"We want these fugitives arrested and extradited to the US," the police said (Representational)
The Indian-American stepfather of a missing six-year-old boy, who is presumed dead, faces another charge that he stole USD 10,000 in cash from his employer before fleeing to India with his wife and her six children last month, police in the US state of Texas have said.
Arshdeep Singh and his wife have been charged with felony apart from child abandonment and endangerment in the missing boy's case, Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer said on Tuesday.
"We want these fugitives arrested and extradited to the United States so that we can seek answers for the disappearance of Noel," Mr Spencer said.
Mr Spencer said they were reliant upon federal officials to work with international partners to locate and extradite Cindy Singh and her husband Arshdeep Singh.
Police released several new details on Tuesday in the investigation into the search for Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, who appeared malnourished and unhealthy the last time he was seen alive in October 2022, according to extended family members.
Following a tip, the Everman Police began looking into Noel's welfare in March and within days the police said his mother and stepfather had left the country.
Mr Spencer said the investigators had now added a felony theft charge for the missing boy's stepfather Arshdeep Singh.
According to Spencer, Arshdeep Singh delivered products to convenience stores and hours before leaving the country last month he allegedly forged documents to hide the theft of USD 10,000 in cash from his employer.
Mr Spencer said the investigators looking into a large deposit alerted the company to the altered document and missing money.
The police confirmed the boy's family used a credit card to buy one-way airline tickets to India for Arshdeep Singh, Cindy Singh, as well as her six children the day before they left the country.
Mr Spencer also shared an updated timeline in the case, narrowing down exactly when they believe Noel may have disappeared.
"So much has happened since it all began in late March, it's a lot to keep track of. There have been numerous developments in the case since an initial AMBER Alert came out for Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez," Mr Spencer said.
"So our timeline has been narrowed down to between about a week after the twins came home and then November 1 when it appears Cindy began to plan an escape from the country," he said.
Mr Spencer ran down a list of facts, including that Noel was never enrolled in school, which the investigators had uncovered so far in their probe.
The investigators also found that the boy's extended family confirmed that Noel was abused and neglected regularly and that food and water were withheld because Cindy didn't like his dirty diapers.
The boy's extended family said Noel was struck in the face with keys for drinking water.
Cindy referred to Noel as evil, possessed, or having a demon in him.
Noel began missing doctor appointments after July 2022 and Cindy asked to borrow a friend's child to attend a doctor's appointment so she could retain benefits, the investigators found.
Cindy told different stories about his whereabouts, including selling him to a lady in a grocery parking lot.
His biological father and aunt in Mexico have never met him.
No data has been found to show the family made trips to the Texas-Mexico border or that he had been sold.
Cindy told her family to lie to the police about seeing Noel recently.
The family lived in squalor but chose to spend most of their tax return on a concrete patio for a home they don't own. The contractor who poured the porch said Cindy was in a hurry and was indecisive and that she asked for it to be thicker in a certain area, the investigators found.
Noel's stepfather Arshdeep Singh disposed of a single indoor/outdoor carpet in a dumpster the night before they left the country but left behind other trash in their rented home, it was found in the probe.
Multiple cadaver dogs "alerted" to the indoor/outdoor carpet recovered by investigators as well as the dirt underneath the new patio, indicating the one-time presence of human remains.
Police said there was no physical material found large enough to test.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)