Neighbors Question Story of Teen Found After 8 Years

UPDATE Jul 5, 2023 10:15 AM CDT

In the wake of the Texas Center for the Missing's weekend announcement that Rudy Farias—who vanished in 2015 at age 17—had been found, some questions are being raised about the whole situation. Neighbors who live on the same Houston street as Farias' mom tell ABC13 "that boy has never been missing," with Kisha Ross adding that "he used to come in my garage, chill with my cousin, son, and daughter." The cousin echoes Ross' account. Another neighbor says he saw Farias at Farias' mom's home over the years. Farias' mom says neighbors have simply confused her nephew for her son, and she gave ABC13 a picture of that nephew. The neighbors were shown the photo and disagree.

Jul 3, 2023 12:04 PM CDT

The Texas Center for the Missing was able to make a rare move over the weekend: A person on its list for more than eight years is now designated as "located safe" after he turned up in Texas, reports USA Today. However, much remains unclear about Rudy Farias, who disappeared as a 17-year-old in Houston while walking his dogs in 2015. He is now recovering in a hospital. His mother tells KTRK that someone called 911 after finding the 25-year-old unresponsive outside a church. She says she believes he had been beaten and abused, but so far he is not saying more than a few words in response to questions.

Farias vanished in March 2015 after he left home to walk his two dogs, both of whom later made their way back home without their leashes, per NBC News. The same year he disappeared, Farias had been diagnosed with depression, PTSD, and anxiety, and he was on prescribed medication. Family members say his depression came on after his older brother was killed in a motorcycle crash a few years earlier. "He watched his best friend die right in front of him," a private investigator hired by the family said in April 2015. (More missing person stories.)