working to extradite the missing boy’s mother and stepfather, Arshdeep Singh, back to the Lone Star State.
Physical search efforts have reportedly been eschewed in recent days for analysis of large amounts data from emails and and financial records that has come from the execution of various search warrants and subpoenas. The FBI is said to be assisting with this effort.
More Law&Crime coverage: New potential areas of interest being investigated for evidence of missing disabled boy whose mother recently fled the country
One area of interest for investigators comes by way of previous on-the-ground combing through the home and converted shed where Rodriguez-Singh lived for years with her husband and children.
“We do know she was adamant about the Santa Muerte and believed she was part of the religion of Asante Morte that worshipped him,” Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer told Dallas-based Fox affiliate KDFW in an interview on Monday.
On March 29, the TV station ran a feature that offered a quick, on-camera tour through the converted shed – after being allowed inside by the property owner who lives in the house in front of the shed and has known the family for over a decade. In two portions of the video, images of what appear to be shrines to Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte, which translates to “Our Lady of Holy Death,” are seen.
A shrine to Holy Death in the shed where a 6-year-old boy once lived with his large family in Everman, Texas. (Screengrab/KDFW)
Popularized in the late 20th century, the following of the female deity whose name is often shortened to, simply, Santa Muerte, grew rapidly in Mexico while such worship practices were formally disavowed and condemned by Mexican officials with the Catholic Church.
Police say this aspect of Rodriguez-Singh’s life is important evidence in the ongoing death investigation.
“In this case it’s very important. She idolizes Santa Muerte. It’s everywhere within the shed. It was everywhere within the home, it was on her vehicle, so it was pretty evident to us she was idolizing and worshiping,” Spencer told KDFW. “Essentially he is the patron saint that offers protection to the cartel and those kinds of activities.”
More Law&Crime coverage: Mother of presumed dead disabled boy allegedly told relatives she sold him to a woman at a ‘Fiesta’ grocery store, described her son as ‘possessed’ by a demon and ‘evil’
According to the police chief, over a dozen search warrants have been executed so far in the case, KDFW reports.
“Essentially the investigative team is trying to immerse themselves in the lives of Cindy and Arshdeep, and the family over the last six months to find out every move they made, try to figure out what their patterns were because we have to identify what was different, what kinds of anomalies occurred in their life and figure out what caused those anomalies, most likely the death of Noel,” Spencer added.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
