Police: Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez's mother worships Mexico's 'death saint'
EVERMAN (CBSNewsTexas) - A search warrant linked to missing 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez of Everman says his mother asked for a contractor to pour thicker concrete in the backyard of the home where they lived. It also says she was in a hurry to have the job done.
The concrete Cindy Rodriguez Singh paid $5,000 for was poured just three weeks before police first came asking about Noel, but Everman police Chief Craig Spencer said Tuesday that the family spent months trying to cover their tracks.
Police could resume a search for possible remains as soon as this weekend, Spencer said, after data analysis has helped pinpoint more specific locations where teams may find something.
"They have had so much time to destroy, hide, get rid of evidence, and so we've got to overcome that," Spencer said. "But I've got confidence in the investigative team. And one of the things that's incredibly hard to get rid of is data."
Spencer also said the early discovery that Rodriguez Singh was a devoted follower of Santa Muerte was concerning, and gave insight to her behavior. A shrine, and pictures to the death saint were in the Everman home where they stayed, he said.
Considered a personification of death, Santa Muerte, is a cult image, and folk saint in folk Catholicism and Mexican Neopaganism. The female deity is associated with healing and safe delivery to the afterlife by her devotees.
Law enforcement officials immediately recognized the symbolism due to its regular connection with cartel and trafficking activities.