[imagesource:texascenterforthemissing]

Mystery surrounds a missing Houston teenager who went missing eight years ago while walking his dogs, only to be found last week sleeping in front of a church.

A spokesperson for the Houston Police Department confirmed that Rudolph ‘Rudy’ Farias IV was found outside of the church on June 29th. The teenager was 17 went he disappeared.

Farias, who’s now 25, was found with cuts and bruises on his body and blood in his hair.

Although police found signs that the boy had been abused, the youngster is uncommunicative and has only said a few words after being admitted to the hospital. At present, police and his parents have no idea where the child had been or was held, for almost a decade.

Then-17-year-old Farias was walking his two dogs on the evening of Friday, March 6, 2015, when he went missing. The dogs were found shortly after, but the boy, who was said to have walked with a slight limp, remained missing.

[image:texascenterforthemissing] 

In 2018 police were informed that someone had seen the boy walking around on a relative’s property, but although authorities searched for him, he had disappeared again.

According to search and recovery organisation Texas Equusearch, Farias reportedly suffered from “depression, PTSD and anxiety” before his disappearance and that it was “possible he is disoriented as he has not been taking his medication.”

Police say the investigation into Faris’ disappearance is ongoing and that they have not been able to confirm many of the details regarding the case, but for now his parents are just happy to have the boy home. He is “receiving the care he needs to overcome his trauma,” his mother, Janie Santana, said in a statement for the family.

Where the boy has been for the last few years remains a mystery, but investigators will be interviewing him this week to try and put the pieces together.

[source:abc]