The latest — and grimmest — news in the weeks-long search for Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez came Tuesday, when investigators said they believe human remains were once contained in a shed on the Everman property where the missing 6-year-old lived.
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Just days after Noel was reported missing last month, his mother, 37-year-old Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, and stepfather, Arshdeep Singh, fled the country with four of Noel’s biological siblings and two half-siblings.
Their flight was a one-way trip to India with a layover in Turkey. Noel was not listed as a passenger, and officials now believe he is dead.
Everman police Chief Craig Spencer said the department obtained arrest warrants for Rodriguez-Singh and Singh on charges of abandoning or endangering a child. The second-degree felony is punishable by no less than two years in prison.
Police are working with federal authorities to extradite them back to the U.S. from India, Singh’s native country, according to Spencer. Here’s how that process works:
What does it mean to extradite someone?
Extradition is the formal process of finding and delivering a person to the jurisdiction of another government entity for trial or punishment. In order to extradite fugitives internationally, the U.S. must have an extradition treaty with that country, and each treaty is unique.
The U.S. has a treaty with India, which was signed in 1997. It states an offense is extraditable in either nation if it is punishable by “deprivation of liberty, including imprisonment,” for at least one year.
If the offense is determined to be extraditable, prosecutors work with the Department of Justice to prepare an extradition request.
“This is really a technically diplomatic and not a law-enforcement process,” said Joshua Dratel, a New York-based criminal defense attorney with experience in international extradition cases.
In general, to initiate the request, a court must issue an arrest warrant, according to the Justice Department. The Office of International Affairs works with the prosecutor to prepare documents to submit to the foreign country, such as affidavits of facts, evidence, arrest warrants and indictments.
Once approved by the State Department, which is responsible for handling the nation’s foreign-policy issues, the extradition request is presented to the other country through diplomatic channels or the U.S. Embassy in that country.
How long does the process take?
According to the Justice Department, foreign extraditions can take months or even years to complete.
When asked whether the process has been initiated in the case of Noel’s parents, the department said it doesn’t comment on extradition matters until the defendant is back in the U.S.
The foreign government’s decision to proceed, in general, is based on the extradition request and any evidence presented by the fugitive, according to the Justice Department. Dratel said if the defendant contests the extradition, the process can take longer.
Dratel noted that federal offenses or offenses that affect the relationship between the two countries tend to receive more consideration than other requests. Additionally, he said, as a matter of “practicality,” both nations might divert more resources to cases with more severe charges, such as murder, over charges of abandoning or endangering a child.
In a recent case in Dallas County, two women accused of murder fled the country in December 2021 after cutting off their ankle monitors. They were arrested in Cambodia the following February and extradited last May.
Dratel added that countries are “traditionally much less likely” to extradite their own citizens.
“They’re much more resistant than they are to people who are just found there,” he said.
While Dratel described the treaty between the U.S. and India as “standard,” he said the U.S. has relatively frequent extradition exchanges with countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
“When you get outside those common partners, it’s a case-by-case evaluation,” he said.
Timeline of events
Authorities believe Noel was seen by a professional for speech therapy July 21 and confirmed he was alive in early October when his mother gave birth to twins. He was seen in mid-October after they left the hospital.
Police said Rodriguez-Singh applied Nov. 2 for passports for six of her children, but not Noel.
On March 20, Child Protective Investigations requested a welfare check for Noel after receiving a report from his family that he had not been seen in months. His mother told police Noel had been living with his biological father in Mexico, but authorities confirmed the boy’s father had never met him.
After it was determined Noel wasn’t in the custody of any relatives, an Amber Alert was issued March 25. It was changed to an endangered-persons alert after authorities learned the family had fled the country.
Authorities have continued to search for Noel in the ensuing weeks. On Tuesday, police said the excavation of a recently poured concrete patio led them to believe human remains were once in a shed at the home where the family lived. Authorities also learned Singh threw out a large carpet in a nearby dumpster the evening before the family fled.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas- at the bottom.
