Rudy Farias breaks silence days after sham disappearance exposed: ‘I was brainwashed’

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday

Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice

Rudy Farias has broken his silence for the first time since his shocking reappearance to claim that he was “brainwashed and manipulated” by his mother during the eight years she claimed he was missing – but has insisted that he was not a victim of sexual abuse.

In his first interview, the now-25-year-old he told local outlet Fox26 that he felt like he was “living in a prison” as his mother Janie Santana kept him hidden away while telling the world he had been missing since 2015.

While he said he could have physically escaped his mother’s clutches at any time, “Stockholm Syndrome” left him feeling forced to stay.

“It’s as if I lived in a prison,” he said.

“I just wanted to be free. I just wanted to live my life.”

Breaking down in tears, Mr Farias revealed how his mother would lock him in his room and keep him hidden when other family members visited their home.

“I was stuck at home,” he said. “Somebody would come up, my mom would just tell me to stay in the room, keep the door locked, don’t let them in, don’t make any sounds.”

According to Farias, family members would visit the home while he was missing.

While they chatted and spent time together, he would be sat alone on the other side of the door listening to his loved ones.

“I would just have to listen to my family, be happy and cheerful on the other side of the (expletive) door,” he said.

“I wanted to scream for them, but at the same time I couldn’t. The only person I could trust was my mom.”

Mr Farias said that his mother made him think she was the only person he could trust.

“She would manipulate me into saying I would get arrested for speeding ticket,” he said.

“It just felt like brainwashing, honestly.”

Despite the alleged emotional abuse, Mr Farias denied claims that his mother had sexually abused him for the duration of his alleged disappearance.

Following his reemergence, community activist Quanell X told reporters that the now-25-year-old had claimed he endured physical and sexual abuse at the hands of his mother.

“She didn’t force herself on me or anything like that. It would never be anything like that. Just stuff that really made me uncomfortable,” said Mr Farias of the allegations.

Now, he said he no longer wants any relationship with his mother.

“Not after all of that. Not after everything she did and to be honest, I don’t want one with her,” he said.

The bizarre case came to light last week after his mother claimed her son had returned home more than eight years on from his apparent disappearance.

Ms Santana filed a missing persons report for her son, then 17, back on 7 March 2015 after he allegedly vanished while taking his two dogs for a walk near their home in northeast Houston.

Then, over eight years later on 29 June 2023, Ms Santana suddenly announced that her son had been found alive but battered and bruised outside a church in Houston.

What began as a remarkable story of a family reunited rapidly unravelled over the following days.

Rumours began surfacing that Mr Farias had been seen at his mother’s home throughout his apparent eight-year disappearance. Neighbours said that he had never been missing at all.

Last Thursday, Houston Police confirmed in a press conference that Mr Farias had in fact returned home just one day after he went missing back in 2015 but that Ms Santana had continued to deceive authorities that he was missing.

Police officers had made contact with both Mr Farias and his mother over the years since but that they had given false names and claimed that he was Ms Santana’s nephew – not her son.

Despite allegedly lying to police, no criminal charges have been brought against Ms Santana.

The Independent’s attempts to reach Ms Santana have been unsuccessful.