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After police accused Rudy Farias and his mother Janie Santana of "misleading" police for eight years, Rudy's aunt claims he "doesn't want to see his mom" anymore going forward.
The twisted tale of Rudy Farias continues to unfold in Houston, Texas.
Eight years after Rudolph "Rudy" Farias purportedly vanished without a trace while walking his dogs when he was just 17 in March 2015, he was found alive outside of a church last week. The good news quickly took a bizarre turn, however, when police on Thursday claimed Farias was never actually missing and had instead been living at home with his mother for eight years.
According to police, he was missing for only one day, before returning home. Authorities claimed that in the years since his so-called "disappearance" both he and his mother Janie Santana spoke with police, but allegedly "gave fictitious names" while "misleading officers" into believing he had vanished. During those eight years, Santana also allegedly claimed Rudy was her nephew, not her son.
Though cops said Thursday that Farias was back with his mother "by choice," the now 25-year-old's aunt told NBC News that was not the case.
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Man Who Went Missing 8 Years Ago as a Teen Was Never Actually Missing, Say Police
View Story"He's doing well but plans to stay away from his mother," Pauline Sanchez (pictured above left) told the outlet, saying her nephew was staying with a friend.
"His mentality, he needs to get well. He's going to be cautious. I still feel that he's traumatized and gone through a lot," she continued, "He doesn't want to see his mom and doesn't want to go back to his mom.
After police said no charges were being filed against either Santana or Farias at this time for making fictitious reports and failure to ID, Sanchez told NBC she "still [feels] action should be taken."
Of her nephew, she added, "I felt great presence. It was beautiful. We hugged until I finally let go. He's a bit skinny ... All that matters is he is safe and sound."
On Thursday, the Houston Police Department held a press conference in which Lt. Christopher Zamora of the homicide division's missing persons department said that over the past eight years, "investigators followed up on many tips, leads, collected evidence proving that Rudy was not missing during the eight-year period."
"In fact, both Janie, Rudy's mother, and Rudy himself gave fictitious names while interacting with various patrol officers," claimed Zamora.
Police also said that, "based on Rudy's interview, there were no reports of sexual abuse reported"; When asked about a possible motive, they declined to give any information at this time.
CBS
