Houston police interview man who went missing 8 years ago; mother also questioned

HOUSTON — Police in Houston on Wednesday met with a 25-year-old man who was discovered after he went missing as a teenager eight years ago and also interviewed his mother. Authorities said that they hope to share more details on Thursday.

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Rudolph “Rudy” Farias IV was 17 when he went missing on March 6, 2015, KHOU-TV reported. The teen was walking his dogs in a north Houston neighborhood when he vanished, according to KTRK-TV. He was reportedly found on June 29, and the Texas Center for the Missing announced his discovery on Sunday.

Wednesday’s interviews with Farias and Janie Santana came after speculation from several Houston media outlets about what might have happened during the eight years Farias had not been seen, the Houston Chronicle reported. In a statement, the Houston Police Department said the department will share more details at a news conference on Thursday.

“While there are some reports of some of the content of the interviews being released, our detectives are not in a position at this time to discuss specifics of the interviews or if the content being released is entirely factual,” the Houston Police Department wrote in a statement that was posted to social media.

No arrests have been made, KHOU-TV reported.

Farias and his mother met with detectives and community activist Quanell X at a hotel near Bush Intercontinental Airport on Wednesday, KPRC-TV reported.

“I just think that we need to get in and get some answers right now,” Houston police Chief Troy Finner told the television station before the meeting. “We’ll get down to the bottom of it.”

Santana told KPRC and KTRK-TV that good Samaritans found her son unresponsive outside a church on June 29 and called 911. Santana told KPRC that Farias was in “bad shape” mentally and physically and was nonverbal. He had cuts and bruises all over his body and blood in his hair, KTRK reported. Farias was found wearing a necklace from his brother that he had kept since his older sibling died in a motorcycle accident in 2011.

After Farias went missing, authorities said the teen had been diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, KTRK reported. Officials believed that the teen had not been taking his medication, according to the television station.

He was suffering from asthma and had an inhaler when he disappeared, according to the Charley Project. The inhaler was later located.

According to family members, Farias had been depressed after his older brother died in a motorcycle accident, NBC News reported in 2015.

Houston police said in 2018 that a family member called, claiming Farias was living behind a relative’s home, KTRK reported. Police were unable to locate him, according to the television station.

Quannell X, an outspoken public figure in Houston, has been involved in several high-profile cases, KPRC reported.

“I heard horrific things from that young man and I did not want him to see me start shedding tears, but I couldn’t hold back the tears because of the things he was saying to us, the detective, and myself,” Quanell X told KHOU.