Yahoo Sports A GoFundMe Raised $2K For Rudy Farias’ Mom Even Though Police Said He Wasn’t Missing
A crowdfunding campaign created to “help find” Rudy Farias, the Houston man who was reported missing when he was a teen in 2015, raised more than $2,000 — even though Farias wasn’t missing at the time, according to information released by authorities on Thursday.
More than 30 people contributed to the GoFundMe account, which was launched on March 22, 2015. Farias was first reported missing two weeks earlier, on March 7, the day after he allegedly disappeared while walking two dogs in his Houston neighborhood.
According to police in a news conference on Thursday, Farias had actually returned home on March 8, 2015 — in spite of his mother’s statement earlier this week that he was only found last week after being missing for eight years.
The revelation prompted questions about why search efforts had continued for Farias and why his mother had allegedly lied. Police have so far said they are not pursuing false report charges against Farias or his mother, Janie Santana, but that their investigation remains ongoing.
Santana has not yet addressed the matter publicly, and HuffPost could not immediately reach her on Thursday.
A GoFundMe campaign was organized in 2015 to raise money for Rudy Farias' mother, Janie Santana.
In response to questions from HuffPost, GoFundMe said it had taken the fundraiser down but confirmed it had raised money on behalf of Santana.
“GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing,” a spokesperson for the crowdfunding platform told HuffPost. “The fundraiser has been removed from the platform and the beneficiary has been banned from using GoFundMe for any future fundraisers.”
An archived version of the fundraising page said it was raising money to offer a reward for information about Farias, to help in the search, and to financially support Santana. The person who created it did not respond to questions from HuffPost on Thursday.
“She needs financial assistance since she is unable to work understandably so with her son missing!” the GoFundMe campaign claimed. “The bills are pilling up and Rudy’s mother’s health has also deteriorated as she is devestated ....mentally...physically and emotionally utterly exhausted!!”
The campaign said that Farias’ mother would be “deteriorating” with each passing day he is missing, adding that “TIME IS RUNNING OUT!”
But Houston police Lt. Christopher Zamora told reporters on Thursday that both Farias and his mother had given police fake names when speaking with officers at several points over the last eight years. Santana also falsely identified Farias as her nephew to people who saw him, Zamora said.
“The mother, Janie, continued to deceive police by remaining adamant that Rudy was still missing,” he said.
Meanwhile, extended family members and a local activist have accused police of covering up details of the case and alleged that Farias was abused by his mother.Asked about those concerns, Detective Sgt. Stephen Jimenez said that when he interviewed Farias, he did not say anything about abuse.
“I’m trained to listen for probable cause,” Jimenez said. “I’m trained to listen for statements that can help me get charges or move forward with the case. And no, there were no statements made during this investigation so far.”
“Rudy’s safe. He is with his mother, by choice,” Zamora said later in the news conference.
In a statement released Monday by the Texas Center for the Missing, Santana claimed that her son had been found outside a Houston church, injured and “unresponsive.”
“We want to thank the media and public for all their support. My son Rudy Farias IV was found on Thursday, June 29th, after being missing for eight years,” Santana said. “Currently, we do not have any additional information on Rudy’s case. What we do know is at the time of his recovery, a good Samaritan located him unresponsive and immediately called police and 911. My son Rudy is receiving the care he needs to overcome his trauma, but at this time, he is nonverbal and not able to communicate with us. We are asking for privacy during this difficult time but will share more details as Rudy continues to heal.”
