Texas man who allegedly disappeared eight years ago was ‘living with his mother the whole time,’ police say

A Texas man who allegedly disappeared eight years ago as a teenager was never really missing and had been living with his mother almost the whole time, police have said.

Rudy Farias made international headlines over the weekend when it was reported he had been “located safe” in Houston after going missing in March 2015 when he was 17.

He was reported missing at the time, but came home one day later, according to Houston police.

While the teenager, now aged 25, was seen by many people coming and going from the house over the years, Farias’s mother, Janie Santana, identified him as a nephew and not her allegedly missing son, police said.

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There had even been multiple times in the eight years when police officers spoke with Farias and he allegedly gave them fake names.

Houston police Lt. Christopher Zamora told reporters that Farias “was not missing during the eight-year period”.

“In fact, both Rudy’s mother and Rudy himself gave fictitious names while interacting with various patrol officers,” he said.

“After investigators talked with him yesterday, it was discovered that he returned home the following day.”

He added: “The mother, Janie, continued to deceive police by remaining adamant that Rudy was still missing.”

Local prosecutors have, so far, declined to press a case against the mother or son, and police did not offer a motive behind the pair’s actions.

Chief Troy Finner said he doesn’t know why Farias’ mother allegedly maintained that her son was missing all of this time.

“We can’t predict motivation,” Finner said.

He also declined Thursday to answer questions about the mental health of Farias or his mother and said police were “right at the beginning” of their investigation into what happened.

The announcement came a week after police said they had found Farias after receiving a call about a person lying on the ground in front of a southeast Houston church.

Farias was initially reported missing from Houston, Texas on 6 March, 2015, at the age of 17, having last been seen walking his two dogs, near his home. Both dogs returned to the house without their leads.

After being found last week, Farias was taken to hospital after police found him last week and detectives interviewed him and his mother on Wednesday.

Ms Santana released a statement after it was announced he had been found, saying that her son was “receiving the care he needs to overcome his trauma, but at this time, he is nonverbal and not able to communicate with us”.