Arshdeep Singh: Missing Texas boy Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez’s stepdad accused of stealing $10K before fleeing country
EVERMAN, TEXAS: Arshdeep Singh, stepfather of missing 6-year-old Texas boy Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, has been accused of stealing $10,000 from his company safe before fleeing to India from the United States with his family, North Texas police announced in a statement on Tuesday, April 25. The Everman Police Department has reportedly charged Singh with one count of felony theft for allegedly stealing the funds from his employer in late March.
No additional information related to the case has been discovered by officials since the announcement of Singh’s felony charge, Everman Police Chief Craig W Spencer told Law and Crime Network on Wednesday, April 26. In addition to the latest arrest warrant for felony theft, Singh is also facing warrants for felony child abandonment and endangerment along with his wife in relation to Rodriguez-Alvarez’s disappearance, the outlet noted.
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Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez: Case of missing Texas boy, 6, turns into homicide investigation
Who is Arshdeep Singh?
Singh is the stepfather of Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, a 6-year-old Texas boy with special needs. Noel has been missing since October 2022 and is presumed dead by authorities.
During a press conference, Chief Spencer said that Singh worked as a delivery man and hauled products to convenience stores as part of his job. On March 22, Singh allegedly stopped at one of his places of employment and made his way into a company safe to steal the money. Officials said he was able to do so “as a part of his normal job responsibilities.”
“Investigators learned that Arshdeep first fraudulently altered the company’s cash deposit records, likely in order to try and prevent detection. Arshdeep then removed $10,000 in cash from the company safe, traveled to the nearest bank, and deposited $8,000 of that cash into his own personal account,” Everman Police Department said in a statement. Chief Spencer also shared images showing Singh depositing the cash into his bank account.
Police said financial records showed that the plane tickets for Singh, his wife and their six surviving children “were purchased on a credit card belonging to Arshdeep.” The financial records helped investigators notice the “abnormally large cash deposit into Arshdeep’s bank account” and ultimately resulted in the felony theft charge, the Law and Crime Network reported.
‘We have not stopped the fight’
Several months after Rodriguez-Alvarez’s disappearance, police contacted his mother Cindy Rodriguez-Singh in late March. At the time, she said the 6-year-old had been living with his biological father in Mexico since November 2022. The information was later proven to be untrue. The Rodriguez-Singh family then fled the US on a Turkish Airways flight. However, authorities are working to extradite the missing child’s mother and stepfather to Texas.
The latest case against Singh came nearly a month after officials issued the first amber alert for Rodriguez-Alvarez. “Since then, this investigative team has spent thousands of man-hours on this case, followed more than 70 leads, issued more than two dozen search warrants, arrest warrants, and subpoenas, and conducted countless interviews,” the police department said in a statement, per Law and Crime Network.
“This investigation has taken us across state and country borders. Investigators have worked to compile a mountainous amount of information, data, and evidence in this case,” the statement added. “Each and every single day, we get closer and closer to the answers that we all seek. Although it has been a month, and we have not yet found Noel, rest assured that we have not stopped the fight; not even close.”
Investigators have reportedly searched over 500 acres in North Texas for the missing child but could not find his body. “These searches have included nearby wooded areas, creeks, ponds, drainage culverts, construction sites, and more. These teams consist of expert trained volunteers with specialized equipment and resources including: Drones, Infrared Cameras, LIDAR, Human Remains Detection Canines, Horses, and Rescue Boats,” officials said. Investigators also mentioned that “some items” were recovered from search areas and are being sent for laboratory testing to determine “whether or not they are associated with this case.”