Fort Worth PRO officer Buddy Calzada reads a letter from Everman mayor Ray Richardson during a vigil for 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alverez at Clyde Pittman Park, Saturday Oct. 24, 2026, in Everman.
Bob Booth/The Dallas Morning News
Dozens of people gathered at Clyde Pittman Park Saturday to honor Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, a 6-year-old Everman boy who was first reported missing in 2022 and whose remains were recovered earlier this year.
The candlelit vigil was coordinated by Everman officials earlier in October. It was positioned near a park city officials named after Noel. Several of the attendees wore light blue, Noel’s favorite color, as they listened to city officials describe a boy who always had a smile on his face and had laughter that lit up a room.
“We are here this evening because we refuse to let Noel’s memory be discarded,” said Everman Chief of Police Al Brooks, who was part of the search to find Noel. “We are here to say his life mattered.”
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Programs in both Spanish and English lay on a table during a vigil for 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alverez at Clyde Pittman Park, Saturday Oct. 24, 2026, in Everman.
Bob Booth/The Dallas Morning News
Noel was described in an obituary as a boy who loved playing with toy cars and who was naturally drawn to people. He “never knew a stranger,” according to his obituary.
Noel was 6 when he went missing in October 2022, but his disappearance was not reported until March 2023 after a relative contacted law enforcement. The FBI, Everman police, Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s office and other agencies investigated his disappearance for years.
Timeline: How search for Everman boy Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez unfolded
After law enforcement began investigating Noel’s case, his mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, fled to India with her husband and six other children. Noel was not with them.
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She was indicted on a capital murder charge in 2023. After an international search, she was arrested in India in 2025 and extradited to the United States.
FBI agents and local authorities excavated the family’s former house on Wisteria Drive over several days in May this year. They later found remains they determined were Noel’s through dental records, according to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office.
His mother was found incompetent to stand trial, and she has undergone treatment at a state hospital.
Related: What to know about Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez after remains positively ID’d
But during the vigil Saturday, city officials spoke to the life Noel lived. They talked about the playground named after Noel, which hosted several children who giggled as they played Saturday. They urged people to remember Noel with dignity.
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“Let his legacy not be the horrific way his life ended,” said Brooks, who grew emotional through his remarks. “Let us honor him by holding our own children a little tighter, and checking on our neighbors tomorrow, and dedicating ourselves to building a world where every single child is cherished.”
People in attendance wave their fiber optic lights in front of Everman first responders during a vigil for 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alverez at Clyde Pittman Park, Saturday Oct. 24, 2026, in Everman.
Bob Booth/The Dallas Morning News
Noel’s relatives were a part of the crowd, but they did not speak during the vigil. They coordinated a private funeral service earlier this month to honor Noel. A city official read a statement from them that thanked first responders and investigators for their help in locating Noel’s remains.
Everman mayor Ray Richardson wrote a personal letter to Noel that was read aloud by police spokesperson Buddy Calzada. Through his letter, he said his heart aches as he thinks of what Noel had to endure.
“I would give anything to see you at our playgrounds, playing with other children in our community, with your big smile and laughter for all to hear,” Richardson wrote. “You’ve made an everlasting impact on me and definitely the Everman community.”
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At the end of the vigil, several attendees held up a blue wand that flashed in honor of Noel’s life as the sun began to set over the playground.
As children went down slides and played on a seesaw, one woman left a plush toy car by the sign dedicating the playground to Noel’s life.
In a gazebo behind the Noel Angel Alvarez playground a vigil for 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alverez was held at Clyde Pittman Park, Saturday Oct. 24, 2026, in Everman.
Bob Booth/The Dallas Morning News