Missing Texas teen found alive after eight years | outside

Police and a panicked fire department found the 25-year-old unconscious on the ground in front of a church in Southeast Houston Thursday night around 10 p.m. Police spokesman John Cannon confirmed that missing Rudolph “Rudy” Farias IV was involved.

Cannon said it is not yet known where Farias has been for the past eight years. Police investigators have not yet been able to question him. Farias is currently in the hospital.

“What we know is that a Good Samaritan saw him lying unconscious in front of the church and immediately alerted the police,” Farias’ mother, Jani Santana, said in a statement. “My son is receiving the care he needs to overcome his trauma, but at this time he is unable to communicate with us.”

The news of Farias’ finding was announced in a tweet Saturday by the Texas Center for Missing Persons. “This is one of those days that all families of the missing hope and dream about: reunion. We are grateful that Rudy was found and is receiving the care he needs,” the center said in a statement on Monday.

Farias was 17 years old when he was reported missing on March 6, 2015, after taking his two dogs for a walk near his family’s home in northeast Houston. The dogs were recovered, but Farias, who was suffering from depression and anxiety, was missing.

Private investigator Martin Renteria, who looked into the missing persons case at the request of the family, was unable to track him down. “After a few years we had to give up,” he said Monday. He added that he suspected that Farias, who had grown up in the meantime, might have run away and did not want him to be found.