On March 20, 2023, officers from the Everman Police Department in Texas conducted a welfare check on a 6-year-old child named Noel Rodriguez Alvarez. During the check, Noel's mother, Cindy Rodriguez Singh, misinformed the officers that her son had been living with his biological father in Mexico since November 2022. However, two days later, Ms Rodriguez Singh, her husband, and six other children boarded a flight to India without Noel. Incumbent FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that it is believed she had "...not been back to the United States since."

Witnesses told the police that Ms Rodriguez Singh was abusive toward the boy. In October 2023, Texas authorities charged Ms Rodriguez Singh in absentia with capital murder, and the following month, a federal arrest warrant was issued for her capture. What followed was an almost two-year-long international manhunt, during which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) declared Singh one of its 'Ten Most Wanted' fugitives. The list was established in March 1950. Since its inception, 537 fugitives have appeared on the list, and 498 have been apprehended or located.

Indian authorities later located Rodriguez Singh, which led to her arrest in India by the FBI, in coordination with Indian authorities and INTERPOL, according to Fox News, which quoted involved officials. She was returned to the United States and taken into custody by the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office on August 21.

Mr Patel did not disclose how or where Singh was arrested, and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has refrained from commenting to the media. Noel's body has not been found. A year after his disappearance, Everman city honoured him by naming a playground after him.

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