As police continue to uncover truths about not-so-missing 25-year-old Rudy Farias, more shocking details are coming out about his mother.
In just one short week, what was initially reported as a heartwarming reunion between a mother and son after eight long years has quickly developed into a disturbing case about a potential abuse victim who was trapped in a tangled web of lies.
Last week, we heard about how a young man was found lying on the ground injured outside a local church. Houston Police Department officers quickly identified him as Rudy, who went missing back in 2015 at just 17 years old. At the time he was nonverbal, so hopes of figuring out what happened to him were slim. However, his mother, Janie Santana, suggested he’d suffered some sort of traumatizing abuse because of the cuts and bruises that covered his body.
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Then, in an unexpected twist, Janie’s neighbor Kisha Ross alleged that Rudy was actually never missing to begin with, telling ABC7 he would frequently come to hangout in her garage with her cousin, son, and daughter. Her cousin, Broderick Conley then backed up her claims that Rudy still lives at home with his mother. He added that “Dolph,” as they’d referred to Rudy, spent lots of time at their home, where “laughing” and “good times” always ensued — even as recently as two weeks before he was “found” again. Santana attempted to dispute the claims by sharing that it was actually her nephew, Rudy’s cousin, who would visit.
But soon after that, local Texas activist Quanell X spoke to KHOU11, alleging Santana had intentionally hidden Rudy away from the world, even staking some serious sexual abuse claims. Police have not been able to corroborate the sexual abuse, but they DID confirm Rudy has been living at home this whole time! Shocking.
Not only that, it turned out Santana had been using GoFundMe to deceptively raise money — over $2k — for Rudy’s fake missing persons campaign. Seems like a small incentive to hide your son for eight years, right? Well, it seems GoFundMe wasn’t the only way she raised money.
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Private investigator Brenda Paradise, who dedicated hundreds of hours over the years in this case, told The Independent Monday morning that she began to grow suspicious of Santana after she continuously asked for money on Facebook to help find Rudy. Paradise explained that in one instance in particular, Santana asked her Facebook community for donations to pay a ransom for Rudy’s release. She said the money was going to what she described as a human trafficker in Tijuana, Mexico.
Unlike GoFundMe, fundraising efforts like this on her personal Facebook are far trickier to track. So we may never know exactly how much this woman has profited off her “missing” son — while he was at home the whole time.
It gets crazier. In order to keep up the ruse that her son was missing, Santana went to some ludicrous lengths. Paradise shared that the mom once went to a MORGUE to identify a deceased body. Obviously she’d know it wasn’t her son, she left him at the house to go to the morgue!
Imagine being THAT wrapped up in a lie…
As of now, neither Santana nor Farias have been charged, but we’ll see how this case continues to play out. Thoughts? Let us know in the comments down below.
[Images via KPRC Click2Houston/YouTube & Texas Center for the Missing]
