Losing a family member is undoubtedly a traumatic experience. For Rudolph “Rudy” Farias IV, life spiraled out of control after losing his father and then his brother, his closest friend. Rudy’s father, a police officer in Houston, tragically took his own life in 2014 following an internal affairs ticket-rigging investigation.
Rudolph Farias III had served for 21 years before he passed away while still wearing his uniform. Reports indicated that the police officer had been ordered to turn in his badge, along with three fellow officers, only a few hours before he took his own life. Shortly after, the Farias brood lost another family member.
Not long after losing his father, Rudy would also lose the person he was closest to in the world. Rudy and his older brother, Charles Uresti, had been inseparable. A private investigator, Brenda Paradise, whom the family had hired, commented that Rudy had witnessed much more death than anyone his age deserved to see.
After the family recovered the two dogs, they knew something was wrong and started searching for Rudy.
Near the start of 2015, Rudy lost his brother, Charles, in a motorcycle accident. The young teen and his mother, Janie Santana, were the first to arrive on the scene of the accident, and Rudy reportedly saw his brother pass right in front of him. With the loss of his father also fresh in his memory, Rudy fell into a depression.
The family grieved Charles’s death, and his mother noted how his funeral was “The worst day of my life.” Hoping to keep some part of his brother and best friend close, Rudy started wearing a pendant that had belonged to Charles. Eventually, Rudy would grow more depressed and develop anxiety.
How Rudy Farias Disappeared
Not long after burying his brother, Rudy took his dogs out for a walk and never returned home. On March 6, 2015, Rudy grabbed his dogs’ leashes, put on his shoes, and took the two pups out for a walk. It was a Friday, and the teen was last seen around 6:30 p.m. After a while, the two dogs returned to the house on their own.
His family noted that although he was back, Rudy was in “pretty bad shape.”
After the family recovered the two dogs, they knew something was wrong and started searching for Rudy. His mother wrote in a description of Rudy that he had been suffering from PTSD, along with depression and anxiety. She also noted that he may have been disoriented since he hadn’t been taking his medication.
Rudy Farias, in 2023, in Northwest Houston. | Source: twitter.com/StarlingZain
The church where Rudy Farias was found in Southwest Houston, 2023. | Source: twitter.com/StarlingZain
The then-17-year-old Rudy had been wearing jeans, a black T-shirt, brown sneakers, and the Scapular that he kept after his brother’s passing. Police started a search for the teen soon after he was reported missing but decided to call off the search on March 10 so they could gather more information and coordinate the investigation.
The authorities restarted the search for the missing Rudy on March 12, but they called off all efforts to find the teen a day later. The Houston Police Department declared that they didn’t suspect any foul play and thanked all the volunteers who had trudged through rain-soaked fields to look for Rudy.
Although the official search for Rudy was over, the family kept posting notices of his disappearance wherever they could. In these flyers, the family had also noted that Rudy’s right leg had been injured years before, and he walks with a slight limp. The notices also stated that the boy was asthmatic and didn’t have his inhaler with him.
For the next eight years, there would be few traces of the young man. Every now and again, a lead would appear, or someone claimed to have spotted him, but nothing ever led Rudy’s family back to him. Although things seemed bleak, Rudy’s mom, Janie, never gave up hope of finding her boy.
Recovering Rudy after Eight Years
Although many would have given up after losing track of someone they loved for eight years, Janie’s persistence paid off in the end. The mother reportedly spoke to ABC13 after a tip to 911 led her and a team of authorities to Rudy sitting on a church’s steps. Rudy was found on Thursday, June 29.
Janie also reported that Rudy looked incredibly beat up when they picked him up. The mother shared that the now-25-year-old was covered in old and new bruises, there was dried blood in his hair, he looked frail, having lost much weight, and he refused to speak. Rudy’s family was ecstatic to see him again and wrote in a Facebook post:
“IT’S HIM!!! IT’S OUR RUDY. Rudy Farias IV, HE’S BEEN FOUND AND HE’S ALIVE AND IN THE HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW. HE WILL REMAIN IN THE HOSPITAL FOR AWHILE!!”
His family noted that although he was back, Rudy was in “pretty bad shape.” He has soft tissue tumors, countless cuts, swelling, and small openings on the soles of his feet. They noted that it was heartbreaking to see someone they love change so drastically. The family is monitoring his physical and emotional state.
At the moment, Rudy has only communicated with a word here and there. It’s obvious he has endured much abuse over the last few years, and the family revealed he is skittish, flinching whenever someone approaches him as if he is afraid of being struck. At the moment, Janie is sticking by his side while he recovers in the hospital.
It seems Rudy also has no recollection of his real identity. The young man believes he is a 14-year-old boy named Julio Torres. Doctors have advised his family not to correct him for now, encouraging them to let him recover first before they start working on some of the emotional trauma he still suffers from.